in this months issue of sport compact car they did an article on bolt ons....."bolt-ons componets are not designed to make power by themselves, but help the engine and related systems reach full potential. There are endless claims of making power from vtec controllers, waste gates, blow offs. cam gears, etc....In truth, all of these parts are just tuning tools. None of these will make you any extra horsepower without proper caliberation and adjustment. New ECUs are so intelligently adaptive and often temperamental that bolt-ons can end up causing losses in power unless ecu is retuned."

so basically without tuning, your not going to have very much gains, and in many cases, loose power.

 

+1000

 

Why don't you just go by Bolt?

 

this thread=tired head....

 

I've read that article and while I agree with most (95%) of it, I don't agree that bolt-ons won't make power. As you can see from my sig my $800 worth of bolt-ons made power. The key thing with bolt-ons is right in your quote: "...bolt-on componets are not designed to make power by themselves..." Meaning a simple CAI/PopCharger won't bring out much more than 5hp, when working with a spacer or other breathing it helps that mod out. Nor do I agree with what you said: "so basically without tuning, your not going to have very much gains, and in many cases, loose power." While I believe you should tune a car with bolt-ons, it is not a must. Tuning only brings out hidden power that the stock ECU holds back. Tuning also helps A/F mixture and could prevent knocking if tuned correctly.