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Ford Explorer Community - Maintenance - Modifications - Performance Upgrades - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street
Explorer Forum Covers the Explorer ST, Explorer Sport, Explorer Sport Trac, Lincoln Aviator, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Ford Aerostar
You have to promise not to let anyone else know that I told you this. I have been visiting some Honda sites recently b/c I am going to be purchasing an Si. They constantly swap top secret performance mods to get the most out of their engines just to be faster than everyone else. I don't want all the other Explorer owners to learn of this b/c I want to be the fastest, but don't mind sharing my secret with a few others. Here's a list of mods and expected performance gains:
1. Five inch exhaust tip (bigger the better) $20 (10-15hp)
2. Japanese Letter or other similar stickers on the windshield -increase hp and aerodynamics $5-$10 (15-20hp)
Both mods should cost not more than $30 and you should expect at least 25 top secret hp. Installation should take only a few minutes.
Id acually like to see some HP numbers on that tape stuff. I have a KKM installed so I dont see it doing a whole lot.. what else could you slap some tape on? Hmmm...
Turner55-
making a spacer for your throttle body is something you can do with a little time and foresight and not much of the green stuff. the idea is to move your tb farther away from the intake manifold and increase airflow. it's basically a flat piece of whatever (aluminum or plastic are pretty common materials), about 1/2" thick, with a couple holes in it. ok, it's a little more scientific than I'm making it sound. go to http://www.truckperformance.com/ and take a look at the ones they have for other trucks (don't make one for ours). the holes in the plate divide the airflow and cause it to move faster... kind of like a poor man's ram-air. you'd have to make some mods to the big, black intake hose that was discussed earlier in the thread, but I can't see the project taking more than an afternoon. I plan to put something like this together for my truck within the next month or so, so if I experience really good or bad results along the way I'll post them or talk to Rick about including an article in the 'Tips' section... we shall se.
hope this helps give you something to do with your time
Mike-
don't forget the bubbling, do-it-yourself window tint-job... $20 at Wal-Mart, functions like a Banks cold-air induction system, good for an extra 20hp easy. a little Saki in the gas tank... hello supercharger. LOL
Nick - I used to have the same attitude. Piece of crap small little imports! However, after the past month I have developed a tremendous amount of respect for the import market and although I thought I would never do so, I am going to be picking up a Civic Si pretty soon. I am going to become a hypacrit now! These cars are now coming out of the factory with 100hp per liter! The Si has 160hp out of a 1.6 liter powerplant - when I compare this to my truck I can't help but think - can't Ford do better. You mean to tell me that Honda can get 160hp to pull a 2600lbs. piece of metal, when Ford could only deliver 155hp for a vehicle that weighs 4000lbs. If Ford would be able to deliver a little more, my Explorer could have had 400hp out of the factory - but yes, I will keep dreaming for now. Maybe I will swap the four cylinder 160hp plant into my truck j/k.
I know that with the explorer, performance wasn't their first concern, but isn't it the same with most of their vehicles.... now they are starting to smell the coffee.
Another thing I recently learned from them is under no circumstance should you believe the power gains found in adds. Countless adds are posted for the Civic and all other cars mirroring the very ones we read for our trucks.
"AIR FILTER - $90.00 achieve 10-15hp" Thats all a load of ****, dyno the car before and after and see how close you come to their numbers.
The Flowmaster kit is quoted in the SUMMIT magazine as "increasing hp by 15 and torque by 23lbs." I hope the forgot to leave out that this must have been flywheel numbers b/c I surely did not feel like I achieved 15hp.
The one product that lives up to the hype is the Superchip b/c everyone that has one on the site always praises it. I might think about getting one some day.
God, did I just run on a tangent - sorry
PS> NO I WILL NOT BE ADDING THE CANNONBALL RUN EXHAUST TO THE HONDA WHEN I GET IT, NOR WILL I PASTE BIG "H" EMBLEMS OR JAPANESE POKEMON STICKERS ALL OVER THE CAR TO MAKE IT FASTER -- those people piss me off.
Hah, I totally agree. I like imports as well... Just not when Im cruisin in my Explorer. Then they piss me off. Idealy I would have and Explorer and a Lexus in the garage. My father has a V6 Lexus and it can shut down my moms Vette, no sweat (Its not the best Vette on the plantet... but its a Vette.) Not to mention its dead quiet. I cant tell if the engine is running or not and have tried to start the car while it was on several times. Oh well... What forum is this again?
What gets me is these little dudes that run around in Toyotas or Hondas with 5" clown exhaust and a set of wheels too big for the car. They have a "Mean People Suck" sticker on it. That stuff is not fast, all it does is make a lot of sewing-machine noise when they step on the gas pedal. I can run over and crush their tiny cars with my Explorer. I guess I am one of the mean people that suck. ehehe
Actually, I like some of the import car scene. I know a guy that had a black '88 VW Scirocco 16v and it was faster than hell, and super fun to drive.
Hey, mudbug... I went to Lowes to get those hooks. They ones I found would add up to $11 bucks but they didnt look like they would fit. They were too short. Also... when I looked at where they would mount... my air dam is in the way. Any way to mount some good looking hooks and have them visible, keeping the air dam?
Those little rice rockets are pretty fast, my little brother has one and I will give it that, but you know what? When four people are in my Explorer is makes absolutely no difference in speed. When four people are in that little honda, you'd think it was going to die! Why you ask? Torque! Our Explorers may lack horsepower, but we have seat of your pants towing power *grunts like Tim Allen*.
Ok, so now you know why I want a mustang, because a Ford V6 can easily kick a little Honda.
Really? Jeez.. when I have to drive up the grapevine with a full load of people or luggage.. I think im gunna roll back down the hill! Its not that bad.. but I can definatly feel it. Although when I had my 4 banger SAAB it was kick butt in the city, no matter what the load... but the secound it hit that grapevine.. it couldnt make it.
speaking of rice-burners... my parents have an Isuzu Rodeo & they took it cross-country a few years back. said it would only make 35mph up Eisenhower pass in CO, got passed by a VW beetle. LOL LOL LOL
Got my cooltape today, and well, in case anyone is wondering...GET MORE THAN 15 FEET.. guess someone had to learn the hard way, huh?? Unfortunately it had to be me. I still need more tape, so I have 2 of the three tunes covered. Anyone think maybe covering the radiator hoses would help also??
Hows it look? Can you post pictures when your done? I was thinking about putton some tape on as well.. what color is it? Know of anyone who makes a simalar product in colors? Hmmm...
my sister got a '89 prelude with the 2.somethin Vtech engine in it...holy crap that thing's fast...you'll get up to 90 on the interstate and think you're going 60...has great pick-up too (better than the splorer )...i couldnt believe that damn thing was a 4 cylinder...those things are freakin fast
While we're on the topic of rice... Yes, there are Japanese cars that are fast and handle well. I respect them. Unfortunately, we generally only get the weakest of the breed here. A Subaru 2.5RS is respectable, but compared to the Japanese version, the WRX, it's nothing. IMHO, there really aren't any Japanese vehicles in the American market that satisfy my tastes for performance on road or off. For the money, the Japanese cars do perform, to some extent... however, I found this page regarding the Civic Si versus the Mustang very interesting. http://members.home.net/crush/