What would be the next best bang for buck for hp/torque for the 2.4 after Short ram/CAI?

- W

 

ECM tune. Thats what I am doing, 7000rpm here I come

 

AVRO,

What is the cost, and what is the gain? Do you have to switch to premium gas?

- W

 

With a 2.4 you should be running premium anyways... I'd say go header/exhaust then get the reflash... it'll take better advantage of the higher airflow.

 

ECM tune - you'll feel the increase immediately, THEN i'd get more airflow going

1st upgrade for me in the ecm tune

 

I honestly don't know exactly the gain...but I think its 10hp/10tq to the wheels at peak power.
Puts out more power throughout the rpm range I understand.

I think premium is a must with a ECM tune--but I run it all the time right now.

Westers garage (they have US dealers--$495 shpping inc I think) and Vector Motorsports are your choices.

 

I hate seeing this. Please do not mislead 2.4 owners into thinking this. Your motor will run optimal with an 87 octane. Your motor was not designed to burn a fuel that rich. You will only be hurting your performance with a premium octane unless you have an ecu that is designed for it...(i.e. vector)

 

THANK YOU MERCURY! I've been waiting for someone else to say this also. I just hate it how everyone thinks that premium will make their car run so much better, but our engines are MADE to run 87. Maybe one day everyone will get it, and stop being so thickheaded. Save alot of $ on gas and run what your supposed to be running in your car ... which is REG. 87 octane.

 

Thats ridiculous You are the one who is misleading.

In the owners manual and on the website it says, "Premium recomended but not required"

Our 2.4L makes its max rated hp with premium. It was designed to run on premium but like all cars you could get away with the crappy gas---at the exspense of a hp loss.

Stop spreading mistruths. GM knows what they are talking about. You S/C guys think your the only ones who need the good gas--you are wrong sir. High comprsssion engines benefit from premium and ours is the highest.

 

he meant use premium gas after ecm tune. i used westers garage and went 7200 rpm. i love it i was hoping to get a better quarter mile time. i got 15 seconds flat at 90mph

 

So ECM tune allows you to shift at higher rpm's instead of cutting fuel to the engine?

 

Premium is a must with the ECU tune, part of the reason the tune adds power because it changes the a/f ratio to take advantage of the premium gas.

 

500 more RPMs makes a difference?
I'm not trying to be smart, I actually want an opinion. lol

 

Guys,

I'm new to Cobalt, but in general best to go with owners manual.

However, in discussions in other car, and sport bike forums, the rule is YOU WILL GET BEST PERFORMANCE FROM LOWER OCTANE - OPTIMUM IS TO RUN THE LOWEST OCTANE THAT YOU CAN WITHOUT GETTING ENGINE KNOCK. Its all in the tuning, becasue race cars do run very high octane, but they are tuned for that. Also, I'm fussy about brands. I think Phillips66, and Shell are the best. I avoid kwiky mart/convenience store gas.

No - I don't know everything - just wanted to pass along what had been discussed in other forums.

- W

 

id get the tune after the mods since the tune is adjusted to take advantage or specific mods.. well atleast thats what the webster guys told me. with minor mods you and a tune should put you at 160ishwhp. I will be getting mine sometime in june prob.

oh and what is it with people thinking that we shouldnt be putting premium in our cars? if gm tells me it is recommended to put premium in my car because it will make it perform better then you bet your ass im going to listen to them... after all they designed the damn thing...

 

I'm gonna have to agree with this... if a 10.4:1 compression engine don't need premium... I don't know what does...

 

right. Anyone who has run regular and premium (and can read the manual) in the 2.4 knows the difference. Better response and mpg. I'm more inclined to trust the guys who made the car anyways.

Of course, its capable of running 87 when premium is 3.45 and for this I'm thankful. Ah the magic of VVT. If someone can eventually train the 2.4 to use 87 to achieve max power output let me know.

 

Why bother modding if you can't affor 94octane

I gave a ride to Denny and he noticed a big difference between 91 and 94 in my car. Hes not hitting the same amount of boost as I did stock because ive allways gased 94.

 

i dont think he meant that he couldnt afford it.... but i know that gas makes a difference depending on the tunning because my camaro wouldnt run on anything less than 93 octane because of motor mods but before the mods it didnt matter.

 

Kyle,

Which Tiburon did you have?

- W

 

well im not being rude but i run 93 in my 2.4 and i have had no problems ..ive ran about 3 tanks of it through...if anything it very slightly increases power..more than less just letting you get the full 171 hp..so it doesnt hurt the car

 

It would be nice to see a dyno of a SS 2.4 using 87, 92, and 93 octane. The butt meter can sometimes be deceiving.

- W

 

why in the world would GM say you Should use more expensive, higher octane fuel in a car that didn't run best on that octane?

 

Two words.

Major. League. Baseball.

Can ya dig it?

 

I think that stating OK to use 87 octane could be a marketing tool. However 87 cotane is not the same, even in north america. Gas quality is very good in North-Central US - not so in Mexico (for example).

If those that feel premium runs better in their 2.4 - try mid-grade.

To argue the other side - for my A4 that I had tweaked - they said use 93 octane if you can. And I will have to say I got more zap out of premium. But not so stock. As I recall 87 octane burns quicker - at a lower temp than say 92 octane. But its all in the tuning, and my guess is that the 2.4 is "tuned" for optimum somewhere between 87 and 90.

It would be nice to hear from someone from GM that KNOWS the answer.

- w