# More power



## wesmonnette (Mar 10, 2014)

The title says it all... I inherited this car from my mom and me being a normal 17 year old, all I want is more power. I'm aware that I can install a cold air intake, new exhausts, high flow catalytic converters, and all that, but what I think would be a good way to go is a new engine. I'm looking for something that I could turbo or supercharge, and get new headers for and such. Something with good upgradability... I'm hoping for a V6 and would be open to a new transmission as I would love a manual. So what I would like from y'all (i'm southern), is what engine is it, how much can I do to it, and how much will it cost. If you feel I should stick with the 1.8 I4, for go to the turbo diesel (an attractive alternative), please tell me what I can do to my car for more horses. Thank y'all so much!
I have a 2012 LS 1.8L I4 automatic. 
p.s.- if y'all know of a way to get rid of the bump shifter lag that would be amazing as well!


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

Anything you do to it is going to cost a fortune for how little power you'll get out of it. Turbo diesel isn't really an option for you, you may as well buy a new car. Best thing to do would be put in a 1.4T but that's probably a ton of work.


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## stamas (Mar 7, 2014)

Ok first things first wats your budget , we can work from there mate ( I'm from London)


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## Hoon (Mar 18, 2012)

Either embrace it for what it is, or sell it and buy something faster. 

Engine swaps will cost you more money, not to mention the time and work, than just buying a car with the desired engine.


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## SneakerFix (Jul 28, 2013)

No need for a engine swap. Just turbo the stock 1.8 if you have a budget of around $2000 I know for sure you can put a turbo set up on it. Check out homemadeturbo.com a basic T3 or T3/T4 hybrid would be a good turbo. You can mod the cxracing intercooler for the 1.4 to fit the 1.8 also you'll need bigger injectors the auto trans will hold what ever you put at it


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## danhr (Apr 19, 2014)

Get a different car. Don't try to make the car somethings it's not. You will waste money and look like a dimwit.


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## ChrisWorldPeace (Jun 24, 2013)

Cruze isn't gonna be a fast car I understand where you're coming from man but the most Ill do for the cruze is an intake and and exhaust just to free up the car a little bit 

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App


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## AlcoholicPolak (Dec 28, 2013)

Typical kid. Don't get me wrong, we've all been there. I'm 30 now and I still like modding my cars. It's just that you'll have to learn from experience. 

My best advice is the same as others, sell it and buy something a little older that's more sporty. However, if you're stubborn, you'll want to do work on this car because you can't get something else. So I say live and learn. I would just do intake, exhaust, tune. Maybe try some suspension/handling mods to make it more fun that way.

If that's not enough, down the road sell the intake and header, piece together a turbo setup.

But try not to waste too much money. Do NOT think about engine and transmission swaps. In new cars there is too much involved in terms of electrical/computer and just the cost of the engine/trans.

If it were an older car, that wouldn't be a problem.


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## AlcoholicPolak (Dec 28, 2013)

Also so you know...I personally think 4 cyl force inducted is the way to go. Most V6's out there don't have much aftermarket support...V8 would be the only other real option, but not for a Cruze.

If you considered swapping something else in, the only thing I could recommend is the 2.0 turbo from the Verano/Regal.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

An engine swap would cost you more than the car is worth. Besides if your like most young guys with this ambition you will just end up with a pile of parts and a non-working car.


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

Go the tune route. Prob the best bang for your buck. almost all tests I've seen recently show factory intakes are on par or better than most aftermarket intakes. If you do the car back you might see 2-3whp...and that's me being generous. With the tune however you can pick the gains you want. (Performance, economy, etc)


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## Epickphale (Jan 30, 2013)

Depending on budget and how much power you are looking to make... the tune is the best option as stated above. If that isnt enough, throw a turbo on the 1.8 and tune THAT. Thats about the best you are going to get. Engine swapping a new car is ludicrous, the Cruze is NOT a sports car and without some serious money: it never will be. This isnt to say that you cant have a little fun with it with the right after market options (the tune and maybe a more free flowing exhaust) but if you expect to make a sports car out of it.... give up now mate. With rising gas prices be proud of that economy car!


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## Hoon (Mar 18, 2012)

Some of you seem to think a turbo build on an N/A car is a quick, simple and inexpensive thing....


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## danhr (Apr 19, 2014)

Hoon said:


> Some of you seem to think a turbo build on an N/A car is a quick, simple and inexpensive thing....


can be.


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## SneakerFix (Jul 28, 2013)

Hoon said:


> Some of you seem to think a turbo build on an N/A car is a quick, simple and inexpensive thing....



Ive done it a hand full of times on diff platforms for less then $3000. Even boosted a katana they all still run and drive it all comes down to skill level DIY and shopping. If he wants to build his cruze I support it 100% if you need help PM me I'm down to build a turbo kit for the 1.8 smurf hint hint lol


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

SneakerFix said:


> Ive be done it a hand full of times on differnt platforms for less then $3000. Even boosted a katana it all comes down to skill level DIY and shopping


$3000 is likely the price difference between selling that Cruze and getting a 1.4T powered Cruze and a tune. With money left over for a few tanks of the premium fuel it will now need to run until the tune comes off. 

For right now, I'd throw some stickier 17" or 18" tires onto that LS with stock Eco, 2LT or LTZ rims (although being a LS, the Eco wheels are the lightest by far). That makes it faster by needing to slow down less when turning. It's not more power. It is using the available power better!


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## AlcoholicPolak (Dec 28, 2013)

The comment I made about intake, header, exhaust and tune...he may not see much power with the parts...but the sound being more aggressive will give him the idea that it is making more power...

My overall opinion is still going with suspension/handling upgrades. Your Cruze will never be fast...neither will mine and mine is a 1.4T.

You might have a lot more fun with handling. And if you want to get into some fun events like auto-x or other road course type racing, suspension is going to make the most difference. 


As many people ask...what's the point in a fast car? You can't legally drive faster than the speed limit and you can only get to said speed limit in a certain amount of time...anything else is considered breaking the law...if you jack rabbit start and a cop is around, you can get in trouble...do a burnout, same thing...speeding, obviously a ticket. 

And to take you car to the drag strip...well that might only disappoint you even more.

Seriously consider checking out some local auto-x...you can see how much fun you can have without power....and then keep the normal driving to the streets.

It's totally up to you on what you want to do, but just a few thoughts.

Also, if you do any major upgrading such as a swap or turbo upgrade, you can't forget that you'll want to upgrade tires and brakes as well. There's no point in having power if you can't control it.


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## Hoon (Mar 18, 2012)

SneakerFix said:


> Ive done it a hand full of times on diff platforms for less then $3000. Even boosted a katana they all still run and drive it all comes down to skill level DIY and shopping. If he wants to build his cruze I support it 100% if you need help PM me I'm down to build a turbo kit for the 1.8 smurf hint hint lol


I don't disagree that a good build can be done for cheap with the right skills, tools, and careful parts selection. Most of the time with budget builds, that's not the case. 

Let's face it, most of the builds that are done for $2K (the budget you originally stated) are a bunch of hacked together Chinese junk parts, with manifolds made from recycled washing machines, garbage turbos with bearings made of cheese, $40 wastegates that stick shut, and intercoolers that don't cool anything. 

What about supporting mods? ...the clutch alone will eat 20% of your budget. A good dyno tune is another 20%. That leaves you $1200 for a manifold, wastegate, turbo, downpipe, FMIC, BOV, cold side plumbing, intake, and fuel system....Better call Shanghai, lol. 

A 17 year old asking the questions the OP is asking, is going to have quite a learning curve.


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## AlcoholicPolak (Dec 28, 2013)

sciphi said:


> $3000 is likely the price difference between selling that Cruze and getting a 1.4T powered Cruze and a tune. With money left over for a few tanks of the premium fuel it will now need to run until the tune comes off.
> 
> For right now, I'd throw some stickier 17" or 18" tires onto that LS with stock Eco, 2LT or LTZ rims (although being a LS, the Eco wheels are the lightest by far). That makes it faster by needing to slow down less when turning. It's not more power. It is using the available power better!


If we're going that route...thing diet...weight loss won't gain power, but it will make a car faster...how badly do you need rear head rests? Do you have passengers in the back? Can you afford to be without a spare tire? How about the trunk liner? How about some of the unnecessary sound deadening under the hood.


I do not advise these things unless you're keeping the car with no plans of selling anytime soon, but other thoughts.


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## SneakerFix (Jul 28, 2013)

Hoon said:


> I don't disagree that a good build can be done for cheap with the right skills, tools, and careful parts selection. Most of the time with budget builds, that's not the case.
> 
> Let's face it, most of the builds that are done for $2K (the budget you originally stated) are a bunch of hacked together Chinese junk parts, with manifolds made from recycled washing machines, garbage turbos with bearings made of cheese, $40 wastegates that stick shut, and intercoolers that don't cool anything.
> 
> ...



A few of the 3k builds I've done are driving at IFO shortly. But I make my own manifolds and downpipes they aren't fancy but DIY logs and all SS304 I've learned over the years you don't always need to buy new to make power. 


To me a budget build is using used or parts from others cars. I know a few that have used those "40 wastegate and those garbage turbos" some of them work some don't I personally haven't used them so I can't say they are bad or good


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## AlcoholicPolak (Dec 28, 2013)

Hoon's point is this kid most likely doesn't have the knowledge or the tools necessary to make anything himself. In fact he probably wouldn't be doing a majority of the work himself. If he's handy, then I'm mistaken, but just based on what Hoon is saying, he's interpreting the OP as not being mechanically inclined.

When you have to pay to have everything custom made or source things elsewhere, it tends to get more expensive.

I remember the exact dilemma back when I had my 99 Saturn SC1...I was trying to do things to make it faster but the fact was that it never would be...the closest I go was when a friend rolled his 95 SL2 and gave me the car...I was going to do an engine/trans swap...from 1.9 SOHC to 1.9L DOHC and from auto to manual (much easier back then in those cars)...but I just never got around to it and I wound up scrapping one car and the other was taken when my house was foreclosed 4 years ago (because I left it in the garage and didn't want to deal with it anymore).

Anyway, point being there were only a handful of headers on the market for the 1.9 SOHC and I couldn't find any since they weren't being produced at that point anymore...a local speed shop quoted me between $350 and $450.

Later I looked at turbocharging since others were doing it relatively cheap...again on those cars...with the technology in them...easy...the difficulty was tuning because it's not like my Cobalt or my Cruze...we didn't have Trifecta...it was basically a piggy back setup.


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## SneakerFix (Jul 28, 2013)

Those dohc 1.9s were crazy back in the day. I remember when that blk 4 door that dealer built went 10s. Put it this way if it wasn't for that dealer or guys like you GM wouldn't have put out parts or made the Balt ss. Like they say "if you build it they will come"


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## AlcoholicPolak (Dec 28, 2013)

Yeah and when you're in a sub 2500 pound car...200whp gets you down the track pretty **** quick...250-300whp felt like a rocket.


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## socalcruze (Aug 4, 2012)

Problem with trying to hot-rod an LS is that even after the engine swap, it'll still be an LS suspension. The LS is a perfectly acceptable daily driver, but a performance vehicle...not so much. By the time you'd make yourself happy all-around, you'd be several grand in the hole vs trading it in for an LT with the sport tuned suspension, or Sonic, or something older that floats your boat.


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## AlcoholicPolak (Dec 28, 2013)

The regular 1LT doesn't have sport suspension, socalcruze. Only higher trimmed 1.4's have it.

Not to mention the aftermarket suspension options are way better than the stock suspension anyway (either sport tuned or not).


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## danhr (Apr 19, 2014)

Hoon said:


> Let's face it, most of the builds that are done for $2K (the budget you originally stated) are a bunch of hacked together Chinese junk parts, with manifolds made from recycled washing machines, garbage turbos with bearings made of cheese, $40 wastegates that stick shut, and intercoolers that don't cool anything.


Didn't Parish set the record for the fastest stock LSx longblock by going low 9's in a car with recycled manifolds off of a truck and a chinese knockoff masterpower turbocharger?

Just saying....


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