# How to Make my car faster?



## KingJay13 (Mar 25, 2015)

I have a 2014 Chevy Cruze LT I recently bought a spoiler and lowering springs for my car but now I wanna make it fast but I don't know very much about cars any suggestions ?


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## KOBALT (Nov 19, 2013)

Tune first, for sure. It's a night/day difference. Then do an intake/exhaust after.

Everything you could possibly need. Bookmark it  : Welcome to Bad News Racing


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## Daisy81 (Jun 17, 2012)

Yes the tune would make a serious difference all on it's own. In touring mode with 93 octane gasoline the car has instant power off the line. You have to be carful now not to drift up too fast.


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## S-Fitz (Jul 16, 2012)

Lots of stickers, an unpainted body kit, wing on the back and a fart can muffler. Done deal.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

You can make a faster Cruze but you will not be making a fast a car......sorry for the deadly honesty.

Rob


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## Daisy81 (Jun 17, 2012)

Robby said:


> You can make a faster Cruze but you will not be making a fast a car......sorry for the deadly honesty.
> 
> Rob


you're kind of underselling it.

The Cruze is a economy car.

That said I saw a YouTube video of a cruze racing muscle car on a drag strip and all they did to it was a trifecta tune and a air intake. When both cars launched the Cruze pulled ahead for a few seconds which was a real testament to the amount of low end torque to weight as well as the grip of the tires.

At a certain point, my estimate is ~45 -60MPH the muscle car pulled ahead and won by a huge margin.

keep in mind though this is a economy car with a inexpensive tune and maybe a air intake swap. For the job of the Cruze it is way more then enough. This car is about going to work and then coming home or going to school running errands. The fact that it can get a nice start at the light makes it great for street legal things like getting on the highway, passing at speed, not getting stuck behind a jerk going slow who speeds up when you try to pass and that kind of thing.

Edit:

I found the video I was talking about. Not bad for a Point A to B car.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

I suppose.....but, as you said, it really is designed as a economical car to operate.

Agreed, a surprising amount of bottom end.....for its displacement.....but, uh, fast....how about....nope.....not fast.

Rob


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## boneheaddoctor (Dec 10, 2014)

It they were bracket racing that Cruze would have gotten their green light before the faster mustang would have. 

Unless they were grudge racing or racing in Classes (when their lights would be simultanious)...they would have been racing based on their dial in time (which if they actually run faster than they dialed in..its an automatic loss). So I think that loss was ever worse than it appears in the video.

But I agree...the Cruze is a nice nimble economy car that actually does very, very well for what it is...an economy car (drive some much older economy cars and you will see what I mean, or even compare specs)....but if you want fast buy a Camaro Z28 or a Corvette.


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## Rich+Cruze! (Apr 8, 2014)

S-Fitz said:


> Lots of stickers, an unpainted body kit, wing on the back and a fart can muffler. Done deal.


You forgot painting it orange. Or perhaps orange racing stripes.


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## Daisy81 (Jun 17, 2012)

Robby said:


> I suppose.....but, as you said, it really is designed as a economical car to operate.
> 
> Agreed, a surprising amount of bottom end.....for its displacement.....but, uh, fast....how about....nope.....not fast.
> 
> Rob


Ok I think I get what you are saying. Yes this car will never ever in a million years be a sports car. Then again neither is a Civic SI but people love those cars for whatever reason. It gave a 4.6L V8 a run for it's money. This is probably what the original poster was asking about. Otherwise instead of buying a Cruze a Camaro is not much more if you don't go crazy with the options depending on the trim level of the Cruze he bought.

Edit:

Never mind he bought a 1LT but still for the money it's not bad.


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## Daisy81 (Jun 17, 2012)

boneheaddoctor said:


> It they were bracket racing that Cruze would have gotten their green light before the faster mustang would have.
> 
> Unless they were grudge racing or racing in Classes (when their lights would be simultanious)...they would have been racing based on their dial in time (which if they actually run faster than they dialed in..its an automatic loss). So I think that loss was ever worse than it appears in the video.
> 
> But I agree...the Cruze is a nice nimble economy car that actually does very, very well for what it is...an economy car (drive some much older economy cars and you will see what I mean, or even compare specs)....but if you want fast buy a Camaro Z28 or a Corvette.


Sorry I just saw your post.

I went back and watched the video again closely. Both cars in it started at pretty much the same time so I believe they got the green light at the same time.

I driven a few corvettes over the years. LOL year they are a *lot* faster then the Cruze but you also need to know how to apply the gas so you don't get tire spin lose track and spin out into oncoming traffic. Either that or for the love of god leave the traction control on and don't power through turns with your hair on fire.


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## MilTownSHO (Oct 9, 2013)

It's easy, sell the Cruze and buy a new car.

It's an economy car for a reason


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Welcome to the forums, I guess we need to know your background of previous cars to determine what you mean by fast. 

Tune would be the best solution to making the car faster than what it is from the factory. Truthfully I'm content with just the tune at the moment but I also have a 300 HP Subaru to play with once all the mad tight overnight parts from Japan show up from a month ago. Whats up with that longshoreman strike?


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Cruze can easily go way past 20 mph above the highest posted speed limit. If caught, going over 20 mph, my state will take your driver's license away for a full year.

So are you talking about highway use or drag or stock car racing? Function of a spoiler is to convert airflow to downward pressure that has a bad effect of cutting down the aerodynamics for poor fuel economy. On the Cruze, strictly a decorative item. Really not very effective anyway unless you are going over 100 mph. But very effective on racing cars with RWD for more traction, Cruze has FWD. 

Air filter, exhaust, and a tune can cost you around 1,300 bucks, and if you can believe what they say, would give you about a 1.4% increase in HP. But indubitably will have more noise. 

Could trade it off for one of these.










Ha, if you think this car is expensive, wait until you call your insurance company.


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

ive owned mustangs. if that cruze can keep up like that then I feel the mustang was broken or a bad driver. If its completely legit with a good driver, everyone should buy that tune


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## Daisy81 (Jun 17, 2012)

money_man said:


> ive owned mustangs. if that cruze can keep up like that then I feel the mustang was broken or a bad driver. If its completely legit with a good driver, everyone should buy that tune


i guess there is always the chance. More likely the Mustang didn't take the Cruze seriously and going to mess with him. Then the race started and the Cruze surprised him and he couldn't overtake until the Cruze hit the magic point where it just couldn't keep the acceleration up. Granted the mustang is faster but that low end torque of the Cruze with the tune is unreal.

Don't forget that the Eco manual has the 1.4L turbo and is I believe the lightest Cruze available. It sure looks legit to me especially after driving my LTZ around the last few days. The bottom end is instant and more then I ever could have dreamed for because the torque is there almost instantly. What holds the car back in top speed and allows the Mustang to win is the lower horsepower of the Cruze.

The best part about the tune is all the speed is in the useable speed range for on the road. From 0 to 40 I would say this car is fast. From 40 to 70 I would say it is pretty good. Beyond that well it isn't a race car or a sports car so I can overlook that it basically hits the wall at ~85-90 where the speed increase is like 1MPH per second. How often are we going to be going that fast on the road and short of a punk stunt who would take a Cruze on the race track?


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## Jukebox Juliet (Apr 4, 2014)

Let's see a Cruze go up against the new SS.

Too hard to tell in the video but imo it looks like the Mustang driver either sucks at driving and/or had a bad launch. 

That being said, imo the Cruze is small and zippy around town, and I think it's easy to feel like you do have a fairly quick car if you're trying to get around another vehicle or make a lane change after a light turns green. 
I own a tune, but have yet to install it, so those are my opinions just on stock 1.4. If you feel your Cruze is slow you can always go test drive a Sonic for a day and then your Cruze will feel like a race car  

Oh, and I'll also add my dad has owned many, many nice muscle cars over his younger years and in the later half of his life several different Corvettes. Now he has a '12 2LT 1.4 and he would be the first to say that while his Cruze obviously isn't a V8, it definitely still has some spunk to it and is fun as a daily driver.



Sent with iLove 6.0


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## hificruzer226 (Mar 27, 2013)

If you want it to be a fast car you should swap the buick 2.0 turbo motor and modify that motor. other than that you will be lucky if you play with 14's. I looked in to doing this and realized it wasn't too expensive in the grand scheme of things however I realized I would have been wasting my money. So I bought my track day car s14 with a 2j.


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## Daisy81 (Jun 17, 2012)

Jukebox Juliet said:


> Let's see a Cruze go up against the new SS.
> 
> Too hard to tell in the video but imo it looks like the Mustang driver either sucks at driving and/or had a bad launch.
> 
> ...


I've only seen photos of the SS. It looks very nice but for the asking price I would pass.

Maybe when they kill it next year they will put out a Impala SS or Malibu SS that has the performance minus the gas guzzling tax with a little less sticker shock and one of those digital gauges that GM has in the Lacrosse, Regal GS and Corvette. They look sweet.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Ha, one way to make your car go faster is to drive it off the edge of the Grand Canyon.

But don't try this at home, well, unless you have the Grand Canyon in your home. Hear this don't try this at home all time like I have a seven mile deep ocean in my house or a skyscraper. 

Mythbusters are saying this all the time, like I am going to drive my car at 150 mph in my living room. But they are the experts. 

Anyway, don't try this at home.


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## Daisy81 (Jun 17, 2012)

NickD said:


> Ha, one way to make your car go faster is to drive it off the edge of the Grand Canyon.
> 
> But don't try this at home, well, unless you have the Grand Canyon in your home. Hear this don't try this at home all time like I have a seven mile deep ocean in my house or a skyscraper.
> 
> ...


Crap now I want to try it.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Daisy81 said:


> Crap now I want to try it.


Make sure you have good air brakes.


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## Daisy81 (Jun 17, 2012)

NickD said:


> Make sure you have good air brakes.


Don't worry I'll release the trunk.

...

That and I'll get out before it goes over the cliff.


...

Yeah Geico I need to report an "accident" :grin:


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## Berkscruze1 (Mar 21, 2015)

I gotta agree with the Cruze being a economy car, but to have some fun and make it better for on and off ramp situations a tune intake exhaust is nice. Costs money, but going to a vehicle is better then to my wife, haha. This way going to 60 from a stop doesn't take forever. And the comment about the 2.0 swap... I've been pricing that recently but I'm pretty content with mine with a little more power and the obnoxious exhaust down pipe back redone plus I've grown to like the noise from my bov... That all was purchased just to wake my one neighbor.. Along with the heads and duels on my truck,,, that slacker


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## Daisy81 (Jun 17, 2012)

Berkscruze1 said:


> I gotta agree with the Cruze being a economy car, but to have some fun and make it better for on and off ramp situations a tune intake exhaust is nice. Costs money, but going to a vehicle is better then to my wife, haha. This way going to 60 from a stop doesn't take forever. And the comment about the 2.0 swap... I've been pricing that recently but I'm pretty content with mine with a little more power and the obnoxious exhaust down pipe back redone plus I've grown to like the noise from my bov... That all was purchased just to wake my one neighbor.. Along with the heads and duels on my truck,,, that slacker


The tune really does provide a good amount of bang for the buck. How can you argue when it's $300 for a bone stock vehicle. In my day to day driving around town I have to put it in stock + mode because I have found the speed creeps up on me in the touring mode a little too easily. (Trifecta don't you dare change a thing )


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## blk88verde (Apr 30, 2011)

When I had my 2011 ECO 6MT trifecta tuned - I actually took a 4.6 GT Mustang up to about 30 MPH. As was noted the ECO MT is the lightest trim and first gear is really low. So this video is believable.



> Let's see a Cruze go up against the new SS.


 I saw a gorgeous red one this afternoon parked in front of the Chevy dealer (near West Point Military Academy), I was so tempted to stop and check it out. Last weekend my son was at Sebring to watch the 12 hr race. He got to test drive a SS MT and admitted it is fast. He also tested an M3 and said it was a rocket.


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## Samuel (Jun 4, 2014)

Well I for one would like some real resources for getting as much as I can from this little 1.4 instead of tune exhaust buy a different car. Seems to me that there are to many people in the forum that only care for a better looking louder stereo car and not a faster cruze


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## Jukebox Juliet (Apr 4, 2014)

blk88verde said:


> When I had my 2011 ECO 6MT trifecta tuned - I actually took a 4.6 GT Mustang up to about 30 MPH. As was noted the ECO MT is the lightest trim and first gear is really low. So this video is believable.
> 
> I saw a gorgeous red one this afternoon parked in front of the Chevy dealer (near West Point Military Academy), I was so tempted to stop and check it out. Last weekend my son was at Sebring to watch the 12 hr race. He got to test drive a SS MT and admitted it is fast. He also tested an M3 and said it was a rocket.


Sounds awesome!


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## Camcruse (Oct 4, 2011)

Yeah, sell it and go buy a vette...vroom!!!


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

I sure baby my Supra and a close friend my age sure babies is Corvette, but we like to talk that we like the power when we need it, but so far, never needed it.

Days of stock and drag racing was a long time ago. Entry fee was more than that two buck trophy, spent all week repairing your damage. And if you really wanted to thrill the crowd, would either blow your engine or better yet, kill yourself.

But performance is still key in our lives, ever since the energy crisis, key performance has been fuel economy. Lets see who can get the best mpg. The prize is having a couple of more bucks in your pocket and a vehicle that last a long long time.


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## Berkscruze1 (Mar 21, 2015)

Samuel said:


> Well I for one would like some real resources for getting as much as I can from this little 1.4 instead of tune exhaust buy a different car. Seems to me that there are to many people in the forum that only care for a better looking louder stereo car and not a faster cruze


. If you want a Cruze 1.4t that isn't sluggish you need to contact trifecta for a tune, I see a lot of people getting a hold of them. I personally took mine to a buddy's shop and had it dyno tuned, after my intake and exhaust were installed.To see decent results intake and exhaust because the factory parts are so restrictive for economy reasons... My Cruze Eco is good I go to the strip just for fun and when I go to work then I see the same fuel economy numbers. Just what I did but it's your money do what you want.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Samuel said:


> Well I for one would like some real resources for getting as much as I can from this little 1.4 instead of tune exhaust buy a different car. Seems to me that there are to many people in the forum that only care for a better looking louder stereo car and not a faster cruze


Reason being the tune is the biggest mod that is the only one you can literally feel. Rest of the mods are not much and when all compiled the car untuned tries to undo the gains from them. 

The Cruze is still a newish car so there is no full on mods list like say a Civic. The turbo is large enough when tuned to give you low and mid range power. If you want a fast Cruze you need to find a totaled 2.0 Verano to swap the drivetrain from or buy the Verano 2.0. If you want to play around in used car category you literally can score a 2.0T premium ATS for at or under the price of a 2LT Cruze. Besides the visual cues and all it still feels like an expensive larger LTZ Cruze. 



Berkscruze1 said:


> . If you want a Cruze 1.4t that isn't sluggish you need to contact trifecta for a tune, I see a lot of people getting a hold of them. I personally took mine to a buddy's shop and had it dyno tuned, after my intake and exhaust were installed.To see decent results intake and exhaust because the factory parts are so restrictive for economy reasons... My Cruze Eco is good I go to the strip just for fun and when I go to work then I see the same fuel economy numbers. Just what I did but it's your money do what you want.


Only restrictive part is the cat just after the DP, rest of the intake and exhaust is oversized. The only real "restriction" on these cars is weight and computer tune. 

The car's computer fights mods until you tune for them. Reason we say grab a tune after you do exhaust and intake especially if you deleted cats. There were people who literally ran slower 1/4 times with mods because of that. Once I went trifecta I literally feel like the car is twice as fast after 2800 rpms.


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## brandonlanier887 (2 mo ago)

Robby said:


> You can make a faster Cruze but you will not be making a fast a car......sorry for the deadly honesty.
> 
> Rob


a 400 hp cruze is a literal go kart with a jet engine on it


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