98RedBird

iTrader: (77)

I'm going to school for Automotive Engineering right now, and one of my instructors said that to actually notice a difference in a cars power you need to make a 15% to 20% increase in HP. Well if my car is making 289hp at the wheels right now, and I install Pacesetter LT's, TSP True Duals, and get it dyno tuned on my 98 T/A that means that I will need to pick up somewhere around 40 HP to notice a difference. Is there any merit to this? Or should I notice a pretty big difference over where I am at now? How did your guys' car feel different after the install? Better throttle response, obviously better sound, and is it more top end power, or low end? From what I've been reading, you lose a little on the bottom end but gain alot of top end. I am also installing Poly motor and trans mounts, will that be a noticeable difference too? Thanks!

pontiac

iTrader: (4)

well you can feel 40 yes, but its not like you think. really its alot to do with your head. if you think its alot faster or not you will tell differences like: throttle reponse, smooth nes up top and better pulling. but you will NOT get in a car the next day and be like its so much faster!!!!! if you do , , , you head is helping haha

Exhaust can give you no power at all, but make the car seam alot faster haha

bowtieman81

iTrader: (35)

I agree, some of it is mental. After my headers I really did not notice much of any improvement. Definitley sounded better, but nothing major in acceleration.

Now, after the cam yes I did notice the difference. Not only did I have more power, but the powerband changed too.

camaroextra

iTrader: (10)

one way i notice little power things is tire spin. when my car was stock it would only spin the tires up to a certain rpm when i floored it, pretty consistently, after a lid, bellows and ported the **** out of my throttle body, i can feel them spinning under me a lot further through the rpm range

99Hawk262

iTrader: (19)

I felt an increase after my LT and TD install. It wasn't huge, but it was enough to know that I made a good decision. I picked up my biggest gains up top. It pulls much harder now. Off the line I picked up some, but it wasn't as noticeable. The power band is smoother and the power builds very quickly from below 2000 to redline. And like camaroextra said, traction is nonexistent now. Before I had to try hard to spin the tires. Now I can't hook if I wanted to. The 3500 TC that I'm getting isn't going to hurt my traction much more since I don't have it anyway. I can easily spin the tires well into 2nd. However....with a little fancy footwork, it will hook and it certainly pulls quicker than before. My 60' went from 2.2-2.3 stock to 1.9-2.0 now. My E.T. went from 13.6 to 12.9-13.0 and my trap speed went from 103 to 107-108. So yes, their are gains throughout, but maily up top.

98RedBird

iTrader: (77)

My only thing is that i always thought that these cars reacted VERY well to longtubes and duals, which is kind of why I spent the money lol. I was really wanting to notice a SOTP difference in performance. And honestly, how much does tuning the car after headers really help?

Zymosis

iTrader: (7)

Some cars will run very rich after headers, so tuning may help. Especially if you need to get your rear o2's tuned out for emission purposes.

As for SOTP, I noticed something after the lid, but its hard to tell if its just because of throttle response, or actually power.

Luna

iTrader: (6)

I just did headers on my car and noticed that the throttle was much more responsive at certain rpm ranges as well as pulling harder up top, its not like I said HOLY SH*T its a race car now!! but it is noticeable, the lid was another change in throttle responsiveness.

But as other people have said its all in your head, if you are used to fast cars its going to take alot more to make you feel it.

luv2spd

iTrader: (1)

I noticed a good gain from my LTs. The difference was pretty noticeable starting around 3k rpms. The tires spun a LOT more too.

soslo

iTrader: (12)

I think the percentage is probably more like 10%. I can't feel 10-15 diff...but I can feel 30.

v8hunter

iTrader: (2)

It depends how in tune you are with your car, but I feel like I can tell anything over about 10hp...I'm sure that many of you will claim BS, but many cars and tens of thousands of dollars into mods later I think that I can tell about 10 hp.

Jake the SSnake

iTrader: (11)

SOTP for me would be around 20 rwhp on a stock car.Fwiw my converter probably caused me to lose a couple hp but it made a bigger difference sotp than my tnt with a 100 shot in it.And anything that changes the sound will make it feel faster

formulajunky

I don't know i noticed the after the free mods, car seemed to pick up better spin them better, gears made big diff and same with stall,. headers going on in few weeks so i'll know more then

SmaknaSS

iTrader: (1)

I could barley feel a 50HP shot Even though the AFR looked good, but a 100 shot I could feel.

JimMueller

iTrader: (9)

I could easily feel the 20-30rwhp I gained switching from the LS1 intake to the LS6 intake. I think my power went from ~34x to ~36x.

Keenov

iTrader: (5)

I hardly felt a SOTP difference from stock to cam/full bolt on. That's about a 60rwhp difference. The only thing I felt was 3.42 from 4.10 gears.

Z2K_MrJ

When you drive around in a 300HP Fbody I would think you are going to need atleast 75 More Hp to feel a differ sence you car puts down 300+ TORQUE

jimmyblue

iTrader: (11)

You can notice "SOTP" performance improvements
that aren't even there; it's called "wishful thinking
after you paid for it".

Some mods will improve the throttle response and
be noticeable, even though the maximum power
output is unchanged or minimally affected. An
example is increasing spark timing (trickers, MAFs
that indicate low, or just tuning). The car leaps
more at tip-in, giving the impression of more power
(which it has, in the moment, relative to before)
but you are not at the power peak.

Than again some mods make you feel like the car
got slower (like a louder exhaust, the increase in
volume makes you think you should be accelerating
more, but you aren't).

2001 White Ws6

iTrader: (1)

Best SOTP mods i've done are the converter and cam. I didn't really feel jack **** from all of the other mods.

Lithium

iTrader: (47)

I have always heard 15rwhp is noticeable.