3.8 v6 horsepower at the wheel

[firebird0184]

hi all, sorry i had no idea which forum to put this in, but its about my 02 firebird v6 (3.8), i hear all these people talking about overall hp vs horespower at the wheel. . the stock firebird has 200 hp, but only 170 of those horses reach the wheels. . what has to be done to the car to unleash those extra horses to the wheels?

[SSickLS1]

mods.

[RrCoX22]

modification help the engine "breathe" as opening the induction system lets more air in and the freeing restriction in the exhaust helps gases release quicker and easier.

your driveline eats up a bunch of the crank horsepower as well, that's why there's a difference of horsepower ratings and then at the wheels

[firebird0184]

oh wow slickls1 that helped so much. .

[fbodyrs96]

CAI, headers, high flow cat, cat-back, gears and a tune will get you up to 200RWHP

[SSickLS1]

Originally Posted by firebird0184

oh wow slickls1 that helped so much. .

lol anytime

[pontiacfreak142]

Im assuming your just trying to get to 200whp? If thats correct, it depends on a few things as to what kind of mods you will need. With a manual tranny car, just bolt ons may get you pretty close. If its an auto, from what ive seen, most stock auto cars put down roughly 150ish at the wheels, so you will need a bit more. Also if your goal is just horsepower, dont put new gears in it, lower gears (such as 4.10's) show less hp at the wheels.

[Italia]

basic bolt ons will get you close. keep an eye on what you do because if you're working on exhaust if you over do it then you'll lose power in the lower rpm range, not saying it's gone forever but you'll need to rev higher to get to it.