jford

I have a '99 2.8L that I am looking to make some minor upgrades. I've heard a lot of good and bad about chipping but understand that it may not get me much in a non turbo engine. In all I'd like to get an additional 15-20 horses but am a novice at this.

Any suggestions?

Audi2ptzero

is to run alot of adv timing for race fuel, change cams or put on a SC.

zerogrip

If you buy brand new:
*GIAC 30v chip will give you 10hp = 300.00
*intake 5-10 hp = 80.00 -120.00(Custom made) or 250.00(LLTEK kit)
*exhaust 5-10+hp (it depends)=no more than 800.00

** Pes G2 Supercharger (+105hp) = 3995.00

JWG

An engine can have 400 hp, but if you get it only within a small RPM range, it becomes basically useless. The car with the highest hp number does not always win the race. It's much more important to have well-balanced hp and torque curves; this makes a car a great performer.

Horch is right, if you chip, improve the restrictive air intake, and decrease the backpressure (especially in the catalytic converters) you can get the 15-20 hp you seek.

As a novice to modding, learn one thing: intelligently increasing power means looking at overall power curves not max power output.

In some cases, mods may give you 20 hp more, but in the middle of the RPM range, e.g., 100 hp at a certain RPM becomes 120 hp, rather than 190 max hp becoming 210 max. I have seen some mods give only an additional 5 hp on the top while you gain 15 hp somewhere in the middle. Others rob hp from the bottom and add just to the top. Others increase torque but decrease hp, and vice-versa. Fortunately, with a normally aspriated engine, most mods will affect both the hp and torque curves together. Normally aspirated engines are generally very predictable.

I learned an interesting lesson in Europe, where a tuned diesel car can make you eat his soot, because as a cetane-based engine, rather than octane-based, it creates a gnarly torque curve far beyond its hp curve, whereas octane based engines create about the same hp as torque. So while you will win the race at the top speeds as you can accelerate to a overall higher level of power, it takes you longer to do so. A diesel will out accelerate a gasoline engine with its awesome raw torque which allows the diesel to apply its power (while there exists less of it) more quickly.

The complexity of how mods affect your car makes modding so addictive, because you constantly gain new insights and learn things that you never would have expected--the joy of discovery through trial and error (similar to the scientific method).