How to add horsepower?

[jgerock]

There seems to be many different answers to your inquiry. As mentioned above, make sure the car is tuned and maintained as BMW would have recommended back in the day, then make your own fine adjustments like reducing slop in the pedals, accelerator linkage, brake system, suspension, etc. Throwing money at any vehicle may result in a worse situation than what you started out with.

There is a reason why these little cars are so addictive and fun!

[florida2002m3]

Congrats Tim. I understand what you want, Im in the same boat. Luckily i have a modern BMW to give me my kicks in a straight line. Cheapest and easiest way to add some HP, in my humble opinion.

1. Tune, make sure plugs are good, timing is right, ignition is good.

2. Carb, weber downdraft or side draft

3. Headers, should be done with any larger carb (38ish+)

4. MSD, help full burn of that extra fuel from carb

5. Weight reduction, if your dad will let you, haha

6. Steeper cam, 292 is popular for most setups

7. Higher compression, might as well "refresh" the whole engine at that point

If my memory serves accurate some people can squeeze about 140ish+ with these relatively cheaper upgrades, but i could be way off

Anything after that will get you into the realm of racing engines and much more $$. But as all have said, HP doesnt mean faster. Suspension design is the forte of the 2002!!!!!!!!!

Of course there are the engine swaps, or intake swaps from a 318, forced induction, but some feel these will take away from the character of the car (myself included)

[OriginalOwner]

OK, on topic.

out here in SoCal (Simi Valley specifically) is a place called German Import Services. The son Gino is the one you want to talk to.

http://www.germanimportservices.com/

A couple of years ago I was talking with Gino on the topic of "what would I do if I decided to get rid of all the tii fuel injection stuff ....."

What I had in mind was if the Kugelfischer pump became unfixable, etc etc etc. what are some other options.

Gino races, and showed me his car. He had installed a fuel injection system (I naturally don't recall the details). He said he could set it up for a minimum of 160hp, and increment it on up to over 200hp .... maybe 220 or more ?? I don't recall the upper limit. He said installation would take him a couple of days, and he quoted about $1,700 at the time.

There is another 2002'er in Simi that has the setup, I've never met him. Gino did the work, says the guy really likes it.

Cheers,

Carl

[williamggruff]

You know that guy that has the really sweet guitar and amp, but can't play for crap? Don't be that guy.

You know that other guy that can play the hell out any stringed instrument, and can get an otherwise dead get together jumping? That's the guy you want to be.

You are not the things you possess. You are who and what you are, which are generally defined by your actions, experience, and character.

If you don't have competent driving skills, you don't need more horsepower. At your age, and given the question you've asked, you likely don't need horsepower. Instead, as several other members here have suggested, you'd benefit most from instruction and experience. Then you can be that guy who, although he might not have the most powerful car in the lot, can confidently and skillfully handle any car he gets into.

[M3M3]

how to make any car go faster(assuming all basic maint is already up to date on the car):

1/ research all the cool ways to put a bigger cam, carbs, turbo or even a bigger engine in the car.

2/ look at your budget to see what you can spend on all the cool ways to make more HP.

3/ throw away all your research.

4/ take the money you budgeted and buy a helmet.

5/ use all the rest of your budget on taking as many track performance driving schools you can.

guaranteed your car, and every other car you drive, will be MUCH faster(and safer) than if you had thrown money at the engine of one car.

[Cameron]

Tim

....

Cheers

Jon

selectclassics.com

Jon, how much power could we expect from a phase III? I know that 175hp is attainable with a 32/36 (or is that only with Tii blocks?). Sounds like with a 38/38 we might be looking at 300+hp? To the wheels I assume.

Have any dyno sheets?

[TobyB]

1 Cam

2 Carb(s)

3 Exhaust

4 BMWCCA driver's days.

In reverse order, repeat #4 to satisfaction.

'detuned' -- really?

t

[harry6422]

This is advise from a old head 62 years to a young one . The BMW 2002 is such a balanced car in it's stock form. Keep it as stock as you can , there are so few that are left in this condition . Maybe this way you can give to your son someday. Save your money and buy a 98-2000 M model 3 series or Z3 m roadster , all the power, with running gear to match stock, to go fast safely

Harry

[Guest Anonymous]

Just inherited my dads 1974 2002 for graduation. Are there any worthwhile modifications i can make to add horsepower?

High School or College?

Checking account balance (just kidding ..... sort of). Before you add HP, you need to upgrade suspension and brakes. These two things done right make a world of difference to an o2. On that note, their is a progression to follow (based on an old AlpinA catalogue and their recommendations), assuming things are added piece by piece.....

1. Front/Rear Shocks; 2. Front/Rear Springs; 3. Adjustable Rear Swaybar with hard rubber bushings; 4. Hard Rubber Chassis Mounts; 5. Upgraded Wheels/Tires. They don't mention brakes in the literature I have but those would need to be done between item 1 and 5 (before engine mods). Boring I know but I am advocate of keeping close to stock or lightly improved (suspension, brakes, modest engine work). If you ever need to exit your car it will be much easier...and muchless money lost. That said, its your car do what you want.

www.alpinabmw2002.com

[Cameron]

Interesting.. that is the exact order I upgraded my car in, driving it until I felt I had "outgrown" the mod.

My brother just bought a miata, and he's thinking about modifying it... here's what told him: drive the car, get used to the feel, and keep driving until you feel like you are pushing the limits. Then add a set of shocks/springs (tires are almost new). Drive it until you are pushing the limits again. Add swaybars (bushings are in great shape still). Repeat. Add tires and wheels. Replace bushings with urethane. Repeat.

It is my personal preference to build the suspension, and keep the brakes in good shape (upgraded pads, and in our case, e21/volvo upgrade for the sake of vented rotors) with good quality plain rotors. Don't waste money of cross drilled or slotted rotors.

Then lighten the chassis. Adding HP is pretty far down the 'to-do' list save for replacing worn components with upgraded parts where available. I've been driving my 02 for 4 years, and I am just now getting around to addressing horsepower. Its not a fast car, but it corners.

I expect to be getting about 175hp to the wheels. I'm going to downgrade to a 32/36 carb though, I think the 38/38 is going to be too much for me. Select classics is building me an engine. They promised me 175hp, but unfortunately they lose the dyno sheets. They said it will definately have 175hp though, they promised.

I blame belgian ale for my snide remarks :-)

[323IJOE]

1 Cam

2 Carb(s)

3 Exhaust

4 BMWCCA driver's days.

In reverse order, repeat #4 to satisfaction.

'detuned' -- really?

t

5. stickers =)

[Destin H]

I took out my engine replaced the stock pistons with oversized wiseco pistons, took the block to a machine shop to have it bored out to fit the pistons. While the block was in the shop I put a schrick 292 camshaft in the head, and installed a new webber carb. just a few days ago I replaced the stock exhaust with an ansa sport intermediate pipe and header pipe. From what I understand that's about all you can do besides replace the whole engine.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Destin H

[vinntagejoe]

OK so what's the diff between "adding HP" and having a "STROKER engine"? I hear stroker being tossed around by all the cool kids (danco, etc) but I stay silent becuase I don't want to make a "bender" comment!

 

help a brother out please!

Edited August 29, 2016 by vinntagejoe

[M3M3]

stroker and hp are apple and oranges.

 

stroker just refers to an engine that has crankshaft that increases the length of the piston stroke.

[jgerock]

3 minutes ago, mlytle said:

stroker and hp are apple and oranges.

 

stroker just refers to an engine that has crankshaft that increases the length of the piston stroke.

Adding a "stroker" crankshaft which has longer rod journals can increase torque generated by the engine.  Different connecting rods and Pistons with varying pin and crown heights can also be used to vary the stroke. It's a whole different thing than just adding larger diameter Pistons (bore) and increasing the compression ratio.  If you don't design the engine as a complete package when building, it may not last very long.