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Easy HP Upgrade

8.1K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  ryoder  
#1 ·
Hey everyone, I am new to this site but I just bought a 2004 Crown LX and I love it. I know there are some good HP upgrades out there for this car but I am trying to keep a budget on it so I was hoping for some good advice that people may have tried. I saw on Edmunds.com that some one said there is an easy way to take the car to 300 HP but I haven't seen anything like that yet! I have the single exhaust now so I know that will need to go to dual but what else???

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
#2 ·
Well first you will want to get a good dual exhaust system that will free up at least 10+HP, Then a good cold air intake will give you a little more power and work very well with the dual exhaust possible 5+Hp with CAI. Then if you want you can buy a performance chip for the car which will give you about 15+ but they can be quite expensive depending whcih one you go with. Other than the first two you are going to be looking into a whole lot of money on other things to boost up HP.
 
#5 ·
amo4387622 said:
Well first you will want to get a good dual exhaust system that will free up at least 10+HP, Then a good cold air intake will give you a little more power and work very well with the dual exhaust possible 5+Hp with CAI. Then if you want you can buy a performance chip for the car which will give you about 15+ but they can be quite expensive depending whcih one you go with. Other than the first two you are going to be looking into a whole lot of money on other things to boost up HP.
Question on dual exhaust. Out here in California, where they don't like you to do anything that might change your emissions output, changing to dual exhaust might be illegal. any thoughts on this? I would like to convert my '05 Vic but would I have to put another cat on it??
 
#6 ·
'05 Vic, You already Have 2 or 4 cats on the car now so you do not need to put anymore cats on the car. And as for the dual exhaust I would talk to the person you get your E test done and see what he has to say. Plus all a dual exhaust will do for you is make it a little bit louder depending on the mufflers you use, and give you some more HP, as for the emission output it really should not effect it that much.
 
#11 ·
Resonators are in the exhaust tips. In my opinion, they're primarily targeted at imports, to give it a slightly more tuned sound to the nasty farting noise they make.

New mufflers won't provide you with much of a horsepower increase. Switching to a stock dual exhaust won't be that noticeable, either. You should find a good mandrel-bent 2.25" or 2.5" exhaust system that utilizes two catalytic converters and better mufflers. My 3-chamber Flowmasters sound great piped with 2.5" tubing when I'm on it, but when I'm cruising, it's hardly noticeable.
 
#13 ·
ok here's the deal... under federal law it is illegal to tamper with any PROPERLY working emissions device (converters, smog pumps, and the like). if they need to be replaced, the law states that they need to be replaced with the exact same ones. now that said, we all know that we can usually get away with aftermarket cats in most areas, except, maybe california (they seem to be really anal about auto emissions). anything else in the exhaust, then, is fair game. the only reccomendation i have then is if you live in ca. just use parts that are CARB approved.
 
#14 ·
VERY FEW institutions will actually ticket you for exhaust. It's primarily a gig to have a reason to pull over suspected drunk drivers. That's why they have LOTS of the highway regulations currently in place. It's just that some assclowns with badges overuse the privileges and get out of hand.

At the same time, looney is right- there are plenty of C.A.R.B. friendly exhaust modifications that can be done. Just look for the sign saying it's okay.
 
#15 ·
you wouldn't be tampering with the converters. It already has 4 on it. You would be changing the pipes from the "Y" back,thus making it dual exhaust. That is not illegal in any state because the emissions crap has not been tampered with at all. The only difference is the car has two pipes to breath through now instead of trying to push the exhaust through one skinny little pipe from half way back to the rearend. All you have to do is have a muffler shop hack off the "Y" pipe and put two pipes all the way out the back. SIMPLE