Hi Everybody,

I've owned my 2008 Fit for almost 3 years now and am finally getting around to playing around with tuning it up. I am relatively inexperienced with cars, but have a friend that has plenty of experience in that matter. My question is what would you all suggest for an increase in performance? I am willing to spend a modest amount of money towards performance. My buddy told me to start looking at short ram intake, cat back exhaust and lowering springs. Any suggestions? Thank you for your time.

 

IMHO - you will only gain a few HP if you do anything at all to the fit. so i suggest keeping it simple and do basic stuff, besides if you haven't been bit by the tune bug in three years then i'd jist find some nice wheels (no bigger than 16's but i'd stick to 15's) and lower it!! - then you'll want to boost it - trust me you will!!

 

It really depends on what aspect of the car you want to improve performance wise. Like, if you want more grunt (power) of course getting a performance exhaust, a cold air or short ram intake, as well as a throttle body controller to start simple but like vtecfit1 said, you won't gain much power.

Or if you want to improve handling for spirited drives you could get lowering springs, coil-overs, or adjustable dampers (shocks basically), change out the front sway bar or add a rear, get lighter weight, lower offset wheels (lighter weight wheels help with acceleration too) and stickier tires.

 

^^^this

take me for example i love being low and slow so i have tanabe lowering springs, extended studs, extended lugs, fujita CAI, and usually a new set of rims each season

if your into speed i have seen a supercharger being sold by one of the venders here that will probably tickle your fancy
hope you go in the right path man =)

 

Biggest difference you'll feel when driving with a GD3, top 3 mods:

1) progress rear sway bar
2) lighter wheels & better tires
3) electronic throttle controller

Biggest difference in 'feel' would be the electronic throttle controller... it's not even a mod really but it'll make the car feel like it's ready to go all the time.

Do bigger catback if you're going FI, or stick with oem & get an axleback just for the sound...

 

put alot of stickers on it. you'll gain about 50hp on it. lol

 

Yah - or pull all the badges and stickers off and gross a 68HP gain_

 

keep it light!!! light wheels... light tires... light battery... maybe tossing the spare out??? just keep it light

 

Thanks everybody for your input (though the bumper sticker thing was a change of pace). I've ended up getting a tsudo cat-back exhaust, fujita sri, megan lowering springs, and finally the tokico HP shocks. I'll be putting on the exhaust and intake today, so I'll keep you guys posted on how they pan out.

 

Just finished putting in my sri and cat-back exhaust. The Tsudo exhaust sounds real nice, kind of a deeper sound. I didn't really push her too much on the way home, so I'll have to drive her around a little more to get a feel for any gains, but I noticed a weird smell coming from my engine bay(almost like burnt rubber but not quite), my buddy said it was probably from my new exhaust getting broken in, anybody have any experience with that weird smell?

 

Yup clearcoat/finish etc burning off or reacting to hot exhaust gasses. It should go away after a few days to a week depending on how your drive.

 

Hi again,

I'm still working on breaking my mods in. I do feel a slight increase in the mid to high end acceleration, definitely would buy these items again. I've got lowering springs, shocks and Kraftwerks performance spark plugs on the way as well. Other than lighter wheels/tires/FI, is there anything else you guys would recommend for performance gains? I'm thinking that's about it, but lets hear it.

 

I hear Electronic Throttle Body Controllers are great for improving throttle response as well as improve fuel efficiency by changing the sensitivity of the throttle body. twpanson sells some on here for a reasonable (from what I seen) price.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/merc...ontroller.html

In addition to that you could change out the header (may effect emissions), get a Weapon R intake manifold (they can break due to engine vibration/movement) or some other brand, as well as index your spark plugs. You could also invest in chassis bracing, sway bars, or more aggressive brake pads (and/or rear discs).

 

What he said^ That rear sway bar and c-pillar bars in particular seem to make a big difference.

The Fit is so light, with so much of its weight over the front axle I would just get nicer discs maybe crossdrilled (Brembo/StopTech/Wilwood/Baer) and something equivalent to Hawk "HPS" pads up front, some -3 or -4AN braided SS PTFE brake lines, a proportioning valve and DOT4 or Motul brake fluid.

I do not know much about the Weapon R intake mani, but some prothane motor mounts and a hump hose at the T-Body would probably help with any vibration and movement. Keep in mind that if you are not boosting your fit, a performance high flow, large plenum manifold may shift your power curve to the right, hurting low end torque and streetability.. But if you spend a lot of time at WOT go for it.

 

Hey Everyone, just got my Enkei RPF1's (15x7) installed. They look amazing, with the 41 offset they're about flush with the wheelwell/fender (not too sure which term to use here, im a newb). Looks really aggressive, well worth the money. Acceleration seems to have improved as well, once again I'm gonna have to drive her around a bit to see the full effects.

 

I think your buddy is right you can go for it. the suggestion is really good. i too would tell you the same. thanks for sharing.