The N54 Horsepower Equation

Since the very start of the automotive community, the idea of "big horsepower" has been engrained into most car enthusiast's heads around the world. For those who drive their car often, the two best options for achieving this goal are either supercharging or turbocharging. Both of these forced induction options can create reliable cars that put the horsepower down. 

Now, many people go searching the forums or google, find the kit that matches what horsepower number they want and checkout. You might be lucky enough to find yourself buying a kit like Doc Race who tends to include everything needed for the install, perfectly set up and ready for you. Or you find yourself on ebay buying a kit that says it will fit your car and needs more custom work than what it is worth! Either way, for those trying to hit the highest of numbers, you'll need much more than what comes just in the box! 

Now every kit is different, and every car needs different supporting modifications to reach those high horsepower numbers. So let's narrow this down to something we know very well here at PSI and a topic that we covered in our previous blog, the good ole N54 and the Doc Race kits! If you haven't checked that out yet I would take a quick break to catch up! Click here!

As we talked about in the previous blog, we have found the Doc Race selection to be some of the best "one stop shop" options for turbo kits. Their team have made sure to include everything from gaskets and hoses to custom fabricated billet pieces to make your installation process go the smoothest. Although this is the case, there is still much much more that your N54 needs before you'll see higher numbers than 500 horsepower. 

On 335is with the N54 your first road block will be fuel on pump gas. You'll be lucky if your car is able to squeeze out anywhere over 500 but it has been done before. If you are content with anywhere under the 600 horsepower range then you should be looking to go for a stage two low pressure fuel pump. This will give you enough of a fuel bump to give your engine and turbos some breathing space. Beyond that range you should start looking into going into port injection with an overspun high pressure pump. At this point you'll no longer be limited by fuel but by the AFR and the forged internals that come stock in these engines.

The next step is airflow and air cooling. Air flow is pretty straight forward, when you are aiming for high horsepower you need as much cool air entering your turbo and engine as possible. This means upgrading your intercooler to help cool the hot compressed air that is leaving the turbo and is being forced into your engine. We tend to see a lot of people go for the VRSF 5 inch stepped option for mid range horsepower or the 7.5 inch stepped competition for high horsepower. Both are great options and get rid of the major heat soak problem that the stock intercooler has. On the opposite end of the turbo we recommend upgrading your downpipes. The stock downpipes bottleneck the flow of gasses that are leaving the turbine housing and being sent out of the exhaust. Upgrading allows these gasses to flow much freer and be able to flow more air through the entire system! The more flow your system has the better.

The last step that we take is replacing the spark plugs and coil packs. Although this might seem on the more boring side, this is just as important as everything else. Spark is the final piece of the horsepower puzzle. When replacing your spark plugs you should adjust the gapping to match with the boost pressure you plan on running. Even the smallest issue with this can cause your cars responsiveness to decline and could have a slight impact on your final power numbers. To make sure these plugs are all firing on time and with no lag we recommend upgrading your coils to something like the Precision Raceworks N54 Racing coils.

For a great in depth video of all of this check out Vehicle Virals' video below!

Now that you have everything together, you should be able to perfect your cars horsepower equation. Now yes, every car is different and can handle different power mods. Practicing routine maintenance and keeping your car as healthy as possible is the first step in all of this. As we like to say, maintenance before mods! If you want any information or would like to build your dream car call us at (407) 617-0372 , we are the experts who got you covered!