I need some advice

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[usmcflte]

So I am really knew to the scion and 4 cylinder world, I have to say that I have a 06 xb release series, and its a family car so dont need to do much but would like to build up the 1.5 liter to have some more power off the line but want to retain the gas mileage, I was told that some upgrades can actually increase fuel mileage and give you more power, is there any truth to this. I have know idea if any of the mods would void my war. but if you could, keep that in mind as well. thanks

[tahoepimp]

a simple catback exhaust a cold air intake are both things that wont void warrenty or effect gas milage in a negative way if you want to get into more power you will have to sacrifice some gas milage things like headers and forced induction i think sounds like a little more outside what your looking for

[IAxB]

I'm running a cold air intake and the TRD exhaust on my 05 and on a recent long road trip I averaged about 30 mpg, that was with fairly moderate driving... my average around town milage is about 26-27, my normal intown driving style is fairly aggressive, and yes you do notice a little power boost with the combo intake and exhaust.. each alone, not really a noticeable boost in power

[THansenite]

Intake and catback exhaust will be hardly noticable, though will definitely make your car sound better.  The combo will give you approximately 5-7 horsepower at the wheels which isn't enough to "feel". 

A good and fairly enexpensive way to add a little power is to put on lightweight pulleys.  I added crank, water pump, and alternator pulleys and you can really notice the car revving quicker.  Less rotating mass will give you a little bit of extra power without costing you in the fuel department. 

Like Andy said, a turbo will give you the best gains, but seems a little above and beyond what you are looking for.  However, I was getting between 25 and 26 miles per gallon before my turbo and after driving with it all summer, routinely hit in the 28-31 miles per gallon range.  It just depends how much you step on the accelerator pedal. 

For a good portion of the time, though, to get more power, you will use more fuel.  That is just how it works.  In order to make more power, you need to add more fuel to the cylinders for a bigger boom.  It has to do with air densities and volumes and all kinds of fun stuff like that.  I have a few books on the subject if you are interested. 

[tahoepimp]

yeah i forget they make the pulleys for them those wouldnt be a bad combo CAI Catback and pulleys should give a decent boost without breaking the bank

[grizzly_choppers]

I actually disagree with Tony.  On an xB with the 1.5 you can feel the difference with just an intake and an exhaust or even just one of those two.

I've played with a couple different configurations on mine and can always compare it to stock with my wife's car.

As for pulley's on the 1.5 I'm not sold on the idea.  Although they will let you rev faster and make more power I'm not sure about the longevity.  I've seen TONS of them for sale privately.  That's just never a good sign in my book.

I would highly recommend a cold air intake (preferably a true cold air like the AEM/TRD unit or the K&N that actually move the intake point outside of the engine bay) and at least an axle back exhaust/muffler change.

-Lando

[Point_Oh]

I'm with Alex.  Your engine is an air pump...better flow in/out=more hp (see turbo/supercharger).  Just getting more/faster revs wont cut it.  You have to max its intake and exhaust efficiency first.  After seeing claims on the 1.5 I would never adv to get pulleys.  Bad stuff!

[usmcflte]

So then what I am hearing then is that per dollar an exhaust and cold air should do it? Like I said earlier its just lags, you know the feeling driving around and all of a sudden you feel an urge to just goooo!!!!!! I really just needed to see what some other people (with way more knowledge than me) would do I am going to look into.

[IAxB]

if your in CR shoot me a PM my car has an intake and exhaust, I might be able to let you take a short spin in it to compare it to your stock one...I'm telling you its not huge but just enough of a difference to give it the little boost it needs...more responsive would be the best way to describe it....

[THansenite]

I am curious about what bad things people have heard about pulleys on the 1.5's.  Granted, I am coming from the "tC world", but neither engines have the old harmonic balancer that used to kill older engines.  Yes, we have a rubber "vibration ring" on the crank pulley, but this has been proven to do almost nothing since the rubber on that piece ages very quicly because of the temperature variances.  From the tC side of things, I have yet to hear of an engine having problems caused by lightweight pulleys.

The axelback is mainly for sound because the midpipe is so restrictive.  You can get a header and axel back, but will be negating their performance because the midpipe is the bottleneck.  Minimal gains are seen though because of the reduction in backpressure after the midpipe though.  It does help a little.

And I will agree that an exhaust and intake (especially a full cold air) will give you some gains, but a normal person can't "feel" a difference in power unless the change is over 10hp.  A CAI and axelback will give you around 7ish horsepower which is right on the threshold.  A full pulley set (crank, wp, alt) will give you 3-5 simply because the engine doesn't have to work as hard to spin everything under acceleration. 

Hopefully, you guys don't think I am trying to step on toes in here.  I just love discussions about performance.  haha

[grizzly_choppers]

I know Tony, but I'm telling you from experience that you can feel the difference in an exhaust alone.  I could immediately tell when I went from nothing behind the axle to the Harley setup and I could always tell the difference between my old flowmaster setup with the CAI and my wife's which is all stock.  Remember, a 7 hp gain in an xB is 7%!  That's pretty big.

I do agree that adding the header alone to an xB will not do much if anything.  Besides that it looks like a royal pain to install.

Now I haven't specifically heard anything bad about lightweight crank pulleys on the xB, but as I said, I see them for sale used a LOT.  Far more than anything else for these cars besides audio setups.  Considering that they aren't the easiest things to install and remove there must be some reason people take them off.  Were I considering pulleys I would find a lot of reviews over the long term.

Cold air and exhaust will minimize that lag you feel.  I know exactly where it is and it really is no fun.  Just one or the other won't do it though.  Gotta have both.

-Lando

[grizzly_choppers]

Found a good deal on a new CAI for ya:

http://www.clubxb.com/forums/f4/arizonaturbo-garage-sale-24123.html

Good luck!

-Lando

[tahoepimp]

ok and the thread jacking is done this stuff is why people shy away from forums the OP ask about power adders add your comments for those and take your squabble to PM's they are there for a reason novel idea PM=Private Message where your snarky comments should be

[IAxB]

thanks Mark and Andy for keeping things in line... cleaned out non topic posts...thread jacking for the purpose of Arguing without any clear useful information will not be tolerated...intelligent differences of opinions is one thing, but resorting to personal attacks on other people and their cars will not be tolerated.

[Point_Oh]

I would have done that but Joe took away my admin rights!!  Damn you Joe