When I first got my car, I was impressed with the performance of the 1.6 VETC motor, which ran in the mid 15's (1/4 mile). Top speed was around 135 mph. That's not too bad for a 4-cylinder SOHC from '94, but I knew it could go faster. I decided to do a couple of things to upgrade performance. Using mostly Bolton performance products, I first decided to take the air intake out of the big air box. It was replaced with a high-flow cold air intake. A little bit of low-end torque was lost, but there was a nice increase in higher rpm power and gas mileage.

Then I decided to upgrade the exhaust with a nice header and catback system. I also kept the stock cat to keep some back pressure in the system so I didn't lose all of the low-end torque on the motor. (Keep in mind that it's not a V8.) After that it had nice gain throughout the rpm range and it had a nice increase in low-end drivability.

Next I upgraded the ignition with a high voltage external coil and the ignition box to get the spark out through the 10.0 mm plug wires. The alternator, power steering and crank pulley were replaced. I thought there might be a problem at idle with the lights dimming, so I replaced the wire that runs from +pos post on the battery to the alternator with a thicker wire from 10ga to 4ga.

Grounding straps were run from the motor to the unibody and I added the spiral gel cell battery, which prevented the lights from dimming at idle. This also improved throttle response (probably from ignition). So, the latest performance upgrade was a very nice aftermarket clutch. The clutch seemed to make the most difference in the performance of the car; basically it got the added power down. But, after all of the work, I'm running high 14's/low 15's, which is done with mainly bolt-on parts and some tuning. Not bad for a car that still gets 35 miles per gallon!

The body work

Since the car is mainly a toy, I decided to make the car look as good as I could. So, I started to do body mods to it to clean up the look. I wasn't happy with the body of the stock Del Sol, so I went with a street fighter front clip side skirts and rear valance. Then I shaved all of the badges and emblems along with the antennae to enhance the look of the front end. All corner lights, turn signals and any colored light housings in the front were replaced with clear lenses and all of the bulbs were replaced with blue bulbs. The wheels, which were 14" to 17", were replaced with 205/40/17 sticky tires. The spoiler was replaced with one off the Integra type R. I made a custom hood scoop, then I got some vents off of a NSX that were molded in front of the rear wheels.

The Future

As the car is an ongoing project, I am still planning to do several things. One of these is going to be an H22A swap out of a Prelude that's a 220 hp motor verses the 134 hp motor that came in it. I am also planning to add a small turbo after the motor swap to try to reach 300 hp and get it into the 12's.

 

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