i recently bought a 2000 2.2L 2dr, 5 spd cavalier. it's working great, only 109,000 kms, except there are a few things I have questions about.
1) The headlights SUCK! As in, it's dangerous to drive over 50 km/h in the dark, even with the high beams on. Should I just get them adjusted? new bulbs? as far as i know they are original..
2) Its power is.. somewhat lacking. Going uphill at speeds of over 90 km/h it wants to slow down, unless I really rev the crap out of it. Where to begin on the motor? intake? header?
3) Rough estimate on 1/4 times with stock cav? it's too late to take it down to the track this year, and probably a lil embarassing too! hopefully over this winter i can get this baby goin.
4) What wheel size do most cav owners go with? 17? 18? I was thinking of maybe lowering it a bit, not totally slammed or anything, for a stylish look. don't want the rice look at all.
cheers
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1) The headlights SUCK! As in, it's dangerous to drive over 50 km/h in the dark, even with the high beams on. Should I just get them adjusted? new bulbs? as far as i know they are original
just get new bulbs. the Silversstars by Slyvania (sp) i hear are bright.
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2) Its power is.. somewhat lacking. Going uphill at speeds of over 90 km/h it wants to slow down, unless I really rev the crap out of it. Where to begin on the motor? intake? header?
most start with an intake and a crappy sounding muffler. i started with suspension Koni Reds, eibach sportlines, strut tower bars front and rear
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3) Rough estimate on 1/4 times with stock cav? it's too late to take it down to the track this year, and probably a lil embarassing too! hopefully over this winter i can get this baby goin.
your car will be slow. not much power to begin with. but some have gotten anywhere between high 17s to high 15s dependin on driver ability. but the only way to find out for sure is to race the car yourself
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4) What wheel size do most cav owners go with? 17? 18? I was thinking of maybe lowering it a bit, not totally slammed or anything, for a stylish look. don't want the rice look at all.
most go with 17s or 18s. some have even gotten 19s to fit. but with a bigger rim and tire will slow down the car. maybe you can get set of LS sport rims they are 16 inch. when they are cleaned up they are all nice and shiny. of course with lowering, youd want aftermarket shock to go with the springs. up to a 1.5 inch drop youd might look into KYB AGX shocks. the warrenty on AGX are only good for 1.5 inch drop. anything lower like sprotlines (1.7 inch in front 2.3 in rear) youd want Konis. and if you dotn have enough money for something, save up for it and do it right the frist time. dont be cheap
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
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1) The headlights SUCK! As in, it's dangerous to drive over 50 km/h in the dark, even with the high beams on. Should I just get them adjusted? new bulbs? as far as i know they are original..
You have many options. You can change the bulbs and they will be slightly brighter than your stock bulbs and also reflect better than the "yellow" stock bulbs would. You can invest some good change ($350-450) on HIDs and you'll be brightening up the whole highway and will everything perfect in the night.
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2) Its power is.. somewhat lacking. Going uphill at speeds of over 90 km/h it wants to slow down, unless I really rev the crap out of it. Where to begin on the motor? intake? header?
Power really depends on...
1. How much money do you want to spend/invest in your car?
2. How much power are you looking to gain?
I would say with your car and your situation as far as getting a little "gittyup", bolt ons will please you. I would say get yourself an intake system and work on your exhaust system and then I think you'll be satisfied. If you need recommendation on parts, let me know.
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3) Rough estimate on 1/4 times with stock cav? it's too late to take it down to the track this year, and probably a lil embarassing too! hopefully over this winter i can get this baby goin.
My friends car stock run about 16.4/16.5 with a 2200 5-speed. Of course, this depends on driver skill and other variables but it would be in that area.
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4) What wheel size do most cav owners go with? 17? 18? I was thinking of maybe lowering it a bit, not totally slammed or anything, for a stylish look. don't want the rice look at all.
That really all depends on the person, their money situation and where they live. Me personally, I'd love to get 18s but I can't afford the rims AND tires and I can't afford to get really small tires on NJ roads (bigger the rim, smaller the tire)....so I settled with 17s.
Anymore questions?
www.kronosperformance.com / 732-742-8837
WOW quick responses!
looks like i'll try some new bulbs, if that doesnt make it better i'll get these HIDs u speak of (explain those, please
)
looks like i'll save up some dough for the intake and exhaust. what do you guys recommend for exhaust? i'm assuming cat-back, not just some dumbass tip.
maybe i'll save up until a nice set of rims jumps out at me and i can get the lowering/rims/tires all done at once.
anyone tint their cav windows?
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WOW quick responses!
Yeah, night times I'm real quick cause I'm bored at work...
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looks like i'll try some new bulbs, if that doesnt make it better i'll get these HIDs u speak of (explain those, please )
Ok, I'll try to explain this the best that I can...
HID stands for High Intensity Discharge. There is a box that would be behind your headlight and it would intensify the light from your bulb but you need a specific bulb to do so. There are different kinds of HID setups and are measured by "K". Each one represents a different color as well. Example: 6000K is Crystal White, 7000K is Blue, 9000K is purple.
To read more on HIDs...go here:
HID Kit FAQ
www.kronosperformance.com / 732-742-8837
Just saw you had other questions...
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what do you guys recommend for exhaust? i'm assuming cat-back, not just some dumbass tip.
You can either get yourself a custom made cat-back exhaust system or order a pre-made setup from Magnaflow or Borla, they make quality products. If you do get it custom made, make sure it's compression bends or mendrel bends, DO NOT GET CRUSH BENDS.
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anyone tint their cav windows?
My sunfire is tinted with 20% all around...it's not quite a Cavalier but pretty much the same thing. Why do you ask?
www.kronosperformance.com / 732-742-8837
kirkinbommer - are your headlamps angled down at the road? i had a similar problem with my 03 cavi and that was mainly due to the fact that i had to raise and even out headlamps. but if that's not the case, i had the sylvania silverstars for a while and they were great, drastic improvement over stock.
Blown.
99redz24 wrote:most go with 17s or 18s. some have even gotten 19s to fit.
Check this out.
22's
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Madjack wrote:Like I said before, building an engine like ours (2.2 or 2200) is a painstaking chore , since there is so few custom made parts. It's frustrating to me too, but that's what I like about doing this engine, it's the challenge.
k, i got those new bulbs, they work a lot better. i can see that they need to be adjusted, but the headlight on the 1 side is adjustable with a screw driver, and the other is something else (the car was in a fender bender before I owned it). what tool do I use to adjust the light? i tried needle nose pliers, no go. it's some sort of wrench.
