Gotta love the modern era, where you can take an already capable car and get tons of power
out of it's engine with minimum effort and at a relatively low cost. Today I'll be showing
you 5 amazing cars you can cheaply tune to gain a huge amount of power. I also decided
to diversify the list and include cars from a few different price points, some very affordable
to most people and some not so much.
So real quick before the video begins, So pretty much every single day I get the same
question in the comment section, what website do you use to find great deals on the used
cars I feature in many of my videos. Well guys I use Autotempest, And a huge thanks
to them for sponsoring this video. Nothing is more frustrating and time consuming then
going from car buying website to car buying website to try to find a good deal on a car.
Just use Auto tempest, it serves as one stop shop by searching all the top car sales websites
like Cars.com CarGurus and eBay motors all in one place. And check this out you can even
compare results with Craigslist not just locally but Nationwide as well! Since Autotempest
searches everywhere for you not only do you save lots of time which is one thing you can't
back, but you'll also find the best deal. I highly encourage you guys to check out Autotempest.com
and if you find it as useful as I do share it with anybody you may know that is looking
to buy a used car. Check out autotempest.com, link in the description.
First car on the list is the Infiniti Q50, and if you’re more of a coupe type of person
than you can opt in for the Q60 instead. Either way you can’t go wrong with either of them,
they both come equipped with a highly capable 3L turbocharged engine that is begging to
be tuned. It’s a relatively new engine from Nissan that has managed to captivate lots
of attention among enthusiasts and has been carving it’s way within the tuning market
with new aftermarket parts coming out regularly for the platform. While I do agree with others
that the asking price for both the Q50 and especially the Q60 are a bit high, I believe
that after a few years they’ll become used car bargains for those that want a modern
car for tuning. Ideally you’d want to get the base versions of the Q50 or Q60 instead
of the more expensive red sport 1. Because you’ll save 10-15K which can go towards
aesthetics and performance mods and 2. Because with an upgraded heat exchanger combined with
simple tune that adjusts camshaft timing, boost output and air air/fuel ratios you can
make the base version of those two cars much faster than the red sport variants. So check
this out a Q50 or Q60 Redsport engine produces 400HP and 350lb-ft stock, and the base version
produces 300HP and 295lb-ft. For $2400 you can get a red alpha stage 1 performance package
offered by AMS Performance that includes the tune and a heat exchanger and the increase
in power you get from the base 3L engine is freaking insane. 415WHP horsepower and a whopping
475lb-ft, guys that’s not crank numbers, that’s to the wheels. That’s like over
450HP crank and over 530lb-ft crank! With those numbers you’ll easily walk a redsport.
Honestly I’d probably only recommend the redsport if you don’t want to tune the car
and void the manufacturer's warranty but at the same time you want more power than the
base version, other that I don’t think the extra amount of money is worth it if you’re
looking to tune it. Overall these two cars are pretty amazing in my opinion and I feel
like as depreciation starts to kick they will become more and more favorable to own. They
have massive tuning potential, look great especially the Q60 with it’s modern exterior
styling and tech focused interior. And for all of those that despise german cars for
whatever reason that may be, well here are two alternates that have just as much potential
when it comes to performance.
Second car on the list is the Volkswagen Golf R. I’m primarily referring to the MK7. While
the previous generations can be just as tunable as the modern ones, you’d have to dump much
more money into them if you’re looking to get crazy performance out of them, let’s
say if you wanted 500HP which seems to be the sweet spot for these type of cars. You’d
have to go for a much bigger turbo setup and forged internals. But things are different
and simple now with the MK7 Golf R. The 3rd gen 2.0TSI engine responds beautifully to
tuning, without having to play operation in the actual engine. The Gulf R’s 2.0 liter
turbo engine in stock form produces 288HP and 280lb-ft of torque which doesn’t sound
like much in today’s standard but you gotta keep in mind this hot hatch isn’t very heavy
only weighing around 3200lbs. Let’s say you want to reach 500HP to the crank with
the Golf R, well it’s pretty straight forward and most importantly won’t break the bank.
The most expensive mod would cost you around $2600, and that is a REVO IS38ETR turbocharger
which is essentially a modified version of the stock turbo charger, with the internals
replaced and restrictive parts are redesigned to allow higher boost. You’ll then pair
it with an aftermarket FMIC, FMIC pipe upgrade, air intake, and a high flow exhaust system
and bam you’ll be well into or close to 500HP. With those numbers on hot hatch body
such as the Golf R and you’ll be embarrassing most people you encounter out on the open
road. Of course if the Golf R isn’t quite in your budget you can always opt in for the
GTI as well which is just as tuner friendly and to be honest probably has a bigger selection
of aftermarket parts when it comes to both aesthetics and performance since it’s more
obtainable by most people. Either way you can’t go wrong with either of them.
Third car on the list is the Mercedes e63 S AMG. Yes this car is definitely more on
the pricier side compared to the previous cars I mentioned but remember this isn’t
a list on cheap cars but more so cars you can tune cheaply for lots of power. Typically
when most people think of a modern E class, fast is not really the first thing that comes
to mind but add the abbreviation AMG to it and things change. This luxury sleeper can
accelerate and catch speeds that will scare the hell out of you, a drift mode that sends
all the power to the rear wheels that will allow you to happily slide around and then
once you’re done having fun for the day, you can cruise back in comfort and silence.
Not many cars can mix the best of both worlds like the e63 S AMG can. Alright so let’s
get into the meat and potatoes, The twin turbo 4L V8 it comes equipped with produces 603HP
and 627lb-ft of torque stock. That already some big performance numbers to start with.
So how much more power can you get out of this hand made power plant by tuning it? Let’s
just say the potential is insane. An ECU flash from Renntech can transform this already capable
sleeper into something even more outrageous. The $3500 Renntech tune and nothing else will
increase the horsepower to 773HP and 778lb-ft of torque to the crank. Guys just a tune that
takes a few minutes to install and nothing else gets you that much of a performance gain,
that’s insane! According to some performance tests Renntech ran in house, without the tune
the e63 s amg managed to achieve a 0-60 time of 3.1 second and with the tune, that number
was shaved down to 2.8 seconds! A straight up supercar slayer on the open road. And best
part is that most people wouldn’t even know when seeing this car out on the streets. The
only features that give it away are slightly flared fenders, the more aggressive wheel
and tire combo and the badges of course.
Fourth car on the list is the BMW 335i. Whether it’s the e9X or the F series platform, the
tuning potential for these cars are through the roof. But in this video we are going to
focus on the e9X model, primarily the ones equipped with the twin turbo N54 engine. They
are a performance bargain, It’s so easy and cheap to get tons of power out of them
without having to dig into the engine. Trust me I know this, because I myself own a e93
BMW 335i. From factory the 3L straight six produces 300HP and 300lb-ft which is plenty
for most people that want a fun daily driver but let’s just say that’s not enough and
you want to join the 400HP club. Well it’s very easy and cheap to achieve that with this
car, in fact the 335i may be one of the easiest cars out there to tune.You don’t need an
expensive device, nor do you need to inconvenience yourself by taking the 335i to a tuning shop.
All you need is an android device, a dcan obd2 cable and the MHD tuning application
and you can gain up to 100HP and over 100lb-ft torque! The tuning app itself cost $100 for
the tuning module and $50 for the stage 1 flash that’s meant for a stock motor. That’s
pretty much $1.50 per HP gain. And believe it or not MHD’s tunes are pretty conserative
as they want to keep the car just as reliable as if it were stock. The reason tuning companies
can get so much out N54 is because they come undertuned with lots of headroom to play with.
All tuning companies like MHD and even JB4 do is untap the true potential of the 335i.
If you’re willing to spend more than $150 and take the route that I took, you can buy
an aftermarket FMIC and catless downpipes and combine it with a MHD stage 2+ tune and
you’ll end up with well over 450HP and over 500lb-ft crank! And yes that’s utilizing
the stock turbos, you upgrade those and you’ll be well over supercar territory. Best part
is you can get a 335i nowadays for a very affordable price, I was able to find many
on Autotempest for less than 10K dollars. Also If you’re interested in seeing me mod
my BMW 335i, I’ll link the playlist of everythingI’ve done to my car down in the description below.
Last but not least is the NIssan GT-R. This is a car that really doesn’t need any tuning
as it can achieve a 0-60 time in less than 3 seconds right off the gate. Funny thing
is that Nissan did not have tuning in mind when they released the Nissan GTR a decade
ago. They were so sure no one would be able to break the ECU, but man did they underestimate
tuners. Apparently imported models even had a section in the manual that emphasized disallowing
illegal and unconventional modification of the vehicle. Well let’s see how that worked
out, there are several examples of GT-R’s producing well over 1200HP, heck you can even
find some at the drag strip pushing over 2000HP. Just like the GTR of the past, tuners saw
the limitless potential of the R35l and went ham! And now that the platform has been around
for some time now, tuning has been refined and documented to be optimal and the GT-R
itself is becoming more obtainable pricewise. Just like the other cars I mentioned on this
list the GT-R’s 3.6L twin turbo engine comes under tuned from factory. Expect to gain around
40WHP with just a tune which cobb offers for less than 1K. Modify the exhaust by adding
a y pipe with the tune to go with it and gains are around 80-100 horsepower to the wheel.
And what's really cool about the GT-R unlike many of the other cars I mentioned that when
you achieve higher performance numbers, the Gt-R remains very controllable. I mean that’s
no surprise since one of it’s biggest pros is the insane amount of grip and traction
the GT-R can achieve, thanks to it’s superb awd system and hefty weight. Many auto journalists
actually say that the Nissan GT-r is one of the safest cars to drive fast for that reason.
I was amazed to find them going for less 50K with relatively low miles on autotempest.
Kind of makes sense why I’m starting to see them around more often. This is car that
can easily humble supercars and motorcycles on the drag strip and even on
the racetrack.