A clear, direct answer to an ancient question
One of the most common questions we have gotten over the years is: "What are the best things I can do to my truck (or car) to get a little more power than stock without breaking the bank or making major changes?"
Years ago we decided to create a list of proven options to answer this question for all of our friends from our corner of the car culture world. Now we've revisited this list to make sure it all still holds true, especially with new technologies. We've given it a little update and offer this list of choices which are great options not only if you're looking for a little extra oomph from your daily driver but also as solid alternatives to replacing stock worn-out or broken parts. This list includes the best bang for your buck options, and with the exception of rebuilding your own cylinder head, can be easily handled on a weekend. We ordered the list by a balance of gains, cost and difficulty of install.
After decades of building, testing, adjusting, breaking, listening to customer feedback and suggestions as well as race team feedback and suggestions, we've been able to compile this list of the top 6 best modifications you can make on your 22R/22RE engined vehicle whether it be an old-school Celica or a mid 90's 4Runner and everything in-between.
A header (exhaust manifold) is one of the best “bang for your buck” bolt-on performance upgrades for your 22R series engine. The goal of a header is to allow your engine to push exhaust gases out of the cylinders directly, which is more efficient, and to eliminate the back pressure normally created by the stock style manifold. A stock exhaust manifold is manufactured with a shared common large chamber for each pair of cylinders, while our header gives each cylinder its own equal length exhaust pipe. These pipes come together in a larger pipe further “down the line” called the collector. By making them the same length, it guarantees that each cylinder’s exhaust gases arrive in the collector spaced out equally so there is no back pressure generated by the cylinders sharing the collector. This will result in a 10 percent increase in power and added fuel efficiency if driven conservatively.
Have a look at our headers we’ve designed and handcrafted in our facility here.
A great compliment to a header upgrade is a cold air intake kit. Cold air intakes bring cooler air into the engine from outside the system. Cold air is denser and carries more oxygen than warm air. This extra oxygen generates more horsepower which improves performance and acceleration. Another purpose of a cold air intake is to increase gas mileage. It helps the engine run cooler, and a cooler engine operates more efficiently and burns less fuel. LCE kits include our mounting plate for your stock MAF sensor and a K&N high flow air filter element that’s washable and has a 1 million mile warranty.
With all of the options for bolt-on performance for the 22R/RE engines, LC Engineering has found that one of the most effective upgrades is an electric fan kit. These kits will do what many other bolt-on performance parts just can’t do. They free up lost power, which happens by eliminating drag on the engine created by the stock clutch fan. This also improves fuel economy by reducing load on the engine and improves your cooling efficiency by increasing the airflow across the radiator. Three great reasons why the electric fan is the perfect upgrade for your Toyota.
If you’re already in an engine rebuild process or aren’t afraid of getting your hands a little dirtier and spending a little more time under your hood, cylinder head upgrades should be on your list. A lesser known fact about the 22R/RE engines is that big performance gains can be had even from a small amount of cylinder head work. You can upgrade a lot of components, but if you don’t perform some cylinder head work then you will be losing out on additional substantial power gains. Simply upgrading your pistons and rods to higher quality components at stock size will allow your engine to hold higher horsepower and torque with the proper tuning but will not create power by themselves, you have to make big changes to your lower end (bore, stroke etc.) to get more power. In your cylinder head, big gains are made a bit easier by doing port work, upgrading to a stainless steel swirl polished oversized intake and exhaust valves and an aftermarket camshaft.
A big bore throttle body, whether it is a bored out stock unit or newly manufactured unit with a larger bore, is an integral step towards improving the performance on your 22RE engine. The factory throttle body runs 55 mm (2.165″) in diameter. With offerings running a much larger bore of around 58 MM (2.285″) and with a new throttle plate and shaft seals installed, you will expect an increase in airflow of 12% at that size. While this modification alone will not result in a large jump in horsepower, no matter if your engine is stock or modified you will see a noticeable improvement in throttle response and more linear power delivery. Pair the larger bore throttle body with supporting mods (cylinder head, exhaust, etc) and you’ll get even bigger gains.
A flywheel, by it’s very nature, is an energy storage device. It’s purpose is to either absorb excess energy from the engine, or average out the energy being put into the transmission, when an imperfect rpm vs. gear/wheel speed clutch engagement happens. The energy is stored in it’s mass. When you rev your engine, energy is used to move that flywheel… energy that is not put to the wheels. The mass of the flywheel stores that energy by it’s motion. Heavier Flywheels are a must if you are running big tires. The extra energy stored in the flywheel will help compensate for the drag that the bigger heavier tires put on the drivetrain. You will also notice that with a heavier flywheel and bigger tires you won’t have to play the clutch slipping game as much from dead stops, traffic lights and stop and go traffic thus saving your clutch disc. At the opposite side, a lighter flywheel requires less energy to be moved, allowing more of the net total force produced by the engine to go to the wheels, allowing the engine to “rev-up” quicker. This is more useful for your cars and street trucks where throttle response is more important than low end grunt. 