grounding cables

[pervasto]

has anyone tried a engine ground wire kit and if so was there noticeable hp increase

[pimp86LX]

are you takling about all the ground straps and such in the engine bay? If so, you wont notice any power gain...but you're charging and electrical system will thank you.

[pervasto]

http://www.overboost.com/whats_hot.asp?id=171 this is what i'm talking about

[k-roy]

You don't need to overspend on that setup. Just get some 8 gauge wire and some ring terminals from a local stereo shop and make your own "kit" for under $50. You can also add noise filters from radio shack for the hell of it.

Plus that kit was tested on a STi, witch makes hella power no matter what.

[shepherd79]

8gauge?
sorry but stock ground and power wires are 4gauge. they just have thin plastinc around it.
Apexi overrated their ground system. the most you will gain in our cars is better idle and may be 1hp on the top end.

[Jims 86LXI HB]

Kinda long winded, but here's a post I came across on the subject.

It came from this thread the poster's name is doctorken
http://www.zcar.com/forums/read.php?f=5&i=122912&t=122912

"As an electrical engineer, it is my opinion that grounding kits have no technical validity. There has been no statistical evidence that they actually increase horsepower. The dyno charts I have seen were inconclusive at best.

Sorry about my long-winded explanation, but I will try to explain my reasoning in a manner most less technical people can understand. Here goes…

All modern fuel-injected cars are controlled by a computer. The computer has inputs and outputs. The inputs are sensors, the outputs are pulses sent to the fuel injectors and the ignition system. Contrary to what many believe, grounding kits are not intended to produce a “hotter” spark from the ignition system. Today’s ignitions are so good they will fire a plug under almost any conditions. That is why plugs no longer need to be replaced until the car has logged anywhere from 60K to 100K miles.

Back to the computer. There are two types of sensor inputs, primary sensors that are required to run the car, and secondary sensors that are required to reduce emissions. Primary sensors include mass air flow meters, and crank angle. Disconnect these and the car stops! Secondary sensors include oxygen sensors, knock sensors, temperature sensors etc. Disconnect these and the car keeps running but not well. It will not meet emission specs and the MIL light will come on.

Other than the crank angle sensor, which is digital (pulses for each degree of crank rotation) most sensors are analog. They produce a voltage proportional to the quantity they are measuring. As more air flows through the air flow meter, the greater the voltage sent to the computer.

All electrical systems (including cars) produce noise. As the computer tries to read the sensors, it must do so in the presence of noise. The grounding kits are supposed to reduce the noise, hence the computer gets a better reading, and you get more power. In theory. In reality, if the system is properly designed, the noise is reduced using three techniques: shielded cabling, differential signaling, and software averaging. I won’t explain these here, but if the engineers who designed the EFI system knew what they were doing, noise should not be an issue. In other words, the grounding kits are solving a problem that does not really exist.

You won’t hurt anything by installing it, but you will waste your time and money."

[end quote]

I have to say the grounding kit I added to my car just this last weekend was a waste of money, didn't make me more power, didn't smooth anything out. Just lightened my wallet a bit and given me something to say when the subject comes up.

[86LXItooFAST4me]

i got this cheapo from ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7908468663&category=6763

havent installed yet but will soon :D

and i think by itself it wont help anything but with ignition and performance upgrades it will help with the overall power.

[pimp86LX]

i got this cheapo from ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7908468663&category=6763

havent installed yet but will soon :D

and i think by itself it wont help anything but with ignition and performance upgrades it will help with the overall power.

5-8hp.....wishfull thinking. All its other claims sound more feasible though.

[86LXItooFAST4me]

yeah i dont think its going to give very much HP but will def help out the ignition

[smufguy]

its funny how more and more threads come up not only in this forum, but in other forums as well and they are of the same topic. Pretty intereting to see how many ppl get it just for the heck of it. To be honest, it looks pretty darn cool when its in the engine bay. But shit, it does not look cool on ur wallet to get something that expensive, but on the other hand, the ebay one, well for $20, shit who would not wanna look cool? But it aint goin in my car for sure, rather spend that 20 bux on stickers hehe.

[smufguy]

[86LXItooFAST4me]

yeah but dont you think multiple grounds are better than just one ground? pluse these ground kits go strait to the negative battery terminal. i mean i know the effect it makes is minimal but the effect it does have is important. especially if you have a huge list of mods done, this will deff help out IMO.