i was wondering what would be the best thing for more engine power...besides a supercharger what are some things that i can do to my engine to get more power/torque or horsepower. i have a 99 3.8L camaro. manual

 

Of course a SC will work wonders, and its a natural thought because GM actually built SC versions of your engine in other cars so it would be easy to find a surplused factory set up out of a Buick or Pontiac and mod it to fit. But realize that GM also reinforced the internals on the 3.8 when they put a Sc on it, sso you might have durability problems.

I recommend you spend an evening cruising through the general tech section reading. Then decide what you want to do. But assuming it is a modest budget and you want a nice street car. here is what you want to do in roughly this order:

Headers - one of the things you pay for is a good fit: don't be cheap here, reserach and find out what's best and pay for quality. If two sizes of tube diameter are offered, get the smaller of the sizes unless you intend to go . Buy the longest tube lengths you can - short tubes do something but not nearly as much. You will notice the difference not just in top end HP in in everyday driving mid range torque

Improved Y- pipe and exhaust. This adds only a little power but gives you a better sound.

A good air intake. Less retriction and colder air. This helps add a bit of power and hurts ntohing and is not expensive.

Underdrive pulley (I assume they are offered for the V6, they are for the V8)

Re-tuning, however that is done on a V6 (sorry, I'm only really experienced with the V8, but no doubt you can get a power programmer or some kit to adjust the engine tuning to maximize power with these mods).

-- At this point, you have somewhere at or near 10% more power. . To get more you have to spend a good deal.

Gears. You can change out the rear axle ratio for a higher number ratio, say from a 2.73 to a 3.23, or whatever you have, take it up to the next step gears. This really imprves acceleration. It also increases the revs your run at in traffic and on the highway and it hurts fuel economy. (Reallize everyhting you've done on this list up to now probably helped fuel economy as well as added more power). But it really makes the car preppier. You have to decide it you want to go this route.

A cam. Its easy to go too radicalbut a good street cam can add another 10%. Buy the whol kit, and again, don't cut corners. If the cam manufacturers say you need new springs and retainers, get them too, same for pushrods.

Intake manifold, etc. I don't know what is offered here for the V6, but there are upgrades, etc, available for the V8s, I would assume there is something for the V6, too.

 

Ram air kit made out of a duct found at a junkyard, and a aluminum dryer duct $10-20 max. Just mount the air duct under your front spoiler and run the dryer vent to your air box. Should give you 5 HP and 10 ft lbs. of torque.

Take everything out fo your car you do not need, all your junk, spare tire, jack, hockey bag, softbal bag, etc. (free)

Go with smaller tires next time you buy them so you reduce your gear ratio, giving you quicker launches. (Free, if you need to buy tires lol)

Next would be to gasket match your intake to your heads and your TB to your intake. Also you could port and polish your heads, but if you port and polish, you will prob need bigger fuel injectors ( not to sure here, all my stuff is carburated)

50-100 hp TB nos kit. around 500.oo I would probably stick to the 50 HP shot