oy...

The hardest question about the X seems to be:

What are the best/easiest ways to get more power from the 3.0L?

 

I moved your post from an old thread which is 100 yrs old and submitted a new thread for you to take more attraction , in your case that was a better option rather than bumping an old thread

 

jason, actually, getting more power out of these motors is fairly easy. Granted, much of it is 1 off modifications. The real question is how to get the power to the ground reliably. The stock transfer case is the weak link and can barely handle the stock power. You start cranking up the power, you are going to be going through transfer cases quite often. At $3000 a pop, more power can get really expensive really fast. There's no upgrade or swap that can be done with the transfer case that I am aware of.

 

You might try "adding lightness," but the results will end up being less than a Jaguar.

 

What are your goals? Is it an automatic or a manual transmission? What kind of wheels/tires are you running? What's your driving style?
Intake/exhaust are probably going to be the easiest and cheapest. The engine on these cars is susceptible to heat soak due to the congestion of the engine bay, drawing cooler air in from a different location and having a more direct shot to the MAF sensor and throttle body with no constrictions will greatly aid higher rpm air flow. The stock exhaust headers have cats built into them which restricts exhaust flow. The Taurus Duratec headers do not have these cats and I hear are a direct bolt-on. That's also a great place to start but a little more pricey than the intake. I'm hoping to get both of these done this next year...

 

Funny this thread popped up here.. I got crapped on by a a5 the other night, was wondering the same thing about the power issues. But like Chris said about the transfer case being so brittle.. that's the only real problem which is keeping me from doing anything. It's a big let down..

 

If you've got an 04+ X I wouldn't worry about the transfer case as much as something a little older. I seriously, seriously doubt the mods listed above will grenade the transfer case. I promise to put these mods to the test sometime soon in an environment few people on here will replicate. We'll see how they hold up.

 

Way to take one for the team. LOL. I will be awaiting the results as i too would like to make this kitty growl!!!

 

It all depends on your goals.. A few bolt ons (intake, catback) will do a little for your butt dyno but not a whole lot on an actual dyno.

If you are REALLY serious about making power, then as everyone mentioned, your transmission/transfer case is going to need some reworking. A good place to start doing some research is http://www.dynamotorsports.ca/main.htm

They built the (auto) transmission in an old friend of mine's Camry (yes, Camry) that was laying down 567whp (not kidding) on a T66 turbo. It will be expensive, but it will be able to handle anything you throw at it.

After you figure out your drivetrain, getting the car to make power won't be hard (if you have a clue about forced induction). Personally, I'd strap an AEM standalone ECU to the car, and probably go with a GT30 turbo setup, bigger injectors, thicker metal headgasket, maybe a little headwork, some proper tuning and I am sure the motors in these cars are easily capable of 300whp. I would not expect to spend any less than $10k to make that kind of power, and that's talking with a lot of homie hookups on parts and doing a lot of the work yourself. Plan on having a shop do that work for you? Think more like $20k easily for a good, reliable setup and tuning.

At that point you have to ask yourself, is it really worth it to be that unique? Or would you be better off spending $2k on an old S13 chassis, about $5k to drop in an SR20DET with some goodies, beef up your suspension and brakes, and have a 300whp sports car for less than $10k?