Stock N54 VS N55 with only JB4+Intake, What will make more power?

[romnation]

I've been searching around on the forum, but can't really find any hard data/numbers. I will be purchasing either an N55 or N54 135i soon, and these are really the only 2 mods I plan on doing. What kind of HP gain will these 2 mods alone get me on the N55? What about the N54? Is it a pretty large difference?

Thanks!

[BoosTonian]

N54 will net you more hp due to the twin turbo setup.

N55 is a torquey motor but it's single turbo runs out of air.

So if you're looking to make the most power, n54 is the motor you want.

[highbrowed]

If you are looking to turn up the power buy an N54, the aftermarket is much more robust.

[04mazdaspeed]

where you located in Chicago? I have the n55 and am fbo on e85. The n54 from what I read does make more power on the stock turbo than the n55 but wow are these torquey motors. So much torque in the midrange where you kinda always are anyways. Ive never driven a n54 so I cant speak for that but yea the stock turbo definitely starts to die up top around 5.5k when you get full boltons. Mind my asking why are you going to stop at just a intake?

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

N54 right now has more aftermarket options, tuning, fueling and higher ceiling on stock turbos.

However, if you want to go aftermarket turbo on the N55 it can be almost as powerful, keyword almost.

If you are staying with stock turbo's the N54 will have the most power per dollar mod for mod.

[romnation]

Originally Posted by 04mazdaspeed

where you located in Chicago? I have the n55 and am fbo on e85. The n54 from what I read does make more power on the stock turbo than the n55 but wow are these torquey motors. So much torque in the midrange where you kinda always are anyways. Ive never driven a n54 so I cant speak for that but yea the stock turbo definitely starts to die up top around 5.5k when you get full boltons. Mind my asking why are you going to stop at just a intake?

I'm in Logan Square, what about yourself? After this purchase I won't have a lot of spare cash and don't want to go mod crazy. I figure JB4 plus the intake should net me pretty decent gains. I know the N55 is the more reliable motor, and the N54 is suited better to mods, but I'm just trying to figure out how big the power difference is with these simple mods across each motor. N55 would allow me to purchase a newer year which would be ideal, but I don't want to lose a large amount of potential power if I decide to go that route over the N54.

[04mazdaspeed]

I'm in the south suburbs in worth about 15mins from midway. I choose to go n55 simply because I wanted dct and I wanted lowest mileage for my money. Even with full boltons your not giving up a lot of power to the n54 but your gaining more reliability. The n55 is still a good motor to mod and still makes great power and even greater torque. The n54 has the edge on power on stock turbos until you swap the turbos then the edge is even smaller.

[bbnks2]

Originally Posted by romnation

I'm in Logan Square, what about yourself? After this purchase I won't have a lot of spare cash and don't want to go mod crazy. I figure JB4 plus the intake should net me pretty decent gains. I know the N55 is the more reliable motor, and the N54 is suited better to mods, but I'm just trying to figure out how big the power difference is with these simple mods across each motor. N55 would allow me to purchase a newer year which would be ideal, but I don't want to lose a large amount of potential power if I decide to go that route over the N54.

With a basic JB4 only setup the power curves are pretty similar. However, when you start to push things with custom tunes, and additional bolt-ons, the N54 will net you more power per dollar.

Once you get into aftermarket turbos the motors themselves are pretty much equal (ignore the N55 haters). Again, the edge going to the N54 because it has a much more robust aftermarket. N55 big turbo kits are just starting to hit shelves and we finally just got proper flash tuning from MHD. Both things were seriously holding N55 back from accomplishing the same or more as N54 has done.'

Here is a comparison done way back in 2012 (things have changed since this comparison):
FBO/meth with an e85 mix on both cars:
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/attac...1&d=1355846504