Scott Luttrell

I own a 99 plane jane 350. what inexpensive performance upgrade can i do? seeing alot of chips etc. what works ?

xdmikey

Long tube headers, cold air intake and a tune.

Arg0413

What kind of rwhp would you expect from these bolt ons?

jhopper408

Probably about 350.

tblu92

No more "chips" on these cars for quite awhile---They require flash program with either a handheld tuner----a mail order tune---Or full tuning capabilities with HP or EFILIVE
Right now as bone stock you can go the bolt on route and make good gains---then you can always later do the next level which would be a camshaft LT headers and better heads
Most everyone starts out with bolts on 1st
Your car needs the following 1st before you ever expect to make big HP with a cam/heads
1. Cold air intake (from $250-$400) 10-15 RWHP
2. Cat back exhaust Straight piped mufflerless to SS mufflers($150-$1200) 8-10 RWHP
3. A 99 has the LS1 intake manifold---You need at least a LS6 intake ( $350) or an expensive Fast intake ($1000) 12-15 RWHP
4.Your stock cam is very mild--I would install 1.8 rocker arms--You'll need LS6 springs as well (rockers and springs $450) 15-20 RWHP
5. Ported throttle body ($150) 8-10 RWHP
6. A full TUNE with HP or EFILVE to take full advantage of your mods ($450)15-20 RWHP

That is a great staring point without removing the heads or cam APPROX 80 RWHP avg. Best bang for the buck entry level mods
THINGS NOT TO DO OR BUY
Absolutely do not touch your MAF or remove the screen or install an aftermarket one
NO magic timing tricker devices --Throttle improvers etc.
NO need to remove the cats---2-5 RWHP gains removed--not worth the trouble and sounds annoying while driving
Avoid handheld tuners---Maybe only Diablo Sport at a minimum .They cannot address enough tables in your tune to make allowances from mods
Lastly----IF your car is an Automatic---The absolute best mod you can make on ANY car is a higher stall converter---Turns any car into a beast at launch--Stay away from the cheapies--Get at least a 3000 Stall ratio be prepared to spend $850---It doubles the Torque at launch--A stock C5 has a stall of about 1400---So when you floor it ----it launches at 1400 where it's making only about 100 HP---Install the 3000 converter and now when you launch it flashes instantly to 3000 RPM's where now the engine is making
200-250 HP !!!! That's HUGE !!!

Scott Luttrell

[QUOTE=tblu92;1589057277]No more "chips" on these cars for quite awhile---They require flash program with either a handheld tuner----a mail order tune---Or full tuning capabilities with HP or EFILIVE
Right now as bone stock you can go the bolt on route and make good gains---then you can always later do the next level which would be a camshaft LT headers and better heads
Most everyone starts out with bolts on 1st
Your car needs the following 1st before you ever expect to make big HP with a cam/heads
1. Cold air intake (from $250-$400) 10-15 RWHP
2. Cat back exhaust Straight piped mufflerless to SS mufflers($150-$1200) 8-10 RWHP
3. A 99 has the LS1 intake manifold---You need at least a LS6 intake ( $350) or an expensive Fast intake ($1000) 12-15 RWHP
4.Your stock cam is very mild--I would install 1.8 rocker arms--You'll need LS6 springs as well (rockers and springs $450) 15-20 RWHP
5. Ported throttle body ($150) 8-10 RWHP
6. A full TUNE with HP or EFILVE to take full advantage of your mods ($450)15-20 RWHP

That is a great staring point without removing the heads or cam APPROX 80 RWHP avg. Best bang for the buck entry level mods
THINGS NOT TO DO OR BUY
Absolutely do not touch your MAF or remove the screen or install an aftermarket one
NO magic timing tricker devices --Throttle improvers etc.
NO need to remove the cats---2-5 RWHP gains removed--not worth the trouble and sounds annoying while driving
Avoid handheld tuners---Maybe only Diablo Sport at a minimum .They cannot address enough tables in your tune to make allowances from mods
Lastly----IF your car is an Automatic---The absolute best mod you can make on ANY car is a higher stall converter---Turns any car into a beast at launch--Stay away from the cheapies--Get at least a 3000 Stall ratio be prepared to spend $850---It doubles the Torque at launch--A stock C5 has a stall of about 1400---So when you floor it ----it launches at 1400 where it's making only about 100 HP---Install the 3000 converter and now when you launch it flashes instantly to 3000 RPM's where now the engine is making
200-250 HP !!!! That's HUGE !!![/QUOTE Thanks gonna start w/cat back, cold air. i'll drive it awhile and move on to the others. Thanks again

Gunner3838

[QUOTE=Scott Luttrell;1589057642]
newbie here- have stock auto 98, researching the mail in tune and other light/budget improvements. Is stall converter good upgrade for a beginner- would be my first mod, my concern is my engine has been so reliable- I'm afraid to mess with it..

tblu92

[QUOTE=Gunner3838;1589679800]The beauty of a stall converter is that the engine is left entirely alone---So no changes to driveability or reliability or emissions
A stall below 3000 is simply a re-worked stock diameter converter--These typically are not reliable---I would strongly suggest at least a 3000 stall---Now you have a complete new converter that is smaller in diameter than stock and very robustly built--Pricier like in the $800 range but it will make your stock engine feel like a beast---
You do need to do a few things when adding a stall---
1st always install n aftermarket additional trans cooler--Cheap and an easy job to do--Stall create heat and the added cooler takes care of that
2nd A retune is always recommended----A stall can create false misfires so this needs to be fixed with tuning---A tuner will know all the tuning things that are needed to make it better ---There are about 7-10 tables that need to be addressed----
On my 98 with only 400 RWHP my car gained 1/2 second in the 1/4 mile after the install and a re- tune--- Best mod you can do on any automatic car !!!!

jjc508520

I'm pretty sure mine is also stock except for exhaust (but with factory manifolds). I'm planning to take it to ECS for a "street tune" as they are not far from me - but they also do mail-order and I've not seen any negative reviews of the results.

http://www.eastcoastsupercharging.co...ategory_id=127

I'm also going to have them change the anti-freeze and put in a 160deg thermostat. For the air intake I'm looking seriously at the "flip and zip" mod.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1557887035

Good Luck with whatever path you pursue

tblu92

The 160 thermo mod is a great way to cool your engine and auto trans more efficiently----
Just remember---On a stock tune the 1st fan does not come on until the coolant reaches 226* the second at 235* or if the A/C is turned on-----So the benefit of a colder thermo is minimal because the fans are coming on way too late----For best cooling a TUNE will change the fans on temps--- With a 160 or even a 180 thermo I use these settings most often
#1 fan ON at 205 OFF at 198
#2 fan ON at 210 OFF at 206

Czarcharles

Can you put headers on a street C5? I thought nothing in front of the catastrophic converter was legal. Perhaps in places that don't do emissions testing? Any recommendations on cold air induction?

bad455ta

Headers are legal...the only thing illegal is removing cats or mufflers or dumping the exhaust under the cab.

Good info on the stall...but I thought the best mod for an A4 is gear swap? I'd be more interested in a stall because I dont want to lose MPG or MPH on the highway by increasing RPM's. My car screams on the highway but that's because I have highway gears. I'd sure hate to lose that and this seems like the way to go giving me much more bottom end.

Csr24gordo

Horsepower= suck squeeze bang blow

RonSSNova

Depends on what gears you have now.
Auto with std gears were 2.73 ratio. That would benefit from a gear swap. The optional ratio was 3.15.
Popular change is to simply switch the entire differential for one from a manual trans car which are all 3.42.

3.42 will go 150 mph in 3rd gear.....assuming you can rev 6900.
Point is, 3.42 is a nice all around ratio for an A4 car.

Converter is a personal choice when it comes to stall speed. 3000-3400 will drive nice and not feel too loose.
The key is to spend the $$$ and get a good converter. Cheap ones will stall, but tend to be inefficient. Yank and Circle D or FTI come to mind. Around $1000.