toog

I have a 2011 GS and am looking for more. More what exactly, I'm not quite sure.... The car is a DD and am looking for ego boost enhancement. You know how your car is fast, but after a while it's just not fast enough?

I want quicker, and I want more better sound. It has the NPP with mild to wild currently. I want a real seat of the pants improvement, not some girly-man improvement. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

I've done some forum searching and have looked at several packages, e.g., http://thevettedoctors.com/packages/...harger-600-hp/, http://lingenfelter.com./engine-pack...ds-cam-525-hp#, http://www.katechengines.com/perform...s/c6-corvette/, http://www.livernoismotorsports.com/...icle-Packages/.

So, I'm willing to go ~$10k on this. I'd like to hear a little about the contrast of naturally aspirated (NA) vs. forced induction (FI). I read here that it takes less NA HP to produce acceleration that would take more HP from FI. Why is that?

If I put one of these packages in my car, that does not already include headers and exhaust, should I have them. I notice that the FI packages generally do not include either cam, heads, or exhaust. So, what, are they telling me that putting a supercharger in my car with a tune gives me 600 HP? But to get ~525 I need a cam, heads, exhaust, intake, tune, etc.?

And if I bump up to 525-550 HP, do I now need a beefier rear, axles, and what else? What about 600? I realize these claimed HP gains are by no means absolute and I'm not chasing dyno numbers.

When my wife says "hit it," (no, not that), I want the car to jump.

I'm just trying to get a feel for what direction to head, trying to narrow things down some. What do I get from what, and what else do I need on top of it. I realize this is a little long, and perhaps somewhat convoluted, but you guys, I'm sure, were faced with the same challenges in the beginning. At least my grammar and punctuation are good.....not that anyone else's isn't....

I'm 60, and back in the day I was a big block Chevelle man. But now, the technology has outrun me and I need some guidance.

BTW, I live in central NY. This place http://www.northeastspeedshop.com/services.html is not too far from me, anyone know anything about them?

Thanks for your thoughts,

Gary

Itshakes

Sell your car and buy a ZR1!

LS3Knight

Haha!!!! Long question with a short answer! He will need more than $10k for that.

C7/Z06 Man

Blower....... i.e. get blown good manners and cruising mileage, etc, etc.

MY "pressurized" air conditioned street driven "V6" Buick has run in the 9's in the 1/4 with the air turned off on drag radials.




You young kids should study more!

Oh, and my last 9.5 compression n/a big block chevy (502 cu.in.) street/bracket racer ran 10.5's on pump gas (all the time) in a 3950 pound car with driver. I could smoke the large street tires from a 60 mph roll and the car was just running 3.70 rear gears. Used slicks at the track.

glenB

Cam around 230 - 236 @ .050 , headers w/matching cat back and nitrous. This can get you your 500 easily and stay in your budget.

hungryhippo

Auto or manual? What is your driving style? Any track use? My guess is that you'd be best off with a supercharger and full exhaust. I would go to ECS if I lived in NY. Don't settle for a shop just because they are close

Dano523

Ditto, get the car re-tuned, and go from there.

So much power is being held back in the stock tune (torque management) that is not funny.

From there, you can start thinking of more power to the ground if you want, or better put, how much faster you want to burn the tires off the rims instead.

timd38

Yes but he will get more back on the end.

djbrun

Ecs supercharger kit, and a Borla ATAK system would make it seem like a totally different car. IMO




DJ

toog

Oops, 6 sp manual. Very spirited driver, it's pretty curvy here and I do a lot of carving. No plans for track or strip. I do like some mean acceleration though.

berk4422

Go slow, take your time getting to your goal. Go with incremental HP gains with each mod. Get used to the additional power and what it does. You will have more fun this way and also ease your way into a 600BHP car. You will be a better driver
3 small stages to $10k; Intake, Headers, Exhaust >Heads and Blower Cam > SC.
You will have more fun getting there and you will really be able to "Ride with the Fear, Ricky Bobby!!!"...

Edit: Tune at each step
Also, my car was once fast, feels slow now. Going with cam next. Then I'll wait a while before heads...

berk4422

True - Air Intake Temps are higher with FI. You would need meth to reduce the heat. Also something to consider> I am working with the limit/grip of my street tires and matching HP to my driving skill level. I started with 335 RWHP, for the past year at about 365 HP/TQ, next week moving up to the 400+ HP/TQ bracket with a Cam. After about a year with the cam, I'll decide on Heads and Fast intake for another 40+ HP. My Firestone Wide Ovals will be toast by then...

berk4422

Dano523

No need for boost for the back end to step out on you. Just put the car in to comp mode, don't respect the stock 400 +HP with the nannies turned off, and the back end will get away from you real quickly instead.





At 600hp and the TM not holding a great deal of the power back (nannies on to save you), it just gets worse, with the rear end braking free even faster, at less then full throttle instead.


To sum it up op, go get the car re-tuned, find a large wide open parking lot to play in, hold the TC button down for 5 seconds to turn all the nannies off, then Go rod the car in the parking lot and see if more HP is what you really want.

toog

OK, so call me a blasphemer, but I have a turbocharged Subaru for which I bought a Cobb MAP and downpipe. I must admit, it had a great deal of seat-of-the-pants improvement. I think the argument for tune, intake, headers/exhaust has a great deal of merit. And after having taken a more critical look at pricing it's even a better idea. A full exhaust, block to tips, is pretty pricey.

I read the Corsa system is the only one that doesn't drone, is that accurate? What size headers should I be looking at, 1 3/4, 1 7/8?

I'll do some searching for a reputable NY tuner. Any suggestions? ECS perhaps?

Gotta love those videos.

Personally, when my rear breaks loose, it happens, coming out of a corner....I let up on the gas....

Thanks for the help so far,

G

old motorhead

I'm going to make the quantum leap and assume your aren't a mullet, and won't drive your Vette in an unsafe manner.

With that behind us, lets move on to your Vette. You have a Grand Sport sporting an LS3 dry sump motor. EXCELLENT starting point. Back in December, I was either going to buy a used ZR1 or a new GS. I chose the GS. They were discounting them around $18K to make room for the C7's.

Your GS sports Z06 running gear. No need to upgrade any of that. Just in the motor dept is where you need help. I'd recommend that you add a Magnuson Heartbeat blower along with a set of long tube headers and call it a day. You'll have 550ish rwhp along with stock like manners and fuel eco. The extra power is there at any RPM you choose to use it. It just feels like you have a much bigger motor available whenever you want it. I wouldn't touch your mufflers as long as you have NPP's. If you don't have NPP's, I'd add them or Corsa Sports.

If 550 gets to be boring, you can add a meth system and smaller pulley and see over 600. If that bores you, you can always add more hp with a camshaft swap. Much more than that and you need to be looking at a built motor and all kinds of other money drains.

If you know that you won't be happy with the above "meager" power levels, start with a centrifugal supercharger setup. They are the cheapest and easiest way to go if you're wanting 700+ rwhp.

toog

I don't have a mullet, if that's what you mean. I did, however, have a ponytail. That is, till my hair began to seriously thin on top.....

This approach also sounds reasonable. I assume that after the installation I would need to get the car tuned, yes.

I think I'm a safe driver, so does my wife. Does having pulled 1.02 g the other day negate that statement?

Aves_Guy

I had Chuck tune my car (2013 427) when he was in Oklahoma City last month. He did a full tune and his 'CoW Booster' throttle mod. VERY happy! Search the tune section of the forum and you'll find plenty of others that have had his tune and booster too.

http://www.corvettes-of-westchester....ts/cowbooster/

C7/Z06 Man

I would stop candy a$$ing and take old motorhead's constructed suggestion.

"Quality is long remembered after the price is forgotten".

Guinzu

One more vote for a supercharger. For exhaust, long tube headers and keep your NPP exhaust. This will you a huge jump in hp and mild manners for normal driving.