Just bought my first vette, all stock other then short throw shifter, cold air intake & corsa exhaust.
I'm still a young kid and am interested in any and all mods that will have the best bang for the buck and ones I can do myself.
I've heard computer chips and tuning are a good way to start.
Any suggestions out there?

 

Corvette C5 doesn't have a chip, But for me the best money spent was for the tune by Chuck at CoW on my A4.

 

Gears

Peace
Chip

 

I see you're from London, there is a great group of Corvette owners in the Canada section with lots of idea's and sources for mod work. Give the site a look see, I think you'll find it most interesting including some folks from your area no doubt.

 

I'd have to say headers or nitrous.

 

Nitrous- best bang for the buck

 

Headers/Gears/Tune...

 

 

Headers and send your computer off for a custom tune if there isn't a tuner in your area.

Followed by a hotter camshaft. Used ported heads, or some 243 casting (C5Zo6)

Used superchargers can be had for 3500, but better save up for a stronger clutch soon after that mod.

Ditch the runflat tires. The non runflats are much lighter so you'll feel the difference in acceleration.

 

Lowering, bars and shocks.

 

First good mod to do from this point is Long Tube Headers, Hi-Flow cats (if required, if not then straight pipes) into an X-Pipe and a DYNO tune>

Be some of the best money spent and then you can go from there and I would suggest Forced Induction - SuperCharger Vortech or ProCharger

Thanks,Matt

 

high performance hood seal lol just kidding

 

I would recommend lowering the car as well. It is very easy to do and if you do a search there are several write ups on the subject. You can get fairly low on stock bolts to the point where it looks noticeably better. I wanted to go lower and got the bolt kit from Zip for around $50 I believe. Here is my stance with this kit:


Cheap, easy, looks great. A win win in my book and one of the first mods I did to the car too.

 

Bingo!

 

I'll take handling over horsepower anyday!

 

That's a free mod (if you can do the alignment yourself, which takes a bit of time, but is not THAT difficult).
Maybe headers and a tune after that...
Or just small stuff, like painting your brake calipers, frc's...

And do drop into the Canadian forum here!!!!

 

depends on your idea of "effective"

I divide performancee into 2 catagories: power and handling. For power I prefer a fat low-mid torque curve to peak numbers. Any engine is built to have peak power at a given range in the poewrband. A lot of high HP cars have a very small window of really good numbers while the lower part of the powerband suffers. For Drag/track cars, this is not a problem but for street cars, having good low end power will significantly enhancee drivability.

A few mods though will enhance power all around without sacrificing somewhere else:

Intakes and exhaust will usually show a good gain throughout the powerband.

Roots and twin screw blowers will also have an even gain through the powerband. Turbos ans centri blowers usually havee more gains at the top end.

For handling, springs, shocks, brakes and swaybars will really enhance the control of your ride.

Shocks: normally you'd have to pick between a soft comfortable ridee or additional stability, but lowering your car will give you more control without a significant sacrifice in comfort.

Brakes: The most significant upgrade to brakes would be to get bigger rotors and calipers. other brake upgrades will show a minimal improveement, but mostly they're for asthetics or durability. Note for the big-brake kits you will need larger front wheels.

Swaybars: the bigger the better. No downside unless they start scraping the pavement....

 

A really good detail job and new wheels.

Nothing nicer then a clean Vette. Engine bay, exhaust tips, Wheel wells etc.

 

C6 Z51 Sway Bars. About $250 for vastly improved handling over base susp. Easy swap too.

 

What size wheels are those?