I've completed my audio/visual mods and 1000% happy. Finishing up my last appearance mod and that will take me to 1000% happy. I"ll post pics then. I've been kinda skeptical about posting pics because you guys can be brutal

I'm ready to start my performance mods. It's a daily driver, M6. I will never ever be on the track. I like spirited driving from time to time. Would like a little more gitty up off the line.

My first thought was to go with 4:10 gears and call it a day but then I
read alot about long tubes, cam and exhaust for HP.

Which is more practical for a daily driver that isn't concerned with taking her to the track?

 

4.10s will completely change your car - in a good way.

Buy my opinion is based on my car, and the way I drive it. I put the headers on the same time as the gears, so I dont have a before/after report. The gears make it super fun on the street. My buddy has a Z06 with the same mods as me, but not the gears, and he dynod about 40hp more. He loves driving my car for the acceleration of it. His 1/4 times are faster (naturally) but my car is much more fun on the street.

I cant believe I waited 3 years to put in 4.10s. I wish it had been my first mod.

Best of success with whatever you decide.

 

I'm no expert by a long shot but a regular guy who will not try to talk you into go-fast mods because I think HP begins at 1000!

It's all about air in and air out. To begin with, on a M6 you should have plenty of gearing with your stock 3.42s, holy cow! (and not chuck).

I would think you'd want to pick up an LS6 intake and get it ported by a reputable source (you can PM me and I'll give you my trusted source) and while you're at it port your TB. Unfortunately you missed getting an LS6 intake stock by 1 year.

You also need to reduce your air intake restriction. Either do the zip tie mod to your stock airbox or get one of the aftermarket airboxes offered. You'll get a million different opinions which one is best but the fact is, they are all better than stock. I think many of the options give good results.

After you get those areas taken care of you can look at aftermarket exhaust to open things up a little more. Again there are many good choices and our members will all have their favorites. Just be aware some of the choices will give you a sweet new sound as well but maybe also drone at cruising rpms.

Next thing might be a cam of headers, I'm not sure the progression at this point. It will depend on how far you want to go.

Maybe others will come in here and say gears are the best bang for the buck. In any case, I would do at least the zip tie mod to your airbox and consider porting your intake (upgrade to an LS6) and throttle body.

You didn't say you wanted to try and do this in the most economical fashion but that's kind of how I phrased my response.

Good luck, have fun and post those appearance mod pics!

 

 

Here it is.... Plain and simple....in this order.

#1 CHUCK CoW TUNE.... You will NOT find a more enjoyable and inexpensive mod.

#2 VARARAM B2 Cold Air Intake

#3 HOLY CoW HD 4.10 REAR.

and YOU'RE DONE!

Chuck CoW

 

You're going to get a variety of different answers here but you need to really drive home the point: DAILY DRIVER. Everyone has their own needs when it comes to a car.

I daily drive my car. It's as daily driven as it gets since right now it's my only car.

For me, I'd go the exhaust route. The exhaust SOUNDS great and feels great. Plus you could pick up some MPG. Sounding better also makes the car FEEL faster. A catback alone will make you smile, but the headers will bite and not just bark.

Some people on here daily drive their car with 4.10's but I've been told it will wear out faster/is weaker in strength than 3.75's for example. I'd rather go with exhaust and not risk it. I know some people have a reliable 4.10 setup but still--with the way I drive, I'd be buying new rear tires every 6 months. Plus fuel economy will suffer. Here in FL, the average driver travels 80-85mph on the highway.

Research the costs, risks, and conequences of each mod. And by consequence, I do not mean only negative, weigh the pros and cons fairly.

I'd say intake and full exhaust (headers + catback) and call it day. But then again, who ever gets the bitten by the mod bug doesn't just 'call it a day'.

 

I say 3.73's for your DD would be more than enough and i wouldn't go above 3.90's- IMHO!

LT's would be awesome, but if I could go back and do it over again I would certainly spend my money on a SuperCharger before I did H/C - when I did I got 423 RWHP and 400 RWTQ and on the flip side of things we SuperCharged my buddies MN6 '04 Stock LS1 with just LT's, Hiflow cats and xpipe with Tubi Exhaust and he laid down:

559 RWHP and 490 RWTQ on 12 PSI of Boost on a P1SC-2 and the cost was similar to my beginning of H/C

Thanks,Matt

 

I don't know how much money you have to spend but here's my two cents:

1. I had a mustang gt that I enjoyed very much. It had something like 3.27 gears stock. I was always considering a supercharger for it so I went with 3.73, versus 4.10's while I waited for the supercharger money (poor, you know). I finally sold the Mustang and never got the supercharger but I loved driving it after the gear swap. Very little money out and a noticeable improvement in driving fun.

2. As you can see by my signature, I spent money on the vette right out of the box. I drove on the track for a few years at DE events and really loved the power. Now, I drive around on nice days and just love the IDEA of having the power at my disposal. I wonder if it's the same feeling the guys that drive exotics feel. They don't need all that power and certainly didn't have to do any upgrades to get it, but they love it all the same. A lot of money for a lot of occasional fun. I'm sure I'd go through a lot of gas if it were a daily driver.

By the way, with my set up I have no drivability issues at all. It's a perfect gentleman in traffic and doesn't throw codes all day long.

I'm not falling on either side of the fence so you're not getting any help from me, but I thought I'd share my own experiences. Good luck with the decision.

Peace

 

You are NEVER done with performance mods no matter who says what. Think of long term goals. 4.10s are ABSOLUTELY useless if you are planning on force inducting the car down the road. I may not know much but I do know a couple things about performance mods.

 

sorry but this comment made me laugh (in a good way. as in mega-understatement)