Hey all,

I've had my C5 for a year and have thrown a few mods at it in the last 2 months. I have a quick recap below:

First Mod was the Vararam:

Review: 9.5/10 - The performance gain is phenomenal IMO. The fitment/install was not seamless, quality could be better, but wasn't as bad as I expected.

Second Mod was a new 2013 C6 Shifter from Cultrag plus a new boot from Redline Goods:

Review: 7.5/10 - Install was pretty easy, looks wayyy better than the C5 Shifter... throws are better.. 20% shorter I have read.. but I still would like a shorter throw with a centering spring because I keep missing 3rd with this shifter. (I will likely upgrade to a MTI 6-shooter, Kirban or MGW shifter while retaining this boot and ****). I also did the antivenom mod, and new OEM GM fluid at the same time.

Third Mod was LG Street Series 1 3/4" headers with Catless X-Pipe:


Review (LG headers): 9/10: Torque gain is impressive. Fitment according to the shop was flawless. I'd give these a 10/10 but I also had time wasted with my headers being shipped with AIR tubes despite ordering them without AIR tubes..I had to have block off plates shipped out, and my headers also came with damaged clamps, so those had to be replaced. During the install we realized the headers should have been shipped with O2 extenders, which they weren't, so my car had to stay overnight at the shop while extenders were ordered locally.

Overall with the above mods the performance gain is great. How the car should have been stock IMO.

Looking back I should have ordered the Catted X-pipe. Its a bit stinky, and a bit raspy without them.

Next mods include:
-A tune... (Likely an ECS Mail Order Tune)
-Bypass Mod (Still deciding)
-High flow cats (if the car still stinks after the tune)

Over the winter I am consider an LS6 intake and a Cam, although looking into the costs of the Cam I might pass on this for another year.
I also plan to hit the track this fall and I'm hoping for a 12.6

 

Enjoy the mods man! Glad you got everything sorted and settled with the headers.

Im with you on the shifter, I wanted a c6 unit but drove a friends before I bought, so I decided to go with a more aggressive b&m unit and love it.

My car doesn't smell even with catless x, but that may be because it's already tuned. With a tune if you still can't stand it, at least it's an easy fix to change it out in the future!

 

Nice series of mods you've done so far and the planned ones are good too. Thanks for the reviews, especially on the headers. Something I've been considering for my car.

 

I have the LG Streets also and I went back and added LG's high flow cats they really make a big difference when it come to the raspy sound and smell. They will also make it a little less loud.

 

Nice recap. Get the hi flow cats and get rid of the smell. The hi flow cats won't affect performance. I went with Kooks and got their hi flow green cats and the car has no foul smell, sound great and runs strong.

 

Thanks for the recap and review. Those are some nice mods! I'm sure a tune will tie it all together. What kind of power do you think it's making?
.

 

Congrats on the mods. A tune will bring it all together nicely.


Shakey

 

The car will still stink after a tune. Needs cats.

 

My goal was to make 01' Z06 power. From what I have seen similar set ups with a tune make about 335-345 rwhp.

 

I've talked to quite a few people who claim that tuning got rid of the rich fuel smell. I'll be able to report back on this because I will be tuning it first to see if this can actually be accomplished.

 

At best it can cut down but no way to eliminate it.

I've had several cars without cats.

 

Good mods. I too got a C6Z shifter/box and loved the handle. I now have a MGW, with the C6 ****, and love the combo. You can order a MGW with the threaded end for conventional *****, or with a C6 threadless end.

 

 

Every C5 at a minimum needs a shifter, intake, longtubes of some sort, and seats to realize the performance the chassis is capable of.

 

Agreed. I think better gearing from the factory would have been ideal also. 3.73's atleast.

 

My car stinks but I think that has something to do with my socks. I have cats.

 

 

These are exactly the same mods that I made. I did end up with the MGW short throw shifter. Also had DD mods recover the shifter to match the interior of my 2003 Anny.

Did use high flow cats. I must say though that I will occasionally smell a little exhaust.

Les

 

Also, a cam with a decent size overlap will stink some with any cats.

 

Still have some stink with my stock cam'd, catless 2000. It's just how it is...