Need performance upgrade suggestions!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 134
Likes: 1
From: Rancho Bernardo CA
Need performance upgrade suggestions!
I have a 99 Convertible w/ Halltech Stinger intake and Borla duel exhaust...
i haven't done many upgrades yet mostly because of the price involved (I've been finishing up school and haven't had the money to play with upgrades).
Well I'm ready to do my next upgrade and i'm wondering what it should be... tuning? upgraded max airflow sensor? X-Pipe? Super Conductor Wires? What's my best bang for the buck with what little I've done?
Any vendors want to show me some love??? hahaha
I'm in San Diego... any good shops down here that do tuning??
i haven't done many upgrades yet mostly because of the price involved (I've been finishing up school and haven't had the money to play with upgrades).
Well I'm ready to do my next upgrade and i'm wondering what it should be... tuning? upgraded max airflow sensor? X-Pipe? Super Conductor Wires? What's my best bang for the buck with what little I've done?
Any vendors want to show me some love??? hahaha
I'm in San Diego... any good shops down here that do tuning??
Last edited by C5Rme; Jan 18, 2009 at 04:17 AM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 134
Likes: 1
From: Rancho Bernardo CA
Oh, also, how do I tell if my headers are stock or not? I bought my C5 used, and the headers don't look like their stock... but the welds not pretty either... so i doubt they're an aftermarket pair... unless the guy who owned it had them custom built by a friend or something...
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 134
Likes: 1
From: Rancho Bernardo CA
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f5...r/P1180262.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f5...r/P1180263.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f5...r/P1180264.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f5...r/P1180263.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f5...r/P1180264.jpg
Last edited by C5Rme; Jan 18, 2009 at 05:20 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,464
Likes: 2
From: Cedarburg, WI
You have to host pictures on a site like photobucket and provide link or img code. We can't link to pictures on your hard drive!
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,464
Likes: 2
From: Cedarburg, WI
The headers look aftermarket or fabricated. haven't seen any that look quite like that. How far back do they go? Are they long or short? ie how far back do they go approximately?
The predator tune would be no where close to a good shop tune which would be my recommendation. They will also be able to give you some good firsthand advice!
The predator tune would be no where close to a good shop tune which would be my recommendation. They will also be able to give you some good firsthand advice!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 134
Likes: 1
From: Rancho Bernardo CA
The headers are not very long... in fact if you look carefully on the second picture down, you can see just below where that piece of rubber piping comes across the picture, just below that you can see the bottom of the header. There's a small round silver bolt that's easy to see in the bottom center of the picture.. that's one of the header bolts where it connects to the next piece.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,464
Likes: 2
From: Cedarburg, WI
Most prefer long tube headers but some have used shorty's especially in California. In general long tubes will outperform shorty's but they should be an improvement over stock. My advice would be to see what your tuner recommends.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,208
Likes: 0
From: Newport Beach California
Tune for sure 
Slight boost in power, better mileage, better throttle response, and an all-around more efficient engine + a dyno run is well worth $500 in my opinion. And if its in an experts hands, you shouldn't have to worry about anything goin wrong
now if you want to put it on spray thats a whole different story...
Slight boost in power, better mileage, better throttle response, and an all-around more efficient engine + a dyno run is well worth $500 in my opinion. And if its in an experts hands, you shouldn't have to worry about anything goin wrong
now if you want to put it on spray thats a whole different story...
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 2,631
Likes: 2
From: Clever, MO aka SOMO
Pro
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 731
Likes: 9
From: Ivins, Utah
Those are stock early double wall exhaust manifolds with the dip stick tube bolted onto the 3rd from the front tube, I think 97 -00. (I have a 99)
I have a set sitting on my garage floor that I took off my car.
You can upgrade to Shortie headers but you will only see a very small increase, like I saw.
You would need to replace your dip stick and tube with the later model units, 2001 or newer, the new dip stick will then also move much farther forward, like before the first pipe.
They say there is no need to replace the newer (2001 -04) stock manifolds with shorties because there will be no gain.
When I installed my shortie headers I saw only a small gain, if any, if I were to do it again, I'd go for the long tube headers ... the reason I went with shorties is cause I wanted it to pass smog inspections, which it did.
I really got the best preformance gain from the Vararam and the X-pipe .. I was a little suprised about the X-pipe, sounds better too.
Good luck
I have a set sitting on my garage floor that I took off my car.
You can upgrade to Shortie headers but you will only see a very small increase, like I saw.
You would need to replace your dip stick and tube with the later model units, 2001 or newer, the new dip stick will then also move much farther forward, like before the first pipe.
They say there is no need to replace the newer (2001 -04) stock manifolds with shorties because there will be no gain.
When I installed my shortie headers I saw only a small gain, if any, if I were to do it again, I'd go for the long tube headers ... the reason I went with shorties is cause I wanted it to pass smog inspections, which it did.
I really got the best preformance gain from the Vararam and the X-pipe .. I was a little suprised about the X-pipe, sounds better too.
Good luck
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,208
Likes: 0
From: Newport Beach California