First Mods
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Cruising
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 11
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First Mods
I tried to search for this but must be using bad search terms.
I'm asking for a friend of mine who just picked up a 98 C5 auto. He is looking for some basic mods, but he wants to keep the car emissions legal. It currently has a borla exhaust on it. I figured a set of emission legal headers, and a blackwing air filter(is that right?)? Would a custom tune do him good? I don't think he wants to go as far as heads and and cam.
Can you guys suggest some mods and what are some good emission legal headers? Is it possible to get the car to 350+rwhp with just bolt-ons?
On a side note, how well do these cars hold up to supercharging? What is the max amount of safe boost?
Thanks..
I'm asking for a friend of mine who just picked up a 98 C5 auto. He is looking for some basic mods, but he wants to keep the car emissions legal. It currently has a borla exhaust on it. I figured a set of emission legal headers, and a blackwing air filter(is that right?)? Would a custom tune do him good? I don't think he wants to go as far as heads and and cam.
Can you guys suggest some mods and what are some good emission legal headers? Is it possible to get the car to 350+rwhp with just bolt-ons?
On a side note, how well do these cars hold up to supercharging? What is the max amount of safe boost?
Thanks..
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,322
Likes: 2
From: New York NY
Cruise-In VI Veteran
St. Jude Donor '05
The legality of the long tubes really depends on what state we are talking about. New Jersey or California, forget about the headers. For most other states you should be fine as long as you are running high flow cats. Headers depend on how much you are willing to spend. LG Motorsports puts out a great set for $1800, probably the best on the market. Kooks is also a good choice, for around $1300-1400, but be prepared for a more tedious installation process. I had a set of dynatech supermaxx headers installed on my C5 last weekend and they have worked out well. Huge seat of the pants feeling increase and I am only running an intake and catback. I will be going for a tune on friday to verify the numbers. A tune would certainly be in order if you install new headers and an intake. You will see some good gains and the car will run much more smoothly. sorry, i dont have any first hand experience with supercharging.
oh, yes, it is possible to get real close to 350rwhp and torque with the mentioned mods and a tune.
brian
oh, yes, it is possible to get real close to 350rwhp and torque with the mentioned mods and a tune.
brian
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 228
Likes: 3
From: Va Beach VA
I have ta agree with Iceman...headers seem to be the next in line.. I would get the SLP blackwing intake with the foglamp shroud DIY mod.
LG, Kooks and QTP are high quality headers and seem to give the best results as far as I can tell. Also.....another route is to change the rear gears and Tourqe converter, then go into the engine.
You will (might) need a tune after headers and Hi flow cats for the best performance.
Don't have forced induction, but from the guys I have talked to, the LS1 accepts superchargers, twin turbo set-ups and nitrous easily.
Just be careful of the Mod bug...It's too late for most of us.
LG, Kooks and QTP are high quality headers and seem to give the best results as far as I can tell. Also.....another route is to change the rear gears and Tourqe converter, then go into the engine.
You will (might) need a tune after headers and Hi flow cats for the best performance.
Don't have forced induction, but from the guys I have talked to, the LS1 accepts superchargers, twin turbo set-ups and nitrous easily.
Just be careful of the Mod bug...It's too late for most of us.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,743
Likes: 3
From: Davie Florida
First of all does your friends car have 2.73 or 3.15 gears? The first mods you should do on an A4 is to install an intake and then a good high stall T/C and decent gears(especially if you have 2.73s). LT headers are a very good mod but a T/C and gears will give you MUCH greater bang for the buck.
Without FI or nitrous you will not be able to get to 350 RWHP with an A4. You will need to do a cam or H/C to get to 350 RWHP.
Without FI or nitrous you will not be able to get to 350 RWHP with an A4. You will need to do a cam or H/C to get to 350 RWHP.
Last edited by Mitch C; Mar 23, 2005 at 11:44 PM.
Advanced
Joined: Mar 2005
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I have a set of LG headers and the price stated above was right on the head, it is the best money I ever spent, and I can not stress enough on headers, like a freind of mine who has a 7sex Nitrous driven camaro says, without headers is like trying to breath through a straw! You can put all the mods on the car you want such as air boxes, MAS etc and without being able to get all of the extra air out is a waste IMO, so my suggestion to your freind is first install the headers and a nice air box, I got the twin model on mine which has 2 large K&N's that are open and not enclosed in any way for max air flow. That ran me about 250$ and wow what a noticeable difference.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 831
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From: Country Boys Can Survive.
Do a good air intake and headers. Get a tune. Then, since the likelyhood is that your friend will want more, he should do research and ask himself what he wants from his car. There are good points with supercharging as well as with heads/cam upgrades.
The headers and intake, with a tune, will give good "seat-of-the-pants" improvement. Gears/and torque converter is also a great waker-upper!
Hang around the forum, there's a whole lot of INSIGHT here!!! Like someone else said though, LONGTUBE HEADERS are a MUST for real power!!!
P.S. I hope everyone is realizing what an "expert" I've become since I coughed up some money to hire someone else to do my "dirty work" for me!!!
I just POST so I can attach my signature! 
The headers and intake, with a tune, will give good "seat-of-the-pants" improvement. Gears/and torque converter is also a great waker-upper!
Hang around the forum, there's a whole lot of INSIGHT here!!! Like someone else said though, LONGTUBE HEADERS are a MUST for real power!!!
P.S. I hope everyone is realizing what an "expert" I've become since I coughed up some money to hire someone else to do my "dirty work" for me!!!
I just POST so I can attach my signature!
Last edited by loudsam; Mar 24, 2005 at 10:54 AM. Reason: some more valuable insight!!!
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Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 11
Likes: 0
Thanks for all of the input. He doesn't know which gears he has, hopefully it has 3.15's. Since this car is just a daily driver and may see the road course a couple of times year will it benefit from a new TC?