Glad to be here on the forums. *Salutes all vette owners*

I proudly own a 2002 6-spd C5 blue corvette with 13k miles. I wash it, treat the leather, wipe the dash, and clean the rims regularly. Very happy with my vette, and I realize how fortunate I am to own a corvette. Anyhow, now to business. I recently bought the Blackwing and had it installed. I also changed to full synthetic oil. Since then I have noticed a significant increase in power. I currently live in Laredo, TX which is a very hot and dry place. We're usually in the 105 range during the day and in the mid 90s at night. Yes, a very uncomfortable place to spend time outside or dress formally. I can honestly say that I notice a HUGE difference in performance when I floor my vette during the day as opposed to flooring it at night or in the morning. It's crazy. It feels like it would be a whole second difference on 1/4 mile. I guess during the day, since it's soo hot, the air molecules are soo widely spread out that the intake doesn't really utilize the hot air coming in. Anyhow, so I've been thinking about purchasing the Ice Box. Cooler air seems to dramatically increase my performance given my city's climate. So would the Ice Box be for me? Is it supposed to enclose the Blackwing? Where can I find an Ice Box that fits my Blackwing? How much does it cost? I've also been thinking about purchasing the Predator tuning handheld computer. Does it really help a 6-spd vette? Is it worth the price?

Aside from that, what would you guys say would be the best bang for your buck performance part? I checked out a thread on this forum and noticed the Blackwing as being in the top 3 of most bang for your buck products, which is why I bought it. Other things I saw that were in the top 5 were headers and cat-back exhausts. However, I can't afford stuff like that. It's my b-day on Oct. 9 and I'll probably have around 400 bucks by then. Any recommendations on what I should get? I would think the Ice Box would be a good purchase, as well as the Predator. What do you guys think? My city supplies 93 octane gasoline btw. Anyhow, let me know. Thanks.

 

bump

 

An intake isn't going to help much if your ambient temps are high.

Just drive at night

Then again, a 125hp dry nitrous shot will cool that intake down
for about $500

 

Happy early b-day,mine is the 7th.For my birthday i bought myself an NX kit with the 150 shot.Havent tried it yet but it is installed. Try ebay or the parts section on here. You will find a good deal and dollar per hp it is the best deal.Plus you will still get hella gas milage around town and hwy.Good luck

 

What do you mean 150 shot? Does that mean 150 added hp per shot? How much does a nitrous kit cost? Do I have to pay $500 for each burst of nitrous? How long does each burst last, 10 secs? Can you explain the nitrous thing to me please. Thanks.

 

Your city supplies your gas?? For FREE? I'm moving to your town!!

Someone with more knowledge will chime in on the Nitrous questions.. but it will not cost $500 per shot.. it's 5 bills for the set up... The shots come from the bottle that costs how much to fill?? How many shots do you get out of a standard sized bottle? 10 or 20 1/4 mile runs??

You plumb the nitrous into the air box (or the intake??) It depends on the setup... I'm sure one is better than the other... airbox, yes?

Like I said, someone who knows will chime in or look in the nitrous section of the forum...

 

Initial cost of a USED kit will be 250 -500 depending on the type and options.

Each fill on a 10 lb. tank costs around 30 bucks. It will last about 8 quarter mile passes and it will add from 50-150 and more if your brave.
It is activated by a few switches. Activation switch,wide open throttle switch,RPM window switch,And fuel pressure safety switch,are most of the commonly used units.

When you activate with the on switch,and the rpm's get to a certain point,and you have good fuel pressure,and you are pressing the throttle to the floor, You will go like mad.

Now this can add up to 150 h.p somewhat safely on top of the 350 you already have.

 

Sounds hardcore. Too rich for my blood hehe. What would you guys recommend besides nitrous with a budget of around $500? You guys don't think the Ice Box or the Predator will give good gains? Besides nitrous, that's pretty much all I can get for $500 right? If so, then I'll probably just do that.

I guess I'm a little concerned about the wear and tear that nitrous might cause. I don't plan on EVER selling my vette.

 

Welcome to the C5 world!

Nitrous is the cheapest power money can buy! It can make incredible power and if done right it has no adverse affect on the engine. It is fairly easy to install but will need tuning to be sure everything is right. It basically adds oxygen to the air going in the motor allowing you to burn more fuel and make more power. You can kind of think of it as a blower in a bottle. Since it comes out of the bottle as a high pressure liquid then immediately evaporates into a gas when released in the intake, it cools the incoming air a lot.

I don't think an Ice Box will do much for you, might help a few seconds but you would need a truck load of ice to do much good.

I don't think you will get much from a Predator either unless you do other mods. A pro tuner may be able to tweak for the extra heat but normally the C5 are tuned very well from the factory and tuning them won't get you much until you start modding the engines. You can ask a pro tuner and see what they say, I know nothing about tuning YET. I will be learning starting tomorrow, my wideband arrives tomorrow!

A pro tuner is someone who has done tuning on the LSx engines and knows how to correctly tune a LSx engine. There are 100's of different things you can change in the PCM (fuel computer) on these engines. You don't tune with screwdrivers and wrenches any more. A pro tuner will use a computer with software wrote for tuning these engines, it will allow him to change about anything that has to do with performance. The better the tuner the better the tune will end up. A Predator does the same thing, it changes things in the computer just like a tuner would do, except it is very limited to what it will change. Since the Predator can not be setup for every car ever made they are forced to be more of a broad type of tune that would work in every car. No two cars are the same. A good tuner will tune for exactly what your car needs by making a change and watching the results, making another change and watching the results. That is something the Predators can not do. The Predators are good for changing things like fan settings, speedometer readings, idle speed and things like that.

Good luck

 

I've decided I'm going to get the Icebox and then I'm gonna start saving up for headers or a cat-back exhaust. Can you get both or just one? Which is better? Lastly, can someone give me the dynamics of how they both work? Thanks for all this information, it's been really useful. Thanks.

 

Welcome and enjoy

 

Escort or Valentine 1. Don't buy anything else until you have one of these.

 

What's an "Icebox"?

Intercooler?