I'm 47, an old gearhead from way back, and FINALLY got my first vette in early December (Merry Xmas!). A babied '99 C5 Pewter hardtop with a 6 speed, 13K miles - and except for a K&N filter, it's box stock. I'm using it as a daily driver for work, meetings, etc... I've dug thru all the messages in the technical forum looking for suggestions and am now truly boggled and thoroughly confused by the major expertise out here. With kids still in high school heading for university and a relatively new business just getting off the ground, I can't afford to break the bank on corvette mods. BUT, for those times when it'd be nice to have that extra kick on the street (it'll rarely make it to the strip) to shut down those guys in the Mitsubishi 3000s (like the other night, where I BARELY beat the guy), I need some help and would appreciate some input.

1. Anyone in the St. Louis, MO area have any recommendations on a pro shop that really knows their stuff to do this work? Cars have changed a bit since my '70 SS 454 Chevelle. :)
2. Keeping reliability, daily driveability, gas mileage AND budget in mind, what are the best things I can do to get some more horsepower out of this LS1?

After reading through all the threads here, I've decided it's gotta start with breathing... such as a Breathless Vortex or something similar. Maybe the Z06 larger stock air cleaner? And that damn 2nd gear CAGS shift gate has gotta go. But then I'm stumped... what's next without breaking the bank? Headers, nice exhaust would be great but that's gonna stretch the wallet. Anything else other than those two things that should come beforehand?

Appreciate your input, all. Looking forward to your advice.
Gunny :flag

 

Congratulations on the new ride! As most of us will tell you the best starting point is a new cold air unit,headers,exhaust,MAF sensor,PCM programming,LS6 Intake,heads & camshaft,ECT,ECT. Not neccesarily in that order but your ride will love ya for it. Good Luck!

 

An Air Intake such as the Blackwing or Vortex are the best place to start. You will never see the power gain per dollar ratio again in C5 modding that you do with adding an air intake. 15-20rwhp for ~$225 dont happen again unfortunately! :(

The Blackwing is the way to go if you want the highest flowing, best filtering filter out there. It's only downfall that makes it produce a bit less power than the Vortex is that it does not suck cold air from underneath the radiator shroud. Of course, to get at this cold air with the Vortex, a hole must be cut in the shroud, which makes this intake a bit less appealing to some people. Both of these systems are excellent quality, very simple installs and around the same price. The question is, do you want to cut that hole for the extra ponies? I myself, did go for the extra power of the Vortex.

Your next best mod step in my opinion would be an exhaust system. You would probably only pick up around 5-8rwhp but with the better looks and sound, your car will feel like you picked up 50. Exhausts are all about what sound you are looking for. If you want something agressive sounding, I would recommend the Corsa Indy or B&B PRT. If you are looking for something in the middle, I would recommend the Corsa Touring. If you want something that is not MUCH louder than stock but has a much more appealing musclecar sound, I would recommend the B&B Route66. All of these systems are around $800 plus shipping.

After the exhaust system, on an M6, I would highly recommend a shifter. There are a few to choose out there these days. I run the B&M Ripper on my car. It is probably the stiftest and shortest shifter, followed by the Hurst, and then the Kirban being the most wife-friendly. These all run around $170.

The next step, is an expensive one, Long Tube Headers. These run anywhere from $900-$2000 depending on the quality, material and manufacturer. If you do not have any big stroker motor plans in the future, I highly recommend the TTS Long Tubes. They are excellent quality and offer great gains. One TTS header owner picked up 23rwhp from these alone.

Anyways, there is my breakdown on the most logical mod path for what you are looking to do. If you have any questions about any of the products or need exact pricing, be sure to drop me an email.

 

Uh, you "barely" beat guys in 3000GTs? Details please! VR-4s? Modded? Etc? Don't say they were GTs, because you should have put bus lengths on those guys............ :cheers:
Congratulations on the new FRC! ENJOY :cheers:

 

Thanks for all the timely replies guys. Great advice that I'm going to put to good use.

I noticed that nobody has mentioned a chip yet. Is this a no-no? Or is there one that will significantly help?
Thanks again.
Gunny

 

The best "chip" type mod is called a Powerloader. It does offer some nice gains for both a4s and M6s, but the differences it makes to the A4 are way more noticable. The Powerloader is good for the needed adjustments to your PCM for changes down the road like heads or cam.

 

Ack... sorry I didn't see that most recent post. My apologies Johnso.

It was late night and all I could see was the 3000's GT emblem. I have no way of knowing what mods were done to it.. but it was definately a healthy Mitsubishi. We started around 60mph, he behind me and coming hard. When he was about 50 yards behind me, I dropped it from 6th down to 4th (should've revved and gone to 3rd I think) and nailed it. With his momentum he pulled about a half length in front of me... but when he hit his next gear he slowed a bit and I pulled even to him as I passed 5K on the tach in 4th. From there I steadily pulled away, but by NO means blew his doors off. A slow moving car was in front of me (and we're about 125mph now, things happening fast) and to go around the slow mover (I was in the right lane) I had to zip over into the lane in front of the 3000. I had him by about 3 lengths, just starting a good pull through 5th gear. I stayed in it about 2/3rds of the way through 5th and continued to pull away, faster now. I think he either 1) ran outta guts around 135 or 2) had gotten all he could out of the 3000 and knew he was beat anyway.

Like I said in the original post, I was surprised as hell to see that 3000 run as well as it did. He HAD to have something special under that hood. I hope to bump into him again soon... after I've got the C5 breathing a bit better.

Now all I've gotta do is find the web site URLs of the products you guys are talking about :) Any best buys or discounts "heads up" appreciated.
Gunny

 

It sounds like he had the "jump." The jump can be very hard to overcome even when your car is significantly faster.........I think if you ran him from an even roll or a stop it would have been a different story! :cheers:
By the way, I meant "SL" instead of "GT" in my previous post. They are all 3000GTs, but they can be either the SL (very slow) or the VR-4 with the VR-4 (320HP/AWD) being the faster of the two. And yes they do run out of steam up top............ :cheers:


[Modified by johnso26, 8:59 AM 2/12/2002]

 

By the way, you can't beat our supporting vendor The LAPD for ALL of your performance parts. Great prices, great service, and FAST delivery. Contact Shawn at the LAPD.......... :yesnod: :D