I am new to owning corvettes (well about 1 year). I am finally looking to do some work to my vette. It is an 03 Coupe, but it is automatic. Can you all give me some steps to making this car alot more fun to drive and perform better? I am looking to do this over time, and am not a driver looking for some thrills, just want to be able to work on my car and make it better than other stock C5's.

thanks -

Derek

 

How much do you want to spend?

 

well, it is flexible - I plan on doing this over time. No set date - I am looking for (best case scenario) a kind-of "plan" of what to upgrade first, second, third, etc...

 

Just my input here but I would go this way.

Cat back
CAI
C6 Z51 Sway bars
Headers/X-pipe
Heads/cam/FAST 92
Supercharged 427 Motor Swap

 

Depends on goals of the car... if shooting for quickness I'd go in this order...
Converter/Drag radials/tune
Intake
Headers/catback/retune
Then start with heads/cam

A converter and a set of tires can make your car close to a second faster in the 1/4 mile depending on how aggressive you go. The car will be a lot more fun to drive, but if you get a stall, you MUST get a set of tires.

 

Marine - can all of those installs be made eventhough i have an automatic?

not sure what a converter and/or how to tune. And what type of tires?

 

Yep you can do it all. You can do a cam without a stall converter. You just have to make sure you dont go with to big of a cam. Going to big will force you to do a stall. As far as a tuner ask around where you live and find a good tuner. Should run you around $350-$450 for a tune.

 

deki, in order to give you advice we need to know your goals.

Is the car a daily driver?

Will you be taking the car to the track (1/4 mile)?

Are you concerned with gas mileage?

How many miles on the car?

 

car is a daily driver - no need for the track - gas mileage is not a huge concern - under 45k.

i am basically looking to make the car faster/quicker as my daily driver -

 

Having an A/T makes your modding decisions a little easier. Get a higher stall converter, and diff gears. A set of 3:73s will really get you moving, but won't kill your mileage. Then a set of LT headers with HF cats, and X pipe....these are usually sold as a complete set. The catback is mostly for improving the sound; but as you have a standard 'Vette, and not a Z, then a aftermarket set of catbacks are a great mood enhancement. Of course, you'll need a cold air intake, and I suggest a Vararam. After this stuff, get a dyno tune, and see how you like the results. Later on, if you want more, there's the cam/valvetrain upgrade, which really raises the HP, and then heads, but you'll need a retune after you change the cam. It goes on from here, just about an infinite number of options to further your personal mod madness. Good luck, and have fun!

 

If I were you, I would install enough mods to make a tune worth while. A decent tune will cost you $350-$500 so,,,,,add all the mods at the same time that will effect your tune the most.

With out breaking the bank, here is where I would start:

- Ported Throttle Body
- VARARAM Cold Air Intake*
- Set of Long Tube Headers*
- High Flow CATs
- C5 ZO6 Ti mufflers

* indicates that this will effect the OEM tune the most. You can drive it without a professional tune but your fuel economy will drop and you will be leaving some available power /Tq on the table.

With a tune, you will see around 40 Hp and I bet your fuel mileage will not suffer (unless you have a LEAD FOOT!)

I have an 02 ZO6 and I did my mods in TWO levels. The above Mod level and a TUNE and then the second mod level: Heads / Cam / Ported FAST 90 / 90mm Ported TB & New TUNE

My first mod level was worth that 40 hp (390 RWHP 375 RWTQ). The second got me to 450 RWHP



If you have a base suspension or F-45 or F-55 suspension, up-grading to C6 ZO6 Shocks, C5 ZO6 sway bars and springs will significantly improve the handling characterizes of your car!!!! If you think its good now, you will not believe how much it will improve with the above additions.

BC

 

Bill -

Where can i get a ported throttle body - have been researching it and cannot really find an answer.

also, is it better to get a header/Cat package or buy them seperatley

 

For the ported TB I would call local shops and see if they perform the porting. As for the headers and catback, if you want the car to be relatively tame then you could use the Z06 TI catback, magnaflow, or corsa (not pace cars). If you want loud then go with Borla Stingers, NXT step, B&B bullets, Corsa pace cars and extremes. Having headers with no cats make a very big difference in the noise level. I WOULD NOT do 3.73's in a daily driver because that will likely put your RPMS in the "drone zone" when on the highway.

 

Check out the Shaner Ported TB

This is the only post that I could find on the info

Just Google Shaner Ported TB and tons of info will come up.

BC

 

I guess the question is on what your definition of better is?

For performance I have the following...

- Borla Stinger cat-back and x-pipe
- Vararam
- LG Pro LT Headers
- Yank SS3200 stall & trans cooler
- 3.42 diff
- tune

I have the headers, gear and converter waiting to go in. Just with the Vararam I went from 13.1 to 12.8 in the 1/4 mile.

With the same setup (different brands) in my old 98 Z28, I went from a stock 13.7 down to a 12.4 on street tires.

For Cosmetic...

- 20% window tint
- cross drilled and slotted rotors
- Z06 calipers
- HIDs - lows and fogs in a 6000k
- Adjure diamond cut back up lights
- clear/amber front corner lights (ribbed)
- red diamond cut rear markers
- LED tail lights with halo mod
- Zaino

 

Good info. I've got a Z, so I forgot about the drone on AT cars. Of course, there're fixes for that, too. God, I'd hate to have a nice Corvette, and be saddled with a crappy 4spd. AT.