Excuse the nooBness of my post but just wondering what some of the best initial mods to help the overall performance of the C5 Z06 would be and what others have experienced with these mods.

Currently the car is stock aside from an SLP intake. The previous owner did the coolant by pass mod so the throttle body stays cooler. Here's what I was looking to do, any recommendations are greatly appreciated....

1. Replace the OEM T-Stat with a 160 degree stat
2. Replace the SLP intake with a Vararam Intake and Power Duct
3. Replace the MAF with a high flow - Granatelli or GM Performance
4. Change out the accordion style intake runner tube at the throttle body for a smooth pipe to help reduce air turbulence.
5. Axle back exhaust - Borla Stinger, Billy Boat Bullet, does Corsa make an exhaust like this? Which would you guys recommend?
6. Short shifter - I hear MGW and Hurst seem to be getting the best reviews for the C5, what are you guys running? Impressions? I also heard the C6 Z06 shifter and **** are a direct fit, how does this compare to the MGW or Hurst?

That would be all for initial mods I suppose unless someone can advise otherwise where the best investments would be upfront. In the spring, I'll be contemplating going to a C6 Z06 style wheel, 18's up front, 19's in the rear and at that time I'd be considering more advanced engine mods like a cam, etc...

In order to take as much advantage of these mods, I'm assuming a proper tune would be in order. What do you guys suggest? A hand held programmer like the Diablo, a PCM chip, or a dyno tune? Anyone know of a good Corvette tuning shop in the GTA area of Ontario Canada? Carravaggio is 5 mins from where I live but not sure if they have a dyno and John looks like he'd be really expensive since allot of his work is completely custom. What about Stingray's in the west end? Anyone use them?

Thanks everyone and sorry for the nooB type questions

 

What are your plans for the car? Drag race, auto-x, road race, show/cruise night queen?

 

The VERY Best "Initial Mod" would be to get the one behind the steering wheel some high performance driving classes. Sorry, couldn't help myself!!! It is true though...

 

great question and one I forgot to address with my original post....the car will be used almost daily, reliability will be the major concern. On weekends and during my off time, I'd like to get some track time in but that's not always possible for me based on my schedule. I'd like the flexibility to have the car be a street/track set up. Civilized enough to be on the streets with out hassle and mean enough to lay the smack down on the track and then drive it back home again.

I have a Camaro I built for the track, its a straight line set up and I find it pretty useless on the street unless your going light to light. Its not much fun in the corners or on the hwy, brakes are meh at best and its a major gas pig but it's also carburetted. I was considering doing an EFI conversion on it and redoing the brakes and suspension but then I realized I could buy a C5 Z06 and get all of that out of the box without having to spend an entire summer in the garage turning wrenches for about the same cost.

Hopefully this bit of background helps, thanks for the reply....

 

This is true say! I agree 110%, recently had this discussion on another forum, and I couldn't agree more. I plan to take a driving course prior to getting the car into the more heavier types of mods where it becomes less forgiving and harder to learn on.

 

1 un-needed
2 not real easy to put in. i have a blackwing.
3 un-needed
4 ok but it will look better but will not change much in perf.
5 get lt headers and leave the titanium exhaust alone.
6 i have the b&m short shifter. anyone of the after market choices are good.

use search for most all these questions.

 

I definitely think 1 is needed. The car runs at 220 and sometimes a little more when its really hot out. I can tell it suffers from heat soak and a cooler stat would definitely help with that. Heat soak is not new to me, I believe the cooler you can run your engine the more power you can make and the more reliable the car is.

2 I am not worried about, extremely handy with a wrench and hand tools.

3. I am trying to learn more about, i hear some people "de screen" their OEM MAFs. Aftermarkets flow up to 1024 cfm vs 600 which i think is what the OEM does. Thinking if I force more air into the car a higher volume MAF would only aid in taking full advantage of those mods. Can explain you why its not necessary to do this?

4 i understand its not a huge deal but its small detail that is ridiculously inexpensive, why not? I'm there anyway.

5 I know headers make huge power, what do you recommend? How hard are they to get at on the C5, is it a DIY job with some jacks/ramps?

6 how do you find your B&M? I heard they are a little tough to shift compared to the Hurst or MGW.

I'm on the search function like a fat kid on cheeseburger, have been lurking for a few days, so much info to go through, I read up as much as I can but some things I haven't located yet or am looking for clarification on.

Thanks for the input, much appreciated!!!

 

The C5 was designed to run at the temps you see.

The only mods worth having are the CLB and skip shift eliminator. All the rest are worthless for a reliability and drivability standpoint.

 

Headers are worthless?

 

C6Z shifter is a must. very smooth and better than the aftermarkets I have used in the past which includes Hurst

 

I also suggest headers as well. I have American Racing 1-7/8" headers that was the second mod on my car, after I installed a Vararram intake system. These two mods gave my car a nice updated feel!

 

1. I wouldn't bother. Doesn't really do anything. If you do go with a 160 degree t-stat remember that you need to set the fans to turn on sooner. The t-stat just means that coolant will be flowing through the radiator sooner. If you're at low speeds then that doesn't mean anything since the fans won't come on any sooner. Doubtful that you will gain anything at all anyway.

2. Vararam is very nice, first mod I ever did on my car.

3. Don't bother with a MAF. The stock MAF can support a huge amount of power. Just leave it alone.

4. Basically a cosmetic piece, but if you're taking the intake apart anyway, why not?

5. If you want to make more noise, then an aftermarket exhaust is a good idea. If you want performance, leave the stockers. They flow well and are nice and light too (titanium). Get longtubes instead, it will make the exhaust sound much nicer and will gain tons of power AND will lose weight (stock manifolds are heavy). Win/win/win. No problem installing them on jackstands. Another thing to consider with an aftermarket exhaust is that if you get a nice sounding one, later on when you add headers it might suddenly be too loud. Get the headers first. Be aware that many aftermarket exhausts sound nice but restrict flow more so than the stock Z06 mufflers. Do your research. Other than that, the sound is subjective so listen to some other cars first. Asking for sound opinions is silly, everyone has their own preferences.

6. Short-throw shifters are nice and fun. I have a Mallett so I can't comment on your choices. Anything, even the C6 Z06 is going to be an upgrade. Try to drive cars with different shifters if you can to help your decision.

You're on mostly the right track. Free up the intake, free up the exhaust, and then if you want more, throw a cam and/or ported heads in the mix. All depends on your power goals.

Dope

 

Dope is right on. I did Corsas and it was cool, added headers/cats/exhaust and it was loud. I added heads/cam and it was obnoxious, I ended up installing a stock Z06 ti exhaust.

 

1. not needed
2. Get the VR intake, IMO don't do the power duct as it causes turbulence to the MAF.
3. OEM MAF is fine
4. Not that expensive to do, so why not
5. Get LT headers and a tune!
6. Be weary of aftermarket shifters since the ones I've tried require a lot of force to go through the gears. Perhaps the c6z shifter would be best, but some people call it "sloppy". I shortened my stock c5 shifter and put a gen 1 MGW gripper shift **** on it, and love it. I've never missed a shift due to the setup; driver error yes, but not due to the setup.

 

Get a complete exhaust system....well not the muffler portion cuz Ti's are thu bomb! If u can...do the Ti mod where a small pc of titanium is welded in. Do the intake as well and if possible do a cam swap then have a pro tune it. You will get really great power out of it.

 

First make it so you aren't stranded.... can't go fast if you can drive it.

 

1. Go for it, wont hurt a thing. simply turning your fans on sooner in the tune will cool it down from the 220s you are currently seeing. i modified mine and reset the tune. either way, with the mods you are planning, this is a total waste of your time.

2. go for it

3. absolute waste of time/$ you are NOWHERE NEAR maxing out the airflow potential of the stock meter at your current mods. total waste, no gain.

4. again, its a wash. might look cool, wont make it run any better.

5. again, with everybody else on this one. ditch the axle back idea and get some quality longtubes installed. i just did the XSPower ones on my car and installed some electric cutouts. its perfect.

6. i got an MGW and sent it back. no stops for hard shifting. sure they claim there are "internal" stops built into the transmission itself, but i wanted some on my shifter itself also. so i went with a hurst. you can get a good deal on one in the used parts section.

honestly, vararam, good tires, shifter, headers, and a good tune is really all you need.. and maybe some fat daddy's if you drag your front end on inclines alot in your local area.

depending on milage, previous/current use - it might be worth considering to swap out your valvesprings also.

 

Thanks guys, lots of good info, appreciate the feedback. I'm on board with the headers and will ditch a couple of the other ideas I had in mind like the MAF. I wont mess with the mufflers until after the headers are to go in case I find it loud enough.

As far as headers go I've been looking at LT's from, Kooks, American Racing and LG. Any other header recommendations based on experience? Would it be wise to go with the X Pipe option? 1 3/4 or 1 7/8's?

 

Sorry, were you saying good idea to run a 160 stat with a pcm tune or no?

I had a look the XS power ones, they look sweet! Whats the electric cut out about?

 

I ran a search for the "Ti mod" but can't find it, what is it exactly?