I have a 99 C5 LS1, 6 speed with about 30k miles. It is completely stock. I want to make it faster without breaking the bank. A local Vette shop recommended the Vortex Cold Air intake with an X-pipe and Corsa exhaust . They said that should give me a notable difference in power and acceleration. The cost is about $1,200 installed. Does this sound like a good combination to get that extra punch? Will I really feel the difference? I figure I've got around $2,500 to play with. What other mods would help? Thanks for the advice.

 

My thoughts LGM headers, used ZO6 TI exhaust, open up the stock airbox, And have it tuned by a GOOD tuner. Have a Great Day :yesnod: Ron B.

 

First thing I would do is a set of gears.

Bob
:flag

 

The xpipe/exhaust isn't a good bang for the buck. Also you can get a donaldson air intake for about 180$. You may want to also consider the vararam.

In addition, I would consider new gears. The gears will give you more bang for your buck.

The xpipe/exhaust should be on your TODO list, just maybe not first!
As for the best type of exhaust, that's personal tastes. Do a lot of
searches on this forum and research. You can find a lot of info here
in the archives.

Good luck and welcome to the mod fever club! :lolg: :lolg: :D

 

Especially prior to 2001, opening up your airbox is going to help. However, if that recommended exhaust change is just a cat back system, then it seems more like a change in sound rather than performance. That's not to knock it if you like the sound change, but you asked about making it faster. In other words, I think there's a fairly large majority opinion around here that just changing your exhaust from the cats back will not increase horsepower at all, but the louder sound might give you the perception that you're moving faster.

Other mods you might consider for your budget would be true headers, preferably long tubes, or a rear gear change. Your car comes stock with 3.42 rear gears, and lots of MN6 guys have switched to 3.73, 3.90, or even 4.10.

Good luck, and know this, once you start modding your car, it's very hard to stop. :reddevil Trust me, I said I'd keep mine stock. :rolleyes:

 

I have a 99 MN6 as well, I ran 13.18@108.5 stock with 308.7rwhp. added a Blackwing and Borla stingers I ran a best of 12.55@114.3 and Dyno's 341.6rwhp and 356.1rwtq on the same Dyno as before with temps and humidity very similar both at the track and the Dyno (mid 60's and 50-60% humidity) Not to mention the Stingers are abouit the lightest system you can get, and the Guys at LPE swear by them. To spend the rest of your money I would go with a set of Gears. In my opinion 3.90's are the best since I have trouble launching on 4.10's. Shop around on the stuff you buy and you'll even have money left over for a New shifter Hurst or B&M. It makes a world of difference. Good luck and keep us posted on what you do. :)

 

I find it very easy to break the wheels loose with the stock gears. Would the 3.90's exacerbate that? How would those gears affect highway performance? What would be the difference between the 3.90's at 65 mph in 4th and 65 in 3rd with the stock gears? Thanks

 

http://www.gafba.com/calculators/index.asp has a ring gear comparison.

I would do a blackwing or vararam. Search there are plenty of debates on the topic. I do not like the Vortex as I think it puts at risk picking debris blocking the filter and hydrolocking, but many love it all IMHO.

Exhaust unless you do headers are not work much performance but sound is great.

 

I love my 390s at 2000 rpm you will be going 80mph instead of 90, however you will increase your accel considerably and have a better top speed as the gears become more useful, you will find 5th gear pulls well and 6th is actually a useful gear, all advantages to the rearend and it will pull like you've added at least 50rwhp, Donaldson is a good one, long tube headers and a good dyno along with the gears and you will at least feel as if you have 100rwhp gain.

 

I would try to think of a full program. Once you get into the modification mode it is almost impossible to stop. I went the way of intake, throttle body, LS6 intake manifold, and a borla cat back exhaust - That was about 2,500 with me doing the install ex the catback which a midas shop did for $60 bucks. That got me about 35 HP. For another $7,500 I added a head and cam package, tpis long tube headers, an x pipe, and a heavy duty clutch all done by CARTEK. That took me up another 75 HP. While the top end was great, there was not enough grunt for the bottom end. I am now putting in a supercharger along with 383 internals, a 3.73 gear with hardened output shafts. The deal is that the intake and the head/cam now get replaced. So I spent some money I could have avoided if I thought about where I wanted to end up. Also, the gear needs to be combined with the ultimate package. If you want to use the car on the street and end up putting in a big HP package 3.73 is about as much gear as you will be able to put rubber to. Speaking of wheels check out CCW - I got their "big" package that allows 335/18 Pilots at a great price! :) goodluck

 

What is the hp difference between the Vortex and Blackwing?

 

I don't know about the hp difference, but Blackwing and VaraRam are better systems than Vortex, IMHO.

If you're simply looking for a seat of the pants feel, I would spend money on something other than x-pipe and cat-back exhaust. It generally only adds about 5-10 rwhp, which you probably can't feel. A set of long tube headers and high flow cats added to the x-pipe and cat-back will give you about 40-50 rwhp and you'll definitely feel that. Just keep in mind that modding is very addictive and try to think of where you'd like to end up so that you don't end up putting on something that you'll have to take off. The exhaust is something that complements every mod and sounds good as well. :cheers:

You can't stop the mod :reddevil :seeya

 

MeyerL, you say you want it faster. Exactly for what purpose?

Faster as in ET, then get gears. Better for going to the drag strip, this will not give you more HP, it will give you better times.

Horsepower you want, then LS6 intake for under $450.00 for all parts at http://www.miamimotorsports.com/ . That would roughly give you 8 to 10 horsepower.

You can open up your stock airbox and put tiedowns and get more HP from that without spending the extra money on the intake systems. Jim Hall new system is cool, but alittle more money.

You can get headers for under 1grand, but installing a little more money.

THe exhaust system is for sound, you are only going to gain maybe 8hp with any system. Its just what sound do you want.

:cheers:

 

tpis long tube headers - $900
halltech tric - $400
xpipe - $400
borla stinger or xr-1 - $700
thats $1400 plus you'll have $100 or so to put into the exhaust instal.
exhaust instal will run about $200 becuase of headers, but tric you can do yourself...
keep in mind these are rounded numbers, go to ebay for deals, compare prices, and go with cheap shipping...
this combo should net about 30-40rwhp
- evil

:reddevil

 

The Vortex cold air box is a good mod that will give you better performance. The Corsa exhaust and X pipe are for sound and looks, you will gain VERY little or nothing with them. Since you have an M6 get 3.90 or 4.10 gears, these will really give you a nice performance boost.

 

:iagree:

I got advice from kp a long time ago, then decided to learn and make my own choices. Result - most everything he suggested is what I learned was the best approach. You have to know what type of performance you want: top speed, quickness - autocross or drag, etc., etc. But you really need to get the power to the ground, so if you've got runcraps, you need to ditch them for something stickier.

I'm putting Borla stingers on first, but then I'll be doing a shift kit and work towards 3.42 or 3.73 gears (different for your M6) with an appropriate torque converter. I'm satisfied with my budget air intake for now, but will switch to the Blackwing in the future when I replace the heads and cam (1+ yr. from now, if I'm still gainfully employed). Donaldson is reknowned for their balance of clean air / pressure drop across the filter media. The Vararam will get you a little when you gain speed, but I don't think the expense is worth the gain (IMHO).

By the way, you can probably get the Borla stingers on a group purchase still (IM me for info). My two tips cost @ $475 shipped and should be here @ 2nd or 3rd wk. of Sept. :D

Most important - have fun :party:


[Modified by TopCat, 2:34 PM 8/27/2003]

 

The Vortex Rammer typically adds more HP than the Blackwing. That being said, the Vortex allows for about 1000% greater chance of a hydrolock. The Donaldson, I feel, is a much safer product.

 

:bs The cut out in the shroud for the Vortex Rammer is much higher than the Vararam system opening, for example, and I would have to be floating down a creek before water would be up to the opening of my Vortex Rammer. :lolg:

The Vortex Rammer ($249.00)will give better power gains than the Blackwing but is more difficult to get to the filter and a more difficult install.

The Pro LG/Borla LT Header system w/32"headers, 3"Xpipe, 3"Midpipes, w/o cats added 39rwhp to my 2001 C5. Yes, I have the dyno sheet to prove it.
Call
for prices.


[Modified by Cary, 1:43 PM 8/27/2003]

 

He wasn't asking about the Vararam, Cary.

 

Hey DocSandy,

I knew somebody would comment on my Vararam comparison. However, you missed my point or I'm guilty of not expalining properly. Out of all the aftermarket Intake systems the Vararam is the only one I've heard of causing vapor lock. However, I do think the Vararam has been mentioned is this thread on previous post. So, my comparison was not completely out of context. I may get flamed for saying this but I've heard that the Vararam adds the most power with the Vortex Rammer Intake coming in 2nd. I did post previously that the Blackwing is easier to install/get to the filter and is probably less expensive than either the Vararam or Vortex Rammer.

:chevy Cary