For the first four years of ownership I was content with the "show and shine" aspect of C5 ownership (a number of show wins!). I recently started drag racing this car, and now the "mod bug" has bitten! My best so far "almost stock" is 13.68@103. My goal in to get into the 12's. I would like some input from the forum below. I am looking for conservative "bolt on" performance improvements without internal engine mods, supercharging, or nitrous.

Intake
I like K&N products and plan go that way. The forum seems to favor the Blackwing, but is the K&N unit for the C5 LS1 OK?

Headers
I have a Bassani X Pipe and Borla Stingers. Are "shorty" headers worth the investment? Do I need "long tube" headers? I want to stay street legal with cats. Can I keep the stock cats? Do I need to upgrade?

3.15 Rear
I realize that my performance is severely limited by the 2.73 rear. I know, I know, I should go to a 3.42 or higher but I would like to change to a 3.15. I really don't want to go beyond that to keep the low rpm cruise feature. I understand this is a pricey mod as the carrier must be changed out. Is the 2.73 to 3.15 change worth the performance to $$ ratio?

Hypertech Re-Programmer
Is this a good idea? I am no electronics geek and the idea of playing around with the computer scares me. The ads claim great benefits- better shifts, fans come on sooner, etc. Can you go back to the stock program if you screw something up?

Drag Radials
Even with the 2.73 rear I experience excessive wheelspin. I would like to get a set of DOT Drag Radials. I have my stock wheels since I run a set of chrome upgrades. So far I have not seen 18'' Drag Radials in calalogs- can I run the "front" 17" wheels on the rear? Will this screw up the computer (if I have not already done so with the re-programmer)?

Any other thoughts would be appreciated.

 

I'd start at the bottom and work up.....

Drag Radials first. No matter what you do, you won't realize the full potential until your car has drag radials. BF Goodrich makes a 295/35/18. Find a couple Z06 rear wheels (extremely light) $200-$250 each and you're ready to go. Make sure you don't buy chromed or other aftermarket because they typically weigh much more.

I added the G5X-3 cam to my car and now I've lost time at the track with the 404rwhp. This is because I'm: #1 not very experienced at drag racing or shifting for that matter #2 Can't seem to figure out how to get a 60' below 2.04 on stock tires. So don't do like I did...get the drag radials first!

I'd look at either gears or a cam. You can research the posts here and see what dyno numbers people are making and create a little spreadsheet on the various combinations. Then you'll have an idea of what gives the most bang for the buck. I'm sure some people will chime in on what they have done to their "similarly equipped" vette.

I'd stay away from the hypertech. LS1edit would be a much better investment and I do mean investment...

best of luck and keep asking questions.....