Bang for your buck performance upgrades??
Thread Starter
8th Gear
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: Eden NY
Bang for your buck performance upgrades??
Hi Guys.
I just recently bought an 05' C6. 23,000 miles, Bone stock with a Z51 pkg. Id like to start doing some performance upgrades, but not really sure what works best for the LS2.. I see alot of talk about headers.. How about K&N filters/cold air intakes? Are there any sort of computer chips to reprogram the fuel injection/intake? Ive also seen the Ads for royal purple motor oil, claiming large horsepower gains. Any info for or against royal purple motor oil?
Any information on a good place to start getting horsepower gains would be great. Im sure so many of you have tons of experience with the LS2, something must be out there to get this car to the next level.
Thanks,
Brad
I just recently bought an 05' C6. 23,000 miles, Bone stock with a Z51 pkg. Id like to start doing some performance upgrades, but not really sure what works best for the LS2.. I see alot of talk about headers.. How about K&N filters/cold air intakes? Are there any sort of computer chips to reprogram the fuel injection/intake? Ive also seen the Ads for royal purple motor oil, claiming large horsepower gains. Any info for or against royal purple motor oil?
Any information on a good place to start getting horsepower gains would be great. Im sure so many of you have tons of experience with the LS2, something must be out there to get this car to the next level.
Thanks,
Brad
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 11,331
Likes: 18
From: Missouri City Texas
Stock LS2 intake is terrible...change that with anything and get cool air to it (go to a true "cold air" intake like vararam or the vortex or put a big filter intake like halltech or K&N and open up the shroud or put a vette-air scoop)
All cars are the same...start with intake/exhaust work/tuning
All cars are the same...start with intake/exhaust work/tuning
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 14,999
Likes: 200
From: Bay Area Ca.
Figure out know what your goals are or how much your willing/going to spend. Going FI is the best bang for the $$ but will bring on other potential problems. This advice is assuming your looking for more power. One can spend $5000 with bolt ons and still be 100 plus hp behind the $7,000 investment towards FI.
Racer
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 374
Likes: 63
From: Cypress TX
Stock LS2 intake is terrible...change that with anything and get cool air to it (go to a true "cold air" intake like vararam or the vortex or put a big filter intake like halltech or K&N and open up the shroud or put a vette-air scoop)
All cars are the same...start with intake/exhaust work/tuning
All cars are the same...start with intake/exhaust work/tuning
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 11,331
Likes: 18
From: Missouri City Texas
Former Vendor
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,470
Likes: 2
From: Portland OR
St. Jude Donor '10-'11-'12
An engine is an airpump so doing things to support moving air will make more power. ( intake and exhaust)
A tune can pick up HP by adjusting perameters.
Dont buy into advertising numbers do research on everything you look to buy.
Then you have cams and heads to ad more power and power adders such as nitrous or forced induction.
A typical first power upgrade might be a ported throttle body and a cold air intake. Then headers would be next. After that the cam and heads or the power adder is where most people go next.
A tune can pick up HP by adjusting perameters.
Dont buy into advertising numbers do research on everything you look to buy.
Then you have cams and heads to ad more power and power adders such as nitrous or forced induction.
A typical first power upgrade might be a ported throttle body and a cold air intake. Then headers would be next. After that the cam and heads or the power adder is where most people go next.
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Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,537
Likes: 1,403
From: Bethesda MD
Bang for the buck is a centri supercharger. Its hard to write the check upfront, but with no other mods you can gain 125 - 150 HP from a kit that some sponsors will do installed for $6500. If you get bored with that, you can add headers and crank up the boost more.
Decide on your budget and goals first.
Decide on your budget and goals first.
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 4,754
Likes: 303
Bang for the buck is a centri supercharger. Its hard to write the check upfront, but with no other mods you can gain 125 - 150 HP from a kit that some sponsors will do installed for $6500. If you get bored with that, you can add headers and crank up the boost more.
Decide on your budget and goals first.
Decide on your budget and goals first.
Former Vendor
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 11,792
Likes: 255
From: Ossining New York
St. Jude Donor '07-'08-'09-'10-'12-'13-'14
Great IDEA!
While the AutoCal is a fantastic product, I see that the OP is in New York and
would extend and invitation to him to come and check us out any time and MOST ABSOLUTELY come down for one of our
VARARAM and TUNE PACKAGES... You'll love it.
By the way, is it a 6spd or A4 car?
Chuck CoW
Racer
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 393
Likes: 0
From: North Bend WA
99blancoss has the right ideas. Your ls2 is just a pump, so figure how much money you've got to spend and then start adding the right parts needed to flow air. CAI, headers,ported intake or F.A.S.T., dyno tune and so on. The stock mufflers actually flow pretty good so you don't need to spend money there until you've covered all the above. Although you may want to for the sound alone.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,537
Likes: 1,403
From: Bethesda MD
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 4,754
Likes: 303
Granted you get the S/C power all the time and don't pay for any bottle refills, but the price difference kit vs. kit is pretty large.
Plus you have the benefit of running the car 100% stock n/a when you don't want the extra power, which can sometimes be smoother/more reliable, or operate better in extreme conditions like a road course where a supercharger could develop alot of heat.
Thread Starter
8th Gear
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: Eden NY
Great IDEA!
While the AutoCal is a fantastic product, I see that the OP is in New York and
would extend and invitation to him to come and check us out any time and MOST ABSOLUTELY come down for one of our
VARARAM and TUNE PACKAGES... You'll love it.
By the way, is it a 6spd or A4 car?
Chuck CoW
While the AutoCal is a fantastic product, I see that the OP is in New York and
would extend and invitation to him to come and check us out any time and MOST ABSOLUTELY come down for one of our
VARARAM and TUNE PACKAGES... You'll love it.
By the way, is it a 6spd or A4 car?
Chuck CoW
The car is a 6 speed. Thanks for the advice everyone. Id like to keep my price range around $3000 if possible. Nitrous sounds nice, but i dont want to hurt the longevity of the car overall. I guess ill start with a cold intake and headers and go from there.
When buying headers, do you recommend getting a full exhaust system front to back, or just headers? If the stock exhaust system flows well, ill just invest in the headers
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,537
Likes: 1,403
From: Bethesda MD
stock exhaust flows very well. It will take big mods to get to a point where it pays to upgrade it. If you want a louder exhaust or a different tone that's a different criteria.
Racer
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 374
Likes: 63
From: Cypress TX
Pro
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 588
Likes: 21
Personally I've had every form of FI including nitrous. For my Vette I just wanted a strong running bolt on car. For 3k you can get a Kooks header and Vararam intake package from a sponsor and a Formatto stage 2 intake and TB and your car will feel like a new beast but still not have any issues. I'm at about 410rwhp with these mods and a Corsa.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 5,656
Likes: 112
From: ocean springs mississippi
Personally I've had every form of FI including nitrous. For my Vette I just wanted a strong running bolt on car. For 3k you can get a Kooks header and Vararam intake package from a sponsor and a Formatto stage 2 intake and TB and your car will feel like a new beast but still not have any issues. I'm at about 410rwhp with these mods and a Corsa.