I recently picked up a very low mileage, Black '07 C6, LS2 with LS3 Trim. I am exploring the different combinations of the best bolt on performance equipment to include: headers; mufflers; cold air intakes, Fast 92mm/102mm, and sensing instruments. I am way behind the power curve on 'Vette equipment, therefore I put this out there to you experts in hopes of coming up with what I want and need in a short time. Some questions: Is there a header/muffler combination out there that has a high flow catalytic converter with a direct fit option for my OEM mid-pipes?; Does the Fast 102mm fit the LS2 and where do I find the cold air intake with the 102mm fit needed, or is the Fast 92mm strictly for the LS2?; What sensors need to be changed with new intake equipment? Please respond directly to me using either the address or email listed as follows:

Lt Col Richard Frederick, "Dickie", Dull, USAF, Ret.
"Fighter Pilot" and "Special Operations Rotary Wing Pilot"
"F-4 C/D/E/E-Slat Phantom II" and "CH/HH-3 Jolly Green Giant"
5603 Gobind Lane
Fairfax Station, VA 22039-1035 USA
sharpone1357@verizon.net
703-250-8307 (Home)
703-774-7190 (Cell)

WHY? "Because I have a need for NOISE and SPEED!!"

 

Just supercharge the car!!!!!!

You can nickle and dime it all the way you want with parts and labor, but to hit 600hp that is street drivable on the LS-2 motor, it all boils down to a supercharging.

For normal daily driving in stop and go traffic, go with the E-force super charger kit.

 

PM sent.

 

What is LS3 trim?

I had an LS2 with an LS3 top for a while, is that what you have?


Thanks!

 

Welcome Dickie. You need to know what your goals are so you do not end up wasting time and money. Do you want 100hp more, or 200hp more?

C6 Corvettes use a cast iron exhaust manifold with a catalytic converter attached up next to the oil pan. They then use an H pipe that goes to the rear axle and the mufflers are attached to an over axle pipe. Usually high flow replacement cats come with a long tube header system. You will need the accompanying X pipe for that header system and you can get it with or without high flow cats. Most muffler systems are axle back only and do not add power.

A very nice upgrade for the LS2 is adding LS3 cylinder heads and intake manifold. The LS3 heads breathe much better and can be inexpensive. Brand new complete LS3 cylinder heads are $499. If you combine this with a cam and headers, you can really wake up an LS2.


Like Dano says, you can also add a belt driven super charger and get more power than the drive train can handle.

 

I think 3LT trim Maybe

 

First let me say thank you for your service! My brother and Dad are retired Army.

As far as bolt-ons go, they are nice for people who are fairly satisfied with the stock power levels and just want a bit more. I didn't have the funds to throw thousands at the car initially so it was a gradual process. I started with a VR CAI, then headers/axleback and tune. I then did the ported fast 102 and retune. Then I did the circle d stall converter/trans cooler/different CAI and new trans tune. Then I installed a Corsa sport axleback, heads/cam/ud pulley. With what I paid for all the parts, installs and multiple tunes from multiple tuners the past 4 years, I could have easily put two superchargers on my car.lol I did gain 120+rwhp after all the mods through a stalled auto trans but could have had double that with an ECS or A&A supercharger kit with much better gas mileage. If I had all the funds up front to mod, I would have just supercharged it but I do like the cam lope.

The fast 102 fits perfectly on an LS2 but if you think you might supercharge in the future, it would be a waste of money. Some people gain 20+rwhp/tq from just a fast102. I gained 10+rwhp/20rwtq from my ported fast.
Headers usually come with mid pipes included in the kit, either with hi-flo cats or catless.

 

Like other have mentioned FI is the best wat to get the most power. Supporting changes are advisable for good reliabilty. Tire's, clutch, axle shafts.

I woke the LS3 up with headers CAI and a tune with the edition of 4:10 differential gearing.

Picked up some 47 rwhp and the gears really added in the feeling acceleration.

If you do cam work and intake then your getting into FI money and ending up with less power.

Gotta decide what the end goal is otherwise money can be wasted.

If no track or strip time and just street ask yourself where and when you will be able to use the new power safely. For me the usual bolts on was enough and the gearing really added to the fun factor.

 

Wouldn't the Fast intake make the S/C work more efficient?

 

sometimes there are fitment issues with the fast102 and the centri kit you choose. That can often be remedied by flipping the tb. But the small hp gained from the fast102 relative to the huge sc hp gain makes it a waste of $$$. That money would be better spent on a meth kit, or headers, or upgraded radiator/dual fan setup, or better wheel tire combo or drag radials since oem tires will be absolutely worthless with 550+ supercharged rwhp.

 

Huge, huge plus for the E-force 600hp complete system for a daily driver car, Edelbrock has spent a lot of time on the tune not only to dial the motor in, but get the TM set right to make the 600hp daily driver usable, even with the weaker 05 diff. Like GM, Edelbrock understands the the car has to be street drivable, so they too put the TM to use to make sure of this.


Don't get me wrong, huge fan of the centri units if you are looking for strip type high RPM power gains, but the hit of when the centri unit boosts in around mid range will break the tires loose every time. Also, the amount of time it would take a tuner to tune the TM correctly so it not break the tire loose on the initial boost hit (and making the car try to kill you even more), would take days of different surface conditions to get that tuned in correctly.

So let face it, very, very few turners will spent the time to dial in the TM to make the car road coarse drivable, and instead just total hobble the TM instead in a Centri supercharger tune.

Also to add, with the roots blower, the power gain is from off the bottom, all the way to top RPM. This makes the power range very rev wide/linear predictable power usable through out the rev range.

As for the current centri units being able to make more power than the Tvs-2300, will not argue with that, since the centri units can be spun to make more boost. The problem is, the more boost, the harder the hit at mid range with the units, and the more UN-driveable the car will become (just having the back tires spinning more makes no sense).

So for a daily driver car, or one that is going to see some light road coarse work, the Eforce TVS-2300 is the better unit. The power it makes is linear from idle up for the widest usable power band, and with the TM still actively being used, the power is more controllable on boost as well.


As for the heat pump joke, show me someone that has been in the power long enough with a TVS-2300 to even make that a valid point (read most of the peanut gallery that I see this coming from, have never even rev'd their vet out in 5th gear).


So we are back to bolt on in the two's and few's thousands to pick up around 50hp, in the $6K range to pick up around 100hp (and all the stop and go bucking of a high horsepower cam that makes the car almost unbearable to drive in traffic), or $9K for a supercharger complete kit to pick up 200hp, and the car still as drivable as it is stock.

 

Again I ask where you gonna use this power on the street, for more than a two gear run.

Bragging rights are nice but the reality is it is too much power for the street to justify $$$. simple bolt ons and a tune will wake this car up nicely.

This does not pertain to you 1/4 mile guys. Just street only drivers. And if your racing on the street shame on you and good luck with not getting into some serious trouble.

In the end your car your dime free country.

Isn't it great!

 

search button is your friend, this has been disscused 100,000 times if not more

 

Getting back to the original question of boltons, the quickest way to a quicker car only requires 5 items that serve 4 functions and can be done on a tight budget of under $2K if you're willing to get your hands dirty. How quick, depends on what you want to do with the car and how much you want to spend.

More power is simply air in, air out, the event timing, and how it gets to the ground, which are the 4 functions.

Low budget can be: shroud prop, Z06 manifolds back through H-pipe, straight pipes or muffler mod, dyno tune, and a high stall TC.

Better power with controllable sound would be 1 3/4" headers with X-pipe and either Z06/NPP mufflers or B&B bi-mode.

Vararam is the CAI of choice for the quickest racers.

A dyno tune by your local Corvette performance shop who tunes cars for the dragstrip will produce the most power.

Now the TC stall is the really big question and it's easily the biggest bang for the buck too. The dollars don't change here, but the results can be significantly different depending on your priorities. Since I drag race and have had 4 TC in my car, I have a good feel for how they compare. After the stock 1800 stall came out, I put in a 3200 Yank and my 60' times dropped .15 and the everyday driving felt much like I would have wanted the OEM to feel. Then I swapped to a 3600 and dropped another .13 off the 60' and the everyday seemed to smooth out more and also required a trans cooler. I'm currently using a 4000, which cut another .10 from the 60', but the street feel is a bit on the mushy side. I've lost 1-2 mpg in-town with each swap, but the highway mileage remains unchanged from stock.

As far as the FAST IM is concerned, I'd only do it if you absolutely can't bring yourself to pulling the heads. The power increase is not nearly as substantial as swapping to LS3 heads and IM that can be done for less dollars.

 

HOXXOH, sorry just a quick question not trying to hijack this thread, how did the 3600 feel on day to day driving and what rear end gears are you running?

 

I will have a ported (spinmonster)/painted(blk) fast 102 intake manifold and Callaway cai available for sale next week.

 

Thanks for your input!

dull

 

Thanks for your input!

dull

 

Thanks for your input!

dull

 

Very useful. Thanks for your input!

dull