GodOfClutch

I have a ‘13 gs and was wondering what are the best bolt ons worth the money that will give good power. And which bolt ons should I stay away from that aren’t going to give much gains.

briank17

Supercharger for the Win. A&A.

Spaceme1117

1. First, best mod/bolt on would be a quality set of headers and x-pipe (I recommend catted). American Racing or Kooks would be my 1st and 2nd choices.
2. Mail order tune or dyno tune (I recommend Diablew for "mail order". Any good dyno tuner in your area for a dyno tune).

Next few are a bit more involved.

3. An cam appropriate to your goals; daily driver, drag car, street/strip combo. But you will need supporting parts; valve springs, pushrods, etc. You can save a lot if you do the work yourself. You will need a good tune to go with it. I recommend going with smaller cam rather than a larger. LS engines respond amazingly well to even small cam upgrades. Larger cams can be difficult to drive.
4. 1.8 or 1.85 ratio rockers are a nice bolt on if you don't want to go the cam route. But you will still need upgraded springs and pushrods. It is a lot less work.
5. Ported stock heads or aftermarket heads.

A supercharger system would also be great but you will spend some money.

Mods That Don't Do Much
Expensive intake = $400 to $500 for almost no gain.

Mods That Some People Really Like
Throttle controller = Some swear by them. I think they are a waste. They are advertized to get rid of the "lag" in the throttle. What they actually do is remap the throttle. (Stock, press pedal half way, get 50% throttle. Controller, press pedal half way, get 80% throttle.) But some people really like them.

lazerlemonta

First acceleration mods should be a light clutch and gear. I went 11.0@125/126 MPH with 100% stock exhaust. I have a thread (10s NA on stock exhaust) on my build progression. Great bolt ons for a stock cam car: Ported Rod Mod Intake, Ported Throttle Body, Headers, X, Electric Water Pump. Internal mods that free up power: Crank Scraper, 1.85 Rockers (upgrade valve springs & push rods) I managed to make 453 SAE rwhp with my bolt on set up and run 10.5@131MPH Good Luck and Have Fun

BadAV

You really should do some research before speaking about a throttle controller. OEM throttle mapping IS NOT 50% pedal gives 50% throttle. It's more like 80% pedal gives 50% throttle as GM mapped it to try to add to mpg. A throttle controller allows you to set throttle response to your liking. I run my Vitesse at SP4; I feel gives pretty close to cable driven throttle response. Drive by wire throttle lag is all but eliminated. I've had it installed for at least 3 years now and it's one of the most enjoyable mods I have as it makes the car drive the way it should have from GM.

LSX228R

A&A kit. 1 mod, done.

meadowz06

Exhaust, air intake, headers. Good for about 30-40hp. 5K+ EFORCE supercharger, or A&A.

hippy

I bought a Vitesse against my better judgement and have returned it due to the car going into limp mode a few times. While I noticed how it took less accelerator pedal pressure to move the car forward compared to stock, after the issues I experienced in my car going into limp mode my original thought I have of these is still the same, I think they are a waste of money. If I want to go fast I will press the pedal further to the floor instead of a controller doing it with less input that may place my car in a limp home mode.

BadAV

Never had an issue with mine in 5 years. Those who say I will just push the throttle further and get the same results are living with their head in the sand. Absolutely, positively not even close. Your car, your choice.

hippy

I guess you missed the part of my post where I said I had one. It is absolutely positively close to that. So how does it work? Do explain how this is wrong? Does the vintese give the feel of being faster, yes. Is it, no.

Glad to hear you haven't had a problem in 5 years, I limped home twice within a month or so because of it, and 5% throttle with the pedal to the floor isn't that much fun in limp mode.

BlackFya

I started off with halltech killer bee and lg super pro headers. With stock base coupe exhaust I still hit 401 hp and 405 tq thru an A6 with tune. I wouldn't neglect the DRM Bilsteins ...I loved the feel and responsiveness after I added them. In all I have barely had 7K seat time in my car. I recently had an A&A kit installed and cant wait to feel the difference. My brother has been the care take and said he wouldn't dare test it out until I get better tires. The halltech will be up for sale as soon as I hit the states next month. Let me know if you are interested.

MerakiAutoworks

Supercharger
Headers
!!

-Josh

matthew_lsx

what rocker did you use and valve springs and rods and can you use the stock cam

tektrans

CAI 400
TB and intake 2500 ported
headers and x pipe 2500
clutch 3000 installed
tune 750
$9150
100 hp give or take

A to A supercharger installed tuned 10000
Clutch installed $3000
$13000
200+hp

Spaceme1117

Best bolt-ons:

1. Kooks headers with cats (ARH can eat my ***).
2. Super charger (ECS or A&A for centrifugal, E-force or Heartbeat for positive displacement blower).
3. Quality tires.
4. Interior insulation kit (cuts down on both road noise and heat to the interior)

old motorhead

Start with long tube headers (1.875" primaries) and a tune. If you want to go a little further, throw in a ported and rod modded intake manifold. Forget the ported throttle body as it adds 0 power. If you're still running the stock crank pulley, swap it out for a 10% underdriven unit. Have your tuner up your idle speed 70ish rpm to make up for the underdriven pulley. The above is a good starting point....or ending point for that matter. Just about anything you do going forward (outside of turbocharging or supercharging) will benefit from these mods.

Bominator

Is your car’s transmission an auto or manual? With an A6 does the Vitesse effect/alter the automatic downshift function? If I need a tune for engine/exhaust mods would having a throttle controller interfere with the new tune? Thanks

MissileDoc

I installed a positive displacement supercharger, Dewitt's radiator, and dual Spal fans. Never a problem and it's fun to drive.

Turbo6TA

Supercharger and a good dyno tune ....

Headers and a cam will be a big benefit if you add them too, but just the supercharger alone with no other mods will still be the best 'bang for the buck'.

hazy

so for a bone stock ride, what sort of power might one expect if slapping on an a&a or ecs kit? in my head I figure 550ish to the wheels is about what you'd see? Maybe closer to 600 if you yank the exhaust and run headers/offroad xpipe?

Those figures seem about right?