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WeaponX ported TB - 12hp increase!

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Old Apr 25, 2014 | 11:45 PM
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Default WeaponX ported TB - 12hp increase!

We have our first batch of LT1 ported TBs in and ready to go! The gain was an impressive 12hp / 8 ft-lb torque and can be bolted on without tuning for those warranty conscious.

Stock C7 Z51 dyno'ed 410hp/416tq in pull 1. Added the ported TB only in pull 5 and saw some nice gains. I'll post the other pulls as well when I get a chance.

https://weaponx-c7.myshopify.com/pro...le-body-ported








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Old Apr 26, 2014 | 03:27 AM
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Nice job!

I have my TB and manifold ported from another vendor here and the throttle response, alone, is worth the price of admission.

That's a huge lip they left there, and a lot of room for improvement.
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Old Apr 26, 2014 | 02:31 PM
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PM price please !
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Old Apr 27, 2014 | 01:46 PM
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wow......I didn't think that the ported TB would make that much. Kind of amazing.
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Old Apr 27, 2014 | 01:50 PM
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I can't speak to the HP improvement, but the throttle response is substantially improved (especially with a blower).
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Old Apr 27, 2014 | 02:19 PM
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WOW. I have seen couple cars gain from 10-20whp the difference is it was a ported intake and TB!! so to get 12whp from just the TB is amazing!!!
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Old Apr 27, 2014 | 02:21 PM
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Most of it is probably that terrible stepped lip on the OEM TB that just screws with the airflow something awful.

When I first saw that compared to a ported one, I couldn't believe it. Why on earth they would have kept it like that is beyond me...
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Old Apr 27, 2014 | 10:32 PM
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Does the $469 price include the core charge???????Available now?? Easy to install?

Last edited by Vettefan666; Apr 27, 2014 at 10:35 PM.
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Old Apr 27, 2014 | 10:47 PM
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Hate to keep answering for Ben, but he probably won't mind...

Super easy to change - unclamp the air intake hose, remove 4 x 10mm bolts and a wire harness, and remove it. Takes maybe... 3-5 minutes?
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Old Apr 27, 2014 | 10:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Vettefan666
Does the $469 price include the core charge???????Available now?? Easy to install?
I'm guessing it is included from the slightly cryptic wording. Also the ported TB I bought for my C6 was close to that price with the core charge.

I'm not going to dispute the op's claims on HP, but on my LS3 all I saw was that throttle response as Theta mentioned increased very well.

Last edited by HalfMoon; Apr 27, 2014 at 11:00 PM.
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Old Apr 27, 2014 | 11:52 PM
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UndeRated might be a simple "fix" like a ported throttle body. This new motor has a lot to offer and little upgrades can make great gains.
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Old Apr 28, 2014 | 01:54 AM
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Originally Posted by Theta
Most of it is probably that terrible stepped lip on the OEM TB that just screws with the airflow something awful.

When I first saw that compared to a ported one, I couldn't believe it. Why on earth they would have kept it like that is beyond me...
Well let’s stop and pause/think for a second… Why would GM spend “extra money” to create a casting with that “stepped lip” as you call it? GM being very cost conscious will not add a performance robbing feature that increases manufacturing complexity for nothing better than have someone mill/port it away.

Think AFM and the required seamless transition from 8 cylinder to 4 cylinder mode, just like the extra butterfly valves in exhaust for an expectable sound (resonance level)… BTW not much different than ZR1 (LS9) TB, except for feedback is contactless…

So why on earth with the hundreds of competent and talented engineers that GM employs would they add unnecessary complexity and cost to simply add additional restriction (throttling losses - costs efficiency) to intake? Guess they are clueless.

Oh you forgot to ask how much of gain was tune?
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Old Apr 28, 2014 | 12:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Skunkworks
Well let’s stop and pause/think for a second… Why would GM spend “extra money” to create a casting with that “stepped lip” as you call it? GM being very cost conscious will not add a performance robbing feature that increases manufacturing complexity for nothing better than have someone mill/port it away.

Think AFM and the required seamless transition from 8 cylinder to 4 cylinder mode, just like the extra butterfly valves in exhaust for an expectable sound (resonance level)… BTW not much different than ZR1 (LS9) TB, except for feedback is contactless…

So why on earth with the hundreds of competent and talented engineers that GM employs would they add unnecessary complexity and cost to simply add additional restriction (throttling losses - costs efficiency) to intake? Guess they are clueless.

Oh you forgot to ask how much of gain was tune?
While I appreciate your input, the car wasn't tuned. If there was only a 12hp gain from a tune, I'd think we're doing something wrong anyway. A ported TB is nothing new and beneficial for the same reason manifolds, heads, etc all benefit from being ported. It's been rumored that GM made 600bhp with this motor and worked it backwards. That's hardly unbelievable given the technology. As you know, GM has to focus on a lot of variables - emissions, gas mileage, noise levels, etc. I know you're an intelligent guy, so I'm a little surprised by your skepticism lol.

I have been waiting to get the dyno sheets scanned in, but here was the result of the various mods all bolt on with the exception of the Diablo tuner which leaned out the AFR but showed 0 gains and actually had 5* knock up top on the second pull. I need to send it to those guys to see what the issue was. I had and HPT log, not their scanner so hopefully they can read it.

"I wanted to do some stage 1 comparisons for the guys that are concerned with their warranty before we delve deeper next month.

Car is a 2014 Z51 auto

Test 1: Bone Stock hardware and calibration, OEM tune on 27" tires
Dyno: 410hp/417tq
Gain: N/A
Note: Decent numbers for a stock auto

Test 2: Green Filter swap only, OEM calibration on 27" tires
Dyno: 414hp/417tq
Gain: 4hp
Note: Easier breathing in upper RPM band with some minimal gains

Test 3: Green Filter, Diablo tune 93 octane on 27" tires
Dyno: 416hp/417tq
Note: AFR was leaner, no noticeable power gains?, trans felt good during driving

Test 4: Green Filter, Diablo tune 93 octane on 28" tires
Dyno: 415hp/417th
Note: Fuel trims were higher, Saw 5* KR up top, AFRs acceptable,

Test 5: OEM Filter, weaponX ported LT1 TB, OEM calibration put back in on 28" tires
Dyno: 423hp/425tq
Note: Fuel trims were very low, More power, richer AFR than Dyno 3 and 4, factory tune

Test 6: Halltech CF Intake, weaponX ported LT1 TB, OEM on 28" tires
Dyno: 434hp/437tq
Note: Fuel trims still looked great, AFR looked great, great gains as well and the factory tune would still be in place if this is all you did!

In a nutshell, we saw about 4hp on the Green Filter swap.
Our weaponX ported throttle body gained 12hp.
The Halltech intake added another 15hp untuned on top of our weaponX ported throttle body. Tuning will uncover more power as well, but the focus of this was stage 1 warranty friendly mods."
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Old Apr 28, 2014 | 01:26 PM
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Originally Posted by Skunkworks
Well let’s stop and pause/think for a second… Why would GM spend “extra money” to create a casting with that “stepped lip” as you call it? GM being very cost conscious will not add a performance robbing feature that increases manufacturing complexity for nothing better than have someone mill/port it away.

Think AFM and the required seamless transition from 8 cylinder to 4 cylinder mode, just like the extra butterfly valves in exhaust for an expectable sound (resonance level)… BTW not much different than ZR1 (LS9) TB, except for feedback is contactless…

So why on earth with the hundreds of competent and talented engineers that GM employs would they add unnecessary complexity and cost to simply add additional restriction (throttling losses - costs efficiency) to intake? Guess they are clueless.

Oh you forgot to ask how much of gain was tune?
Skunk, while I generally appreciate your posts, I found this one to be out of line, and borderline offensive...

If you've ever seen a GMPP setup, you'll see that it's been honed, ported, and polished. FAST 92mm TBs? Same deal there.

You're looking for a fight (or at least a good argument), and I'm not going to get dragged into it. If your main point is going to be "GM designed it best so why are you messing with it?"... I just can't help you, bud.

Also, I'd like you to re-read my posts explaining that I couldn't speak to any improvement on hp/tq, but rather explained that throttle response is greatly improved. I couldn't care less about the tune... I have a blower, anyway.

If you can prove my claim to be false, I challenge you to try. Anyone who has a P&P TB will confirm that this is exactly the case.

Edit: Removed the last part as it was unnecessary.

...

Last edited by Theta; Apr 28, 2014 at 07:11 PM.
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Old Apr 28, 2014 | 07:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Halltech
Great job Ben; was this our Hybrid or the CKN (Carbon Kevlar Nomex III) unit?
Thanks Jim, it was the CKN unit, and it's a beauty in there too! Goes well under my carbon hood

Here's OEM hardware vs. our ported TB vs. ported TB and Halltech
(all OEM tune )

The TB gets some marginal gain early but comes on as the air starts flowing up top. The Halltech intake really gets up early and just keeps gaining!

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Old Apr 28, 2014 | 07:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Theta
I can't speak to the HP improvement, but the throttle response is substantially improved (especially with a blower).
Forgive my ignorance, but how does the ported TB increase throttle response? Is it purely the result of increased airflow?

Next question: anyone see any potential problems with passing emissions tests in California with this unit? (I was already disappointed to learn that the AFE Cold Air Intake apparently won't pass Cal. smog tests; or to be more precise, that they couldn't get it certified by the cal. air resources board.)

Last edited by Magister Ludi; Apr 28, 2014 at 07:45 PM.
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Old Apr 28, 2014 | 08:00 PM
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Originally Posted by Magister Ludi
Forgive my ignorance, but how does the ported TB increase throttle response? Is it purely the result of increased airflow?

Next question: anyone see any potential problems with passing emissions tests in California with this unit? (I was already disappointed to learn that the AFE Cold Air Intake apparently won't pass Cal. smog tests; or to be more precise, that they couldn't get it certified by the cal. air resources board.)
It's not ignorance at all - I'm not an airflow dynamics engineer by any stretch of the imagination. However, years and years (really decades) of research and doing just this with regard to porting and polishing TBs results in the (absolute) consensus that throttle response is improved simply because of the increase in airflow velocity and decrease in airflow turbulence.

Here's a great video for looking at how it's actually done. I don't recommend people do this themselves. I've been having this done for years, but I'm not touching it myself... Might polish the one I have here, but it won't really do anything better than a good port.


As for CARB, you're not changing anything, so you should have no issues whatsoever.

Also, keep in mind that the hp increase debate has raged on forever, while the throttle response never was argued. To be clear to some who think I'm pushing this... I didn't get mine done through Ben, but I suggest anyone who wants better response do this mod (as with any LSx motor).
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Old Apr 28, 2014 | 08:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Theta
Skunk, while I generally appreciate your posts, I found this one to be out of line, and borderline offensive...

If you've ever seen a GMPP setup, you'll see that it's been honed, ported, and polished. FAST 92mm TBs? Same deal there.

You're looking for a fight (or at least a good argument), and I'm not going to get dragged into it. If your main point is going to be "GM designed it best so why are you messing with it?"... I just can't help you, bud.

Also, I'd like you to re-read my posts explaining that I couldn't speak to any improvement on hp/tq, but rather explained that throttle response is greatly improved. I couldn't care less about the tune... I have a blower, anyway.

If you can prove my claim to be false, I challenge you to try. Anyone who has a P&P TB will confirm that this is exactly the case.

Edit: Removed the last part as it was unnecessary.

...
First, sorry if my comment came off as harsh.

Yes, I have seen/owned aftermarket TBs and ported and polished OEM examples and understand its intended function and gains. But you stated “Why on earth they would have kept it like that is beyond me...”, well it serves a function and was designed that way for a reason. Now, no I am not saying just because GM designed it a certain way, it is the best, a simple look at aftermarket parts available is a testament to improvements that can be made.

That TB (LT1) has been around for a while (think 08/09) and undergone some minor tweaks over time, it is generally found on engines with AFM or DOD, the LS9 is an exception (here GM wanted a compact TB and why it is used). Think the preceding sentence may explain why it is that way. I’ll skip the theory thought…

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Old Apr 28, 2014 | 09:52 PM
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Originally Posted by Skunkworks
First, sorry if my comment came off as harsh.

Yes, I have seen/owned aftermarket TBs and ported and polished OEM examples and understand its intended function and gains. But you stated “Why on earth they would have kept it like that is beyond me...”, well it serves a function and was designed that way for a reason. Now, no I am not saying just because GM designed it a certain way, it is the best, a simple look at aftermarket parts available is a testament to improvements that can be made.

That TB (LT1) has been around for a while (think 08/09) and undergone some minor tweaks over time, it is generally found on engines with AFM or DOD, the LS9 is an exception (here GM wanted a compact TB and why it is used). Think the preceding sentence may explain why it is that way. I’ll skip the theory thought…

That's fair. Sorry, the way it originally came off was a bit different (at least to me).

My contention is that the stepped-core design used here (and as you've said, on some of the previous models) is intentionally 'hamstringed'. The name of the game is synergy, and even the main engineers most likely don't know the entire flow chart of decisions being made. It's certainly not being done from a performance standpoint.

I will concede that I consider the C7 to be a high-performance example from BG, but I'm being reminded that this was also made as a DoD v4 DD that can get 30+ MPG.

I would honestly expect the C6R and C7R to have fully ported everything, taking as much as they can down to the razor's edge. Hopefully the C7Z will be the same, though I'd bet they'll use the same TB as we have to save on part costs.

Anyway, sorry if we both came across wrong there - I was just a little surprised based on the deviation of tone from your other posts.
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Old Apr 28, 2014 | 09:54 PM
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Thanks Theta,

Throttle response is really all I'm after at this point. Looks like this is a way to get it without jeopardizing my warranty.
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