I need some help guys! I am looking to invest in some aftermarket parts.....I was wondering how much horsepower gains I would get and what my roughly estimated 1/4 mile time would be with the following mods.....Dynomouth exhaust, highflow cats, Mac headers and ORY, SLP lid w/ K&N, Super sucker ram air system, pro 5.0 shifter, 4:10's , and zr1 17 X11's on the back....Im not getting all this at once because I'm very broke after getting my 2002 SS M6 last thursday...............So considering my car and the mods I plan on getting....what kind of HP do you think I will be putting out and a rough guess at my 1/4 time....Please help! Thanks!

 

This might help you move in the right direction.

LS1.Com has 2 areas that might be of interest:

Frequently Asked Questions -

http://www.ls1.com/index_faq.html


and Dynos Runs , at:

http://www.ls1.com/index_dyno_runs.html


Good Luck , and welcome to the SS club !!




Britt

 

Right off the bat, don't waste your money on gears, just get the whole rear end because its gonna break anyway. Thats $2500 in the hole, but you'll have your 4.10 gears in it. Sticky tires is a good idea, I don't recommend Mac headers because they are mids, probably the best mids out there, but I don't like mids. Try long tube headers, arguably the best ones out there are the QTP headers, can be bought at www.quicktimeperformance.com also you can get an electric cutout from them. Also getting your TB perted is a good idea. The dynomouth is a good catback, the lid is a good choice, but try the holley filter, I like it better than the K&N, and the ZR1 rims are a very nice touch.

Good luck with your choices. Also with the stuff I mentioned you should see 355-365 rwhp, give or take 10. My buddy with an M6 put 325rwhp with just lid, catback, and cutout

 

High Flow cats and ORYP pick one, they are both illegal according to the letter of the law, but realize without cats it's gonna be LOUD as hell.

Mid-lengh headers...they are about as good as stock, get LT's or don't bother at all IMO.

The dynomouth is good sounding, nice price...good choice there. A lid is a must, get the Holly Power shot.

As stated above, get the whole rear, I have seen a few guys with just gears and decent tires break the glass GM 10-bolt. A good 12-bolt with options is about 2500$ but you get your choice of gears and you can launch at 7K RPM's no

Happy Modding!

 

I believe when he said ORY with cats, he meant he was not buying Mac with cats because their cats suck, instead he is going mac with ORY and having better cats welded in

 

actually mid lengths are much better than stocks, but LTs are much better than mid lengths for various reasons

 

Random Tech's high flow cats flow about as well as an open pipe and keep you legal--just a suggestion. You can find them on the web.

I have done very little to my car, but if I go down the engine mod road, I think I'm going for a professional intake/top-end/exhaust job when I can afford it. I am concerned that piecemeal mods may either do very little good, or do more harm than good. I am sure I am in the minority on the board however.

Good luck.

 

What do you mean by a professional intake/top end/ exhaust job?

 

Get longtubes.
Instead of the Pr0 5.0 go with the Qwik Stick. At only $39 this is one of the best mods for the money. You'll be so happy that you didn't spend $175 on an aftermarket shifter.
i haven't broken my 4.10's yet with over 50 passes at the strip, then again I'm using the stock F1's.

 

First off, just let me say there are some very mis-informed people in this thread, and I will leave it at that.

Now, onto what you want to do. Headers are a definite must, and although the MAC's will show substantial gains, for just about the same amount, you can get the Hooker LT's. LT's like the QTP's, are way overpriced for the same amount of performance you can get from any other LT. If you musy have cats where you live, like mentioned above, the Random Techs are very good pieces, but are also mucho $$$$!! The Carsounds are great too. Luckily, where I live, there are no emissions testing!

As far as exhaust goes, don't even waste your money on the Dynomouth, just pay the $39 for a cutout, and have it welded into your intermediate pipe before it goes over the axle, it can't be beat.

A lid is a must, but a filter is not. If I were you, I'd stay away from the SLP lid, and get a Direct-Flo. It's very similar in price, and will outperform the SLP any day of the week. It's been proven time and time again that aftermarket filters get you nothing! Just pick up a Fram from Wal-Mart every time you change your oil, and you'll be set. Or, you can do like I did, and find a used K+N, and buy it just so you don't have to ever buy a filter again! lol It doesn't affect my performance either way, because it always comes out at the track.

Gears are a great mod, but if installed incorrectly, can be a nightmare! They will howl like there's no tomorrow. And, not to mention they're weaker than the stock gears. If you drive your car hard, YOU WILL have problems with your rear end, it's a given. Most guys just have our cars for looks, and they treat them like they're supposed to be mounted on a pedestal somewhere. Those are the only ones who don't have trouble with their rears! lol Your best bet would be to just save your money for an aftermarket rear.

A shifter will make a huge difference in how you shift your car. If you have the factory installed Hurst in there, you might be able to get away with just adding a short stick to it, but IMHO, if you're going to do any SERIOUS shifting, it's junk, go with the Pro 5.0, you won't be disappointed.

Stay away from the SuperSucker, and go with what's proven, the Fast Toys Ram Air, it can't be beat.....period!

The wheels would be a nice appearance mod, but will only hurt you at the track. Like mentioned above, the 17x11 ZR1 are extremely heavy, and the last kind of weight you want is rotating mass. Do like someone said above, and get a set of stock 16x8 wheels and throw some drag radials on there. BTW, here's a lil bit of info, the straight 5-spoke Firebird V6 wheels are the lightest stockers out there. These were found on the 96-97 cars I believe.

So, there's my opinion on everything, take it for what it's worth.

 

All hail the expert.

I've got a stupid cutout. On the dyno I lost 2rwhp. It sounds like crap. When you let off the gas it goes pops and backfires. Maybe with headers it would work and sound better. In fact I'll trade you my intermediate pipe with the cutout in it for your stock one.

A lids a lid. gee maybe the Direct Flo will give you a couple of extra horses. I've heard the Direct Flo fits like crap. My SLP fits and LOOKS great.

The Supersucker has been proven to add up to 13rwhp(It did on my car) over stock. This was PROVEN to me. Using Autotap the Supersucker had consistently 4-5 degrees cooler air inlet temp(AIT) than the FTRA. The Supersucker isn't flush up against the radiator like the ftra allowing more air to pass over the radiator. Keeping your engine cooler also. Expected gains are .2 in the quarter and 2mph. It can't be beat....period!

 

Yeah a cut-out is about half the cost of a Dynomouth, but it sounds like ***!
That's my opinion, take it for what it's worth.
Dave

 

Just looking out for the guys best interest.

I never said I was an expert, but I know what works and what doesn't. You can keep your SuperSucker and your 4-5 degress cooler, because it SuperSucks at the price they sale them for. You WILL get the same performace gain from the FTRA.

You can get the Direct-Flo for roughly the same price you can the SLP, and it WILL make more power...period. If he's going to spend the money on a lid, it might as well be the one that makes the most power for the money. And I haven't heard of any fitment problems with the Direct-Flo's. As a matter of fact, the ones I have seen people have problems with were the SLP's and Whisper's.

There is one point I will agree with noth of you on though, the cutout does sound like booty, but you can't beat the bang for the buck. I'm not sure if this guys car has the standard SS exhaust, the Dual/Dual, or the centermount, so it might not even be worth it to him to do it, unless he's like me and just wanted something to make it louder whenever he wanted. I have the Dual/Dual on my car, and make the same power with the cutout open or closed.

Like I mentioned above, I'm just trying to save the guy some money, and get him the most performance for his dollar.