I have a bone stock 02 camaro, my cat busted so i bought a Magnaflow Hi-Flow cat, just had it welded on for like $100, part cost me $108 on amazon used but in great shape. My car runs a lot smoother has a bit more pep and sounds better overall...thinking of doing a couple basic mods cuz i thinks it kinda pointless to supe up a v6 base model when after all is said and spent i coulda just bought a Z or SS. But iw as wondering which would be better a CAI or just a performance air filter, i hear k&n really isnt quality just a name. Also prob do a catback exhaust, the Magnaflow and Flowmasters look legit, i would love a Borla but honestly not lookin to drop that much money. And with the price of headers would it really be worth the money vs actual hp and overall performance it will add to my car? - thanks

 

A filter by itself is worthless. The paper filter is no real restriction imo, and even IF you gained 1-2hp by spending $70 on a K&N, you would never feel it. The SLP CAI is a good kit and is right around the $120 mark too. A CAI can usually generate enough extra pep for you to feel it; and they help the exhaust sound better. Catbacks are definately worth it on the V6's imo. I had quite a noticable difference when I put a Magnaflow on my V6 Maro. I agree that Borla is overpriced, and even with a V8, I still say it is overpriced. Pacesetter makes a set of midlength headers for around $220 (I think). Headers can usually provide a more noticable increase over a catback too; but do both if you can. 250hp isn't that hard to acheive with bolt ons for the 3.8

 

Can you post a pic of your new cat installed? When you say your cat busted, do you mean it started rattling? If so, it's surprising, as my '02 cat is still in-tact.

Borla catback is VERY reasonable when you get it on sale, plus it has a built-in cutout! What for Autoanything's 15% off sales, plus on top of that I got a 15% Bing Cashback (now discontinued) -- that's 30% off!

An SLP CAI & SLP Blackwing Filter, and Whisper Motorsports Lid (if you can find one) are good choices. K&N is not as good of a filter, the rubber molding overlaps some filter area -- poor quality control I guess...

The intake stuff is the easiest and I would do them first then catback, and headers/y-pipe last. You will notice the difference with each batch of work.

Consider suspension too -- bigger (SS) sways and SLP Bilstein shocks should be high on your list... Both are very much worth doing on the V6.