performance mods
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Newbie
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 16
From: Palatine, Illinois
performance mods
I just recently purchased a 1997 camaro rs 3.8 v6. The car already had dual catback and a crappy spectra cold air intake. The car has about 100k on it, and i was looking to do some cheap upgrades. I was thinking about purchasing a K and N cold air intake system. I was wondering if purchasing a cheaper intake housing from summit and just using a k and n high flow filter would ad about the same performace as buying the whole K and N cold air intake system? Also was thinking about a throttle body spacer, but I've heard good and bad things about those. I was going to get some better aftermarket plugs and wires, and some type of performance chip, possibly something to increase the fuel mixture? Just wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions or objections to what I've mentioned or possibly any additional ideas and how much they typically cost. Thanks!
1st Gear Member
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 149
From: SE Kansas
Probably for the 240 or so dollars more you wont notce a HUGE diference in the whole cai from k&n..i would probably just put a good k&n filter on the existing cai..cant get a "chip" but you can get pcm tuned..i have heard good thimgs about pcmforless..and how many dollars is cheap to you..cause cheap to me is like..under a hundred lol..you could also get a one peice drive shaft..thats relatively cheap
Ok first off... Go check your RPO codes for Y87 and GU6/G80 codes. If you have them... Skip this next paragraph...
The best bang for your buck mod will be gears. Gears and a LSD will make a WORLD of difference in your car especially if you have 3.08s in an auto. 3.42s will wake you up when the pedal hits the floor, 3.73s (auto) will make you a firm believer in a GM automatic. And 4.10s (manual) will make you wish you hadn't ate that chilidog for lunch
A cold air intake will do wonders on your 97 as well because they had quite restrictive intakes compared to the 98+ cars which came with a very impressive intake setup from the factory. A factory NA 98+ car with a shaved lid will flow almost as well as yours with a CAI. It's just a good design really. A K&N is nice to have and flows better than most other aftermarket CAIs. But you can also spend 60 bucks compared to 300 to buy an ebay intake with a K&N filter and have close to the same results.
Headers... Headers are where you will open this engine up. Since you say it already has a cat-back exhaust we'll skip that. Headers will be the biggest SOTP mod other than gears that will make you want to mod your car even more. You will feel a HUGE gain in the higher RPMs which is where these engines struggle due to the crappy log manifolds, intake plenum, and horribly bad heads.
These 3 mods will cost you UNDER 300 bucks not including labor and will give you the biggest gains for the money. After you do all that, and you want more. Consult us with more questions :P
Lastly... It's all about what you want from this car. Myself, 02StanGT, and Musicman can all give you different reason to do different mods. Stan and Musicman have great knowledge that can be of use so I would ask them (or myself if you're feeling frisky) for some advice. But go in with an open attitude and an idea of what you want. Otherwise you're just pissin in the wind.
The best bang for your buck mod will be gears. Gears and a LSD will make a WORLD of difference in your car especially if you have 3.08s in an auto. 3.42s will wake you up when the pedal hits the floor, 3.73s (auto) will make you a firm believer in a GM automatic. And 4.10s (manual) will make you wish you hadn't ate that chilidog for lunch
A cold air intake will do wonders on your 97 as well because they had quite restrictive intakes compared to the 98+ cars which came with a very impressive intake setup from the factory. A factory NA 98+ car with a shaved lid will flow almost as well as yours with a CAI. It's just a good design really. A K&N is nice to have and flows better than most other aftermarket CAIs. But you can also spend 60 bucks compared to 300 to buy an ebay intake with a K&N filter and have close to the same results.
Headers... Headers are where you will open this engine up. Since you say it already has a cat-back exhaust we'll skip that. Headers will be the biggest SOTP mod other than gears that will make you want to mod your car even more. You will feel a HUGE gain in the higher RPMs which is where these engines struggle due to the crappy log manifolds, intake plenum, and horribly bad heads.
These 3 mods will cost you UNDER 300 bucks not including labor and will give you the biggest gains for the money. After you do all that, and you want more. Consult us with more questions :P
Lastly... It's all about what you want from this car. Myself, 02StanGT, and Musicman can all give you different reason to do different mods. Stan and Musicman have great knowledge that can be of use so I would ask them (or myself if you're feeling frisky) for some advice. But go in with an open attitude and an idea of what you want. Otherwise you're just pissin in the wind.
Overdrive Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,042
From: IL
What's SOTP?
Will JUST adding an LSD help much? If so, in what ways would you notice the change? Assume NO change in gears.
Also, AFAIK, the change from 3.08s to either 3.42s or 3.73s will gobble up a bunch more gas too -- the question is how much -- anyone have real numbers benchmarked?
On my '02 3.8L, the SLP CAI and Whisper Lid with a K&N Filter made a great difference all put together, the stock 98-02 setup may be good, but you can make it much better with the above. Thing is, most of the gains to the 3.8L seem to be in the higher RPMs -- I enjoy the gains in the lower RPMS a bit more sometimes -- anything that can be done to target lower RPMS than the top-end?
Will JUST adding an LSD help much? If so, in what ways would you notice the change? Assume NO change in gears.
Also, AFAIK, the change from 3.08s to either 3.42s or 3.73s will gobble up a bunch more gas too -- the question is how much -- anyone have real numbers benchmarked?
On my '02 3.8L, the SLP CAI and Whisper Lid with a K&N Filter made a great difference all put together, the stock 98-02 setup may be good, but you can make it much better with the above. Thing is, most of the gains to the 3.8L seem to be in the higher RPMs -- I enjoy the gains in the lower RPMS a bit more sometimes -- anything that can be done to target lower RPMS than the top-end?
The best bang for your buck mod will be gears. Gears and a LSD will make a WORLD of difference in your car especially if you have 3.08s in an auto. 3.42s will wake you up when the pedal hits the floor, 3.73s (auto) will make you a firm believer in a GM automatic. And 4.10s (manual) will make you wish you hadn't ate that chilidog for lunch
A cold air intake will do wonders on your 97 as well because they had quite restrictive intakes compared to the 98+ cars which came with a very impressive intake setup from the factory. A factory NA 98+ car with a shaved lid will flow almost as well as yours with a CAI. It's just a good design really. A K&N is nice to have and flows better than most other aftermarket CAIs. But you can also spend 60 bucks compared to 300 to buy an ebay intake with a K&N filter and have close to the same results.
Headers... Headers are where you will open this engine up. Since you say it already has a cat-back exhaust we'll skip that. Headers will be the biggest SOTP mod other than gears that will make you want to mod your car even more. You will feel a HUGE gain in the higher RPMs which is where these engines struggle due to the crappy log manifolds, intake plenum, and horribly bad heads.
A cold air intake will do wonders on your 97 as well because they had quite restrictive intakes compared to the 98+ cars which came with a very impressive intake setup from the factory. A factory NA 98+ car with a shaved lid will flow almost as well as yours with a CAI. It's just a good design really. A K&N is nice to have and flows better than most other aftermarket CAIs. But you can also spend 60 bucks compared to 300 to buy an ebay intake with a K&N filter and have close to the same results.
Headers... Headers are where you will open this engine up. Since you say it already has a cat-back exhaust we'll skip that. Headers will be the biggest SOTP mod other than gears that will make you want to mod your car even more. You will feel a HUGE gain in the higher RPMs which is where these engines struggle due to the crappy log manifolds, intake plenum, and horribly bad heads.
SOTP - Seat of the Pants AKA your butt dyno
No adding an LSD by itself with so change in gears will not help anything... It'd help traction a bit but you're not gonna feel anything different except extra grip.
I have 3.42s in my car and drive mostly on the highway and still get 28mpg. Going to 3.73s will affect your mileage more though but they are still good balance for an auto on the highway. Mid 20s last I checked with a friend. Your city mileage won't change.
You will feel gains in the low end on all of these mods (especially gears) but these engines benefit more in the upper RPMs because that's where they choke. Headers make a good difference in torque on the low end but high end power is where you'll notice it big time.
Yes a Whisper lid is the best ideal setup because it is smooth and taller than the stock airbox. But don't fool yourself, you probably only gained 2-3 HP. 5 tops. Smoothing out the lid will give you the same effect it's just not as tall so you don't get as much power.
No adding an LSD by itself with so change in gears will not help anything... It'd help traction a bit but you're not gonna feel anything different except extra grip.
I have 3.42s in my car and drive mostly on the highway and still get 28mpg. Going to 3.73s will affect your mileage more though but they are still good balance for an auto on the highway. Mid 20s last I checked with a friend. Your city mileage won't change.
You will feel gains in the low end on all of these mods (especially gears) but these engines benefit more in the upper RPMs because that's where they choke. Headers make a good difference in torque on the low end but high end power is where you'll notice it big time.
Yes a Whisper lid is the best ideal setup because it is smooth and taller than the stock airbox. But don't fool yourself, you probably only gained 2-3 HP. 5 tops. Smoothing out the lid will give you the same effect it's just not as tall so you don't get as much power.
Overdrive Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,042
From: IL
So maybe the LSD will help in the snow huh? The ASR is useful in the rain, but terrible on an incline with snow -- the car just bogs...
So in an '02 RS 3.8L I should have which gears stock?
At WOT the 3 intake improvements made a noticeable difference, I think it's more than you say, but I didn't dyno yet...
So in an '02 RS 3.8L I should have which gears stock?
At WOT the 3 intake improvements made a noticeable difference, I think it's more than you say, but I didn't dyno yet...
SOTP - Seat of the Pants AKA your butt dyno
No adding an LSD by itself with so change in gears will not help anything... It'd help traction a bit but you're not gonna feel anything different except extra grip.
I have 3.42s in my car and drive mostly on the highway and still get 28mpg. Going to 3.73s will affect your mileage more though but they are still good balance for an auto on the highway. Mid 20s last I checked with a friend. Your city mileage won't change.
You will feel gains in the low end on all of these mods (especially gears) but these engines benefit more in the upper RPMs because that's where they choke. Headers make a good difference in torque on the low end but high end power is where you'll notice it big time.
Yes a Whisper lid is the best ideal setup because it is smooth and taller than the stock airbox. But don't fool yourself, you probably only gained 2-3 HP. 5 tops. Smoothing out the lid will give you the same effect it's just not as tall so you don't get as much power.
No adding an LSD by itself with so change in gears will not help anything... It'd help traction a bit but you're not gonna feel anything different except extra grip.
I have 3.42s in my car and drive mostly on the highway and still get 28mpg. Going to 3.73s will affect your mileage more though but they are still good balance for an auto on the highway. Mid 20s last I checked with a friend. Your city mileage won't change.
You will feel gains in the low end on all of these mods (especially gears) but these engines benefit more in the upper RPMs because that's where they choke. Headers make a good difference in torque on the low end but high end power is where you'll notice it big time.
Yes a Whisper lid is the best ideal setup because it is smooth and taller than the stock airbox. But don't fool yourself, you probably only gained 2-3 HP. 5 tops. Smoothing out the lid will give you the same effect it's just not as tall so you don't get as much power.
