Hey fellows, just wondering if there are any "free" mods that i can do to the car, just bought it a couple of weeks ago,,had to add new back tires and the clips that hold the air box together. And which power programmer do you guys suggest i get,,im gonna hold off on major mods for now. But definetly changing the gear soon, the muffler has a square body,,so im not sure what brand it is

 

Most people here will say that the Hypertech Power Programer III is junk, and that if you need to tune it, which you dont really need on a pretty much stock car, that you should either get a dyno tune or a mail order tune from one of the sponsers like madz28.com.

 

free mods or close to free mods is CAGS bypass, throttlebody coolant bypas, intake silencer delete, and descreening the MAF.

 

I agree, no programmer at this point (I have one, but I'd still recommend against it at this point). Do the free mods for sure. But then I would save up until I had the $180 or so for a name brand cold air intake (CAI). This makes a 10 HP increase (maybe more???) and is a very good start. Some people report problems after removing the screen off the MAF.

 

intake silencer delete, is that the tube that comes down off the 90 degree elbow that hooks to the throttle body,and how hard is it to remove the MAF screen

 

I haven't had problems since descreening the MAF. In fact most aftermarket MAF do not have a screen and I know autozone OEM replacements have no screen either. One thing could be if the car is OBDII it may give you trouble but that is just a guess.

yes that is the tube... really It may not gain much if any HP but it makes working on the engine easier.

its not hard to descreen the MAF but make sure to keep the screen and clip in case your car complaines

 

its an SS so it already has the ram-air kit , so why would i need a CAI

 

The SS's Ram Air is not very functional. Its not a true "Ram Air".
A true Ram Air setup would "pressurize" the air so that it is FORCED into the intake.

A CAI will take larger volumes of air more readily and make a noticeable increase in power.

 

there is a free ram air mod for the SS. Do a search

 

Airfoil
Cold air intake
skip shift eliminator
GOOD Tune-up-plugs, wires, cap & rotor (if not entire opti)
Gears
Mail-order tune (MadZ28 or PCMforless) or dyno tune -let your budget decide
Cat back
Headers - mids or LT depending on emissions requirements

 

already has a spintech catback, and its ram-air so why waste money on cold air kit, and its gettin a 4.10 or 4.56 gear not sure which,tune-up in the near future

 

Just skip what you don't need or already have.

On a 6 speed, most of the guys on the board seem to like the 4.10's. I have an A-4 and had 3.73's. It was too much for the amount of freeway driving I do, so I went back to 3.42's. I learned how to set-up gears so I am only out the cost of the parts - @ $300 per set to install, you need to make sure of what you want.
Since you already have a cat-back, get the headers & a high flow 3" cat. It will really help the car breeth. I was amazed at the difference between the set-up as I purchased the car vs. way it is now. OLD - stock manifolds, cat, stock cat-back with a blowmaster muffler. Extremely loud and drones inside the car. NEW - Magnaflow cat-back, cat, Edlebrock mids (has to be emissions legal in CA). Nice sound both inside and outside the car - not too loud - just loud enough to let you know it is not even close to stock.
At your milage, you might want to change the cat as part of your tune-up. My car has alot more miles on it, but had the cat changed at least twice that I am aware of.