ok i've decided to go with the lid-filter mod first. what brand should i go with, and whats the best for performance and price. i've heard SLP has good filters.

also, what are free mods that i can do?

 

a lid is a lid, slp works for me. free mods i believe are as follows. egr sticks down into the intake on a 98-99 (?00). you can trim it aprox 1 1/4 inch for less restictive flow. throttle body bypass, free ram air. (trim plastic base under air filter). fyi you can search this forum and probably see many posts on this subject. besides all that check out CAI (cold air induction) and a catback. (more freely flowing exhaust). good luck, just my 2 cents worth.

 

the LS1 can safely handle nitrous with the right precautions, you can get a full setup usually for around 700 on ebay and safely add 125 hp to your vehicle, a great first mod, I went with all bolt ons first then I did nitrous, I wish I would have done nitrous first , cuz I spent a whol;e lot of money on bolt on parts like maf's throttle body's programmers, exhaust and so on when I saw so much more out of nitrous
some may agree some wont, just my 2 cents

 

SLP makes lids, K+N and Holley make the filters...either is fine really....

1.)as states a lid is a lid. SLP is a good all around, some of the TSP lids look cooler (clear, smoked, carbon fiber etc.) but overall any lid will give you about the same gain.

2.)after that, invest in a good catback. the SLP loudmouth has a very aggressive sound and makes just about the best power of any catback on the market due to its lack of any real baffle-style muffler. it sounds EXCELLENT on stock LS1s but can be a little much once you do longtube headers and a new y-pipe. the Magnaflow catback would be my second choice. its a bit quieter than the loudmouth, still makes excellent power and is very cheap for its quality.

3.)another excellent first mod is a good set of nitto drag radials. these tires will definitely help with any traction problems a near-stock car will have and have excellent street manners. they are fairly quiet, do pretty well in the rain and have a decent tread life (i have 50 track passes and 12000 miles on mine and they still have a whole lot of tread left.) BF Goodrich makes good sticky drag radials as well but they have an EXTREMELY short treadlife (like only a couple thousand miles.)

4.) since your car is an auto, just about the BEST mod you can do is a higher stall torque converter. theres way too much to explain about these so do a search if you want, but basically these will cut almost a half second or even more off your 1/4 mile time. (remember though, once you have a high stall converter, drag radials are basically NECESSARY to have any hope of launching the car without annhilating the tires.) also be SURE to add a tranny cooler if you replace your torque converter or you will burn up the transmission pretty quickly.

5.) headers....longtubes, end of story. dont bother with shorties, they dont make enough power to justify the price paid for em. you can choose whether you want to run cats or not in the new y-pipe to mate up to your headers.

6.) ASP pulley is also a good mod. usually worth about 1 to 2 tenths in the quarter. not bad for a pulley.

lid, filter, drag radials, headers/y-pipe, catback and torque converter will give you a consistent mid-12 second car.

 

hows this for a lid filter and induction and the price?
http://www.slponline.com/view_produc...RTNUMBER=21046

 

TA_LS1

I thought about that setup but decided against it as the true hp gains are not proven. I thought that this is a lot of money to spend w/o really knowing what it really produces hp, wise. I went with a Texas speed lid and did the free ram air mod. If you step up to the ftra air induction setup, I think that you would also be quite happy. Talk about a difference with just this mod that I did. Wow... I would stay away from any filter that uses oil after you clean them to keep them good. I read somewhere that GM had a Dealer TSB regarding these air filters and that gm would not be warrantying cars that have issues with the mafs or intake systems due to excessive oil from the aftermarket filters.

Check it it for yourself before you spend buck$$$.

 

A lid is a lid is a lid.


IF $ is an issue, then buy the first used one you can get for the least amount of $$.. I often see them going for less than $75

IF $ is no object, decide what you want as far as looks go and get it.


Do not get the cotton gauze element filters (K&N, Holley, Accel) or even the foam element (Amsoil) filters if you are looking for power.

The stock AC Delco paper filter element will out flow and out perform the others. If you dont believe me, keep your paper filter and go to a dyno and switch to or from while on the dyno btw a run. You wont even need to cool down any..

My tests have shown a 3rwhp difference.

 

I would go on a different route than getting all of the power adders.

The F-body's suspension is crap and you can seriosly lower your 1/4 time with a better track suspension.

I would get the Lid, tires, catback, torque converter and stuff, sub frame connectors, lower control arms and brackets, panhard bar, torque arm. The have some SFC and LCAs that I am too lazy to install right now, but I know that they will help.

The first mod I would do though is get the Magnaflow Catback. Seriosly will make your car more fun to drive, since the stock exhaust is too quite. The SLP is kinda loud and raspy and drones terribly on the highway, so I say go with the Magnaflow. It is stainless steel and can be had for about 400.

If you would like to here some catbacks, a memeber of this forum made an incredible website about this, www.ls1sounds.com

If you have anymore questions, feel free to PM me.

(oh and yes, GM will not honor warrenty if you have an oil filter, this is realitivly new though)

 

I beleive what psychocabbage said about the K&N type filters to the paper filters is true. I've had K&N's in ust about everything I've owned, until I wised up. It all a bunch of . Plus I heard that the oils from the K&N type filters will get onto the little things inside of the MAF an throw the readings off. Just a thought.

 

Lids all are pretty much the same..think whisper is the best deal....then Id go w/ either a hooker or SLP LM Catback...reasonably priced and quality systems, it will be a nice gain for you

 

GM Hi Tech did a lid comparo about a month or so ago. They had like 5 categories that they compared seven lids in. The SLP lid scored 5 out of 5 on all categories, such as quality, fitment, ease of install, power increase etc etc. Plus they are all about the same price new anyways

 

so basically from reading replies, i should just keep the stock filter and just get a lid? also, what about a bellow or any cold air induction?

 

A smooth bellow doesn't really add any power, just makes the engine look better.

As for a CAI, SSRA makes a really good system, but be warry when driving over deep pudels. If you don't want to worry about that, the SLP system supposodly is good, but doesn't have the second scoop like the SSRA.

 

Run the cotton gauze filter of you want. The oil on the MAF elements is BS. Ya, if you REALLY over oil it the elements will get coated but it's nothing a little throttle body or electrical contact cleaner won't remedy.

I run oiled cotton gauze filters because they're washable and filter better than paper. I'd rather lose 3 hp and have my engine last longer. Just my view on it.

I agree on a lid is a lid is a lid. Get a used one. I got mine for $50. Ive seen them go cheaper. The best new deal is quatermile performance at $75. Still, talk to some local guys and I'm sure someone has a lid for sale near you. Just check the fit. Some don't seal to the filter well. Just get some foam weather stripping from a hardware store and stick it on the bottom of the lid to fix this.

I also agree to upgrade the suspension. SFC's should be very high on your list unless you like interior rattles. They also make your car handle better. I saw no advantage to LCAs. My traction still sux, but I'm also not running sticky tires. The STB did increase steering response a bit.

For free mods check out installuniversity.com