JakeRobb

They do all of those mods because it adds things to the list of stuff that's different about those models, which makes them more "special", so they sell better.

LS1's hp curve is still increasing at redline. If you up the redline to 6500 and change the shift points to 6300, you end up hitting a higher peak horsepower, and staying in a stronger section of the powerband. It doesn't make a huge difference, but it helps.

darrens99formul

I recommend the asp pulley and ported TB. You should get close to 17 rwhp for those two mods combined. But the hand held programmer is a waste of $ IMO. Unfortunately speed cost $$$. Porting a TB should cost around $100 and lets say $225 for the pulley and another $75 for the HT programmer. That's $400

The torque converter is by far the best bang for the buck mod you could do. If you go with one of the two bang for the buck brands (Fuddle or TCI) you can get a good 3000-3500 stall for about $450 brand new. Add $50 for a tranny cooler, $350 for install (should cover both verter and cooler) and another $50 for a speed shop to PCM tune your car (cheaper then buying a hand held unit or shift kit). That would cost you $900 but you'll lose .5 in ET, gain 1-2 mph in trap, feel 10 times faster from a 40mph roll and have a car that's just alot more fun to drive.

Yes the converter setup costs $500 more but if you saved $100 a month for 5 months and did the converter in the spring you'd be 50 times happier then if you go with a pulley, ported TB and Tuning device that would likely net you only 1 (maybe 1.5) tenth ET gain and no real noticeable SOTP feel. TCI and Fuddle may not be of Yanks stature but they both offer excellent products and outstanding customer service should a problem arise.

But by all means, the pulley and TB are worth while mods and should be done sometime. But if I were you I would either pay a shop to dynotune my car sometime or invest in either LS1edit or HP tuner software instead of wasting money on a cheap hand held tuner device that his minimal applications. But if you did want a hand held device the predator is the better of the two.

Good luck with whatever mod/mods you get

JakeRobb

What speed shop will do a tune for $50? I thought that was usually more like $500.

darrens99formul

I think your thinking of a dyno tune. New Era Performance(in Rochester, Ny) did a tranny tune for me when I had them install my converter. For $50 they hooked me up to HP tuner and deleted TM, slightly raised line preasure to sharpen up the shifts, raised shift points, ect. This was not a dyno tune but rather an adjustment to transmission based peramiters to make the car shift smoother with the higher stall.

They charge $275 for a dyno tune (up to 5 pulls) and $25 a pull beyond that should it require more. Not a bad deal at all IMO after mods like LT headers, cam, ect.

Greed4Speed

Re-read the comments on ported tb and UD pulley. Porting the TB and UD pulleys aren't bad. Its just at the beginning stage the $ can be better spent else where. I'd be extremely suprised to find those 2 mods making 17 whp on an otherwise stock engine. Save some $, go ahead and port the TB yourself!!!
Ya, GMMG uses them w/all the other bolt ons and other supporting mods to make the power they do. They're fine for a finishing touch, but won't do much in the beginning.

Also, check around on converter installs. There is a local drivetrain shop that'll do it for $160. Makes it a little more affordable.

93 LT1

A couple of people have already hit what you need. Forget about the E.T. already. A stock LS1 ALREADY is in the 12's. What do they trap at 105-109? I have heard of stock LS1/LS6 intaked cars running as high as 110 with low altitude/humidity/temp.

What you need is to put traction into the car. As recomened above get some Nitto 555R drag radials. Providing good weather that should be no problem. Bolt on's such as a lid, cat-back, pulley, and ported TB all assit in the 12 sec E.T. when the conditions are not ideal.

A LS1 with traction and ideal conditions does not need anything but a key in the ingntion and a driver behind the wheel to rake in a 12 sec run.

Yee!

30thTA

Hey Robvas,

I see that you're from Saginaw, I'm from there myself. I moved away in 1990 though but I always try to come and visit my relatives and friends that I still have there. We go to Grand Rapids every year to the Berger All Chevy Show and check out races at U.S.131 Motorsportspark and Mid-Michigan Motorplex in Stanton, Mi. In the summer, where do you guys go to hang out? Do they still go out to the old Green Acres Plaza on State St. or the Fashion Square Mall Plaza over by the Sears parking lot? Maybe next time I'm up there I can check out some of the cars in Saginaw. Do you guys have a F-Body car club?Any specialty cars like Firehawks,,Bergers,Etc. I haven't seen none in Saginaw.
Also, To all you guys that has been posting on this topic here I just want to say thank you for all the information because it's very useful and it gives me alot of ideas to go with when I do decide to make big changes next year.

camaro02DK

Hey 30thTA

Well as you I am new to the whole F body thing.


I am from Denmark, so I went from a 1.6L V4 to a Camaro 2002 Z28 WAUW.

My comment was to my friends when I got the car....... I will NEVER need more power and I will NEVER start putting bolt on.

YEAH sure.... damm that car, took me 1 month before I started upgrading stuff. I went to the track this saturday for the first time ever for me and the car. I did a 12.2 on the 1/4.

My setup is the following.

2002 Camaro Z28 Convertible.
Air Lid
Loundmouth exhaust
Torque converter 3000
4,11 Gears
Nitto 555R drag radial

I have a nos system to with a 100 shot but no bottle heater, so my bottle pressure was like 650 saturday. What I have read is that it should be like around 1000. So with that pressure I had this Saturday I was not getting Sh.. out of that Nos.

I would say my time is pretty decent for a convertible and a first time driver.
I just order a bottle heater, so I can get closer to the 11, I am at least hoping that could be possible.

But do the torque converter and nittos, and you will se a BIIIIIIIIG difference. Before I had that, I could sit a at light and floor it, and the car would just go, after the torque converter was put in the car light those Nittos up, believe me.


Good luck

Soren

30thTA

Wow Camaro02DK! Denmark! The Camaro is a world wide known car. You're time was pretty fast with those mods you have like the 4:10 gears and the 3000 stall TC. 12.2 in the1/4 mile is fast. That's the time a stock '03 ZO6 will run. The '02 427 Super Car Camaro and the '06 ZO6 will run low to mid 11's all day. I think I may invest into the TC and slicks but I don't want to do NOS.

Greed4Speed

That time was on the spray. Low spray but it was still not just the other mods.

And we've been telling you to get a converter instead of blowing cash on piddly mods!!! Now you can see why.

RS Dragster

I saw you mention 91 octane on the first page.

I'm hoping you're ALWAYS putting at least 91 in at all times. The LS1 is a high(er) compression motor at about 10.2-10.5:1 ratio. So yeah, anything less is NOT good.

Also, like everyone else summed up again, the pully and ported TB are definitely good mods, just don't worry about them right away. Try to worry about a stall with some sticky tires. That's the BEST thing you can do with an auto. After that, find some cheap headers, cutout (only $30 anyway) and maybe even some 3.73 gears.

You should easily be mid-low 12s by then. THEN you can worry about the TB and pully, and maybe even a used LS6 intake. That'll net you low-low 12s

00cls1camaross

i have been reading about everyone saying get a converter and a shift kit for the A4... and recomendations for brands and how high the stall should be. I dont plan on putting a cam on for a couple of years. Can someone explain how excatly the stall works? and the shift kit?


Thanks,
-Dakota

ManicHaze

for the A4 id say dont worry about the shift kit, go with a vette or billet servo. that will firm the hell out of the shifts and make it alot more snappy and agressive. Stall is just that, stall. the higher the stall RPM for the converter the higher the rpm it will stall at and send full power through to the tranny. it will allow the engine to spool up into a higher rpm. makes for much better launches.

suspension alone will put you in the 12's no joke. sub frame connectors, and control arms for sure, and then perhaps shock tower brace and pan hard bar etc. engine mods arent required for 12 second passes with a m6, and an auto shouldnt be far behind.

00cls1camaross

any recomendations for the band of the converter?

30thTA

This may seems like a crazy question but.........How is it that a LS1 M6 is quicker than a LS1 A4 in the 1/4 mile? I think I may have to go invest into a Yank SS 3000 stall TC and some sticky Nittos 555-R next year and then I'll port and polish the TB and maybe a ASP Underdrive Pulley to help get in the low 12's. I don't want to do headers and cam because it's too loud with the GMMG exhaust. I don't want to mod the car internally either. How hard is it to install a TC and how much the labor usually cost to install? How long?