Well after months of switching from thirdgens to LT1's to LS1's and back again for my next car, I have firmly decided on an LS1, pending being financed. Now if I am successfull, of course the first things I wanna do is the basic mods,

First, what is the best Lid, and how much HP to they free up on average?

Second, exhaust. does Borla sound badass on the LS1? What about the Loudmouth? I want mean, loud, and aggressive. And how much power will a typicle catback add? Thnkas guys, i am sure I'll have more questions later.

 

well a lid is pretty much a lid....all are within 1hp probably...

i personally like my TSP lid www.texas-speed.com

it also makes sense to go for the least expensive, being the SLP blemished lids probably.

borla does sound badass and will last forever and (if need be) you can quiet it down (manually or with an ecutout)

loudmouths are good, but can be a bit raspy for some, but they are great priced.

most catbacks will getyou about the same, probably a solid 10hp at the wheels...possibly 15 on some of the free-er flowing ones. you can always get an inexpensive one and put a cutout on it.

personally i love the sound, price and look of my magnaflow. they are available on ebay for about $285 plus shipping.

is it an auto or manual?

 

all lids are generally the same...go w/ the best price,as far as catback systems go id either go Loudmouth or hooker

 

Most aftermarket lids use the same design and flow around the same. It usually comes down to personal preference. TSP offers many different colors and such while the rest are OEM Black looking. Directflo and SLP are others to choose from. Replacing the stock lid @ baffles is usually worth 8+ rwhp @ equal torque on a stock car.

As for exhaust most systems are good for about the same 8+ rwhp @ rwtq. Here is a wealth of LS1 exhuast clips that you can compare and decide what you like before you buy.

http://dodds.cc/chad/garage/z28/ls1_sounds/

Don't forget to add a set of subframe connectors to your car as one of your first mods. The Fbody is a unibody construction platform without a frame and unibody is not known for being rigid. The SFC's will tie in the front and rear subframes making your car more rigid and will prevent creaks, rattles etc later on in life. Under hard driving a FBody without SFC's will eventually start to rattle especially over rough roads and bumps and also the rear quarter panels near the hatchback will start to crease and look bad. SFC's should be a new FBody owners first mod. HTH

 

I would look into gmmg catback. Its loud, mean, and aggresive. I used to own a borla catback and it was the same except for the loud popping sound when you let off the gas. Hooker and magnaflow make good catbacks just imho their more mellow sounding.

 

Lid go for the TSP. Catback is the hardest, it has taken me months to decide on a system. That link above is a fantastic one to hear about every exhaust out there. Money is a big thing, if you want to spend alot of money borla or Gmmg are good options. I personally love the sound of Flowmaster, it is sooo muscular sounding and not obnoxious like the loudmouth. However you supposedly lose hp with flowmaster, but I do not race at any track so sound is more important to me and you only sacrifice a few horses anyway. Try to listen to as many setups possible.

 

As for a lid, I went w/ MTI's "carbon fiber" lid w/ K&N.

As for an exhaust system, I have SLP's Loudmouth, SLP L/T headers, SLP Y-Pipe, and random tech high-flow cats.

The headers elimnated the "drone" some associate with the Loudmouth, and improve performance If you want "mean & nasty", this is the set-up. It's loud and you do get noticed, especialy when you "wind it out". It screams.

 

i'm not an expert however i'll give you my opinion. air lid is the first mod ($100), possibly CAI $125), cheap or free mods trim egr, throttle body bypass, free ram air (part of CAI). next choose a cat back. edelbrock rpm ($290), hooker $300, magnaflow $400, or if you want loud, slp lm $350, borla $700, gmmg $700, corsa $700, etc. after that consider traction. lower control arms $200, panhard $100. then decide on headers. thats my opinion, good luck. kick some a$$phault!