Hey everyone, I recently purchased a 2001 Camaro B4C with the automatic tranny(A4). That's a police crusier for those who don't know. For now it's stock but I have about $3000-$3500 for mods. Forget the appearance all I want is power. I'll worry about looks after I get the power I want. Now I have to drive this thing everyday so it has to be a street/strip car. I'm still new to racing and engines and am still learning. I would love any suggestions. I was thinking about getting the SLP PerfomancePac http://www.lmperformance.com/5648/1.html but then again I want this money to go as far as possible so I'd love some help please. I also don;t care about keeping it street legal, as long as it's not obvious or anything.

 

IMO, there are much better ways to spend your mod money.

Just in case you don't already know, your car has an LS1, and is basically identical to a Z28 as far as the powertrain goes.

1. Airbox lid and filter - $160

- This will cost you $90-110 new, and they're all the same as far as power gains. Buy the one that you think looks the best. MTI sells a clear one. SLP sells a pretty cool-looking one IMO. Note that you need one specific to '01-02 LS1 cars. If you don't drive your car in dusty areas (like dirt roads), get a reuseable air filter, too (K&N or similar; about $60).

2. Full exhaust - $1000 (I'd tell you to start off with a catback, but with a budget like that, you should go for it all at once).

- Longtube headers: Do NOT buy SLP longtubes -- they'll scrape on the ground. Jet-hot's ceramic-coated LT's are probably the best choice for the money.
- Off-Road Y-pipe (off-road means no catalytic converters). You'll want a 3", and you should buy the same brand as your headers.
- Catback: Magnaflow and Dynomax seem to give the most bang for the buck in terms of performance. My vote on sound goes to the Magnaflow.

2. Traction - $1000-1500
- Subframe connectors (get the weld-in kind, not the bolt-in kind)
- Lower control arms with relocation brackets
- Adjustable panhard bar
- A decent set of tires (tell us more and we can give better advice here -- where you live, what kind of driving you do, how long is your commute, do you care about high-g cornering grip)

3. Torque converter - $700

- This one is somewhat optional, but can "wake up" the car a lot off the line by getting you into the powerband earlier.
- Vigilante and Yank seem to be the favorite brands around here.
- I'll let the A4 guys give you more info.

5. Cam - $500

- There are several good options here. The TSP Torquer, MTI Stealth, Futral F13... you have tons of choices here, and this particular choice can have a big affect on the way your car behaves. The ones I've listed are very streetable, yet still provide a nice increase in power over the stock cam.

6. Mail-order tune - $200

- madz28 and pcm4less are both supporting vendors and both do a good job with LSx engine tuning.

 

the slp pac is a waste of money.

thier headers are the worst for gound clearance
the smooth bellows are a visual mod only
the maf isn't worth the cost
the cold air is barely even that
do you really need cats?
and the rockers will not be compatible with 99% of the cams on the market.


do some searching for

pacesetter or hooker ceramic coated LT headers
get a lid...any lid...they are all the same performance wise. chose on looks
get a SSRA....lm perf has them
for an auto...a higher stall converter is a must
gears will probably be a good idea as well

depending on what you want...a cam.

something mild like a TR224 cam will get great streetable power. step up to something in the low 23x range and you'll be at about 400rwhp with stock heads.

don't forget about traction. power is great...if you can get it to the ground.

sub frame connectors, lower control arms and some good tires are all VERY important

search away...i suggest reading the first 10 or 15 pages of the LS1 tech forum...most questions have been asked.

 

how much power will the stock gears handle?

 

The stock gears will handle tons of power if you apply it gently. It's not the amount of power, but how quickly you pour it on. A 5000rpm clutch dump in an M6 car will break the stock gears on the first try. An A4 with a stall will go pretty easy on them, and they can last a long time. In general, people find that they start to break when you get your 60' time down below 1.7 seconds. Faster than that, and you should girdle the rear end, or better yet, upgrade to a 12-bolt ($2000-2500).

Does your car have 2.73 or 3.23 gears? If you have 3.23's, you may be happy with them for a while. If you have 2.73's, you'll probably want to upgrade them right away. Personally, I love my 3.42 gears, but many people will tell you to get 3.73s or 4.10s. IMO, it all depends on how much driving you do, and what kind. Changing the rear end gear ration will have a direct effect on gas mileage and cruising RPM.

EDIT: Hey Matt, do you have any track times for your setup?

 

I will throw in my usuall.. DO NOT GET A K&N TYPE OF FILTER.. THAT IS JUST THROWING $$ AWAY. There are no power gains and you do gain the ability to clean and reuse the filter.. but that makes no sense.. any $ savings is lost on the work you put into cleaning them.. If you dont believe me, take what you are worth hourly and then see how long it takes to properly do a change with a reuseable filter vs a replacent AC Delco paper filter..
My time has a value and I wont waste it working on a car.

 

the nappa gold filters have been known for the best balance between filtration and airflow. They cost about 14 dollars if i recall and constitute maybe a 1-2hp loss over a reusable cotton gause element. The K&N SUCKS at trapping dirt, but the particles are negligible in harming hte engine BUT they do tend to put acess dirt buildup in the intake and hte TB. The dirt soaks up oil and carbon buildup and sticks... so for me its worth having a reuseable filter.. i have the SLP blackwing.

 

I understand PSycho's point. My uncle is a GM Master Tech and he HATES K&N's... -Rags them constantly. The theroy is true, if you have a gain in flow you must be sacrifising something else.


IF you want power, get a lid, all are basically the same except brand name preferances, some look different. -It's all up to you. P+P'd trottle body can make a differance in throttle response.... HEaders can be cheap, but they can be pricey, depends on brand. I have the SLP LT's. They are fine UNTIL you lower the car.. the ground clearance is TERRIBLE when you lower it. I never realised how high they ride until I saw a stocker in the parking lot today. -Just be mindful of speed bumps. A nice catback is great! -You get that NICE V8 RUMBLE, and some power.... Do a search... If Nitrous is your thing, again stop by the n20 room or do a search.

 

you need this:

nitrous w/ safty equipment 1500

stall converter + install 1000

(2) nitto 555r 500

now you have an 11 second car till your rear end breaks.... it is drivable and you have a button that makes your car 225 hp faster!

 

damn jake...you beat me too it...even with the long posts...we still posted in the same minute

and

"225 hp faster"

i hope that was a typo

how about 125hp faster??

 

Nah, I posted just the first line and said I'd type up some details, and then I went back and edited. Note the edit time -- you beat me by more than half an hour.

 

Jake, why Y pipes, I was thinking more H? Advantages, disadvantages?

 

If you want to run a true dual exhaust, go with an X pipe, not H.

With your budget, you're not going to be making enough power to need more than a single 3" catback (and don't worry, you're going to be making lots of power). A true dual setup will cost you more, and take more effort to install, with no real benefit at this point.

 

True but taht's the budgetfor now. I'll keep on going until I'm too fast for street, or at least that's the plan. That being said why not go ahead and get the exhaust needed fo the extra power. X doesn't sound bad, lemme research. Also, with the cam are there going to be reasons to need more parts to handle the new cam as opposed the stock and what should come first, cam or exhaust.

 

Do the exhaust first.

Just how fast do you want to be? There is at least one twin-turbo + nitrous LS1 that runs in the 6's at over 200mph, so if you have the time and the budget, you can pretty much go as fast as you want.

Another thing to consider would be your stock 10-bolt rear end. It might be wise to drop $2500 on a 12-bolt now, while you've got this nice budget. Then you'll never have to worry about breaking it (unless you get your horsepower numbers up near the 4-digit range).

That's the way I plan to go. My next mod will be a full exhaust, and after that I'm building the car to handle big power. I'll be doing a full suspension, front and rear, including a 12-bolt. Then the flywheel/clutch/tranny, and only then will I start adding lots of power.