I'm in CA so it would have to be smog friendly. What do you guys suggest?

 

Not sure if it helps any but a friend of a friend with an ls1 made 378whp/392wtq

mod list:
motor has about 12k miles since the build. the bottom end is forged, balanced and blue printed.
comp cam
comp valve springs
mac midlength headers
slp loudmouth catback

He doesn't have a detailed list since the guy before him couldnt remember what kind of cam he put in it. but his is also a 2000 SS. m6

 

well that doesn't help much...no specifics...

since its a 98, which have the lesser flowing of the ls1 exhaust manifolds, i think you'd benefit from some good shorty headers. i would spring for the ceramic coating just to keep engine bay temps down. these will still be emissions legal, and don't worry much about the stock Ypipe...it's not much of a restriction.

match those with a lid, the emissions freindly SLP ls6 intake, and a good catback.

next look into something like the LS6 cam. that cam with bolt ons and stock heads seems to yield about 360rwhp on average. i think a set of lightly ported stock heads would pick up the extra 15hp you are looking for. you could probably go bigger on the cam and skip the heads, but you may be risking failing the sniff test. although i've seen alot of guys pass smog with a cam as big as the TR224 and a proper tune.

you can always do small mods to pick up power also. like ported TB, pulley and electric water pump, but that's alot of $$ for about 10hp total.

 

People need to stop worrying about getting X amount of RWHP. Do you just want to brag that you make that power or do you want to outrun the guys that brag about making power?

If you want to go faster, learn to drive better. There is always room for improvement.
Work on suspension and get some good tires. Power is worthless unless you have traction.
Lighten the car. Not gut it unless you want, just don't carry excess junk around.
If you are an A4, get a smaller converter. This will make you dyno lower, but will make you MUCH quicker.

As far as adding power and having no idea what you currently have:
I've seen cars dyno 350 whp w/ full bolt-ons. These cars could run a small cam and make 375. Get dynoed for a base line. If you are at 330 w/full bolt-ons then you probably won't hit 375 w/the same cam.
If you don't want to spend $ on minimal gains, get some 00-02 exhaust manifolds. They flow better than yours and aren't far off of shorty headers.
LS6 intake.
cut out and/or a good catback
all other bolt on's and a good tune

 

Here is my list:

Lid
Catback
ASP underdrive pulley
LS6 intake manifold with EGR
Shorty headers
SSRA or FTRA
AFR 205 heads (they are the best)
224/224 114 lsa cam
Good (no make that great) dyno-tune
275 Nitto 555R drag radials for the back

If you have an A4 then add:

3500 stall torque converter
24K tranny cooler
transgo shift kit
12 bolt rear end with 3.73's

If you have M6 then add:

aftermarket shifter
aftermarket clutch
skip shift eliminator
12 bolt or 9" rearend with 4.10's

That should hit your mark, make your car pretty fast and make your wallet pretty empty. And if your still not satisfied then replace plugs, wires and add a 100 wet shot of N20

Good luck

 

that's a good list, but i think you could save some good money by going a bit cheaper on the heads.

he's not looking for an all out HP monster...so "the best" heads are not needed.

some stage 1 ported 5.3L heads would do the trick for less $1500

 

stock LS6 heads would let him hit 375 and cost even less.

 

Yeah but if he's concerned with dyno numbers through an auto then he has to conceed to spending the coin. Plus he's in California and without the ability to run LT headers and or a big cam. So with those two sacrifices he would kind of need to spend a few extra bucks on the one mod that might help him achieve his goal which is heads. Plus if he ever moves out of that state and starts to rebuild then at least he has one of the best heads on the LS1 market today all ready in so he can build around them.

But that's just the way I look at it. I think bang for the buck is fine for lid, exhaust, headers and torque converter. But heads and cam are the one thing I won't be going cheap on. Too expensive as it is to want to do it again a few years down the road because I may not be happy with the results.

 

I honestly doubt it will. I could be wrong but a small cam with those heads going through shorty headers, cats & 3000+ stall torque converter may have a difficult time producing good numbers on a dyno. It's just not the same as a car with LT's and ORY. But with a real good tuner, who knows.

 

Bone stock Z06's dyno in that area.
Just the Zo6 cam w/bolt ons will get you with in 20-25 hp. The heads will easily net 20 hp over stock and there are also much better aftermarket grinds out there. LPE GT2-3 for instance. It'll crank out in the neighborhood of 370 hp easily on a cam only bolt-on set up and no one would even know you had it

 

i think he'd be right on the mark with the ls6 cam and ls6 heads....

even with a big stall

 

I think you could get by the sniffer w/ a tr224 on a 114 lsa. This is assuming you get a tune of course.

 

I think you guys are over-estimating the LS6 cam. Stock Z06's dyno more like 330-340rwhp. A ZO6 CAN hit 375, but thats with long tubes and all the bolt on's. Without longtubes he won't be close to 375 with the LS6 cam. Without long tubes, you won't even make 375rwhp with a 224 cam. If you want cheap, smog legal power, buy a set of ported LS1 heads, more powerful cam than an LS6(still stealthy), and some used JBA shorties. I bought the heads and cam off my friends car for $500 and found some JBA's still in the box for $225. Do the install yourself and save a bunch of money like I did. This will put you well over 375rwhp for cheap. There are much better options than the LS6, that will make more power and still sound stealthy: Cheater, GT2-3, Comp 216/220, custom grind, etc.

 

If you want the numbers you can copy what I have. It put down 400RWHP and 379RWTQ. I am not using the best heads either. The ones on my car were like $1,400.

See Sig Below.

Good Luck.

 

He's in california and wants "smog friendly." Mid length headers and a fast intake won't pass the visual. Gotta love California!