silvershark

So I keep throwing ideas around in my head and I just can't make a decision. I have the mods in my sig currently, I do not want a loud car as that takes the enjoyment out of it for daily driving. So no headers...

With that I was thinking a stall, but I don't want a huge stall due to I daily drive the car in the summer. I know most guys here suggest a 3600ss yank, looking at videos it looks like the drive ability down low just doesn't look like it will suite my needs. I am pretty sure I would enjoy the Circle-D 278mm for my purpose as a daily driver.

Without headers would an LS6 intake really help? I will be removing my throttle body today and getting it ported.

I have raced a few 2011ish mustang 5.0's and beat them by a car length.

My main purpose behind modding my car is because my buddy thinks he can beat me with a non LS platform in a 4 door sedan come this summer. I laughed at him. I am pretty sure with some MT ET streets with the above mods listed I should be able to turn a 11 second slip if I can launch well. I don't know of many cars that turn 11 second time slips in stock form in a non LS platform.


Thoughts, suggestions?

alaska_guy

Oops, I was signed in on another account... Here is my account. Look at sig for mods.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I would do the Yank SS3600, especially with that cam upgrade you already have (stall should have been done first or together, IMO.)

Most people who go with a small stall speed end up wishing they'd gone bigger. Yank is a top shelf brand, driveability will be good even at 3600 stall speed. I'm not a person who is super sensitive to looseness of a higher stall speed though. My first experience with an aftermarket TC for an LS1 was a Yank 3500, and it felt like stock to me after about a week of driving. That's how these cars should have come from the factory IMO.

alaska_guy

I didn't get a stall prior to the cam swap because I couldn't decide on a stall choice. Still in the same boat. After getting the car tuned it actually drives great. It does push through the brakes a little bit, but it's not bad. It never stumbles and dies etc.

Also, this is a street car... Not a track car. A big stall may work great on the track, but on the streets traction is not the same and too big of a stall can actually slow me down from a stop since traction is a bigger issue.

I run Nitto 555's on the street.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I don't know about you, but for me most street "fun" doesn't happen from a stop. It's usually a roll of varying speeds. You might be surprised by how much a higher stall will help in this aspect, both in terms of vastly improved shift extension (the rpm to which engine speed drops after a WOT upshift) as well as quickly jumping into the powerband at the moment of WOT.

A higher stall is NOT a track only modification by any means.

As for street traction from a stop, this is just a matter of learning to modulate the throttle as you come off the line. A higher stall does not create an "on/off" switch in terms of acceleration, a good quality unit is much more driveable than you might think.

alaska_guy

Ok, I guess a 3600ss is in my future. I have some guys locally who keep telling me I am going to hate driving that big of a stall daily and that has steered me away. Maybe their experience has been with inferior brand stall converters?

***EDIT***

Just got done shipping my stock throttle body to New Era Performance for port/polish.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Either that, and/or they have older automatics that don't have a lock-up feature.

Cheaper converters sometimes feel much "looser" than a higher quality brand at the same rated stall speed. Yank products are top notch, I've never known anyone with a street car to be disappointed with any of their products in the 3400-3600 range. In fact, some people end up wishing they'd gone even higher.

A Yank 3500 felt as natural as stock to me after about a week of driving ('00 WS6 with stock 3.23s.)

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

your car wont be loud with LTs if you have a cat back thats quiet.


i run LTs through my OE SLP DD and it sounds kick *** imo.

JD_AMG

Have you ever owned one of these cars with headers???
With the right muffler (and especially cats) its not loud at all, and easily daily driveable. I have heads/small cam with LTs/ORY and a hooker catback and when warmed up the car is quiet. Quiet enough to have non-car guys thinking its a stock car with a different muffler.
You are leaving a TON of power on the table having a cam and stock exhaust, and leaving a TON of performance behind having a stock stall.

Thats a pretty broad statement. What car does your buddy have and who says he will be stock? You certainly are not stock...

While this is unrelated to going fast in a strait line, since you mentioned its a "street car" I would highly suggest getting a good set of gas charged sport shocks. Bilstens, Koni STRs or better yet Koni sports. You wont believe you are driving the same car... Easily the best mod Ive done and IMO the best single mod you can do.

alaska_guy

I used to own a 1994 z28 with a gm847 cam, LE2 heads, headers, exhaust, electric water pump, m6 with a spec stage 4 clutch the works....

that car was loud to me. I hated driving it. It was like driving in a tin can. My buddy has a ls1 with headers, exhaust, huge supercharger etc 900rwhp and that thing sounds the same as my old lt1. Just too loud for me. I am willing to sacrifice some power for an enjoyable quiet ride.

alaska_guy

he doesn't own the car.... he said completely stock. His comment was, this is not 1999 anymore. Stock cars run 11's. I laughed. His budget is also $12,000 for a stock sedan that runs 11 seconds. Knowing him, he will find some modified turbo car, up the boost and say it's stock.

JD_AMG

What muffler were you running?
Just looked up a video of that cam, that is a choppy/loud setup, WAY louder than what I have with the cutout closed (226/230 duration and 600/600lift with 118LSA) and should still be louder than the small cam you have. Again with the right setup it will be quiet. You are probably sacrificing a good 40RWHP with the stock exhaust manifolds and cats.

Yes, a 900hp supercharged car is going to be loud... Why are you comparing race cars now? Im talking about LTs and ideally cats with your magnaflow catback and the smallish cam you have will be a quiet setup, much quieter than your previous car or anything with 900hp.
Also some sound deadening material like dynamat goes a LONG way in the back of these cars...
Look this looks like the same cam you have, same catback and this guy has LTs and ORY and its quiet...

Hell this guy has one of the loudest catbacks on the market with LTs and a catted Y-pipe and its still not bad, still same/similar cam to you:

alaska_guy

Yeah, louder than I want for a daily driver. If it was just a weekend warrior it would be no big deal. I wear my cab over camper on my pickup in the summer, so my car is my daily.

I will start with the converter, ported throttle body and try and find a deal on a ls6 intake and go from there. It's so quiet currently most people who don't know anything about the car think its stock until they go for a ride.

I like the sleeperish effect.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I agree completely with JD_AMG about the exhaust noise concern. With stock compression and a cam of that size, you could have an extremely quiet exhaust note even with LTs. The Magnaflow catback is pretty tame, but something like and SLP dual/dual would be even quieter. Or, you could keep the current catback, do LTs with an ORY, and then add two Dynomax race bullets in the Y-pipe (one after each collector) and a small, round Magnaflow muffler in the I-pipe. Alternatively, you could put the two race bullets in the tail pipes but you'd have to change tips if you have the standard Magnaflow catback. Regardless of location, if you add two race bullets plus a small muffler in the I-pipe, plus the current muffler in the standard location, the exhaust note will be extremely tame. And that setup will offer virtually all the same gains as not adding any of those additional mufflers, as they are all straight-through (turbo) designs. Or, you could skip the race bullets and go with high flow cats in the Y-pipe, which would be even quieter, but sacrifice a small amount of flow. If you did LTs with cats and added a small round muffler to the I-pipe, it would probably be even quieter than it is now but with a significant power increase.

Honestly, if the setups I've outlined above are too loud for your tastes in a daily driver, then perhaps you might also be one of those few individuals who is extremely sensitive to higher stall speed converters. These types are a rare breed in the performance world, but so are those who demand a silent exhaust. To be clear, I'm not knocking your preferences but re-evaluating my recommendation based on your apparent desire to maintain a totally stock (but with more power) driving experience. Perhaps the better route for your application would be a small forced induction setup (entry level blower or turbo kit) or N2O. These setups can be quite stealthy with a stock exhaust and mildish cam, plus plenty of power anywhere in the rpm range.

Having said all that, I honestly do not believe you will run 11s with the current setup, including an LS6 intake and ported TB, unless you go with a higher stall speed.

alaska_guy

Thanks for the info.

I am getting a bigger stall, in my head it has been between the circle-d 278mm or the yank 3600ss. Purely due to drive-ability reasons at the intended use of the car.

I also debated the forced induction route, but $6000 for a kit with inter-cooler is just too steep for me to step into that realm with this car.

I don't have insane HP/TQ goals. If my A4 when done makes anywhere close to 380rwhp I will be happy.

I figured I could always swap heads to a set of 799/243's and keep the stock manifolds and that should help gain some hp/tq. I know its out of the norm to do heads without headers, but then again I am not normal.

I feel the nice thing about owning your vehicle is modding it the way that suites you best. The wife drives this car from time to time and that's also a big factor.

Heads are $300-400, headers and y pipe would easily cost that to get them shipped where I live. I know heads would be easier to find at a junk yard locally, so that would also save me shipping costs.

Just throwing out ideas... Basically just want the car to be a sleeper with more power and a little bigger stall.

Again, I am not trying to break any records. Just want a fun car I can enjoy. After owning multiple loud race type cars/trucks I am just tired of the loud exhaust note. Maybe I am just getting old...



If I did go headers it would be with a Off road Y Pipe so I don't create any restrictions. Possibly the bullet muffler in the Y pipe might be an option...

cookseyb

Try the CORSA cat back exhaust, it is only a little loud when you get on it but no drone going down the highway...

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I agree. You have asked for suggestions though, so I think everyone is doing their best to provide this with the limited understanding that we have of your goals.

Sleepers have never been my thing, if I'm going to modify a car I feel no interest in hiding it nor do I concern myself with "surprising" anyone on the road. So I may not be the best to offer advice in this regard.

Regardless of age, exhaust note preference is certainly subjective. My exhaust preferences have changed very little in the past 20+ years, but I do have different preferences for a daily driver vs. a weekend toy so I can understand not wanting your everyday car to sound like a race car.

Having said that, it won't be loud at all with the right combination of mufflers/resonators, and/or cats, as suggested above. In fact, even with headers, you could make it as quiet/quieter than it is now. Headers do not have to mean a super loud exhaust.

alaska_guy

Thanks for the advice. I will start with a stall converter and decide where to go from there.

MikeWS6

I was in the same boat as you about a year ago. Was tired of loud cars but still wanted power. Decided to go the blower route with LT's and no cats. My car is dead quiet with the flaps shut. Really just need a quiet catback like magnaflow/slp dual/dual and you're good.


Not an f body but still ls. Starts open, then closed.