Stock 2000 ws6
03-15-2009, 04:56 PM
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Stock 2000 ws6 what is the cheapest horsepower upgrade with the most bang to install on a stock 2000 ws6. I've read where the tuner can give anywhere from 15 to up to 50 horsepower and that is hard to believe. I am going to install a electric cutout on the exhaust. Any opinions on how that has performed.
03-15-2009, 05:32 PM
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what is the cheapest horsepower upgrade with the most bang to install on a stock 2000 ws6. I've read where the tuner can give anywhere from 15 to up to 50 horsepower and that is hard to believe. I am going to install a electric cutout on the exhaust. Any opinions on how that has performed.
03-15-2009, 06:48 PM
#4
it's a very reasonable option for an early mod. i had a manual cutout on my stock exhaust and i liked it. kinda annoying at lower rpm's but sounded nice up top.
03-15-2009, 06:51 PM
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Cutouts are good for probably 10 horsepower on a stock engine. A handheld tuner isnt anywhere near worth the money. If you want a tuner spring for HP Tuners or EFI Live. These are professional grade and you use your laptop to tune. 500-700 bucks and well worth the extra of the 300 dollar hand helds.
cheapest best bang for the buck upgrade for power is easily nitrous... you could do a dry 100 shot relatively safely but im not sure how the stock automatic would like that. With a window switch and Fuel pressure saftety switch you could probably get into a 100 shot of nitrous for 600-700 bucks. Harris speed works has great deals and are sponsors on here....
other then that power aint cheap... your looking at lid, intake, headers and catback(or cutout), theres 1000 dollars atleast. Then you could go heads and cam. If you can do the work yourself thats going to run another 2000 grand. Probably 3-4 if you have someone else do the work.
Turbo or supercharger kits are big power big money...
The only limit is the amount of money you want to spend..
cheapest best bang for the buck upgrade for power is easily nitrous... you could do a dry 100 shot relatively safely but im not sure how the stock automatic would like that. With a window switch and Fuel pressure saftety switch you could probably get into a 100 shot of nitrous for 600-700 bucks. Harris speed works has great deals and are sponsors on here....
other then that power aint cheap... your looking at lid, intake, headers and catback(or cutout), theres 1000 dollars atleast. Then you could go heads and cam. If you can do the work yourself thats going to run another 2000 grand. Probably 3-4 if you have someone else do the work.
Turbo or supercharger kits are big power big money...
The only limit is the amount of money you want to spend..
03-15-2009, 06:56 PM
#6
now to answer the question: don't tune it until down the road, and i wouldn't recommend spending money on a handheld tuner either.
here's what i did:
lid
free mods(free ram air, throttle body bypass, ported my own tb)
catback
longtubes/ory
tune
that's typically what most people do for beginning mods. i was planning on running longtubes through the stock catback with an electric cutout, but then i picked up a catback insanely cheap so i just put that on instead. if you're planning on a cam or something big wait til after that for the tune.
also being auto, the best bang for the buck mod would probably be a stall. won't add power, but it'll make it wayyy faster.
here's what i did:
lid
free mods(free ram air, throttle body bypass, ported my own tb)
catback
longtubes/ory
tune
that's typically what most people do for beginning mods. i was planning on running longtubes through the stock catback with an electric cutout, but then i picked up a catback insanely cheap so i just put that on instead. if you're planning on a cam or something big wait til after that for the tune.
also being auto, the best bang for the buck mod would probably be a stall. won't add power, but it'll make it wayyy faster.
03-15-2009, 07:00 PM
#7
other then that power aint cheap... your looking at lid, intake, headers and catback(or cutout), theres 1000 dollars atleast. Then you could go heads and cam. If you can do the work yourself thats going to run another 2000 grand. Probably 3-4 if you have someone else do the work.
for basic mods though, just stick with boltons. my car is my daily driver so i'm staying away from nitrous. i did everything in my sig and a bunch of little stuff that's not listed for under $1k. i spent about $500 on boltons and $500 on suspension. got it all used and installed it all myself.
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03-16-2009, 10:59 AM
#9
personally i'm totally totally against nitrous but i have a friend that runs a 150 shot all day long on his ws6 and it takes it like a champ so depending on your mileage its cheap power
03-16-2009, 06:40 PM
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E cutout and spray the crap outta it . it'll handle a 150 wet shot no problem. just make sure to get a window switch and a fuel pressure safety switch so you wont have any accidents 
and ditch the cat. converters. ( but i suggest a set of LT headers and ORY pipe both can be had for under $425
and ditch the cat. converters. ( but i suggest a set of LT headers and ORY pipe both can be had for under $425 
03-16-2009, 11:52 PM
#14
the only reason i'm against it is cause i have 160000 miles other than that i'm not opposed to it as long as you have a full throttle switch a window switch and a button. I just like to be safe ha
03-20-2009, 11:44 AM
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Do what I did and I can promise that you will be very happy:
1. Aftermarket Lid - I went with an SLP lid, its cheap, it works and it was noticeable power when I put it on. Other brands are just as nice.
2. LS6 Intake - Way better air flow than the stock ls1 intake and half the price of a FAST Intake.
3. Long Tube Headers - Everyone is going tell you go with X brand for whatever reasons. Just ignore them and get what you can afford. Stick with headers that are stainless steel. You will get the most life out of them, but then again if you cant afford them then don't get them.
4. Catback Exhaust Including X-Pipe or Y-Pipe - This is going to be completely up to you. They all sound different but they all flow good. Don't let people talking about a few hp distract you from what you want. I'm running duels dumped before the rear. The only ground clearance issues I have are with tall speed bumps that hit my mufflers. I am at stock ride height.
5. Stall Converter & Transmission Cooler - You will need this if you plan on doing a cam swap in the future anyway. It will allow your motor to rev into the cams power band quicker and allow it to idle without the need to keep your rpm way up. I personally like a loose 3000 stall. Pick a good name brand that fits your budget. Get a large cooler to help keep that tranny cool. I made that mistake of not getting one right away a long time ago when I first got my car and had to get a new transmission because of it.
6. Gears - Getting a nice set of gears for your rear end will make a big difference. I drive my car every day and currently have 3.73s in it. I love them but it comes at a fuel cost. Unless your going to be running at the track a lot and gas mileage is not an issue then stay away from 4.10s. A set a 3.42 gears would be a good choice for performance and fuel economy.
7. Cam Package or Heads / Cam Package - Im going to refer to this page: *** Cam Guide *** for information about cams. MANY people are going to tell you what cam to go with and how superior their cam is over someone else's of nearly the same specs, best I can tell you is find people around you with different cams, hear how they sound on whatever exhaust they have and feel how they drive. Stick with people with a4 cars with around the same stall you get to get a true feel for how yours might drive. Most sponsors on this site have cam packages, so you can get everything you need at one spot with one price.
8. Computer Tuning - This is highly important. You will need tuning once you get that converter in. With the right tuner working on your car, it will be a night and day difference for power, and fuel economy. If you get a cam after you get a stall converter then you will need retuning.
9. Suspension - Torque Arm, Lower Control Arms, Subframe Connectors, Panhard Bar. No adjustable will be fine unless you plan on lowering your car. If you lower your car, you will also need Lower Control Arm Relocation Brackets. A good suspension setup can do just as much as a few power adders can. (Try to do this as you do other mods. They are cheap and do not require a lot of downtime.)
10. Tires - Get an extra set of wheels and put a set of ET Streets on them for drag use. I get awesome hook with these. Just spin them until you see a little smoke then roll out of it.
Last time I ran, I was running 12.27s with a slipping transmission in my 2000 Camaro. I have a Aftermarket Lid, LS6 Intake, Long Tube Headers with True Duels dumped before the axel, 3200 Stall Converter and a 224 Cam, Stock 3.23 gears(At the time of my last track visit.), stock suspension(I need to take my own advice and order my suspension parts...), and most importantly is the custom tune I am running.
We just put in the 3.73 gears and am about to rebuild the transmission. 11s should be highly possible with the fresh tranny and the new gears.
I hope this information helps you out with planning your build.
1. Aftermarket Lid - I went with an SLP lid, its cheap, it works and it was noticeable power when I put it on. Other brands are just as nice.
2. LS6 Intake - Way better air flow than the stock ls1 intake and half the price of a FAST Intake.
3. Long Tube Headers - Everyone is going tell you go with X brand for whatever reasons. Just ignore them and get what you can afford. Stick with headers that are stainless steel. You will get the most life out of them, but then again if you cant afford them then don't get them.
4. Catback Exhaust Including X-Pipe or Y-Pipe - This is going to be completely up to you. They all sound different but they all flow good. Don't let people talking about a few hp distract you from what you want. I'm running duels dumped before the rear. The only ground clearance issues I have are with tall speed bumps that hit my mufflers. I am at stock ride height.
5. Stall Converter & Transmission Cooler - You will need this if you plan on doing a cam swap in the future anyway. It will allow your motor to rev into the cams power band quicker and allow it to idle without the need to keep your rpm way up. I personally like a loose 3000 stall. Pick a good name brand that fits your budget. Get a large cooler to help keep that tranny cool. I made that mistake of not getting one right away a long time ago when I first got my car and had to get a new transmission because of it.
6. Gears - Getting a nice set of gears for your rear end will make a big difference. I drive my car every day and currently have 3.73s in it. I love them but it comes at a fuel cost. Unless your going to be running at the track a lot and gas mileage is not an issue then stay away from 4.10s. A set a 3.42 gears would be a good choice for performance and fuel economy.
7. Cam Package or Heads / Cam Package - Im going to refer to this page: *** Cam Guide *** for information about cams. MANY people are going to tell you what cam to go with and how superior their cam is over someone else's of nearly the same specs, best I can tell you is find people around you with different cams, hear how they sound on whatever exhaust they have and feel how they drive. Stick with people with a4 cars with around the same stall you get to get a true feel for how yours might drive. Most sponsors on this site have cam packages, so you can get everything you need at one spot with one price.
8. Computer Tuning - This is highly important. You will need tuning once you get that converter in. With the right tuner working on your car, it will be a night and day difference for power, and fuel economy. If you get a cam after you get a stall converter then you will need retuning.
9. Suspension - Torque Arm, Lower Control Arms, Subframe Connectors, Panhard Bar. No adjustable will be fine unless you plan on lowering your car. If you lower your car, you will also need Lower Control Arm Relocation Brackets. A good suspension setup can do just as much as a few power adders can. (Try to do this as you do other mods. They are cheap and do not require a lot of downtime.)
10. Tires - Get an extra set of wheels and put a set of ET Streets on them for drag use. I get awesome hook with these. Just spin them until you see a little smoke then roll out of it.
Last time I ran, I was running 12.27s with a slipping transmission in my 2000 Camaro. I have a Aftermarket Lid, LS6 Intake, Long Tube Headers with True Duels dumped before the axel, 3200 Stall Converter and a 224 Cam, Stock 3.23 gears(At the time of my last track visit.), stock suspension(I need to take my own advice and order my suspension parts...), and most importantly is the custom tune I am running.
We just put in the 3.73 gears and am about to rebuild the transmission. 11s should be highly possible with the fresh tranny and the new gears.
I hope this information helps you out with planning your build.