What is required to make 400 hp on a stock LS1?
08-25-2011, 11:21 AM
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What is required to make 400 hp on a stock LS1? I have a mechanically stock 2001 Camaro SS. I was wondering what it would take to hit 400 hp at the flywheel?
I don't want to get crazy with the hp since this is my DD, which means that I will be driving through the winter too. And I don't want to kill the mpg, but I understand that this is always a trade off.
I don't want to get crazy with the hp since this is my DD, which means that I will be driving through the winter too. And I don't want to kill the mpg, but I understand that this is always a trade off.
08-25-2011, 01:09 PM
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Yeah, 400 rwhp is more than I am looking for. Not that I would mind if I had a winter beater, but this is all I have right now. Plus, that's a bit pricier.
So, we are talking about improved intake, headers, high flow cats and a tune? And is that a custom tune or is a stock Predator tune good enough?
So, we are talking about improved intake, headers, high flow cats and a tune? And is that a custom tune or is a stock Predator tune good enough?
08-25-2011, 02:28 PM
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headers+a Ypipe catback or true duals to free up your exhaust.
You already have an LS6 intake...good
Ported+polished TB will free up a couple, so will a lid and a cold air intake.
You already have an LS6 intake...good
Ported+polished TB will free up a couple, so will a lid and a cold air intake.
08-26-2011, 12:05 AM
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without a doubt cold air intake, headers, y pipe, cat back exhaust, and defiantly a dyne tune will get u there. some people also say the intake manifold and throttle body will get you over it too all depends with really how much ur trying to spend.
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08-26-2011, 08:35 AM
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I don't want to throw a ton of money in to this car just yet. I already have $500 in the stereo and I'm only about half done with that. I still want to get a 10" sub, replace the rear speakers, and get a HU mount bracket.
What headers and y-pipe are recommended for performance and budget while staying legal? We have emissions testing in my county, but they are not CA level.
What headers and y-pipe are recommended for performance and budget while staying legal? We have emissions testing in my county, but they are not CA level.
. anything with cats should be somewhat *legal* you will love a free flowing exhaust 
08-26-2011, 09:05 AM
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for headers, I had hookers on my Z28 and LOVED the fitment and quality. Also was one of the few with equal length tubes at the time (LT1). Price wasn't bad either. Pacesetter seems to be the best bang for the buck usually, but they have a slip on collector rather than a flange style, which you can always weld on a flange if you prefer that. To give you an idea of what you need to do, my car was at 325 RWHP with nothing but a dual exhaust and a tune *shrug* I'm sure the lightweight flywheel was enough to bump me up to that 330 mark, but I mainly did that cause I love twisties lol.
FYI I'm not sure of the parasitic loss on our cars, but at 12% loss 400FWHP is 352RWHP. I dunno about you, but in winter 300RWHP is too much sometimes! LOL
FYI I'm not sure of the parasitic loss on our cars, but at 12% loss 400FWHP is 352RWHP. I dunno about you, but in winter 300RWHP is too much sometimes! LOL
08-26-2011, 09:43 AM
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So, I replaced the head unit with an Alpine CDA-117 and got the CDT for the doors and sail panels. Throw in all of the auxilary items (swi-jack, harness, mount, etc.) and you can hit $500 easily. I still want to replace the rear speakers and add the 10" stealth box sub.
for headers, I had hookers on my Z28 and LOVED the fitment and quality. Also was one of the few with equal length tubes at the time (LT1). Price wasn't bad either. Pacesetter seems to be the best bang for the buck usually, but they have a slip on collector rather than a flange style, which you can always weld on a flange if you prefer that. To give you an idea of what you need to do, my car was at 325 RWHP with nothing but a dual exhaust and a tune *shrug* I'm sure the lightweight flywheel was enough to bump me up to that 330 mark, but I mainly did that cause I love twisties lol.
FYI I'm not sure of the parasitic loss on our cars, but at 12% loss 400FWHP is 352RWHP. I dunno about you, but in winter 300RWHP is too much sometimes! LOL
FYI I'm not sure of the parasitic loss on our cars, but at 12% loss 400FWHP is 352RWHP. I dunno about you, but in winter 300RWHP is too much sometimes! LOL
Did you see any change in your mpg with that setup? Good or bad.
08-26-2011, 10:51 AM
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My '95 Camaro drove great in the snow, but that only had the 3.4L engine. I'm a bit concerned about how well the SS will do with nearly double the power. However, my experience has shown that as long as you know how to drive a rwd vehicle in the snow, it all comes down to tires. I have the BFG KDWS tires that are practically brand new, so I'm hoping that I'll be fine.
Did you see any change in your mpg with that setup? Good or bad.
Did you see any change in your mpg with that setup? Good or bad.
I'm not going to complain, thats about what my wifes cobalt gets lol. I've been very happy with the setup at any rate.
08-26-2011, 11:02 AM
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Knowing how to handle a RWD car makes a WORLD of difference. you should be ok, just gotta be light on the pedal. Is your car an auto or manual? I have a 6spd, and noticed if anything a slight improvement after the tune was done, but I also replaced the fuel filter at the same time. I have a heavy foot and get anywhere from 21-24 mixed MPG (70% hwy), and on a recent trip got 28MPG highway (2 weeks ago) I'm not going to complain, thats about what my wifes cobalt gets lol. I've been very happy with the setup at any rate.
I'm not going to complain, thats about what my wifes cobalt gets lol. I've been very happy with the setup at any rate.
I have a 6 speed...which I'm hoping helps with the snow as well. Autos just never seem to be in the right gear or shift at the worst time when driving in the snow.
Without even trying I can get 22.5 mpg on my daily commute. I've hit 24 already, but I think I might be able to do better if I really tried. Even so, that pretty darn good for a 10 year old V8!
I've been looking this morning and it seems that all of the y-pipes are cat-less. Are there any y-pipes out there with high flow cats that connect to LT headers? Or is this setup done differently?
08-26-2011, 11:17 AM
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I know what you mean, I can't handle not having my steering... I can steer with the rear if need be just fine with a RWD lol, and yes the 6 spd most definitely helps in the snow, just don't get a clutch that you can't easily slip when it comes time to replace, stick with a full face and not a puck style. 2nd and 3rd gear starts in the snow if need be. better than me on the daily commute most of the time, this past gas tank I got about 19, but it was a fun 19 LOL. As for the y-pipes, maybe someone else can help you on that.. I left my cats and had the duals made from the cats back which eventually ended up getting gutted anyways (forgot about the extended emissions warranty on our cars) lol.
Honestly I don't think there is a catted y-pipe made for LT's, you will likely need to get shorty's or mids to retain your cats.
Honestly I don't think there is a catted y-pipe made for LT's, you will likely need to get shorty's or mids to retain your cats.
08-26-2011, 11:42 AM
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they do make high flow catted y pipes at texas speed for like 350 i think. Just get a set of pacesetters and a paceetter catted y pipe and then you will need a tune and such and then you will just want more. Honestly if you want more power but better gas mileage you might not get it if you try for more power. I use to get between 22 and 24 stock then I went headers and y and tune and I am lucky to get 22 now more like 21 or 20 most of the time. I want to get some new heads, ls6 intake, new cam and throttle body and true duals. Honestly if your not ready to through atleast a grand at your car plus another grand if you want heads and a cam its not worth it because the difference you feel is minimal unless you go bigger and bigger. Its not like after you spend like a grand on new exhaust that your gonna be blown away you just will be like i can feel it a little on top end. Kills your bottom end I use to be able to smoke my tires first through 2nd with out clutching up now I have to clutch it to smoke them
08-26-2011, 01:23 PM
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they do make high flow catted y pipes at texas speed for like 350 i think. Just get a set of pacesetters and a paceetter catted y pipe and then you will need a tune and such and then you will just want more. Honestly if you want more power but better gas mileage you might not get it if you try for more power. I use to get between 22 and 24 stock then I went headers and y and tune and I am lucky to get 22 now more like 21 or 20 most of the time. I want to get some new heads, ls6 intake, new cam and throttle body and true duals. Honestly if your not ready to through atleast a grand at your car plus another grand if you want heads and a cam its not worth it because the difference you feel is minimal unless you go bigger and bigger. Its not like after you spend like a grand on new exhaust that your gonna be blown away you just will be like i can feel it a little on top end. Kills your bottom end I use to be able to smoke my tires first through 2nd with out clutching up now I have to clutch it to smoke them
It is very unlikely that I will ever get to a drag strip. I just want to make my daily commute a little more fun without killing the mpg. I think an exhaust overhaul and tune sounds about right for me. I might look in to the intake side of things beyond a lid in the future, but since I rarely hit WOT on my commute it seems pointless.
From what I've seen so far, I think the Magnaflow cat back system is what I will eventually get. My biggest concern is drone. I had a Flowmaster on my '95 that droned and I don't want to get into that again. But, a cat back is only noise with no real performance gain so that's not going to get me to the 400 hp by itself.
08-26-2011, 03:49 PM
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I know what you mean. This isn't my first time modding a car so I know that it is not just about adding a new toy. It's a hobby that becomes an addiction!
It is very unlikely that I will ever get to a drag strip. I just want to make my daily commute a little more fun without killing the mpg. I think an exhaust overhaul and tune sounds about right for me. I might look in to the intake side of things beyond a lid in the future, but since I rarely hit WOT on my commute it seems pointless.
From what I've seen so far, I think the Magnaflow cat back system is what I will eventually get. My biggest concern is drone. I had a Flowmaster on my '95 that droned and I don't want to get into that again. But, a cat back is only noise with no real performance gain so that's not going to get me to the 400 hp by itself.
It is very unlikely that I will ever get to a drag strip. I just want to make my daily commute a little more fun without killing the mpg. I think an exhaust overhaul and tune sounds about right for me. I might look in to the intake side of things beyond a lid in the future, but since I rarely hit WOT on my commute it seems pointless.
From what I've seen so far, I think the Magnaflow cat back system is what I will eventually get. My biggest concern is drone. I had a Flowmaster on my '95 that droned and I don't want to get into that again. But, a cat back is only noise with no real performance gain so that's not going to get me to the 400 hp by itself.
08-26-2011, 08:27 PM
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they do make high flow catted y pipes at texas speed for like 350 i think. Just get a set of pacesetters and a paceetter catted y pipe and then you will need a tune and such and then you will just want more. Honestly if you want more power but better gas mileage you might not get it if you try for more power. I use to get between 22 and 24 stock then I went headers and y and tune and I am lucky to get 22 now more like 21 or 20 most of the time. I want to get some new heads, ls6 intake, new cam and throttle body and true duals. Honestly if your not ready to through atleast a grand at your car plus another grand if you want heads and a cam its not worth it because the difference you feel is minimal unless you go bigger and bigger. Its not like after you spend like a grand on new exhaust that your gonna be blown away you just will be like i can feel it a little on top end. Kills your bottom end I use to be able to smoke my tires first through 2nd with out clutching up now I have to clutch it to smoke them
I dont agree with your "if you want more power but better gas mileage you might not get it if you try for more power" statement, in fact.... its exactly the opposite of true! Making power is all about putting together a PACKAGE of equipment that works well together. if you installed longtubes and a Y pipe and had a properly fitted lid, then had the car tuned on a DYNO (so much different than a mail order chip) and your car did anything but pick up power everywhere and got better mpgs, then your tuner sucks. a free flowing intake and exhaust will make your engine more efficient, and a new dyno tune will tell your computer how to use this new efficiency, resulting in MORE power and BETTER mpgs, not worse.
Stingray,
I also have an 01 SS, here is what i have done and so far i have put down 351 hp and 375 tqe after a good tune... Of course our year came with the LS6 intake, i installed a good filter and lid (they all make about the same power), a ported TB, smooth bellows, a quality set of plugs and wires, Stainless XS longtubes and catless y and a borlamouth (just a loudmouth II catback with a borla xr-1 bullet muffler). sounds GREAT, makes way more than 400 at the flywheel (if you use the typical 18% loss from a manual drivetrain, thats 414 engine hp and 442 tqe at the engine) drove the car around before getting the tune and i lost a bunch of mpg's cause the car ran super rich due to the new exhuast. as a stock SS i got about 18 city and 22 highway. after the exhaust it dropped to 12 city and 18 highway. AFTER THE TUNE I now get about 22 city and sometimes as high as 30 highway! this was on a trip to Georgia when i drove on the highway with the cruse set at 75 for an entire tank of gas. the "400 hp at the engine" recipe is very simple, and most properly modded LS cars already make that power, beyond that will require either a power adder (supercharger/turbo/nitrous) or heads and cam. making big hp #'s using these power adders can result in much lower mpg's, simply because they are capable of moving huge amounts of air/fuel through the engine, but a stock ls1 with a mod list similar to mine will have no trouble making 350 at the wheels while getting 25 mpgs on the highway.