What can I do to make the engine snappier? More sporty feeling, and easier to do heel toe shifting?

I want it to snap to when you tap the throttle. Like a ferrari or race car.

 

Lid (any lid) and a good flowing catback. Nice seat of the pants feel, better throttle response and a little better mileage I think. Should be good for an additional 20whp or so.

If you are looking for even more, a light weight flywheel will let the engine rev quicker and give a snappier response when rev matching. This comes at the expense of some low end drivability though, so be careful on how much lighter you go.

 

a ported tb should help, at least it did with mine.

 

Any induction/exhaust mod that free's up restrictions should improve throttle response along with a lighter flywheel.

However running one large TB is the main problem as it offers little control at part throttle. This is why many carb engines have better throttle response.

Running twin or even quad TB's would offer much more control and snappier feel to performance.

There was a thread a while back with some quad TB's someone had made for the LS1.

These aren't for an LS1 but they'll give you an idea:

 

Tuning will take care of a lot of it if you know what you are doing...and for an M6, get some gears (at least 4.10).

 

EXACTLY M6 that should be you first mod, if I could go back Thats what I would do

 

I would definitely agree with this.

 

Only thing about 4.10s, they tend to rip 7.5" rear ends apart, sometimes on stock power. I'd suggest that until the rear can handle the extra strain of steeper gears, focus on power/suspension. In no particular order:

- Aftermarket lid... any lid's worth about 10 hp over stock

- Get an LS6 intake. If you want to go higher than it'll support later, it's still money in the bank, 'cuz you can get your money back on it and put it toward a FAST 90/90 setup.

- Mod the exhaust system. Get some long-tube headers... they all give roughly the same power increase(just stay away from SLPs if you like to clear speed bumps and dead squirrels). Whether true duals or catback, get something that'll flow enough to support more power than you want, because that number seems to rise during modding.

- Lighter flywheel, and stronger clutch while you've got it apart. This would also be a good time to do the "drill mod" on your clutch master cylinder.

- Chassis-hung torque arm mount will tie the rear axle into the car, not the back of the T56 transmission. Some can be fitted with a driveshaft safety loop, required by NHRA for a certain 1/4 time and faster.

- Subframe Connectors? Some say yes, some say no. Suprisingly, the ones who don't like them are the ones road racing their cars.

- Aftermarket lower control arms will control the axle better than stock stamped pieces, offering more consistent launches. Go even better with dropped brackets on the axle. Essential for lowered cars, on stock height cars they help to "wedge" the tires under the car, giving better weight transfer and bite to the tires on launch. Also brings wheelies closer to reality.

- NOW... get a stronger axle. 12-bolts are hit or miss over 400 rwhp, based on what I read on here. The Ford 9" is a brute beast, and is seen under probably EVERY Nextel Cup car(750ish hp for hours on end). But stronger(and a bit lighter than the 9") still is the new F-body Dana 60. These are used in Top Fuel applications if I'm not mistooken. And if you're going insane on power, don't do 4.10s, man... you run out of 4th gear at 112-115 mph unless you turn 7000 rpm at the traps, or you waste precious time shifting into 5th, a less efficient gear. Go with more of a 3.73 to a 3.90ish range. Oh, and get a driveshaft stout enough to handle what you throw at it.

Now that that's all out of the way, you can swap out engine internals and not worry about walking home. This is where you should do your homework... don't just buy what some dude with a TR 224 cam tell you to buy. Do some research in the Advanced Forum, and listen to the guys thinking outside the box.

Who knows? You might be the first 6-second M6 LS1 before it's all said and done... Good luck, bro!

 

Just get a set of 4.10 gears for your Stock 10 bolt....

 

putting 4.10 in a M6 makes it feel like you gained 50 hp (not shitting you). I dont know why some LS1's feel snappy and some dont. I have a ls1 intake manifold and stock TB and stock MAF with the following mods bellow and it has always felt extremly snappy. Stock gearing as well. Felt snappy before the mods too. My buddys 01 Z28 did not have any snap at all but got some after the 80mm BBK TB. His car was extremely quick for a stock camaro too, but it just didnt have the snap that mine did. Wierd.

 

I'd only recommend 4.10's in a 10-bolt to someone who has enogh cash to buy a new rear end when it blows up.




Notice I said when.

 

The question was about engine responsiveness and was sited in downshifting and rev matching.

Gears have ZERO affect on this and should not be advised under this circumstance as they address a whole different area (ok it's a subtle difference but still fundamental).

However I would agree that gears are a great mod.