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ZL1 Upgrades and thoughts.

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Old Jun 25, 2016 | 12:15 PM
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Default ZL1 Upgrades and thoughts.

I have finished my Mods on my 2013 ZL1, manual tranny. I thought I would share my thoughts on my build.
Not sure where to post this but since the Cam and ported heads did more for this build than anything, so I put it here.

Here is my list of Mods and opinions:
ID 850s, A must and the tuners love them because they are precise pieces.

Rotofab CAI, Got to have a CAI, and this is a very good piece.

Lingenfelter twin fan HX, nice piece, and instructions are great. The two stage fans work great and definitely helps keep IATs down. Another benefit is in traffic it helps keep AC cold.

D3 Coolant reservoir, A must to keep air out of the system. Makes filling the system easy. Not enough volume to keep IAT's down on a WOT burst. Quality is good, My first one leaked but D3 worked with me to correct issue.

Ported LS7 Tony Mamo throttle body. I would not do this Mod again. Waste of money in my opinion. I think a ported LSA would be just as good.

Dedicated Motorsports fuel pump Kit, a Must when making power. Easy install and provides the extra fuel needed. The most cost effective way to get fuel at this time.

Dedicated Motorsports Ethanol sensor kit, a must. These cars love Ethanol.

Kooks 1 7/8 long tubes. A must and easier to install than 2". I am not running cats and the car was loud!!! I found a great fix for this. Solo performance Mach X muffler. This is the same muffler used on the regular camaro kit. I had to reroute rear differential cooling lines to get a good fit but this piece makes the car dead quiet. My tuner was shocked how quiet the car is, and it does not hold back power. My tuner thought it would but the proof was in the dyno runs. If you want to make your car a sleeper, this muffler is the way to go. It has a nice quiet deep tone!

BTR stage 1 cam kit and springs. Perfect Cam for me, yes there is some power left behind but this cam makes the car drive like a dream and it made the power

BTR ported LSA heads, during my build I did some before and after dyno runs, and after head swap the car picked up 50hp. This was the best bang for the buck mod I did with the combo I am running hands down!! I see know reason spending an extra $2K for TFS heads when Brians heads pick you up 50HP and you have a reliable set of factory heads.

Brian helped me choose my Mods wisely. He helped me compromise between, price, durability, and power.

Lingenfelter ATI damoer kit with, 9.55 Lower and I am running stock upper for Belt wrap. Car makes 12.5 to 13.0 psi of boost, and I am still in the safe range of the blower and IAT's are not crazy hot.

TUNER, James Short, Great guy, and he can tune a car. Takes the time to dial it in perfectly! My driveability is perfect! The day before my tune he spent 12 hours on another ZL1 to get it perfect. My tune took about 7 hours and he got it perfect. When we switched to E-85, WOW. The car loves it and the engine runs so much smoother. Look at the Dyno graph on how smoth the power is. In the attached graph the 93 octane tune is the 598 RWHP and the other runs are E-85. Remember this is a low reading load absorbing Dyno and on a dynojet the numbers would be more. These tunes are very conservative with REV limiter set at 6500RPM.
Attached Thumbnails ZL1 Upgrades and thoughts.-dyno.jpg  
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Old Jun 25, 2016 | 02:44 PM
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Fantastic results.

I will be helping a buddy who just purchased a 2015 ZL1 and it closely mimic's your build with the exception of the camshaft and meth kit.

We plan to install the Kooks 1.875 next weekend if all goes well.

What is the limit on the stock injectors?
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Old Jun 25, 2016 | 02:54 PM
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That's really cool and all but I would've thought more power from all that
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Old Jun 25, 2016 | 02:59 PM
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Originally Posted by HCI2000SS
That's really cool and all but I would've thought more power from all that
Ported Heads/Cam/CAI/Headers = 150 rwhp on these motors.

GM has these cars detuned tremendously.
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Old Jun 25, 2016 | 03:50 PM
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Surprised you didn't do the 100mm idler and the 2.55 upper myself... You have the injector and the HX for it
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Old Jun 25, 2016 | 05:14 PM
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Originally Posted by brobinson216
Ported Heads/Cam/CAI/Headers = 150 rwhp on these motors.

GM has these cars detuned tremendously.
For sure, but isn't the OP also running 13 psi compared to the stock 9 psi? Unless I read it wrong, because that alone should be worth a fair amount
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