I'm picking up a new sierra and looking to do some bolt-on work. So far I know I want to do a cat-back and premium tune. Is a CAI worth the squeeze on these engines?

Any other bolt-ons that have performance upgrades without killing low and mid range torque worth looking at? Headers. cat delete etc?

 

I did a couple of L83 trucks.. here is what i got after dynojet testing:

Bone stock 290whp
Tune only does around 320whp with premium gas
Cai added and made 332whp
1 7/8 headers and 3 inch cut out added made 347whp
l86 intake added and made 355whp

We adjusted AFR/timing if require every mode.. L83 is no joke and much more powerful then the old trucks.

 

Nice, did any of those items kill low end torque?

 

None of the above should cut low end power.

 

Do it, they gain about 15-20 with a cold air intake

Headers do well also

Get it tuned and also run e85 for max powaa

 

Has anyone installed a 5.3 L83 engine with a th400 transmission with 2016 silverado OEM ECM and harnesses?

 

Hey. Here’s what I did to my 2017 RCSB with a 5.3. I added a K&N Blackhawk CAI (I could tell a slight improvement in throttle response and a definite sound upgrade), TSP long tube headers with high flow catted y-pipe, cat back, ported 6.2 intake and throttle body, and 4.10 gears. With these mods and a custom tune, my truck is very quick for a stock cammed daily driver. The gears add so much to the truck. This is the first thing that you should do. You will never worry about bottom end power again. When I first got this truck, 9 months ago with 72,000 miles, I hated the transmission. After the tune, the transmission shifts so much better. If you look at the numbers that Public Enemy posted above, you can see how much of an improvement that the L83 is over the LS based 5.3. As a matter of fact, these numbers are right on par with a 1995 ZR-1 Corvette. Below is a quote from a ZR-1 site.

“363 HP, 95, bone stock, dunns heads.
car was the smoothest running zr1 I've ever had.”

My truck now has 93,000 miles and is getting 19.1 mpg with the DOD turned off and me driving 70-125mph wherever I go. I am already looking for a 6.2 long block to start building. I have seen several dyno pulls on YouTube that make a little over 400 RWHP with a good cam with the 5.3 and ported heads. If you do heads, cam, headers,exhaust, and 4.10 gears, you will have a very fun truck. The only reason that I haven’t done the cam and converter upgrade is that I sit in Houston traffic like a whole lot. Cheers.

 

Are you running E85 to get 290 Stock? 5th gear pulls? 2wd? Just curious as to why my power train seems to eat 40% of the power. L83 rated @ 355 or 380(E85)... 355 to 221 is a 39% loss. Then again 4th gear isn't a true 1:1.
I had my 2017 Silverado 4x4 L83 dynoed on a Dynojet and these are the results I got.
4th gear pulls = 1.15:1 ratio
Stock 221.3HP
Stock w/Tune 283.7HP
FBO w/ Dual straights 3" and x-pipe 311.7HP
The tune is on 93 and results I got were on a nice cool fall day about 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
For me the CAI, AEM, went from 309.3HP to 311.7HP... about 3HP gain...

 

Do you have big mud tires? Or wheels and tires that are bigger/heavier than stock? If so those eat a lot of power

 

I understand why people get caught up with dyno numbers, however dyno's "should be" used to show a gain or a loss.

Your gain of 91hp is impressive.