Im new to ls1's and from what Ive been seeing makes be go between running H/c/i and nitrous or just throwing on a procharger, but I was reading the ls1 will make more power N/a and were ment to be na, My goal is to get as much hp and not break the stock motor, Im going to leave it the block and bottome end stock...either doing some nice EMISSIONS legal H/c/I + boltons and squeeze 150shot when needed, or running like 7psi procharger with supporting mods...Which will make more power, which will be more reliable, which is the better way to make power on a ls1. What are good brand of emission heads? what the setup to go with as Im new to the whole Ls1 scene. thanks for your help

 

Most importantly, what kind of budget are you thinking about?

 

yea, budget will definitely come into play. I think a procharger running 7lbs will make as much power as a healthy N/A h/c car, and will probably be more street-friendly, if that matters any to you. Also, taking emissions into consideration, that really limits your cam choice (under about 224), so you'll need a lot of bolt-ons and everything to make as much power as a FI car that is still legal. Adding bolt ons to the FI car will make even more power. So, bottom line: if you have the money to buy and maintain a FI LS1, then go FI. You can still make lots of power NA and pass emissions, but i doubt you'll make the power that the procharger can make.

Do the rest of you guys agree on this?

Jeremy

 

N/A is the way I went, check my #'s. Pretty healthy, further tuning should yield a few more I am hoping. Good luck.

 

would your G5X3 pass emissions? ls1tuboplan had that in all caps, so i think that's also important to him.

Jeremy

 

well I live in cali, they have the strictest emissions, thats not the main consurn, its is if I can swap the parts out Ie:echaust and headers I can do every 2 years and put the stockers back on, But if I get heads that dont pass, im not going to swap out heads ever 2 years to pass, Money really isnt a issue, I just dont want to take out the motor I want to keep stock block and pass emissions, the route either full bolt-ons + nos or either some bolt-ons(exhaust,gears etc) and then procharger, Money is not an option, but I dont want crazy maint, what is the maintmance of the blower route? vs the H/CI + nos route? MY goal is to have it daily driver/weekend worrier, with the most amout of safe Hp I can get out of a stock ls1 block, I want a mid-low 11's on spray and high 11's and low 12's in street form on DR's, or Mid 11's all day with blower, I want it able to take some modded cobras with spray if needed, What is the best route to get my goal of mid-low 11's in a 02 trans am M6, here are the baics ill go to begin with, corsa catback, cutouts, pullies, mid pipe w/ hi flow cats, lt headers, 4.10 gears in 12bolt rear, pro 5.0 shifter, and spec clutch/flywheel...Then my plans from there, is it possible to get mid to low 11's with wither of my plans?

 

oh and turbo inst out of the question, but I hear you cant run more than 8psi on stock block, so it would be a waste to go turbo for that little psi or would It be better to go turbo than procharger? I know the turbo will yeild more hp per lbs of boost, but Im sure a procharger would take me to the limit of the block just as fast a turbo, which would be better?

 

Well in that case I would definitely go with Procharger. Easy low 12's-mid 11's all day long. Turbo's need more up-keep than a procharger i think. At least that's what I've heard. You're right that a turbo can make more power, but you're not trying to make 600+ hp or anything crazy, so the procharger will more than meet your needs. For the money and reliability I'd just go with the procharger and the bolt-ons you mentioned above for a very solid street machine. You won't be disappointed whichever way you go. Good luck.

Jeremy

 

I actually feel better by switching to the darkside, beacuse In my stang i had to struggle to get my 306 into the 13's, it runs 13.9 on slicks and mid 14's on street tires, I had a ton of mods, I can wait, im glad I switched to the darkside...11's here I come. If your curious heres my mod list for the stang, which I still own... its a 89' LX 5spd. 306ci, Crane Cam .499 lift, BBk equal length headers, BBK catted H-pipe, mac pro dumps, 3.55's gears, Pro 5.0 shifter, SFC, Pulleys, BBK CAI, Eibach springs, king cobra clutch,electric fan and a lil goodies here and there of free mods.

 

What year is your car? The 98's computers don't have the right tables to tune for forced induction.

The ultimate california car is something with a forged bullet-proof shortblock, stock heads, stock cam (or something small enough to pass emissions), upgraded valvetrain, shorty's, high-flow cats, and a 200-shot of gas. I'd also suggest enough suspension work to put every single hp to the ground.

You'd be making about 500rwhp, have the ultimate in streeability (stock), and be perfectly legal.

 

its a 02 trans am, its also going to be setup more toward agressive street/ road racing...So drag susp is out of the question, I want the car to handle well, So traction is going to be a issue, im getting corvette rims and running the biggest DR i can fit...im going with full suspension but setup road racing.

 

1st. to answer your question i would go with a nice procharger set up. they are cheap and give decent performance. if you wanted to spend a little more got he turbo route. both will get you where you ware looking quicker that the NA emmisions friendly route.

2nd. as far as coming to the darkside, why did you sell out on ford? you really cant expect too much out of the little 306??? Don't knock a brand if you never gave it a serious effort. The stang you got in your driveway is one of the best platforms for making a serious track car. Dont get me wrong, I have owned a few LS1's and love what they have to offer, but since i cant really stuff one in a foxbody and hold my head high, I just got what i could outta a decent 408. that was fun while it lasted, but the new eliminator 604 i am building will be untouchable by anything in my local streets.

3rd. but back to the LS1... It is a great motor. i often wish ford had the ***** to go this route instead of the modular crap. you can get a decent amount of power out of them, but pricing has finally swung in another direction. IT isn't cheap to get there like it used to be. freakin 1,000 for headers??? and then almost 400 for a proven cam?? sounds like ford price ratios of 10 - 15 years ago.

But i hope you enjoy your LS1 as much as i did. enjoy what ever route you take, but i truley believe you will get closer to your emmsion limited goals with FI. Good luck...

 

I didnt sell out on ford, I still own my stang, Ill keep it, My plans with that car is dart 351w, AFR 205, custom cam, compcams box intake, t-76 turbo, 1000hp fuel system, and run like 18lbs of boost and race gas...expecting huge numbers....lots of ponetial for stroking to a 408 in the future...But I still love ford, I just think pontiac puts out with a better car...my mustang, for example, when 1 thing breaks, then I fix it, right after another part will break, on top of that the car blinks just stopped working, and there are electrical issue it, its a good car in all ive had 2 stangs, and they were both about the same high 13 second cars, I dont want to keep dropping money into something that is old and will keep falling apart, so I look toward pontiac, there cars have better interior, more sportier feel than the mustang...and mustangs are everywhere, I want something different around here its hard to find a trans am ram air, i hardly ever see them, and when I do, the cars are beasts, they are just better cars, pontiac has there stuff together, unlike ford in some circumstances.

 

Based on what you said here I would say Procharger all the way. Easy to install & maintain and can make great power on a stock block (550 rwhp+). Be sure to do all the fuel system upgrades with a good tune and keep it under or around 10lb's and you'll be fine. Very reliable system and power is very linear which is great for road racing. Turbo would be great too but cost twice as much and the power would lag a little and down low & then come on too suddenly for road racing. Nitrous = filling the bottle every week and would produce an incredible surge of instant power but seems to taper off up high. Great for 1/4 mile but not so good for roadracing.

 

F.I. all the way

 

Go with the Procharger that everyone is voting for, a mild cam without too much overlap (don't want to let that boost get out before it can be utilized) and a set of good flowing heads. Money is not an option, then how about AFR 205's with 66 cc
I would get rid of that SPEC clutch. Get something like an Exedy Twin plate. You can't go wrong with an Exedy Twin. Good luck on emissions, and your project. Hope this helps.

 

https://ls1tech.com/forums/pcm-diagnostics-tuning/491047-hp-tuners-98-2bar.html#post4643402

 

If cash is no issue, get the procharger. doing H/C is only cheaper, because you can do it a little at a time. Procharger is a big upfront $ investment, but a better way to go.

 

Sweet! I plan on edumacating myself on tuning and what not in the near future. It's greek to me right now, but I'm sure I could figure it out.

I'd like to do a big single turbo down the line one day.

 

I believe sts turbo will pass there...I think they have a carb number now..so you can throw that on your car and make just as much power as the procharger, and its cheaper and you don't have to worry about taking it off.