MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

My buddy pulled the trigger today on a 2009.5 G8 GXP with a manual 6 speed/LS3. He will likely be doing a Vararam Intake and Solo Axel-Back exhaust for his first mods. It's intended purpose is to be a nice, roomy family car, but also for going to car shows and having some fun in.

Neither he or I know much about modding G8's, is there other things that should be considered for basic mods? I see deleting DOD out of the tune is a common mod, but he does prefer the gas mileage as well. Any suggestions are appreciated!

Gordon0652

iTrader: (4)

How are is he willing to go? The sky is the limit.

Gordon0652

iTrader: (4)

Actually how deep his pockets are is the limit.

omgitsmikeyc

Check the bushings and ball joints for wear and see if they were given the in warranty recall, or if he should upgrade. A lot of people run maggies on these cars, and they sound/run very nice without the DOD, better cam and full flow duels.

Blackbirdws6

iTrader: (7)

Full exhaust, intake and a tune would make for a nice DD with a little over 400rwhp. With the LS3, he won't have the DoD system. If he wants more power, there is always a cam and/or blower option.

MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

He probably won't get too crazy with this one, just a fun car. I just didn't know if there was any "must-do's" when it comes to modding these. I know there is some crazy weight savings to be had with full exhaust, but other than the typical bolt-ons and rims/tires, he probably won't do anything too crazy.

Car only has 30k miles on it, but how do you check the ball-joints and bushings properly?

elmarro

All I have to say is lucky ****!! Lol love the gxp I would do CAI,full exhaust, tune. Pics please

ramairetransam

iTrader: (18)

ls3 isnt dod , do intake , exhuast and tune .

omgitsmikeyc

Put it on a lift, remove the tires and see if you can see cracks or separation in the Rubber compound inbetween the links on the suspension. If you do see cracks or separation, they need to be swapped. You could also take it to the dealer and have them check for a "knocking" sound over bumps at an angle, this car is still under the 5 year warranty.

MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

Good to know about the DOD. I attached a few pictures, one at the dealership (car is dirty) and a couple at the car wash (before drying). Plates are off his old '00 SS, and he wants to change them.

omgitsmikeyc

I would personally swap out the rims as they look too thin, the Camaro rims look sweet on this car but are heavy. Maybe the stock GT Alloy Rims, the ones without the notches in the post from the center hub to outer shell.

MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

Yeah, those are oz wheels. They're his winter wheels/tires. Hes thinking some 5th gen wheels are in order for summer tires.

RedHotG8

iTrader: (1)

A tune and a CAI really wake the car up and knock about a .5 second off the QM ET. I have the Solo axlebacks and they sound good but don't increase hp.

TonyGXP

I love mine, they ride great and not too many around (especially GXP's) Breytons look really nice on these cars .

MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

It's really tough to find info on what would be a good exhaust for this car, because most exhaust reviews complain about the drone from the DOD, which an M6/LS3 car doesn't have. He wants exhaust for the sound, power, and weight reduction (headers/catback is something like 40 lbs of savings over factory, iirc)

The solo axel back does sound great and looks very easy to put on though.

All things considered, it does ride great for what it is. We went for a cruise in it with a couple buddys last night, and I sat in the back seat. I'm 6'5" so back-seats are usually a no-go for me, but I was perfectly comfortable in the G8 back seat, even with the person in the front seat having their seat all the way back/leaned a decent amount. The ride in the back seat was a little rigid, however, compared to the front seats.

I've considering looking into getting a V6, possibly a GT model as a daily in the next few years when it's time to replace my buick. Very nice cars.

RedHotG8

iTrader: (1)

Long tube headers with catted mid pipes and Solo axlebacks will give him power and sound without the drone, since the axlebacks have adjustable J pipes. It'll be loud thought since the Solo axlebacks don't have mufflers. Solo does make some tube style resonators that can be welded into the mid pipes. That I think would be the best setup for the G8.

luigiandme

iTrader: (2)

Work on the suspension before modding. It most likely needs upper strut mounts. Go with whiteline

MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

I think he's probably going to try to find some mid length's because of the nature of the car and doesn't want to lose ground clearance. He wants it to sound good, but not be stupid loud at the same time.

Bo White

iTrader: (59)

He will not loose any ground clearance with LT headers. I put JBA LTs on mine and they are nice and tucked. LTs are the way to go along with an intake and tune.

Greed4Speed

iTrader: (7)

Looks like my wife's car. G8 GXP M6 in SRM. It still has the polished gxp wheels though. All I've done performance wise is a rotofab. Plugs were pretty easy to do. They don't last more than 40k miles though. If he is wanting a little more noise, he can unbolt the mufflers and see if he likes the sound or just until he makes a decision. It still has the large resonator in the middle of the car. HID's are a great addition in place of the low beams. He'll probably need to change the clutch fluid regularly. It gets dirty quick and makes the pedal stick. When this first happend we took it back to the steelership who wanted to put a new clutch in $$$$. I took it home and changed fluid in the reservoir and pumped the pedal and changed until it was clean and it fixed the problem. We haven't had any suspension issues in over 50k miles. Battery went out last summer though.