A Thread Dedicated To Making a 2012 2SS Camaro Faster: Turbo Chargers, Tuners, etc..

[mrosa]

I have identified several options that can be implemented to achieve additional speed/horsepower and performance to my 2012 2SS V8 Camaro but I am looking for some seasoned veterans, experienced in performing such customizations, to help verify what I have found and also answer some questions and share some resources.

So currently I seem to be getting bored with the horse power of my Camaro, so I decided to start investigating the most reputable options/products/services for beefing up the performance. I regrettably did buy the car with an automatic transmission and that could be why I just do not feel the power of the V8 like I should.. or perhaps I am just getting annoyed when i see people that own standard transmissions smoking up their tires right next to me. I am currently not racing the car - although I am interested in learning more about racing at some point in the future, but currently I am just using the camaro as my 'every-day-ride' while having some fun in the process.

So below are some of the options (along with my comments & questions) I have so far:

1) Regarding adding a Turbo System:
a) Does anyone reccomend adding a Turbo System to their Camaro and if so, could you provide me with some reputable resources websites/services & Turbo brands that are the best? (So far I have found ststurbo.com, but I have not spoken to anyone that has used them either for reference).
b) Single Vs Twin Turbo and Remote Vs Bolt-On.... What turbo system would you recommend?: I see both single and twin turbo systems out there as well as remote vs bolt on. The remote, twin turbo seemed like it may be an ok option for someone like me that is using the vehicle as an 'every-day'car' but I am not sure what the main pros/cons are in comparison to bolt-on systems?
c) Legality or Policy Issues?: Will the Turbo system result in an illegal rate of emissions for my state? I live in Mass and just wanted to make sure I may not screw myself with the stupid Massachusetts laws and restrictions they have here.. Are they any other legal issues or complications that may come from adding a turbo system? I ask because I believe I heard something about adding NOS to a vehicle was not legal in certain cases… but I am new to this stuff so you guys may know better.
d) Voiding of Mfr Vehicle Warranty?: I just purchased my camaro about 6 months ago from the Chevy dealer and one of the mechanics said to be careful about doing things to the engine(such as using a tuner to adjust engine for more horsepower, etc) because it may void the warranty. Do you typically see a lot of problems with regard to customers voiding warranties after installing turbo systems? I would imagine it must be real difficult to hide a turbo system when getting the usual service done at the dealer . Any tips or advice?

2) Regarding Engine Tuners?: I was also planning on purchasing an engine tuner/chip, as I really like what I am reading about the benefits of using a tuner to remove speed limitors, increase horsepower, and some even provide extra diagnostic and testing features. My questions are as follows:
a) What is the best, most reputable and trustworthy Tuner/chip product/system used by most folks with my car? If I am going to allow some device to reconfigure my $45,000 Camaro's computer system I first want to make sure I use the most reputable, trustworthy tuner service/product, as to also avoid any expensive mistakes/mishaps. I found hyperTech (www.hypertech.com/products-max-energy.aspx ), but I am not exactly sure how good they are if there is better. I do not mind spending extra $$ for the convenience of being able to tune the engine myself whenever i want(and not having to pay some service for each tune-job.. if possible). I also have a computer laptop and looked around a bit for a software-only solution but have not found anything really reputable that i could trust(for ex: just some free-ware code that i am leery on), So again, I do not mind spending alot of $$ to get something that works great and even has extra features is cool too.
b) Will Tuning Void my Camaro's Mfr Vehicle Warranty?: As I mentioned above, I am concerned if I tune my car myself that I may void my Mfr Warranty, has anyone had any experience with this issue??
c) Is there any potential i could damage my vehicle using a Tuner? Any Stories?

3) New Exhaust?:
a) I heard that adding new exhaust kits could also help performance... is this true?
b) Does a new exhaust get added when adding a new Turbo System anyway? So do most folks just choose one or the other?
c) Anyone know of some excellent and reputable exhaust packages that have been used for 2012 Camaro 2SS?

4) What else am I missing for increased speed/performance/horsepower?....
- NOTE: I did not include NOS as I figured that would be too difficult to maintain for an every-day-car.. which is why i opted to investigate the Turbo option instead, but i could be wrong so please feel free to chime in on this issue as well.


Please respond and post more comments to this thread.. and if there are already existing threads on this topic please post the link to this thread so i will know.
Thanks in advance!!
- Mike

[ChriSS84]

They have sections for all of this. Take a look in the different sections. I'm sure you can find all the answers you have in those sections. Also I didn't take the time to read your whole post. I lost interest after the first paragraph.

[ParkerB57]

you will profit more on this subject by doing most of the above research on your own, it will answer 90% of your questions and instead of us just telling you it will do what it does you will know what it does and why it does what it does.

understand my meaning?

[Smirnoff]

What he said.....

[HufferSS]

The build forum can give you lots of ideas....boils down to how fast you can afford to go.

[Padre]

For immediate results:

1) Cold Air Intake of your choice. CAI Inc. is popular, but other good choices too.
2) High Flow Cats. I prefer JBA.
3) FTI/RX 3200 Torque Converter.

No tune required. Total cost under $1500.

You'll be smokin 'em at the lights and running 12's when you take it to the track to whet your appetite for speed and real racing. And while you're doing that, you can do what the others suggest: search and learn.

Padre

[SGOS252382]

Originally Posted by Padre

For immediate results:

1) Cold Air Intake of your choice. CAI Inc. is popular, but other good choices too.
2) High Flow Cats. I prefer JBA.
3) FTI/RX 3200 Torque Converter.

No tune required. Total cost under $1500.

You'll be smokin 'em at the lights and running 12's when you take it to the track to whet your appetite for speed and real racing. And while you're doing that, you can do what the others suggest: search and learn.

Padre

My car banged the rev limiter big time with my FTI 3200 stall. It took quite a bit of tuning to get the shift points just right at WOT.
So I would suggest tuning if going with a 3200 stall.