Headers, CAI, Tuning question.
 

Alright ladies and gents. I'll sum this up as easy as possible. I got rid of my LS camaro and bought a 2015 ZL1. Right now it's bone stock besides my hankook ventus tires. What I'M looking to do, is upgrade my headers, midpipes, and get an aftermarket CAI. Right now, the options i have looked at primarily are Kooks LT headers with the offroad midpipes and the OEM catback. I've seen a video on youtube and it looks promising. Honestly i'd rather spend the extra money on kooks because i know they're top end so i'm not looking for anything cheap. Can anyone who has experience or who has aftermarket headers/midpipes/CAI give me some suggestions? Honestly not looking for huge HP gains, more interested in a better exhaust note. And can i get everything tuned at once if i get the CAI and headers at the same time? idk how that works.
Thanks.

With or without cats?

The offroad mipipes from Kooks i believe are Catless.

You'll never know what your end result is until you get a tune. IMHO.

What do you plan to do with this car? I would recommend going with high flow cats if you plan to drive around on the streets. The power difference is minimal, but they really help to keep the gaseous/noxious smells under control. They will quiet the exhaust down a bit as well, which could be a good or bad thing, again depending on what you are looking for.

Do you need to pass emissions? If yes, then don't go catless...

And yes, you should install all of your power mod's prior to getting your tune. At least this 1st round of mod's. Do the CAI, headers, etc and then tune it when you're done. If you add something after the tune, then you'll have to retune to get the best results.

Tune is the last piece of the puzzle after each round of mods.

I'm honestly looking for a really nice/ loud exhaust. I'm curious to how the kooks LT headers with cats sound, but either way at least the ZL1 has the NPP exhaust so if it's too loud, i'll just keep the flaps closed. Yeah i mean i guess if i get the offroad pipes, getting an inspection would be a problem. How do you even go about that? And I'm still confused on which intake to get because K&N is like 900$ which is ridiculous.

from what iv read the NPP with headers is a great combo. Just to let you know American Racing Headers are made in NY. Get cats. Id probably stay out of boost till you get it tuned. Call ARH and ask them about what it would cost to have them install if you buy them direct. Get new GM gaskets no matter what you go with.

I would get either CAI Inc or Rotofab for your ride. And agreed with the others, tune right after this round of mods. Of course, if it were me, I'd be pulleying down as well...........LOL.

Maryland speed sold me my SP headers with HFC for $712 years ago, not a problem with them, why you think you need better midpipes? 1 7/8 headers with HFC ...the way to go with NPP and the Forza threeway switch. Once you install the headers a tune..... remove delayed response code form the front and delete the rears, your stock H pipe is fine and 2 1/2" . Sounds great, good decel popping, good and quiet when you want it on demand, loud when locked open or on stock mode getting on it. U sure the K&N was not $9.00 more like its value......? LOL , even the CAI ceramic coated with the scoop and washer reservoir are not even close to that price.....

Congrats on the ZL-1.

I offer plug and play power packages for the ZL-1 for a no guess power solution.

If you want to run off road pipes then any quality headers will do the job.

I recommend ARH and Dynatech.

Dynatech is the only company offering a specific Cat for boosted applications.

All of our power packages come with an SCT tuner and tuning is sent over email.

I recommend our 75 RWHP package as your best starting point, you can opt to add headers to this package.

This is the foundation on which all of our higher power packages are built.

Feel free to give us a call or email me for more details.

Ted.

63-3079 part # on Knfilters.com , 854 for the full intake. lol. That's kind of ridiculous in my opinion but yeah i think i'll keep my cats. Kooks has 2 options though, they come with "green" cats or regular cats, don't really know the difference tbh. Should i just get the headers with the offroad pipes and just get HFC from somewhere else? or should i stick with their cats. Not trying to mod too much just want a really nice sound and i'm staying OEM catback anyway to utilize that NPP exhaust for when i need it. I just hope the sound is a huge difference with keeping cats and just changing the headers and a new cold air intake. I was looking at rotofab or cai. too many options, i'm gonna take a look at ARH as well now but i'm pretty set brand wise for now. Do you always have to buy new head gaskets when buying headers? never bought headers before.

You can probably re-use your original gaskets, but new ones are so cheap, may as well get new. I put ARH above Kooks as far as best brand of headers. I'd be looking into 2" primaries and 3" exhaust front to rear since you're s/c. The NPP is a pretty good setup, but there are a lot of others that sound a LOT better. Green cats are supposed to be the best cats for boosted applications. The oem cats are what's causing most of the sound restriction, same goes for the big ass resonator if you're an auto.

I mean for now i'll probably keep the NPP since i'm tight money wise since i'm pretty young and just bought the zl1. so a full catback is out of the question for now. I'll take a look into ARH more and where would i even be able to buy gaskets? and by 2" primaries you mean 2" headers instead of 1 and 7/8" ? Yeah i am auto unfortunately. What do you mean by S/c man?

S/C meaning supercharged. 1-7/8" headers are all you need, I run over 800 rwhp with ported heads and don't have any flow problems with 1-7/8" headers. Why do you consider your car being an auto as unfortunate, a good custom tune will wake up the transmission, a must for the autos.

Best advise (for what its worth) get a hold of Ted at Jannetty Racing Ent. and discuss with him. He's a solid guy and very knowledgeable with the Gen5 cars. He also offers a great deal on dyno or remote tuning when you buy the parts from him, whether he installs or you install yourself

My suggestions:
1-7/8" ARH headers
Roto-Fab CAI
Custom Tune