New L99 owner--Your bolt on/tune advice would be very welcomed!

[mikeSS]

Originally Posted by stieger

first congrats on the new camaro and welcome to camaro5.

Exhaust: you won't really see any HP gains from a catback/axle-back, pretty much they are for sound. You can search around and find an exhaust that you like, most are OK with drone and such. May I suggest the Borla Touring exhaust, it's a bit louder than stock but not unbearable.

ya do not get borla touring, its going to drone. get a corsa.

[Padre]

My 2-cents:

1. Don't get an exhaust. Save yourself the money. With the L99, the only sound gain you will get is a terrible drone, made worse by removing the resonators. When the AFM kicks in (4-cyl mode) it makes the most gawdawful sound.

So, in sum, an exhaust will get you:
ZERO horsepower gains
increased drone
AFM clatter
$1000 poorer

2. Get a good CAI. You'll notice it on the dyno, track, and seat-of-pants. Probably +20 HP.

3. Get Solo or JBA High Flow Catalytic Converters. +20 HP and easy install.

4. axis, respectfully, is wrong about Shorties. I gained another +20 HP with mine, easy to install, and with the HF Cats, you're less than 10 HP from catted Long Tubes.

5. If you get a tune, turn off AFM. You will lose all of 1 MPG.

6. If you get a 25% underdrive pulley, your MPG goes up (sweet), maybe a little HP. But you may need to bump up the idle a bit (mine's at 750rpm from stock 550rpm).

If anyone should doubt the above, these are lessons learned, on the track, in my build thread: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128997

Any questions, here or in my build thread.

Padre

[SilverSS3108]

Don't do a cat back... Do electric cut outs and resonator delete, intake (vararam, CAI Inc., or ADM) then depending on what you think about warranty do long tube headers, then stall converter, and then cam her.

[Supercharged SS]

With the L99 you really need to do headers with a cai and a tune. That's the only way you'll get your number. Those three items from Jannetty netted me another 35 rwhp. And great point about the dyno tune. For these minimal mods you don't need it. And if it makes you feel any better Teds tunes are off the dyno.

[hot ss]

firedude

i have a L99.
if your on a budget, leave factory exhaust axle back, change midpipe--and get jannetty to remove afm, in your custom tune by him, not mail order. sure a intake or drop in....
and try that out before proceeding. you wont gain much in dyno HP, but your car will really wake up and flow so much better. the stock x pipe is death. the first time i drove my camaro, i almost drove it back to the dealer it felt so sluggish. indeed the car i was driving at the time was a full 1.5 secs faster than the new camaro.

[John Deere Racer]

I'd get a cai and longtubes. Keep the stock mufflers

Get a dyno tune

I c ur n Missouri. Look up speedtweeker. Or mike Norris motorsports in Indy

[brantley847]

..to this day, best purchase I ever made was headers and a tune combo. The headers will make a vast improvement in sound to the point you may not need to touch the exhaust (just yet).. you will want to go catback to increase the tone, but hp gains won't net much more than 10 hp....

The tune is a must to bring the L99 to life, absolutely a MUST... no more bogging or sputtering. Get a tranny tune and kill AFM. However, it is sometimes hard to look back and wonder what would happen if I needed warranty work, but you seem to be understanding of the consequences of a tune and wanting to head down that route...

[Supercharged SS]

This has been proven time and time again. If you want your 30-35 rwhp you NEED long tube headers. It's not even a debate. And you DO NOT need a dyno tune for the bolt ons. Like I said, my car isn't even dyno tuned and I would be glad to line it up next to anyone who thinks you need a dyno tune. Any of the tuners on this site can send you a tune via email and youll be good to go,Teds service is worth his wait in gold and so is his auto tune but honestly most of the big name shops here can set you up. If they say you need a dyno tune run. Run far far away. They are thieves!

[Fireslayer]

Wow,

I'm blown away with all of these replies. This forum is great. It's hard for me to answer all you guys individually so I will try to address a few more things. I'm not on a budget "per say" but I'm too old to drain my savings on mods.....unfortunately. I am comfortable with $2K or so.

If you turn off AFM and put a custom tune on the car, can you pull this stuff off the ECU if warranty work is needed? I can't remember if I read about this in another thread or not. This will be a big deciding factor for me. I know if I change the exhaust that the exhaust warranty is shot. I know a supercharger can void your clutch. But does an "overall" tune from Jannetty void pretty much everything in the motor? I could definitely could see GM making that case. AFM being turned off......void warranty for good on the whole motor? Can you remove a "tune" and put stock back on to keep the warranty? Probably not at this day in age with EVERYONE reading forums now. I know I'd really welcome some more torque from my tranny. I miss the torque converter and stick from my mustang days.

Please keep any mods suggestions coming. I appreciate it!

BTW, I'm in Kansas City..........and I'm one helluva bbq smoker! LOL

[John Deere Racer]

Originally Posted by Supercharged SS

This has been proven time and time again. If you want your 30-35 rwhp you NEED long tube headers. It's not even a debate. And you DO NOT need a dyno tune for the bolt ons. Like I said, my car isn't even dyno tuned and I would be glad to line it up next to anyone who thinks you need a dyno tune. Any of the tuners on this site can send you a tune via email and youll be good to go,Teds service is worth his wait in gold and so is his auto tune but honestly most of the big name shops here can set you up. If they say you need a dyno tune run. Run far far away. They are thieves!

U b in the 9s with. Dyno tune
No way n hell a mail order tune will b dead on
With ur mods u r leaving alot on the table with a mail order tune

[Supercharged SS]

Theoretically yes. A tune will void the powertrain warranty if it causes the damage. So far no one has had any issues that I can recall but it's your choice if you want to battle GM. Same with LT's because of the cats being moved. Same as the tune warranty wise and if you want to battle gm. If your warranty is in question your best to leave the car alone. The little you'll gain is outweighed by the factory coverage.

[Supercharged SS]

Originally Posted by John Deere Racer

U b in the 9s with. Dyno tune
No way n hell a mail order tune will b dead on
With ur mods u r leaving alot on the table with a mail order tune

My car runs at the track, not on a dyno. That's why I log real world results on the track and Ted makes his adjustments accordingly. If the only driving I did was WOT on a dyno than I'd be an idiot not to have a dyno tune. Next time out my non dyno tuned car will make a 9 second pass and thanks for noticing.

Data logging is not even close to a mail order tune.

[The Stig]

Not to argue with SS but a tune voids your powertrain warranty. Period. The ECM keeps a date log of when it was flashed, and if that doesn't line up with what GM has on record then you're SOL.

Technically yes, GM needs to prove that the tune caused the problem before they can deny you warranty work. But fighting that process can and probably will take months.

[mikeSS]

Originally Posted by stieger

Not to argue with SS but a tune voids your powertrain warranty. Period. The ECM keeps a date log of when it was flashed, and if that doesn't line up with what GM has on record then you're SOL.

Technically yes, GM needs to prove that the tune caused the problem before they can deny you warranty work. But fighting that process can and probably will take months.

ummm not true, i know a number of people here who have tunes, and gotten there car fixed. it all depends on the dealership. i remember a guy here with a cammed camaro who got a new transmission under warranty. and another guy who had a bad lifter and he needed a new camshaft.

so in the end its about the dealership, but yes there is a chance they wont cover it.