MTI Racing Review (Camshaft, Gears, Suspension, Handling)

[Deric884]

Hey all,

I recently took my car to MTI Racing to get some mods done to it and I figure Id be kind and post a review here.

When I dropped the car off, I already had these performance mods done to it (some cosmetic mods as well, but this is the important stuff):

Cold Air Intake from CAI, Inc.
Kooks 1 7/8 LT Headers with high flow cats
MGW Short Throw Shifter
GMPP Exhaust
Dyno and Tune
SLP Skip Shift Eliminator

AT MTI, they did the following:

MTI Racing Stage 2 Camshaft Upgrade
Install Richmond 4.10 gears (I bought these previously through ZZ Motorsports—great vendor)
MTI Sway Bars
MTI Racing Coilover Suspension
BMR Subframe Connectors
BMR Transmission Tunnel Brace

I’ll do the overall impressions first, then go into each mod real quick in detail:

OVERALL

I have to say, it’s a night and day difference. It was a smooth, powerful ride before. Its still smooth, although not as smooth as before. However, now it’s a total beast to drive. Great power, handles like a dream or a much, much smaller and lighter car (that large feeling you get with the factory steering is gone). I have great power on demand throughout the entire range, accelerating hard and driving fast and turning quick are just complete pleasures. I loved the car before but it is really awesome now.

As far as the dyno goes, they dyno’d my car with my original mods at 378 RWHP—which is lower than the original dyno I had done which put it at 409 RWHP, with mods. No big deal, every dyno is different, and it’s a tuning tool more than anything else. I certainly cant complain about the results. I now dyno’d at 458 RWHP, so it’s a significant change no matter how you look at it.

Also, the guys at MTI themselves were great. Each time I went over to the shop I got a tour of the shop itself, and Kevin and the owner Reese Cox himself showed me around. They’re all great guys—they’re just really into racing and cars, and seemed excited to be sharing that passion with customers. Dealing with them was a great experience. The A/C for some reason stopped working while it was there at MTI, and Reese himself came out to let me know that since I dropped the car off with working AC, Id get it back with working AC. They stayed after hours to fix it for me (which is great, because it’s a two hour hike from me to them). And all that was without me even asking. It was great customer service all around.

Only hiccup is my speedometer is now not in sync due to the 4.10 gears, but I should be able to take it back by this week to get it fixed, no issue.

CAMSHAFT

This thing is fantastic. The car has great power all the time. Idle is a little higher than before—although not too much—and while the ride is not quite as smooth as it was originally (not a big concern for me) there’s a satisfying old school muscle car feel to it. If old school muscle cars had this much power and fantastic handling. And while the power is great, the sounds the car makes are just as fun. The car now sounds like an old school muscle car both at idle and under acceleration, and I couldn’t be happier.

RICHMOND 4.10 GEARS

Another mod I would highly suggest. Launches are ten times easier than they used to be—the stock gears were kind of weird under heavy acceleration from first. Not anymore---these gears are smooth and responsive, and heavy acceleration in them from 1st to 4th is just a blast. My gas mileage hasn’t decreased that much, which is nice (though I don’t really care either way). 5th and 6th are also a lot more fun—they were definitely gutless gears stock—had to downshift to 4th to get really satisfying passing speed on the highway, for instance—but now even 6th can pass other cars with no issue, and DEFINITELY not a problem in 5th. My RPMs have obviously increased while cruising, but not bad at all- was expecting way worse. I still have to be doing around 65 before I hit 2000 RPMs in 6th, which is great.

HANDLING/SUSPENSION MODS

Makes more sense to do this together. The coilovers were a great buy—I swear its actually more comfortable than the stock suspension. Potholes that used to bump me pretty good I cruise over now. And that car sits lower and has a more aggressive stance, which is also cool. FOverall, they just have a firm, sensitive, yet comfortable feel to them. Worth doing.

The sway bars and subframe connectors have really changed the driving experience of the car. It now feels very “point, shoot". It darts around like a much, much smaller vehicle, and the handling is very tight. Wheel hop is completely gone. Couldn’t be happier.



Thanks to the crew at MTI! I’ll be dropping it back off with you when its time to get supercharged!

[g-townmach]

I bet its a whole new car now. I commend you on your mods... great choices.

[ADM PERFORMANCE]

MTI does great work.Glad to see they met all your expectations

What power was it in SAE ?

[Deric884]

Not sure, i just walked away with the RWHP graph and was glad for it. Car did make around 365 RWHP originallym as I recall.

[MTI Racing Kevin]

Deric884
All of us at MTI Racing want to thank you for allowing us to make your Camaro the car you deserve. The camshaft swap just made incredible power in your car as you now know and the coilover's with the swaybars really do make the car feel smaller and nimble. I noticed in your description you said the car feels completly different, wait til you get the supercharger, it will change completly again for the better. It was a pleasure having you here and we hope to see you at the CamaroFest this weekend.

[jamesc1123]

If you want, I'll drive it to Camaro5 Fest for you and I'm sure they'll do it for me there... I gotta get a ride at some point.