Your experience appreciated

[LT1ZOB]

Without the long story, I thought about selling my 2013 SS 1LE camaro last year. For those who aren’t familiar, the 13 -15 1LE came only with a LS3 coupled with a Tremec TR6060 6speed. Because I was considering selling it, I took everything off expect the ls7 z28 cold air intake and the ported TB (a buddy of mine ported and polished it)
So, the baseline on the car was 386 at the rear wheels, bone stock. On Saturday, I put it up on the same DynoJet, same air temps, and it put down 412hp at the rear wheels. Pretty damn impressive for a home ported tb and a cold air intake.
Now the Tahoe related question:
Anyone try a ported TB on the Tahoe? Worth doing it? Not interested in tune or anything other than maybe a CAI (I have an oiled K&N in it now). I still have bumper to bumper and plenty of the 5/60 PT warranty left. Just looking to slightly wake it up, mostly for quicker throttle response. Completely understand I won’t duplicate my 386 to 412hp bump ratio with just a tb and cai on the Tahoe. (And no thanks on gadgets that mess with drive by wire setups that claim to quicken throttle response).
Thank you

 

[Tylus]

honestly just buy a tuner and get a decent custom tune. Black Bear Tuning is the preferred for the 2015+ crowd. There is no need to get a TB or CAI. Tuning alone will make the rig a night and day difference...on trans tuning only. Go for a hotter tune and you will be quite surprised at it

a CAI is a waste of time/money unless you have supporting mods (ie a Supercharger). The factory airbox can outflow any demand the engine can ever put on it. The only thing you'll gain with a CAI is noise. It will sound more "V-8". If that's the desired course, I can recommend a nice Magnaflow muffler that gives it some grrr without being stupid loud.

 

[LT1ZOB]

Thanks. I know the beauty of tuning well, my issue is that it’s a DD. I’m afraid of a warranty block. Regardless of retuning back to stock, it will store flashes showing the ECU has been tampered with.

 

[Tylus]

TB and CAI are less than worthless without tuning. Would never install without

 

[RST Dana]

Installing a TB would definitely be a warranty issue unless you reinstall the factory one every time.

 

[cardude2000]

honestly just buy a tuner and get a decent custom tune. Black Bear Tuning is the preferred for the 2015+ crowd. There is no need to get a TB or CAI. Tuning alone will make the rig a night and day difference...on trans tuning only. Go for a hotter tune and you will be quite surprised at it

a CAI is a waste of time/money unless you have supporting mods (ie a Supercharger). The factory airbox can outflow any demand the engine can ever put on it. The only thing you'll gain with a CAI is noise. It will sound more "V-8". If that's the desired course, I can recommend a nice Magnaflow muffler that gives it some grrr without being stupid loud.

Someone did a great dyno test with a bunch of CAI’s a year or two ago and I think some of them showed 10-15hp gains?

 

[Tylus]

Someone did a great dyno test with a bunch of CAI’s a year or two ago and I think some of them showed 10-15hp gains?

With tuning they see gains. Just slapping a CAI on there won’t net gains.

You have to tell the PCM to use the extra air flow.


There is an interesting post in this forum discussing how Chevy uses air intake to control transmission operation.

 

[LT1ZOB]

All valid points. However, and the reason I was shocked (because I’m a big believer in tuning after any work), my Camaro numbers posted above are based on factory tune. Only a Z28 cai and ported TB took it from from 386 to 412. Got to admit, I’ve been around cars since I was 10. Never seen anything like that without a tune. Your factory tune will dumb down most of your additions
And ported TB has an impact on throttle response mostly, nothing really added HP wise

 

[pwtr02ss]

With tuning they see gains. Just slapping a CAI on there won’t net gains.

You have to tell the PCM to use the extra air flow.

Thats not entirely true. The MAF will make corrections to the fuel table based on incoming air flow. The benefit to a CAI is is smooths the airflow coming into the intake along with a higher flow filter will help. I'm not saying you'll gain the full 20hp and yes a tune is optimal, but to say a cold air has zero performance, is incorrect

 

[cardude2000]

Thanks not entirely true. The MAF will make corrections to the fuel table based on incoming air flow. The benefit to a CAI is is smooths the airflow coming into the intake along with a higher flow filter will help. I'm not saying you'll gain the full 20hp and yes a tune is optimal, but to say a cold air has zero performance, is incorrect

Yeah, I think blackbear or NorCal (can’t remember who but I think one of them) did the dynos without tuning

 

[G00se]

http://blackbearperformance.com/IntakeTestResults_2016.asp

 

[cardude2000]

http://blackbearperformance.com/IntakeTestResults_2016.asp

Ah right. Thanks.

Yeah the volant, with no tuning, adds 20HP

 

[mountie]

A friend dropped one of our Burb engines into a '70 Chevelle, Put 2 big turbos on it.....

It took him a month for the tuning / laptop to configure it, but it hauls now!!

( I wouldn't commute in it )

 

[Jorge1313]

Someone told me the filter of k and n will miasma it flow better than the regular filter and you will notice a little more growl

 

[mountie]

Someone told me the filter of k and n will miasma it flow better than the regular filter and you will notice a little more growl

Yes, K&N filters are less restrictive, allowing an increase of air flow, but careful if you oil the filament as K&N suggests. It can contaminate the Air Mass sensor.

 

[Wolfbraid]

I think the problem with most "CAI" on the market is that they aren't actually drawing cold air from outside the engine bay, and that is why they typically don't show gains.

 

[mountie]

My '88 ..... I found a stainless steel 4" duct. Figured a location to cut a 4" hole, a 90 degree turn behind my right-side headlight, to a 4"x12" air scoop behind the grill. Kinda like a ram air on the highway.

 

[swathdiver]

Thanks. I know the beauty of tuning well, my issue is that it’s a DD. I’m afraid of a warranty block. Regardless of retuning back to stock, it will store flashes showing the ECU has been tampered with.

George, pretty sure BlackBear was a work around for this. Last I heard, they'd never had a customer lose their warranty or were even detected.

 

[BlackBearPerf]

Thanks. I know the beauty of tuning well, my issue is that it’s a DD. I’m afraid of a warranty block. Regardless of retuning back to stock, it will store flashes showing the ECU has been tampered with.

We utilize multiple methods to ensure that there is no trace of the tune on the ECM and to date, have had no warranty issues with any customer that has appropriately utilized our service.