BoutDrama
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Are there any entry level performance mods like air intake and/or exhaust worth it? If so, are there any you can recommend? Working on getting a catch can installed as well.
Entry Level Performance Mods
- Thread starter BoutDrama
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Put some of your specs in your signature so we can see exactly what
we are working with...
That being said, A "tune" would be your best money spent, period...
The air intakes are bulky, but not restrictive..
Exhaust would depend on your exact model , etc
we are working with...
That being said, A "tune" would be your best money spent, period...
The air intakes are bulky, but not restrictive..
Exhaust would depend on your exact model , etc
Jason in DLH
Cheeseburger and Fries
I was going to suggest a tune as well. I’ve heard good things about Black Bear, but I’m still a little stingy and haven’t coughed up the $500 for it.
Someone just shed light on a Dual Throttle Body intake manifold. Darn thing is about $1500 (not to mention the extra TB, etc).
I like the sound of the cold air intake, but I’m not sure if it helps over a quality, dry, high flow filter? Others will chime in to this.
How about a shorter final drive ratio for some better “get up and go?”
I’m enjoying the Borla XR1 muffler. At WOT it will increase your exhaust velocity (even if you don’t have a muffler).
If you haven’t changed your spark plugs in awhile, that’ll help.
Someone just shed light on a Dual Throttle Body intake manifold. Darn thing is about $1500 (not to mention the extra TB, etc).
I like the sound of the cold air intake, but I’m not sure if it helps over a quality, dry, high flow filter? Others will chime in to this.
How about a shorter final drive ratio for some better “get up and go?”
I’m enjoying the Borla XR1 muffler. At WOT it will increase your exhaust velocity (even if you don’t have a muffler).
If you haven’t changed your spark plugs in awhile, that’ll help.
swathdiver
Full Access Member
As Tom and Jason said, the tune should be the first thing you do as it lays the foundation for all future modifications. In my opinion, the best part of the tune is in the performance of the transmission. I was completely happy with the way my truck drove before having Justin at BlackBear tune them and blown away by what he did to both afterwards. My truck is rated at 310 horsepower SAE Net and puts down 307 through the traps at the drag strip after the tune. That's some good tunin'! New cats and y-pipe and the tune are the only modifications made thus far.
avalonandl
Full Access Member
Don't bother with air intake. IMHO the OEM flows plenty.
Tune is your best bet.
Tune is your best bet.
As others have said... Make sure all your maint is done.. Plugs, wires, trans fluid,
differential fluids, transfer case, coolant, oil. And all filters are new..
Then you have a good base.
Then do the Tune... You can then "add" things that just make you happy!!!
differential fluids, transfer case, coolant, oil. And all filters are new..
Then you have a good base.
Then do the Tune... You can then "add" things that just make you happy!!!
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^^^^^^^^^^ ->> Tune
A tune (~$600 from Black Bear Performance) is the best mod for the dollar you can make, and with a Black Bear Performance tune, you can receive free tune adjustments for the life of your truck, every time that you make a subsequent mod that could generate additional horsepower and torque with a tune adjustment. Depending on the year of your truck, the tune could also greatly improve transmission shifting performance, as the transmission computer can also be adjusted with a tune.
A tune (~$600 from Black Bear Performance) is the best mod for the dollar you can make, and with a Black Bear Performance tune, you can receive free tune adjustments for the life of your truck, every time that you make a subsequent mod that could generate additional horsepower and torque with a tune adjustment. Depending on the year of your truck, the tune could also greatly improve transmission shifting performance, as the transmission computer can also be adjusted with a tune.
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iamdub
Full Access Member
Tune is by far the best bang-for-the-buck.
You will gain virtually nothing from an air intake other than sound and looks. Same with exhaust. Making it sound better is always a plus in my book. But, there's no real performance here, so spend wisely. A ~$50 muffler is all you need. No reason to replace the piping (as with a cat back) unless yours is rusted or damaged. The factory setup is about as "cold" air as you can get, assuming the seal to the fender is good. Anything that doesn't seal will cost you power.
You will gain virtually nothing from an air intake other than sound and looks. Same with exhaust. Making it sound better is always a plus in my book. But, there's no real performance here, so spend wisely. A ~$50 muffler is all you need. No reason to replace the piping (as with a cat back) unless yours is rusted or damaged. The factory setup is about as "cold" air as you can get, assuming the seal to the fender is good. Anything that doesn't seal will cost you power.
Peacock
Full Access Member
Black Bear did an air intake dyno comparison and it clearly showed decent improvements in hp and torque per dollar spent, that and a free flowing muffler like the Jones jfp300 make a noticeable difference in sound and performance.
I did those two mods before getting the Black Bear tuner, the way I see it is that the previous mods change the characteristics over the stock configuration and would affect how the new tune would be calibrated, so why do the tune first only to have to get it retuned again after those two mods were installed.
Also the air intake system and the muffler are a cheaper way to start, muffler is about $30 bucks and the AFE power momentum GT was $400 (that one showed the biggest hp and tq increase on that dyno comparison).
Good luck picking up some speed !
I did those two mods before getting the Black Bear tuner, the way I see it is that the previous mods change the characteristics over the stock configuration and would affect how the new tune would be calibrated, so why do the tune first only to have to get it retuned again after those two mods were installed.
Also the air intake system and the muffler are a cheaper way to start, muffler is about $30 bucks and the AFE power momentum GT was $400 (that one showed the biggest hp and tq increase on that dyno comparison).
Good luck picking up some speed !
gooffeyguy
Tom
How much is gained from this $400 air intake? Do you have a link to the Blackbear dyno comparisons?
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iamdub
Full Access Member
The K2xx benefit more from an expensive aftermarket intake setup than ours do. Yeah, our GMT900s might also benefit from a really expensive setup as well. But, $400 is 3/4 the cost of a tune. I don't see the $400 intake being that much better than a $150 Airaid MIT, and the MIT isn't that much better than stock.
What it boils down to is you can spend $1,000 on a $400 high-end intake and a $600 tune and get ~25HP (just an example figure) or you can spend $750 on a $150 intake and $600 tune and have ~23HP. Or just the tune alone and spend $600 for ~20HP. You'll feel a 20HP difference, but you'll never miss that last 5.
What it boils down to is you can spend $1,000 on a $400 high-end intake and a $600 tune and get ~25HP (just an example figure) or you can spend $750 on a $150 intake and $600 tune and have ~23HP. Or just the tune alone and spend $600 for ~20HP. You'll feel a 20HP difference, but you'll never miss that last 5.
Peacock
Full Access Member
gooffeyguy
Tom
How different is the stock air intake on a 2016 (tested vehicle) then on the '07-'14 vehicles?
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Peacock
Full Access Member
I'm sure GM engineers a given amount of cfm air flow into their systems, I highly doubt they engineered less cfm flow into the 15 from the 14.
avalonandl
Full Access Member
25 HP ....? Cold air intake only...I call BS....
The GM CAI on a 2016 SS adds only about 8-10 hp and thats with a tune adjustment.
The GM CAI on a 2016 SS adds only about 8-10 hp and thats with a tune adjustment.
gooffeyguy
Tom
Thats why I'm doubtful. I mean, they used the same air intake for the 5.3l and 6.2l on the '07-'14 model years, so you'd think it would flow enough cfm, but I can't see that much of a hp gain on a stock motor with just a CAI swap.
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Peacock
Full Access Member
Take it up with Black Bear, it was their dyno comparison test not mine, tell them you think they're full of crap and their test is wrong, I do know there was a noticeable seat of the pants difference when I installed it.
Peacock
Full Access Member
Plus if you look at the spread of gains from each different kit some had hardly any gains at all, so it's not like they sweetened the dyno to show big gains, there was one that had more hp gains than the one I picked, but it also had less torque and the reason I didn't choose it.
Did you ever watch the air cleaner episode of Engine Masters ? Some air cleaners cost the engine over 100 hp vs no air cleaner at all, adding a dual snorkel was worth 60 hp vs a single snorkel. Some air cleaners actually gain hp over an open carb, the funniest was a salad bowl with a K&N extreme top on it gained 2 hp over no air cleaner at all, it's a great episode to pick up some knowledge with.
Did you ever watch the air cleaner episode of Engine Masters ? Some air cleaners cost the engine over 100 hp vs no air cleaner at all, adding a dual snorkel was worth 60 hp vs a single snorkel. Some air cleaners actually gain hp over an open carb, the funniest was a salad bowl with a K&N extreme top on it gained 2 hp over no air cleaner at all, it's a great episode to pick up some knowledge with.
gooffeyguy
Tom
2015+ engines are different than the engines in most of ours in this 2007-2014 forum. They're like EcoTech or something and the 6.2l is rated at 420hp vs our 403hp. They may gain more from intake mods than ours.
The butt-o-meter improvement you feel could just be from having a better flowing filter in there than the stock paper one.
Actually looking at that Black Bear info again, it does look like the kits that replace the stock paper filter with a higher flowing performance one make the most gains. Just replacing the tubing doesn't really make any (stock vs AirRaid MIT). So basically, like many of us on here usually tell people, that just getting a better filter ($60-80) into the stock air box will see about as much gains as the higher priced air intake system kits.
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Peacock
Full Access Member
Why are you so hell bent on saying I'm wrong and you're right, am I stepping on your toes as being the head performance tech in the group or something ???
I feel you would continue your fight even if I put the stock crap back on and dynoed it then put the cold air kit back on and dynoed again replicating Black Bear's results. Better yet why don't you actually go buy one and dyno it before and after, then you could have something to argue over, the way I see it is that only one of us has actually bought the product, used it and felt the results, the other is grasping in thin air.
These things weigh 5400 lbs and with 3.08 gears it takes a bit of an increase to feel anything in the seat of your pants, I'm by no means a new guy to performance vehicles either, I build my own stuff, I have nostalgia cars pulling the wheels every pass, I've got one pushing a thousand hp on pump gas, that's with no electronics, no trans brakes, no 2 steps, all old school technology per the rules. I feel I'm qualified to say if something works or not...good greif man.
I feel you would continue your fight even if I put the stock crap back on and dynoed it then put the cold air kit back on and dynoed again replicating Black Bear's results. Better yet why don't you actually go buy one and dyno it before and after, then you could have something to argue over, the way I see it is that only one of us has actually bought the product, used it and felt the results, the other is grasping in thin air.
These things weigh 5400 lbs and with 3.08 gears it takes a bit of an increase to feel anything in the seat of your pants, I'm by no means a new guy to performance vehicles either, I build my own stuff, I have nostalgia cars pulling the wheels every pass, I've got one pushing a thousand hp on pump gas, that's with no electronics, no trans brakes, no 2 steps, all old school technology per the rules. I feel I'm qualified to say if something works or not...good greif man.
