Want a fast Denali AWD

[fngh]

Hi everyone! My name is mike and I'm new here and to the full size truck world. I will get right to the point. Very recently, like a month ago I picked up a 2011 Denali 6.2 awd flex fuel and want more out of it. Its now got 106,*** miles? or really close. My question(s) is/are this. How do I start? What is the route the experts(you guys) would take to get this thing to really move? I do not have the dough to go S/C or TT yet but would love to get a lil more or a lot more until that day. I have ZERO experience w these trucks, please keep that in mind. I am willing to pay someone to do the work if necessary btw. Do I start w K&N? New plugs? Flash? That kinda stuff. Rookie stuff. Im not ashamed to crawl before walking. I plan on keeping this truck for awhile so I want to enjoy it. Also, I live in Huntington Beach, CA so if anybody has a guy, that'd be awesome as I am not very skilled nor equipped to do much. Just bein honest. Any and all recommendations are appreciated, even you turbo n supercharger guys as that day will come. Appreciate ur help and hope to hear back soon. Thank you. Sincerely, Mike

 

[drakon543]

intake and cat back exhaust is always a good start. listen to some exhaust sounds on YouTube and pick the sound you like. when your ready to do more is when id start thinking about tuning. a good tuner like black bear can get you more ponies from a bone stock setup. give them something to actually work with is when the tune really does its thing.

 

[91RS]

I don't think you're going to be able to do much and still meet CA emissions requirements. My suggestion if the emissions requirements aren't an issue would be an AFM hardware delete with a mild VVT cam which will probably get you 30hp and make it reliable for a long time to come.

 

[ivin74]

What is your budget? How soon do you wanna start the mods? What are your horsepower needs?


Common mods

Cold air intake 5hp
Headers 20 hp
Exhaust 5 to 10hp
Tune up to 20hp
High flow cats/ cat delete
High flow heads 5 to 25hp
Cam up to 50 hp
Aftermarket intakes up to 25
Turbo/ SC up to 120 hp w a good tune

 

[avalonandl]

I would check to see if either the Whipple or Magnuson kits are 50 state legal.

 

[wjburken]

Might check out @randeez 's build. If I remember right he was running in the 10's with his until he had a little issue with his "big" turbo and had to put his "small" turbo back on.

It all comes down to how much you're willing to spend for the HP.

 

[Dantheman1540]

Get a tune then save for a supercharger and have a very quick daily driver that hooks on the street and can still do all the normal truck stuff including be quiet and relaxing to drive like a denali should be.

 

[Jason in DLH]

I’ve heard great things of Black Bear tunes (it’s all done through the mail and they update your tune when you change something). I will be doing this in the future.

I personally started with resonator delete and swapped the muffler to a Borla XR1 muffler.

Then did a K&N Cold Air Intake with a JET Mass Air Flow sensor (basic stuff).

I’m thinking of a non VVT cam to go more aggressive, but like others say....not sure what you can do in CA! I’m in northern MN and I don’t even know what a smog test is all about!

 

[Jason in DLH]

I do like the supercharger option too, just a bit pricey for me sadly.

 

[Jason in DLH]

You can always bore and stroke it! I believe you can safely get to a 427 ci.