Homepage Garage Wiki Register Social Groups Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
#Camaro6
Go Back   CAMARO6 > Engine | Drivetrain | Powertrain Technical Discussions > V8 LT1 Engine, Exhaust, and Bolt-Ons


BeckyD @ James Martin Chevy


Post Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 07-16-2016, 08:09 PM   #1
gdgraph

 
gdgraph's Avatar
 
Drives: 2016 Camaro 2SS
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 916
How soon to do a few bolt-ons and tune...

So my 2016 2SS has about 800 mi on it so I'm a little half way to breaking her in. I just got my hands on an aftermarket intake that doesn't require a tune but I know I can get more out of it with one. Since the car is still brand new I was gonna hold off on putting too many mods on it and especially tuning it.

After watching videos of the Hooker Blackheart Cat-back exhaust I really want one especially after seeing how restrictive the pipes are and how big the muffler is on the stock NPP that's on my car now. I was thinking about putting on the cat-back and then getting an SCT X4 tuner from jannettyracing since they will give you a free custom tune for bolt ons if you buy the tuner through them.

Is this too much for a new car? I kinda like the idea of the factory warranty, it would be nice not to void it this early on in the game. With the SCT X4 tuner you can revert back to stock tune, and I know the aftermarket intake doesn't void the warranty, and I assume the cat back wouldn't either. Anyone know if GM would know about the tune if I reverted it back? I am guessing once you tune the car it voids the warranty. Also, how about doing the intake and cat back and not tuning it until a few years later, I know the intake is safe, is an intake and cat back safe to run without a tune?
gdgraph is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-16-2016, 09:04 PM   #2
mikeyg36


 
Drives: 2015 Z/28 #533
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: NY
Posts: 6,731
For me personally, I'm going to do bolt ons and not tune it, and this is coming from someone that had a cammed 5th gen. I just don't trust the LT1 in a 1st model year car especially after bringing it in for the oil pump recall. I don't know if the dealership is going to put it back together 100% correct and that's enough to scare me away from tuning it.

With that being said, there's nothing wrong with doing the mods. The dealership cannot void your warranty for just having exhaust or intake modifications and if they do, you should find another dealer. In the worst case you can always revert it to stock without leaving a trace of the mods. You will leave some performance on the table, but if you're really worried about tenths of a second you bought the wrong car and you should be building a race car. Just my .02 cents.
mikeyg36 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-16-2016, 09:24 PM   #3
gdgraph

 
gdgraph's Avatar
 
Drives: 2016 Camaro 2SS
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 916
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeyg36 View Post
For me personally, I'm going to do bolt ons and not tune it, and this is coming from someone that had a cammed 5th gen. I just don't trust the LT1 in a 1st model year car especially after bringing it in for the oil pump recall. I don't know if the dealership is going to put it back together 100% correct and that's enough to scare me away from tuning it.

With that being said, there's nothing wrong with doing the mods. The dealership cannot void your warranty for just having exhaust or intake modifications and if they do, you should find another dealer. In the worst case you can always revert it to stock without leaving a trace of the mods. You will leave some performance on the table, but if you're really worried about tenths of a second you bought the wrong car and you should be building a race car. Just my .02 cents.
That's some really good words of wisdom, I appreciate the advice. I'd love to do the bolt ons now, I already bought the Mishimoto intake (just because I got a good deal from another guy on the forum) and I really have my eyes on a louder exhaust to replace the stock NPP (more for the better sound than to gain hp), I think that would scratch the itch and then I probably wouldn't do too much more for a while. I know a tune would bring those small bolt ons to life but I think it's too risky with warranty. Sounds like it's safe for the car to to an intake and catback without a tune. I'm not looking to track the car or anything, just to have some fun driving it and maybe embarrassing a Mustang owner here and there lol.
gdgraph is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-16-2016, 09:59 PM   #4
mikeyg36


 
Drives: 2015 Z/28 #533
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: NY
Posts: 6,731
Quote:
Originally Posted by gdgraph View Post
That's some really good words of wisdom, I appreciate the advice. I'd love to do the bolt ons now, I already bought the Mishimoto intake (just because I got a good deal from another guy on the forum) and I really have my eyes on a louder exhaust to replace the stock NPP (more for the better sound than to gain hp), I think that would scratch the itch and then I probably wouldn't do too much more for a while. I know a tune would bring those small bolt ons to life but I think it's too risky with warranty. Sounds like it's safe for the car to to an intake and catback without a tune. I'm not looking to track the car or anything, just to have some fun driving it and maybe embarrassing a Mustang owner here and there lol.
Instead of gutting the NPP have you considered a set of headers? The stock cats soak up a lot of sound. You'll get a check engine light without having a tune but I'm sure one of the o2 extender or spark plug de-fouler methods work on this car and fix the issue. That's what I'm going to try with mine.
mikeyg36 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-16-2016, 10:16 PM   #5
gdgraph

 
gdgraph's Avatar
 
Drives: 2016 Camaro 2SS
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 916
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeyg36 View Post
Instead of gutting the NPP have you considered a set of headers? The stock cats soak up a lot of sound. You'll get a check engine light without having a tune but I'm sure one of the o2 extender or spark plug de-fouler methods work on this car and fix the issue. That's what I'm going to try with mine.
My origional plan was intake and cat back first then headers and high flow cats a few years latter. I always figured that headers were more risky and that you'd definitely need to tune it afterwards, so I was leaning more towards the cat back since I know you can run those with no tunes.

Are you talking about doing high flow cats or deleting them and putting in a test pipe? I have seen a video with the secondary cats deleted and there was a huge sound difference but that always worries me about passing inspection, we have to do emissions every two years in VA.

Another reason I was leaning more towards the cat back is because I saw a stock NPP and the muffler is rediculously large and the pipes and crushed flat making it look like it only lets about half of the exhaust through, maybe even less.

The cat back runs $1500-1800, what would headers run?
gdgraph is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-16-2016, 10:40 PM   #6
mikeyg36


 
Drives: 2015 Z/28 #533
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: NY
Posts: 6,731
Quote:
Originally Posted by gdgraph View Post
My origional plan was intake and cat back first then headers and high flow cats a few years latter. I always figured that headers were more risky and that you'd definitely need to tune it afterwards, so I was leaning more towards the cat back since I know you can run those with no tunes.

Are you talking about doing high flow cats or deleting them and putting in a test pipe? I have seen a video with the secondary cats deleted and there was a huge sound difference but that always worries me about passing inspection, we have to do emissions every two years in VA.

Another reason I was leaning more towards the cat back is because I saw a stock NPP and the muffler is rediculously large and the pipes and crushed flat making it look like it only lets about half of the exhaust through, maybe even less.

The cat back runs $1500-1800, what would headers run?
You'll see noticeable gains in sound with either high flow cats or no cats. I had a full muffler delete on my 5th gen with the stock manifolds and cats and it was pretty tame. Track mode on the NPP or a fuse pull is essentially the same thing. A full cat delete will be more raspy so keep that in mind. In terms of inspection it all depends on your state. For my Maryland inspection I stunk out the whole garage with no cats and they passed me because I didn't have a CEL. Top of the line headers from ARH, SW, and Kooks usually run around the 1k-1.2k I believe. It might be more with cats.
mikeyg36 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2016, 07:37 AM   #7
gdgraph

 
gdgraph's Avatar
 
Drives: 2016 Camaro 2SS
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 916
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeyg36 View Post
You'll see noticeable gains in sound with either high flow cats or no cats. I had a full muffler delete on my 5th gen with the stock manifolds and cats and it was pretty tame. Track mode on the NPP or a fuse pull is essentially the same thing. A full cat delete will be more raspy so keep that in mind. In terms of inspection it all depends on your state. For my Maryland inspection I stunk out the whole garage with no cats and they passed me because I didn't have a CEL. Top of the line headers from ARH, SW, and Kooks usually run around the 1k-1.2k I believe. It might be more with cats.
That's pretty funny, I forgot that when you don't have cats you can also smell the difference in the exhaust.

I'll have to look into the high flow cat options or test pipes if that will really change the sound. Even if it becomes an issue, they wouldn't be that hard to bolt the stock ones back in.
gdgraph is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Post Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:47 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.