2004 Impala SS upgrade suggestions?

[waternchlorine]

Hey all, I'm about to pay off my SS, and I'm wanting to do some upgrades. The main point of these upgrades are to improve performance while also improving fuel economy, but since I'm not familiar with this class of engine, I wanted to see what you all think and hear what you all have done. Collective brain, right? So anyway, here's what I had in mind:

1, upgrade the air intake system to K&N's cold air intake system: 57-3045
2, upgrade the exhaust system with Corsa's Cat-back exhaust: 14180

Anyone have any other suggestions?

[crazy Jim]

the two things you have suggested should help but, as mentioned in a previous post, you will have to drive many thousands of miles for the gas savings to break even. If you mainly want performance then yes, by all means go for it, although the performance gains will be marginal and really only noticable at higher RPMs. The V6 is not a great candidate for modding so I am planning on purchasing a new rear drive V8 Implala in 2010.
one other thing:
A 3:73 or 4:11 gear would get you the most bang for the buck (if available for the front drive tranny) but gets you worse gas mileage.

[Sschev]

Forget the K&N filter, they are from some marketing group just trying to make a buck from unfounded claims, fact is they are bad for your car in the long run. Save your money and buy a good quality air filter, your car will thank you. You probably will get more bang for your buck reprograming your computer. Most cars will only run to 70% of their ability because the computer restricts their performance. If you can unleash just some of that pent up power you will be surprised at the difference. You need to keep some of the controls on so that you don't blow up your engine, rev limiters etc. The K&N stuff is just a bunch expensive hype your better off without.

[crazy Jim]

Originally Posted by Sschev

Forget the K&N filter, they are from some marketing group just trying to make a buck from unfounded claims, fact is they are bad for your car in the long run. Save your money and buy a good quality air filter, your car will thank you. You probably will get more bang for your buck reprograming your computer. Most cars will only run to 70% of their ability because the computer restricts their performance. If you can unleash just some of that pent up power you will be surprised at the difference. You need to keep some of the controls on so that you don't blow up your engine, rev limiters etc. The K&N stuff is just a bunch expensive hype your better off without.

about 50 million racers will have to disagree with this statement

[RobAhr24]

How good will a hypertech programmer help out? Anybody out there do any dyno tests to see how much they increase hp and torque?

[redly1]

Originally Posted by crazy Jim

about 50 million racers will have to disagree with this statement

how many miles do racers keep their cars?
your post made me laugh

[dwalmop]

How on earth is it bad for your car? Please explain, and please don't say "that's what I heard."

[PAman]

The filter and exhaust are only a start. You need ECM programming to make them effective. There’s a lot more out there, including pulley changes to speed up the supercharger, intercoolers and larger injectors, etc. Again, the ECM program needs modification. Actually, higher fuel octane will give SC’ed and turbo’ed engines a serious HP increase. Look into real octane increasers or racing gas, not the auto supply additives junk. With the right ECM programming, the knock sensors will allow quite a bit of spark advance to properly utilize high octane fuel. Dyno verification will help you determine what torque you’re putting into the the 4T65E-HD. I’ll stir the pot on the K&N filter argument: If you change your oil frequently enough, the difference in engine longevity will be miniscule. K&N should be able to tell you how frequently. You may see a difference at 150K or 200K miles… …

[phewop118]

Whoever said that the 3.8 isn't very mod-able? This is own hell of a modded engine everywhere. 3800performance.com is a great place to look for upgrades. Supposedly, they've gotten W-bodies into the upper 10-sec quarter mile range with the 3.8 supercharged.

[redly1]

Originally Posted by dwalmop

How on earth is it bad for your car? Please explain, and please don't say "that's what I heard."

The main things that I have read combine a K&N filter with user error. Too much oil in the K&N results in the MAF getting clogged/distorted, not to mention the rest of the intake.

But hey, no one would ever stray from the instructions, would they?

[theking1324]

ive got those 2 upgrades on my car along with a few other, go to the site 3800performance.com and it has a list of a lot of things for the ss, i bought a smalley supercharger pulley which added a lot of hp and tourque for only like 80 bucks....take a look