Good Mods For Horsepower Gain

[trans24am]

i have a 2002 Pontiac Trans am, completely stock right now besides just having a K&N filter in with the stock air lid and a Magnaflow cat back exhaust. I want to wake this beast up more and was hoping you guys could give me a good start to really start to gain horsepower before i do or should say save up for a cam and heads setup. Thanks for reading and your opinions

[rfalker1]

from what I have learned everything is a puzzle, you change one thing you end up changing the other. Some other people will know a lot better than me, so I will let them answer, good luck... and about how much power do you want and what are you making now would be an appropriate question?

[killer67]

headers and a tune for bolt on (at least 35-40 rwhp) and head and cam package (50+ rwhp depending on head choice and aggressive your cam selection) if you want to spend a little more. Next step is a blower

[THE TECH]

headers and a tune

I agree.

[rfalker1]

Killer 67, what would be the best header choice?

[1973Firebird01]

Transam24am,
I have a 01 WS6 that I have done alot to. I did it over time on a budget. I set the car up for auto-x and road course stuff while I was stationed in Germany. As for the motor, Pacesetter headers ($300) + y-pipe & new airlid will start to wake it up. I did heads (5.3 stage 2.5 cnc ported $1079) with cam 237/242 .609/.609 112($379), LS7 lifters($127), hardened pusrods($110). underdrive pulley($214) and a few other small items all for under $2800 & got me 486rwhp 405 rwtq. I did change the rod bolts to Katech for the lower end. The injectors, intake, and throttle body are still stock...I just can't see spending $1300 to replace that stuff for another 30hp (max). I've had 2 other cams in the car a 224/224 .558/.558 114 and a 237/242 .589/.589 112, the 224 was nice but the 237/242 really brought it to life. This setup has roughly 20K on it and has been trouble free, 4 Nurburgring weekends, 15 Hockenheim sessions and the majority of the 63,000 total miles are Autobahn. In auto-x trim (on street tires) it turns 12.51 @ 115mph in the 1/4..
If you can swing it, do the airlid, headers, cam, & good tune first, that'll give the most bang for the buck. This is just the setup I have and really like, I know that there are better out there but it worked great for my budget.

[killer67]

Killer 67, what would be the best header choice?

By the numbers, it seems that 1 7/8 X 3" American Racing, Kooks, or QTP long tubes with off-road y-pipe will net you the most gain. They are also the most expensive. I am sure others may have varying opinions but I highly recommend at least 304 stainless. They sound menacing as well! True dual 3" pipes out the back would also help. This info also depends on how low your car sits.

Pacesetter would be a more budget alternative...I heard fitment is not as straightforward though

[67 ls1 vert]

I had a 02 ws6 with headers, true duals...big pain to build, don't recommend it. NX 150 shot with NX mafs, nitrous cam, 4.10 gears running a 6 spd I managed a 11.20 @ 123 mph. Made 375 na and 505 with 150 shot. That car was a lot of fun for not to much money. A good set of heads would have got me in the 10's.

[Concept One Pulleys]

There are lots of things you can do to get more HP/performance. Will you be racing the car, showing the car, etc? If so, you may need to go in different directions when purchasing specific parts to have them offer high performance vs. good looks.

Keep us posted on your progress!

Kevin
Concept One Pulleys
Made in the USA
Billet Pulley Systems (http://www.c1pulleys.com)