# What Mods are best bang for the buck?



## Black06GTO (Nov 13, 2010)

I just bought a 2006 GTO automatic for the wife.arty: needless to say i was super excited she chose the GTO over some of the other luxury cars she was looking at! Now i have been researching and it seems i want to get, new camshaft, Headers, Heads, K&N air intake. What would be a good price for a professional shop to put these in? whatkind of performance difference should i expect from doing these mods? would the car be "friendly" enough to drive to my wifes work and back, sit in traffic at idle without over heating, not set off alarms of parked cars when we are in neighborhood? We are both new to performance cars, but i think now the bug has bitten us both! Thanks for any information you can help us with! The GTO already sounds great and has Borla Cat back exaust.


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## 05GTO (Oct 6, 2004)

Depending on the cam you should see anywhere from 400 to 450 rwhp, with an automatic you may also need a stall torque converter if the idle is to choppy. If I had it to do over I would go with a supercharger, larger injectors and headers. If you change the cam keep the LSA around 14-16, increase the lift to the high 500s. this combination may get you closer to 475 to 550 rwhp and still be streetable.

JMHO


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

Getting headers, cam, heads, stall, intake, tune and installed would set you back $6,000-$7,000 to do it right. Finding a truly competent tuner is a lot harder than you think and most people don't even really know if they have a proper tune. As far as cams you can go down into the 110-111 lsa range easily and have it very streetable _IF_ you do find that tuner. That's where drive-ability comes from. The higher lsa cams can be tuned by a monkey even if poorly and still drive OK. Any cam worth the money and efforst of putting it in is going to need a higher stall torque converter IMHO. In the short term I'd get the LT headers, maybe intake and for sure a tune and see how you like it. That will set you back ~$2,500. It's a good base for anything in the future if you decide but see what you think of that first.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

Have her learn to drive the car... thats the first mod you should do.


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## Black06GTO (Nov 13, 2010)

No Mod needed on that


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

Black06GTO said:


> No Mod needed on that





Black06GTO said:


> We are both new to performance cars, but i think now the bug has bitten us both!


Like I said, driver mod. Good tires, some suspension(search the forum and you will see its really crappy), and a tune will keep you guys happy for awhile.


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## Black06GTO (Nov 13, 2010)

lol jaypalamar, that last post of mine was from my wife, she is kinda.... "fiesty"! This car is a blast to drive already, i think i am going to wait till the newness and the thrill wears off a little before modding it. that will also give me and the wife a while to learn the car. i have been watching other GTO's on youtube and think i eventually will go with just the boltons, as i dont really care for the whistle of a sc or a turbo. Thanks for your responces everyone, this is an awesome forum!


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## 87GN06GTO07IRL (Aug 10, 2009)

Black06GTO said:


> i eventually will go with just the boltons, as i dont really care for the whistle of a sc or a turbo.


In that case headers, tune, and gears will give you the most for your dollar.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

Where are you located?


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## Black06GTO (Nov 13, 2010)

Houston Tx


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

I'd put on some stop-fast parts before go-fast parts.


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## Black06GTO (Nov 13, 2010)

i was kind of thinking the same thing, and i have changed brakes, and rotors before, but never calipers, and never on a high performance car. what websites can i go on to see what the hot setup is? i would like bigger brakes, how big would fit on the 18" rims? is there anything different about changing brakes in a GTO than any other disk brake vehicle?


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## motoristx (Apr 27, 2010)

Black06GTO said:


> i was kind of thinking the same thing, and i have changed brakes, and rotors before, but never calipers, and never on a high performance car. what websites can i go on to see what the hot setup is? i would like bigger brakes, how big would fit on the 18" rims? is there anything different about changing brakes in a GTO than any other disk brake vehicle?


the 05' and 06' brakes are a lot better then the 04'. I just went with slotted & dimpled rotors, and some higher performance pads. lastly, if you get a cam, check your vacuum off your intake. If it's less then 14Hg Vac, look into a Vacuum Resivour.

i see you have an 06, your calipers should be large enough for any kinda street application

next, you need to replace the stock rubber bushing in the front. i used a combonation of energy suspension and pedders bushings to prevent the front end from pulling while under heavy braking. there are atleast 3 on each lower side needing replacement


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## SANDU002 (Oct 13, 2004)

I would agree with LT headers, CAI and tune. Once you have these, work on suspension upgrades. Your fine with the brakes. When you are ready for tires, you can put a 245/40/18 on all around with no fitment issues. Stock size is 235/40/18.


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## johni53 (Feb 10, 2010)

I'm from Houston too, live on the west side. Good luck with your goat, I love mine. It's stock for now except for a wheel change.


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## Black06GTO (Nov 13, 2010)

I know we have 245's in the back, but i think 235s in the front. i see there are at least 3 of us that live kinda close, i live in cypress. are any of you in the gto car clubs?


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

Black06GTO said:


> I know we have 245's in the back, but i think 235s in the front. i see there are at least 3 of us that live kinda close, i live in cypress. are any of you in the gto car clubs?


Stock 17s had 245/45/17 on front and back. Stock 18s had 235/40/18 on the front and back. GTOs did not have staggered setups.


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## Black06GTO (Nov 13, 2010)

i know but mine was just bought about 3 weeks ago and they go have wider back tires. once the tires wear out i will replace with 245s all around.


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## motoristx (Apr 27, 2010)

i had to update my bushings in the lower front for my 245s. they like to rub a 1/16" ring all the way around. might want to check that top strut bushing too, mine had 2 new ones when i bought the car.

ya i'm In houston area too, mines on jacks right now though


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## Black06GTO (Nov 13, 2010)

the lady we bought the car from just replaced them, and she said she read on forum that 235s were as big as she thought she wanted to go in the front cause of a rub issue. so i guess. she was right. the only thing i dont like about staggered sizes is not being able to rotate the tires right.


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

Black06GTO said:


> i was kind of thinking the same thing, and i have changed brakes, and rotors before, but never calipers, and never on a high performance car. what websites can i go on to see what the hot setup is? i would like bigger brakes, how big would fit on the 18" rims? is there anything different about changing brakes in a GTO than any other disk brake vehicle?


Our calipers are fine. What you want is slotted rotors and braided SS hoses to the calipers. Probably wouldn't hurt to run DOT5.1 brake fluid, either. OEM pads (and friction material) should do the best job, whereas aftermarkets can be unpredictable.

It also wouldn't hurt to clean up your hub flanges of any dirt and corrosion before installing new rotors and checking for both runout and paralellism (thickness variation) within spec before reinstalling the caliper. If not, you should have them turned to get them true for best performance.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

Black06GTO said:


> the lady we bought the car from just replaced them, and she said she read on forum that 235s were as big as she thought she wanted to go in the front cause of a rub issue. so i guess. she was right. the only thing i dont like about staggered sizes is not being able to rotate the tires right.


The lady is wrong. You better check your suspension. I would bet money you have bad RR bushings and probally collaspesed strut mounts at the least.

SS lines probally won't make any improvements to a street/occassional track car.


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

jpalamar said:


> SS lines probally won't make any improvements to a street/occassional track car.


Braided SS lines don't have the capacity to expand under pressure like a rubber hose does/will with age. Helps contribute to pedal firmness.


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

Poncho Dan said:


> Braided SS lines don't have the capacity to expand under pressure like a rubber hose does/will with age. Helps contribute to pedal firmness.


...also they don't colapse in on themselfs after a while and lock up the caliper. I had this happen to me on my T/A. Lucky I kept tools in the car so I could pull over and bleed it after two applications, had to drive 15 miles that way.


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## The Detailer (Nov 1, 2009)

Best bang for the money a high stall converter, and drag radials if your going to track the car any, Followed by lt's and a good tune.


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## 06-BLACK-GOAT (Jun 2, 2011)

I am also in cypress... I ran a crotch rocket the other day with my
Bone stock 6.0 of course got whipped but h*ll why not right? At the light talking with him, he was saying that the corsa sport cat-back would bs the best choice for performance/ sound in exhaust. I would be adding kooks LT headers as well. Any input? Thanks


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

06-BLACK-GOAT said:


> I am also in cypress... I ran a crotch rocket the other day with my
> Bone stock 6.0 of course got whipped but h*ll why not right? At the light talking with him, he was saying that the corsa sport cat-back would bs the best choice for performance/ sound in exhaust. I would be adding kooks LT headers as well. Any input? Thanks


On a stockish car a catback would be mainly for a different sound. The stock exhaust is actually pretty good. I'd spend my money on other go-fast parts first and for sure get a tune after the headers.


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

06-BLACK-GOAT said:


> I am also in cypress... I ran a crotch rocket the other day with my
> Bone stock 6.0 of course got whipped but h*ll why not right? At the light talking with him, he was saying that the corsa sport cat-back would bs the best choice for performance/ sound in exhaust. I would be adding kooks LT headers as well. Any input? Thanks


For the price of that cat back new you can have the cam kit and part of your headers paid for. Save up some more money to pay for tune, install and the rest of the headers.


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

I bought a catback just to save 33 pounds.









But I did spend almost $1k on a laptop/HPT/wideband before that...


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## msclhed79 (Jul 14, 2010)

I know this is an engine related post, but as far as best bang for the buck I would add the SCSS engine and tranny mounts. I put them on my 04 m6 and the feel of the car changed immediately. With the engine and tranny locked in to the rest of the car it felt way more stable in the bends and the throttle response was better. I would also mention that the shifter feel was better too but you have an auto so that won't factor in to it at all. Regardless for a couple hundred bucks those parts produced the biggest difference in the car to me.


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

msclhed79 said:


> I know this is an engine related post, but as far as best bang for the buck I would add the SCSS engine and tranny mounts. I put them on my 04 m6 and the feel of the car changed immediately. With the engine and tranny locked in to the rest of the car it felt way more stable in the bends and the throttle response was better. I would also mention that the shifter feel was better too but you have an auto so that won't factor in to it at all. Regardless for a couple hundred bucks those parts produced the biggest difference in the car to me.


It would be much easier for an '04 to do the Window Weld mod on the trans mount and get an Ingalls Stiffy for the engine. I would argue if they were the "best" mod for the car but I guess that's somewhat subjective and depends on your goals.


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## dude515 (Mar 30, 2011)

not trying to hijack but i bought my torrid red 04 a couple months ago here in virginia and i know it came from houston and i was actually trying to track down the original owner. thought it was funny there were so many people from that area.


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## n0b0dy1987 (Dec 1, 2010)

Not trying to threadjack either but dang Svede, Im so jealous of your intake. It just looks so much better than this crappy vararam intake that I bought. If i wouldnt have been so impatient and waited until west coast speed caught up on orders i'd have that too. Still gonna pick one up after my deployment though.


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