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Horsepower/Mileage gains, New S/C Cobalt SS owner/old Turbo SS Camaro owner

4K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  TheToolmaker 
#1 ·
Hey Guys, first post as a Cobalt owner. A drunk driver just took out my turbo SS Camaro and I bought the Cobalt as a fun commuter.

I'm loving the car, it handles very well and the little motor is surprisingly fast. 600-800 RWHP is fast for me so I don't really plan on rebuilding and tearing this car up to get it to run 12s :rolleyes: while ruining its excellent mileage and reliability. Let me know what your suggestions are but here's what I'm looking for. I love mods that improve efficiency and horsepower with out giving up mileage.
What gains are people seeing with a header, cat, and cat back exhaust? Is this something worth spending $800 on? The stock exhaust looks pretty smooth, maybe just a shorty header?
The stock intake pipe looks pretty good too; I guess you could throw on a K&N for a larger surface area for the air to flow through. I hate the drone of a 5" exhaust-tipped civic, is that what I'm info with a cat back?

Second is GM's stage II kit worth it, I guess there's concerns with the tuning and some problems that people are experiencing? I know Scott at Intense from when I worked at STS and I'm guessing he could shoot me a 3" pulley and a better then GM reflash? I'm at 5,000' ASL so I'm assuming the stock injectors can handle a 3" pulley; I can only get it to run 10PSI now which is consistent with my altitude.

I also need a rear sway bar; I was surprised there wasn't one installed from GM? Does someone sell just a rear kit; the front bar is heavy enough stock.

Thanks Gentlemen, pick a question and give me your input.
 
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#2 ·
There are some people having issues with the Stage 2 kit, and others that are not. I just got mine installed last week. No problems yet (as he crosses his fingers and knocks on wood.) If you go on to Cobaltss.net when it is up, you will find almost nobody talking about stage 2 issues.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I think all of the "upgrade" kits are worth the money. Intense has some awesome stuff! I have the GM stage 2 kit and I love it. All the issues with my car existed well before any mods. (it hesitates now and then under 3k RPMS.... The upgrade kits give you more than exhaust or CAI upgrades while spending WAY less $. I know Intense has PCM's they sell so you might want to contact them and see what they can do about your altitude.....

Also about the Cat-backs, I was really suprised when I put my Magnaflow exhaust on. Its really pretty tame until you get on it and then it wakes up and gets loud. It doesn't have any of the annoying drone to it. In fact, it sounds kind of like a nice deep crotch-rocket exhaust....


GOOD LUCK!! :D
 
#5 ·
Bradyb said:
Hey Guys, first post as a Cobalt owner. A drunk driver just took out my turbo SS Camaro and I bought the Cobalt as a fun commuter.

I'm loving the car, it handles very well and the little motor is surprisingly fast. 600-800 RWHP is fast for me so I don't really plan on rebuilding and tearing this car up to get it to run 12s :rolleyes: while ruining its excellent mileage and reliability. Let me know what your suggestions are but here's what I'm looking for. I love mods that improve efficiency and horsepower with out giving up mileage.
What gains are people seeing with a header, cat, and cat back exhaust? Is this something worth spending $800 on? The stock exhaust looks pretty smooth, maybe just a shorty header?
The stock intake pipe looks pretty good too; I guess you could throw on a K&N for a larger surface area for the air to flow through. I hate the drone of a 5" exhaust-tipped civic, is that what I'm info with a cat back?

Second is GM's stage II kit worth it, I guess there's concerns with the tuning and some problems that people are experiencing? I know Scott at Intense from when I worked at STS and I'm guessing he could shoot me a 3" pulley and a better then GM reflash? I'm at 5,000' ASL so I'm assuming the stock injectors can handle a 3" pulley; I can only get it to run 10PSI now which is consistent with my altitude.

I also need a rear sway bar; I was surprised there wasn't one installed from GM? Does someone sell just a rear kit; the front bar is heavy enough stock.

Thanks Gentlemen, pick a question and give me your input.
Hey welcome to the site.
Believe it or not you don't have to tear this car up to run 12's.
Intense stage 5 and sticky tires will get you 12.9's and 12.8's.
Fast06SS over on .net has done it a few times with that setup.
If you don't want to go that far I highly recomend GM stage 2.
It is well worth the money and the pants dyno doesn't lie. Niether does DYNO in my sig.
Again welcome to the site and happy moding!
 
#6 ·
Yes, let me +1 the stage 2 recommendation. We had about 5 or 6 people on the whole site have stage 2 issues and they all managed to post on the same thread so naturally a "stage 2 is bad" panic arrose for a little while.

But in reality, the stage 2 is a great mod and doesn't hurt mpg at all (unless you hammer it more just to feel the powa!!).

Also, the ingalls "stiffy" torque dampener is a relatively cheap/easy mod that seems to be working miracles on our car. So i would highly recommend the GM stage 2 and the torque dampener as your first mod. The stock exhaust has a reputation around here as being VERY competent and not really being restrictived until 290+ hp.

Welcome to the site!
 
#7 ·
Progress sells a rear sway bar--in fact i'm waiting to have it installed. I would also recomment the Ingall's "Stiffy" torque damper, and definitely Stage 2 if you have the Supercharged cobalt. throw an intake and some exhaust (Magnaflow seems to be the common one, but I prefer corsa), and you're good to go. also, might wanna go the extra mile with a strut tower bar. if you go past the Stage 2 though, i would recommend bigger brakes.
 
#8 ·
Bradyb said:
I wonder if the hesitation is just the MAF freaking out every now and then. I've heard they are touchy, especially with a CAI.
my hesitation was there well BEFORE any mods were done to the car. Of course, the dealer says "we can't find any problem with the car" every time I take it to them....
 
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