Bovesnh1 Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Hey fellow LGT'ers! I recently installed my first performance enhancing modification, a matching set of Whiteline Adjustable sway bars. I noticed the improvements right away and I am enjoying entering and exiting corners much more since I had the Whitelines installed, even with my stock wheels & winter tires! The next mod will be going on hopefully next week which should make the twisty's even more entertaining, a set of 18" XXR 518 light weight wheels (22lbs/ea), and 245/35R18 Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport summer tires. My question to everyone is what direction should I look at next for performance enhancement? My budget at the moment is about $750. Let me know what you'd do next. Thanks! Gene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05GT Guru Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 You need to decide a couple things. 1 do you feel the car has enough power and 2 do ou feel it stops good enough. I would say no to both at stock levels. You could do new pads, brake fluid, rotors, and braided lines. The woudl make the car stop great. Or pads, fluid, down pipe and a pro tune would get the car to stop better and you pick up around 50whp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOMSWGN Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 AP vs lines, pads, and rotors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05GT Guru Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 AP vs lines, pads, and rotors. Or get some pads and fluid a down pipe and protune or open source tune and make more power than a ap for cheaper with better reliability. Or i guess you could just get an ap and get a generic stage 1 tune and get less horsepower and reliability for more money. LOL hard choice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylar Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 a set of 18" XXR 518 light weight wheels (22lbs/ea), and 245/35R18 Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport summer tires. My question to everyone is what direction should I look at next for performance enhancement? My budget at the moment is about $750. Let me know what you'd do next. Thanks! Gene I'm sure the tires will make a difference, but 22lbs a wheel isnt really lightweight I would save up and go with a full turboback exhaust and tune Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDork Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 koni inserts and short shift kit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCDlgt Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 yah, im at the same spot as you (sways and new rubber recently added) my next mod is for sure gonna be some new billsteins.....with maybe a new turboback and protune down the line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bovesnh1 Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share Posted April 5, 2009 Thanks for all the responses everyone! 05GT Guru: I like the stock power of the car especially with the SI-Drive. I commute pretty far to work every day and I spend a lot of time in the Intelligent mode to get the best mileage that I can while cruising. I'd probably be more apt to go for the brakes or the save some more cash for the bilstein's. Side question, Why are Protunes more reliable than the Cobb AP's? There is a great tune shop that I could use, but I had thought that the AP's were pretty reliable. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoplightAssassin Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Side question, Why are Protunes more reliable than the Cobb AP's? There is a great tune shop that I could use, but I had thought that the AP's were pretty reliable. Any thoughts? AP maps give a good bump in power, but they leave a bit on the table for engine safety. It's kind of like a shirt labeled "one size fits all"...sure it fits ok but it could definitely fit better. Protunes are safer than the AP b/c the tuner customizes a map for your car. The tuner will be able to see exactly how the engine is running and can get it to make its maximum amount of power safely. Specifically it's safer b/c the engine in my car may not be able to run the same timing (boost, etc) in places as your engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vduber Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Horrible thing is im in the same boat as you. Was going to be going with Ap/TB exhaust but I got sucked into wheels and tires, but now im faced with going BBK because I hate the feel of the brake pedal and now im getting a bad smell/shutter. So fml god please just drop say 5K in my lap and I wouldn't have this problem & I would stop bitchn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosscarlson Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I think the important question that hasn't been addressed is what are you goals with the car? Track, auto-x, fast on the road, pretty, cool? You really need to decide that first I think. I'm setting my car up for the track so I've done the following: - K-Sport coilovers - Wilwood full BBK setup (front calipers, F/R slotted rotors, F/R Stainless lines, Hawk pads, fluid) - Perrin F/R sways - Kartboy F/R endlinks - Cobb short throw shifter - Crucial downpipe - Tactrix cable - Custom tune As you can see I went for handling mods first as I do road course track work so I'm all about the corners. Wanted a little bump for the straight (don't want my friend's high HP cars to catch me there). If you're just looking for a really fun daily driver I'd probably do brakes (slotted rotors, lines, pads) then I'd look at power (down pipe, tactrix cable, custom tune). If auto cross skip the power and go for brakes and coilovers. If just on the street probably go for power (and brakes after that). It's pretty hard to decide if you're not sure what your goals are. The biggest negative with my setup is she is my daily driver - the coilovers are SUPER stiff so it's pretty damn rough to drive her on Colorado roads. I'll most likely put my stock suspension back on next winter so she's at least comfortable for some of the year... Just my 2 cents... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawl Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I think the important question that hasn't been addressed is what are you goals with the car? Track, auto-x, fast on the road, pretty, cool? You really need to decide that first I think. I'm setting my car up for the track so I've done the following: - K-Sport coilovers - Wilwood full BBK setup (front calipers, F/R slotted rotors, F/R Stainless lines, Hawk pads, fluid) - Perrin F/R sways - Kartboy F/R endlinks - Cobb short throw shifter - Crucial downpipe - Tactrix cable - Custom tune As you can see I went for handling mods first as I do road course track work so I'm all about the corners. Wanted a little bump for the straight (don't want my friend's high HP cars to catch me there). If you're just looking for a really fun daily driver I'd probably do brakes (slotted rotors, lines, pads) then I'd look at power (down pipe, tactrix cable, custom tune). If auto cross skip the power and go for brakes and coilovers. If just on the street probably go for power (and brakes after that). It's pretty hard to decide if you're not sure what your goals are. The biggest negative with my setup is she is my daily driver - the coilovers are SUPER stiff so it's pretty damn rough to drive her on Colorado roads. I'll most likely put my stock suspension back on next winter so she's at least comfortable for some of the year... Just my 2 cents... look into some KWs. regular or tarmac versions. You wont have to replace them ever again. (until rebuild time, i guess) car for sale. PM me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobydoobie Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I think the important question that hasn't been addressed is what are you goals with the car? Track, auto-x, fast on the road, pretty, cool? You really need to decide that first I think. +1, what are your goals here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bovesnh1 Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 At the moment my goals are to make this car as fun as possible for the street, with the proper building blocks in terms of performance modifications should I decide in the future to do some track events. I'm actually pretty lucky because my family business is a wholesale wheel and tire distributor, so the new wheel/tire setup was free. My company is just starting to get into the performance parts realm, but it has afforded my the chance to try some new stuff for little to no cost. Another example of the in house company deals, we recently became a K-Sport suspension distributor, mostly to sell their coilover and hand brake kits for other brands of performance cars on our online stores. I am able to get very competitive wholesale pricing on their basic Kontrol Coil Over Kit for our LGT's if I wanted to go that route, but at the moment coilovers seem a little much for what I do, and I haven't heard much about them for our cars. I suppose its worth a try, but after searching here I didnt find great results as to their quality. Those posts were almost 4 years old, so any problems could have been addressed in currently versions of their products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosscarlson Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Given your goals I would NOT do the K-Sport coilovers. I've got them on mine (only for the track) and will most likely switch back to stock suspension in the winter (since the ride is super harsh). I think I'd suggest some minor brake upgrades (slotted rotors, stainless lines, better pads, Super Blue fluid) and some power mods (upgraded downpipe, cat back exhaust). Get a cable and a protune after that and you should have a really good starting point for your future mods (which probably should be suspension after that). -Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotMyGT Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 look into some KWs. regular or tarmac versions. You wont have to replace them ever again. (until rebuild time, i guess) Or you could go with some AST 4100s like I did. But as everyone is saying, figure out a direction. I'm going more AutoX/Track and a fun street car. So that's why I went with the AST 4100s and the spring rates that I did. Next will be sways, brakes and then go-fast goodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bovesnh1 Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 Ross, Thanks for your input on the K-Sports. May I ask what version of the coilover's you went with for track use? Do you like the K-Sports when you are using them for their intended purpose? Given all the input I think ideally I will upgrade the suspension to the Bilstein spec b setup when my stock LGT struts wear out. The brake upgrades sound like a great idea. I did some research regarding the rotors and came across the Stop Tech Power Slot rotors, are they a quality brand? I'm looking at downpipes as well, is there a reason why some manufacturers choose to use a Bellmouth design, while others utilize the divorced wastegate style? The respected manufacturers seem to be across the board regarding this part of the design, with Cobb being a bellmouth, and AVO, Invidia, and Perrin going with the divorced. Should I be looking one way or the other? I want to purchase a high quality item, that ideally will bolt to the factory cbe to start. Thanks to everyone for all the great responses! Gene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosscarlson Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 I can't remember the model of my K-Sports off the top of my head, I mainly went with them because I found a local guy selling some used and he even helped me install them. I haven't had them on the track yet (my first day is 5/23) so I can't really answer that yet - except to say that the little testing I've done on the street has been very good. They are extremely stiff. I don't personally have any experience with those Stop Tech rotors but I can say that Stop Tech is one of the best brake manufactures out there. I have many friends with high end cars (Audi's, BMW, etc) that have Stop Tech kits. Personally I think you'll pay a little too much for the name but that's me. As for downpipe I have the Crucial one that's coated with their heat resistant stuff. Its a divorced wastegate which makes more sense to me (I actually think it's the most divorced of all of them). That, and I found a used one, are why I went with it. Whatever you get I'd suggest you get new gaskets to go along with the install. Sounds like you're heading down the right path, good luck.... -Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bovesnh1 Posted May 7, 2009 Author Share Posted May 7, 2009 Ok so I weighed all the opinions that everyone gave me and made another suspension mod upgrade that I am very happy with, the Eibach Pro Kit. My dealer had suggested this sport spring for its "conservative" drop and quality construction. I had the springs installed on monday this week and have been loving the car ever since! Specifically the car feels much more tightened up in the corners, and has really enhanced the steering feel too. Overall the car feels much more solid. This mod is working very well with my sways and wide sticky Bridgestone tires. Fun Stuff! Gene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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