i have a 2005 sierra z71 5.3. i am going to add a new exhaust i was looking at gibson. i am more conserned(sp)? about improvement to acceleration, not top speed. is this the best exhaust for me or are their better exhausts. i have heard that gibson is better for acceleration, is that true or would a flowmaster, magnaflow, dynamax, edelbrock or any other be better.

 

Exhaust alone won't do much ...get a CAI ..or do the Redneck ram air mod that a lot of us on the site have (do a search for Ultimate Free Mod posting on this site). You gotta open up the front to getter performance in the back.

As far as which one performs better ....I haven't seen much differance ...I was more concerned with sound. The best mod that you can do is a custom tune ...made a WORLD of difference.

Best of luck

 

what cold air intake do you recomend and what type of hp gains can i expect. afe claims their stage 2 can increase output by 50 hp that is much more than K&N claims (around 20) is the Afe really that much better or is the company lying. I think my main choices are K&N, Aem, Volant, Airaid, and Afe correct?

 

A lot of people on here really like the Volant CAI ...I just modified my own and put a K&N Direct replacement in and it made a huge difference.

As far as what the companies claim ...Muddyblaze wrote this on another post and I think that it's approiate to post here:

[quote]ORIGINAL: muddyblaze

I do,sorry I wasbusy awhile ago and didn't have time to reply. First off on a bone stock motor yeah you could see the gains theysay. Here is the kick a lotof peopledon't know this but a lot of what they claim is BS,knownot all butquite a few companies that advertise the famous words "we guarantee you will make X" theskate around it.They don't tell you that they ":tweek" tune the vehicle on the dyno. The reason I know this is because a friend of mine has a 2004Cobra with the supercharged 4.6 engine. Now keep in mind Ford from the factory rated these beast at 390 (strictly for insurance purposes) now most shops that dyno these cars get between 375 - 390 at the tires (depending on the dyno they use).On a stick car it equates to 425 some have dynoed to the tune of 390 with just a fan in front of the intercooler, which puts motor power to 430 (thats what my friends car did). He had a set uplong tubes,off road X-pipe, aMagnaflow cat-back, AFM PMS and pulleys (took stock boost from 8.5 to 12 psi. The long tubes claimed 25-30 hp,off road X claimed an additional18 hp and the Magnaflow (which was the loud Magna Pack muffler system) advertised20 hp (what the shop said the partswould improve, so logic as well as the math leadyouto think it would do another150-175hp (WRONG) it dynoed to the tune of495 (just the tune and pulley and cat-back)with the tune changed just enough that the extra boost wouldn't detonate.Now (after the exhaust full exhaust was on) and a couple of what they called warm up pulls thethird pull they tweeked and a fourth gear pull netted 598 RWHP math and logic by the numbers the manufactures say they represent would make logic say it will put down 550. I don't know this may not clear it up the point is it could better or worse than what they say alot of companies say X but they don't tell ya they tuned it to get X. Most of the time you will get about 3/4 of the claimed power it all boils down to what else is done to the vehicle and what mods work together. Anybody that says part choice doesn't matter is full of BS imo. Because I have matched parts that work great together then I have found parts that suck together and work against each other. Also you have to consider drivetrain power loss, paracidic loss andhow its driven.

Bottom line point is you may get more or less than advertised there are too many variables that can affect X. More than likely a power band shift as well as response will be noticed more than a hp gain. If I am not mistaken correct me if I am wrong but aren't the Gibsons rated at a 20 hp increase (now the question becomes is it on a dyno or a engine itself because you lose approx. 20-25% of the engine power through an auto trans and rearend so you would increase roughly 12 - 14 maybe 16 on the perfect condition and you usually don't notice a increase until 20-25 hp. Again it all depends on setup some say they feel an addition 5 hp it depends on the vehicle and the setup along with the driver (how the vehicle is used) if you just drive it and don't do anything with no it would be worth it.

Oh and one last thing they say 20 hp increase more than likely its if they are being bolted to a truck that is already got the parts to make the enhancement in power. EX. if you put headers on with stock behind. (Its like pushing a square through a round hole). It won't do much good. But sense you already have a few mods it would probably be a good idea.

My opinion if you hav

 

thanks i thought that sounded kindof rediculus but i wasnt sure are the volant and the K&N going to give me about the same performance gains or is one better for improving torque while the other is better for hp. i am going to get either a K&N or a volant. but which exhaust do you recomend now that i am getting a cai. which is best in terms of performance i dont really care that much about sound. i was originally looking at a gibson but any other ideas would be appreciated

 

I don't think you will notice much/if any performance gains with any of the exhausts that you mentioned. The only real difference is sound.

You will get more performance gains out of headers (long tube for low-mid range), and shorty's for mid-high. Myself, I'm looking atDoug Thorley shortyheaders. I'm going with shorties, because all of my other mods were for low-mid gains ...time to look at mid-high.

Another good, cheap upgrade is a throttle body spacer ...Trans Dapt Torque Curve is the way to go for low-mid range gains. It's about $50 with shipping. It's also a very quick and easy install.

If you want to spend the $$$ and don't already have 4:10 gears, get those ...it will mess with your gas mileage, but you will rip your tires when you hammer it.

As I said before, look into the custom tune ....our trucks have TMS (torque management system) ...Don't remove all of the TMS ..you will destroy your drive shaft ...I removed about 65% of mine and even with 3:42 gears, I can chirp my tires.

-G

 

Ohh ...if I was to get a real CAI, I'd get the Volant and get the ram air tube, but I'm really happy with my redneck ram air box that I have.

 

With the CAI,I like the Volant. But no matter what you get make sure it is plastic as the aluminum ones heat up too much. With exhaust, single in, dual out will increase performance. Headers do as well, but since you are looking at low end power then long tubes, but you will need to do it the same time you do your exhaust as the tubes from the headers back need to be customized with long tube, but not with shorties. And as Southbay said, if you can afford gears, you will notice a bunch of power.

 

Heya Smoke ...where have ya been hiding?

 

South Bay - what you will spend on Volant and the ram air tube is comparable to the Vara Ram Snake Charmer. If you have any questions on it I will be happy to answer them.

Headers - plan for down the road. Notice that Smoke has Edelbrock headers and plans for heads. Nothing will perform better than a set up that was designed to work together.