I have a stock 2009 cobalt ss t/c and im wanting to get the GM power upgrade kit and a cold air intake "maybe the K&N one on sale". Ive read in some other threads not to get a intake if you already have the power upgrade kit because it wont be tunned right or somethin like that. So will it be ok to get the intake first then get the upgrade kit because GM tunes the car after they put the upgrade kit in anyways???? or will they not even install it because of the intake????

 

 

No you will be fine, but have the upgrade installed first. The dealer won't have an opportunity to hassle you about it if its not installed yet . The GM tune is setup for the stock parts so installing the intake first won't make a difference. I'm running the GM upgrade (aka: GM Stage 1) with the K&N short ram intake. You have to rotate the filter so that it doesn't skew the fuel trims as much as it otherwise would. When others say that you need to tune for an intake, they mean that you need a specific aftermarket tune so that your fuel trims will be spot on. The K&N intake is probably the only intake I would run without a custom tune.

 

ight thanks ive been thinkin about this ALLDAY... sorry another question what are the fuel trims? does that have to do with the air sensor?

 

look for the thread "all you need ot know about intakes" - it pretty much spells out what you're looking for;
condensed answer:
if you're not tuning for it the stock airbox is best, with the K&N SRI being second best.

the GM Stage1 will net you gains with the intake, over just putting the intake on a stock car becasue the airload tables are revised to take advantage of many upgrades...

if you get the stage kit, I'd encourage you to buy from CED - and get the kit with the pigtail connectors - 95% of the Stage kit issues pertain to the lower MAP sensor - and most of which are traced to the wring having a poor connection ~ and it's no wonder becasue there's virtually zero room to splice and or solder there...

EDIT: regaurding the "fuel trims" comment;
IIRC if the air filter is clocked wrong, your MAF will get skewed readings...

 

Anyone have a photo of the correct angle the filter should be at?

 

1230 if I remember right.

 

i wouldn't bother with a K&N unless you're looking for a better sound. it won't do much as far as HP and torque numbers with only GMS1

 

^this^.

 

Your fuel trims tell you how much your car is compensating, fuel wise, for not 100% accurate MAF readings. When you put on an intake it changes how the air flows over the MAF. If your fuel trims are too far off zero the car can throw a code/cel.

When you're rotating the filter, you want the metal band pointing in the 12 to 12:30 direction. When the filter is rotated like this, the K&N symbol at the end of the filter should be upside down. This will net you the best MAF readings.

 

Yeah im wanting the intake for the sound anyways im gettin the stage kit for the power. So the answer is get it tunned first then get the K&N SRI intake??? Corect??

 

The intake isn't compensated for the stock or GMS1 tune, so it doesn't matter when you install it. It won't be right for either tune.

 

So if you could only get one the GMS1 tune or the intake you would get????

 

^^ Absolutely no comparison;

GMS1

The stock tune really null and voids any upgrades - as it limits your horsepower and torque to aprox 260/ea;
You can see the power curve slightly alter on the stock tune with bolt ons, but you wouldn't gain any real power numbers...

The GM Stage 1 on the other hand allows any upgrades to show gains (up to a point; which is purely reflective of the was the programming is done for out cars);
Aside from there still being a ceiling in the airload tables for the GMS1, the only "granny" that remains is the rev limit - which is there to prevent the turbo from overspooling.

When GM tuner source was leading on that the GMS2 probably wasn't ging to happen, they made an e-article on seeing what owenrs of Cobalts were using for intakes... look it up.

summary:

• CAI on stock tune will change the way the car sounds.
• GMS1 will change the way the car drives.

 

just wish i could have both without any problems. its stupid that GM makes a intake for the LT and LS but not the SS

 

Get GMS1 first. Have it installed and THEN get the K&N. You can run the K&N pretty safely on the GMS1 kit. The reason you want to do the intake second is so the dealer doesnt give you **** for having it on there already when they go to install the GMS1 kit, got it???

Basically, you want them to see your car as stock when you get the kit installed, simple as that. Now, a custom tune would dial in the intake better and you would gain more power, but you open yourself up to GM voiding your warranty and all that jazz.

It seems to me that, in your case, GMS1 then the intake would tide you over until you get the fever for more power once again.

 

so if i get the the intake after GMS1 and dont tune it will it mess anything up? dont want ta void the warrenty just want the sound

 

You will be just fine. I'm running the K&N with GMS1 and its just fine. In fact, I'm also running a downpipe with GMS1 and that's running just fine. You can run parts that don't need a custom tune with GMS1, like the K&N intake or a catted downpipe. If you want to get the most out of everything then you need a custom tune, but you want to keep your warrenty so don't worry about it. A custom tune will net you a few extra ponies, but I felt that my warrenty was worth more to me.

 

If you take it in with that intake, you can kiss any warranty work goodbye.

 

^^this.

basically most GM service departments are looking to black ball you for aftermarket items on your car;
If you're worried about, and want to retain warranty, either forget intake for time being, or R&R it every time you go into the dealer.

I have on occasion run a drop in filter - but if I was ever bringing my car in for service work, I'd put he stock paper one back in just so they couldn't hassle me...

 

Yeah, the K&N is relatively easy to remove and put the stock box back on should you need to take her in for a dealer visit. Then, just slap it back on once shes back in your posession and enjoy the intake once again. No biggie.

And I think I need to clarify something for you. I think your stuck on the fact that if you dont put the intake on before the tech installs GMS1 and the tune that accompanies it, you will not be tuned for the intake. Well, you will not be tuned for the intake NO MATTER WHAT. The techs do not 'tune' your vehicle when they install the GMS1 kit. The ECU programming that they flash on there is a GM tune that goes on every single SS/TC that gets the GMS1 kit. It is not custom. Its a GM file deemed to be safe but netting you the extra ponies still while keeping your warranty.

 

I will just throw out a few things, based on my experience. I ran the GMS1 with K&N SRI. I had my car back at the dealer and they didn't care about the K&N (and I was having turbo flutter). Also, I dunno if it's just in my head but the car felt faster with the K&N SRI. I could be wrong and have no dyno proof either way.

Not to hi-jack but quick question, i was running my SRI with the filter facing with the K&N logo straight up and down. Someone said in here about running it so it is upside-down. I just took the SRI off cause I couldn't keep the car from throwing a P0101. Could this have been because the filter wasn't on the right way, therefore throwing the trims way off?

 

bingo. Your were probably seeing erratic fuel trims. Do you have any way of measuring AFR, lambda's, or fuel trims? If you do, you can fine tweak the intake by rotating that filter to get your fuel trims in pretty good.

 

Hmm well I should've researched about that and tried it. I'll try in the spring. Thanks. And no, I don't really have a way to view my air/fuel etc.

Either way, if the K&N can be ran without problems, I feel it's worth the money. But as I said it's just based on sound/looks and seat of the pants feel of it (which could just be in my head).

 

It turnes out my car already has the GMS1 upgrade, i bought the car used and didn't it already had the upgrade. The dealer just told me the old owner put soething in the car to make it faster. Well I just got back from the dyno and it was pushin 315.1 hp @5300rpm and 358.4 torque @ 3900rpm at the wheels . i dont think there were any other mods