picked up my SS yesterday
 

Hey guys and gals new owner here.

Yesterday I picked up my loaded black 09 SS today, and really happy with the car, I got an awesome deal paying 6k off sticker, and got rid of an ugly explorer that was not being used, allowing me to use the full 4,500 for the cash for clunkers program! cant complain.

Its a nice little car, but i have to get used to turbo cars and fwd. My last car was an 06 SLK 350 that i got rid of last summer, as im purchasing a house and really had to cut payments.

So i figured i stop by and say hey, lookin forward to having the car, and got a few questions.

How do you do the no lift shift, and the launch control. Without full knowledge im not even gunna dare to try it.

For the people with the display, what screen do you leave it at, im between the mph, boost, and power gauge, as i find myself flippin to a diff one at almost every stop sign or red light.

The rpms you stay at for better gas mileage in this car. Im noticing im getting better gas mileage on the hwy doing 60 in 4th gear at 25-3k rpm than in 5th at 2k, i think its a turbo thing with their vacums, not sure tho, maybe some one knows.

Thats it for now, im in eastern PA in the poconos (stroudsburg) if anyone else is around there i would love to meet up sometime i love meet and greets!

As far as future mods, im prob just gunna go with my usual window tints, and possibly the stage 1 kit which i know is around the corner. Other than that im pretty happy with the car as is right now, and the fact that i payed only about 70% of msrp helps!

For the display i usually keep it on mph if im just easy driving and if im running it hard between afr and once in awhile boost.

No lift shift simply shift at like 5800 to 6250rpms without picking ur foot up off the gas and make it a fast motion but not like a ripping hard motion just nicely pull the shifter i rode with a kid who no lift shifted his car and it seemed like he wanted to rip the shifter out of the tranny lol

launch control is junk in these cars its set when ur in launch control at 5k rpms and thats way to high to launch this car 2k rpm is a good launch for it

For good gas mileage i just shift the car at 3k rpms brings me going into 5 right at like 60mph

also welcome to the site and stage 1 is going to be pretty nice seeing how you keep that warranty

ya im not really rough on it haha, you can be smooth and fast. Alright that sounds like fun ill have to try it sometime today when i go out, do you need to turn the traction off or anything or itll do it in regular mode.

So anyone see any decent CAI/ maybe a subtle exhaust that wont void warranties? I got the extra 5 /75000 bumper to bumper warranty for 10 bux a month, so anything i do to the car i want to make sure i dont void the warranty, something i did on the last one and wasnt happy about when i had an issue.

Launch control is a waste.

The Competitive Mode affects wheels spin, and lets the car be slid around a little before the ESC kicks in.

Fastest launch would be TCS off(press the button once), and launch at 2200ish

NLS, keep the gas planted, and right before redline, shift into the next gear.

You have less than a second to get into the next gear.

1 pop means you did it right, more means you hit the rev limiter, try be faster next time.

Intakes are a waste on these cars.

Get a K&N drop in 33-2311

alright sounds good, why do you say intakes are wastes because of the learn down? I rarely ever mod the engine much (exhaust sometimes) but CAI usually give a bonus in mpg, and i put them on the trucks i have owned over the years.

Ill look into the drop ins.

I feel so lost, about a month ago i didnt even know the cobalt ss existed, did some research on it compared to other cars and it was far superior for the price (civic si) in my eyes. So as far as aftermarket support, and the small nuances of the car, I feel like im out in no mans land, which for someone who can be as fanatic as me (was a mod on another car forum for awhile) being in the dark sux!!

No, they skew you MAF so bad, and the stock box is good with a drop in it.

A catless downpipe is one of the biggest improvements, but not like a tune is.

Get a second PCM and get a custom tune, and have some real fun ;)

Probably gunna play the safe route and get the gm tune.

For the downpipe, educate me. Is this how the turbo hooks up to the exhaust? And i hate crazy loud idling cars, so if could be a mellow tone with a good note when im on it thats great, otherwise (imo) its rice. This is my first 4 banger, and first turbo car, all have been n/a 6's and 8's. Any and all help would be appreciated with this, again im so lost and a little embarrassed i dont know about these things considering i do most of my own repairs/maintenance/mods etc myself.

And what kind of improvements we talkin with the drop in, better throttle response, throatier sound, +1mpg? That seems to be the usual for most cars, just wondering if it helps this car anymore than anything else, ill prob order one tommorow, or see if autozone has one in stock.

:lol:

You have ran into the site's Resident Asshole but since you claim you don't suck...I will give you the benefit of the doubt :lol:

With a second PCM, you leave the stock one stock, and tune the second one. When you go to the dealer, you swap em out and no one knows a thing. BCM sees all the mileage and whatnot so it is completely safe.

Exhaust goes as follows:

Turbo manifold-turbo-downpipe-catback

Downpipe is a nice 3 inch piece, with a random crush for the o2 sensor

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...2/DSC00413.jpg
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...2/DSC00416.jpg

Going catless won't make this car loud or idle loud. It will be louder when you are in boost and that is it.

Turbos are great mufflers.

Problem going with catless is sometimes a CEL can show up, because the car will notice that there isn't a cat...there are ways around this though(custom tune, sparkplug defouler)

A drop in air filter won't yield really any more mileage. You will hear the turbo more, and it does make a difference in airflow(as logged on tuning software) but intakes/intake mods are the end all to mods for this car. It is all in the tune.

I can tune, if you're close enough, but I suggest getting a second PCM if you are worried about warranty

i couldnt say so better myself hes telling u the right shit. :) good job steddy

ok i got most of that. Where do you go about getting a blank pcm to throw a tune on/ cost?

As far as going catless, im trying to keep the car as close to "stock" as possible, while also yeilding some decent gains. I dont really drive crazy, dont have any plans on taking it to a drag strip, but pocono raceway is 15 mins from where i live, and occasionally i hop on a track day with whatever group is running (porsche and bimmer clubs gets a run about every 3 or so months up there) So for the most part i do it for some personal satisfaction just cuz i like to tinker.

Well I bought a 2nd ECU from GTPrix on here. You could PM him and see if he has anymore. There is another website, ecuoutlet.com I believe. They had some ECU's, but were more expensive than GTPrix's was shipped.

Here's what you should do ... Purchase catless downpipe, air flow restriction (either intake or drop in filter - your choice, both tend to skew fuel trims either way), tune (eliminates skewed fuel trims and you get more bang for your power) and then add on charge pipes, etc.

Everything else is aesthetics.

Welcome to the site and congrats on the new SS/TC I kinda want one but im too much in love with my SS/SC
But anyway if u wanna meet up theres car meets up at lowes every monday on 611 in Bartonsville/Sburg im up there with my balt theres 2 other SS/SCs regularly there and theres a black 4 Door SS/TC always with us come on down next meet Mondays around 7-8 O-Clock! hope to see you there!

the meet sounds fun, would love to do it, but unfortunately monday is the one day i have a night class at 7ish, gotta double check, so that would suck. Altho the holiday we have off.

I live about 5 miles from there so ill try to get out there.

If your interested in a ss/tc There is a red one at gray right now sitting out front.....

as far as switching ecu's and changing it all around and doing custom tunes and all that, im looking to go more basic than that. Maybe the GM tune, a drop in, and an exhaust, im pretty basic, and happy with how the car goes now for the moment.

im gonna try to launch the car at that RPM next time:lol: