I recently bought a 2008 Cobalt SS turbo and I am not as knowledgeable with GM as I am with imports. I already put on upper pipping and an exhaust. Bigger turbo? Engine Management system? Electronic boost control? What should I do? I had it on a dyno at 284 whp.

 

What are your goals with it?

 

Well I was doing drift events with my 1995 supra but I have done autocross several times. This is going to be my autocross car. I would also like to crush times and make hard pulls. Also I bought the car with a nice racing suspension. Not exactly sure what it is but it handles very well. My spending limit is 5,000. Thanks

 

If you are going to be doing autocross, you likely wouldn't need to go beyond the stock turbo in terms of power. A 3" downpipe, intake and a tune (you don't need a boost controller as boost is controlled by the ECU), you'll be within the 310whp~, 360wtq~ on the stock turbo (dyno depending). This will give you pretty decent pull on the highway, and you'll be spinning through second on street tires without throttle control.

In terms of suspension, Powell YYZ springs are likely the best for autocross. They may not be pretty (in that they don't drop the car very much) but they will likely get you the best times. A powell rear sway bar is another big plus for autocross (hardcore or XXX). Koni shocks are another upgrade, though expensive and not as much of an upgrade as the other parts mentioned above are. There are other minor suspension changes you can do via Powell parts that may help as well.

 

Okay thanks! What if i wanted to be running 390 to 425 hp?

 

Bigger turbo. ZZP ZFR, with 5th injector and tuned to run on E47. You'll definitely need a new clutch to run this and possibly a new transmission eventually.

 

Tune, ZZP or Hahn intercooler, catless downpipe, hahn/injen/k&n intake. Find out what suspension you have, but for auto-x, Powell Race Shop YYZ spings, Powell CABs (leading and trailing), Powell XXX rear sway bar, Powell twisting beam bushings, Koni Yellow strut inserts, Koni Yellow shocks. And of course sticky tires (Nitto NT01, Dunlop Direzza Z2)

 

If you want to be serious about autox I would focus more on suspension as it was already said above, for autox a tune and dp would be just fine for power

 

Way to much for fwd auto-x. These cars are torque monsters

 

The car must have a tune on it by the previous owner if you put down 284whp. If that's the case, I would concentrate on suspension from Powell.

 

Could be GM Stg1, actually not sure what that puts down on the dyno tho. Also could be a happy dyno of a stock car

 

Thanks you, all this is very helpful and yes it has a tune that i bought it with. I have only had it for about three days so I am still discovering mods on it. I just looked in the car it has a Megan racing cat back 2.5 inch exhaust and a Megan racing suspension.

 

I put down 282whp with a 3"dp and k&n intake plus gms1

They put down around 270/290 with just gms1

 

Ditch the Megan suspension if you wanna auto X, you make decent power now to be competitive. Contact Powell race parts. Grab some Powell yyz springs and hardcore rear bar as stated before.

 

A tune/dp/intake will not make you any faster or make your car faster at auto x. Unless you are a race proven pro, high hp fwd car is not a successful thing in auto x.

Like everyone has said before me, lay a base.

Good suspension and a good clutch in case in the future you want to up the power.