okay,just some advise. how about starting off slow??? get the basic bolt ons and a basic tune. see if you like that. i'm trying not to speak down on you because you are a minor,but you don't have much experience as a driver. one or two things will happen with that much power and inexperience. 1) car will last about a week. i got my balt used and the PO was a "kid" and thought he was brian o'conner and f*cked the transmission up trying to NLS. he sold the car to his uncle(thank god)who traded it in. he went to the military as well and hardley drove the car. if i were you,i would hold off on buying the car or get it,but don't mod it till you can enjoy it. 2)you will kill yourself or someone. again at 500whp you will not respect that power. i'm not an old man,but i have been a teenager,trust me.

 

Kid your in dream land. 17+500whp fwd=bad news

 

Sorry, but this is just false. If you have an issue with a ZZP part or install, we will take care of the issue better than nearly any shop out there. Some people make the mistake of getting pissy if they don't hear back from us on Sunday after sending an email on Saturday. Others expect us to come out of pocket to replace parts before we even know what the problem actually is. In some cases, customers don't even give us a chance to fix their issue based on the thought process that we are "going to screw them." Then there are a lot of people that trust us to do the right thing and accept the fact that we are extremely busy. These are the people who love our customer service because we always come through for them. I know what goes on behind the scenes at ZZP, and I can assure you that the owner approves massive amounts of money to be spent to keep customers happy in situations that most companies wouldn't bother with at all.

 

I hear what you are saying. You have aspirations of having a big hp cobalt, and thats cool. I still think you should get out and get into a balt with as close to those mods as possible and see if the driver will let you drive it. Doubt it, but worth it.

Reading about 400+ whp fwd cars and cobalts is one thing. Driving them in daily stop and go traffic is another. Again, have you actually driven the stage 4 clutch? I have. I disagree its like the stock LNF which is very very soft. It would be harder than my old LSJ clutch. I took a balt that had the stage 4 for a rip at an auto cross event last year. Its not like my LNF. And thats just the feel. My stock LNF clutch did not grab like the stage 4 at all. In stop and go/general city driving... have fun. Not saying people shouldn't do it, just not as a DD.

With 400+ whp and 17 years old, it's just my experience and opinion that you'll go through tires like sox, and at some point get lit up by the man..Haha I just hope that if this does come to reality that you don't hurt anyone. Your boost controller and staying out of the throttle will help with a bit of the gas mileage, but you still pay to play. And if you spend most of your time with the boost controller on, and out of the throttle, then why place all the wear and tear on those extra parts?

Im not sure why I am writing this, you dont even have the balt yet? Better yet all those parts, and these threads have been popping up for years.

I do say good luck man, but seriously, at 17 just get a trifecta tune, some hard pipes, catless downpipe and the K&N SRI. Even with that you're gonna get in trouble!

At your age there's so many more important things to be saving up for than dropping so much coin into a 4 cyl chevy.

 

I understand completely what your talking about, I didnt plan on upgrading that much in the begining anyway. I was going to start off with the exhaust, the ported heads, cams, and a tune in the beginning. I appreciate what you guys are saying and understand where your points are coming from. I was just looking for information. Trust me I know I plan on every now and then showing off, but I do respect my cars. I plan on keeping this car until it dies. I dont beat my cars into the ground, trust me. I know the cost of parts, and tires. I really dont feel like paying for it each time I decide to smoke someone. I just always had a dream of making in my opinion the ultimate sleeper. Thanks guys.

 

If I didnt respect my vehicles yes that would be a very bad idea. But you do realize I was shooting for 500 with a 25 psi boost level along with a 65 hp nitrous shot? In actuality I would be running 18 psi daily and obviouisly not be using the nitrous. SO thats about 380-400 hp if Im lucky. I know FWDs are known for wheel hop and bad traction, but anywhere In my post did I say I planned on drifting this car down the road? No where, I respect my cars and treat them as such.

 

I see.....

 

said the blind man....

 

.....to his deaf daughter

 

My advice would be to get the car drive it awhile then get a tune.Ispeak from experience. Yes this isn't going to be a a camaro with 425 horse or a mustang. Compared to the cobalt those cars have a good 1000 lbs on it.

Don't let anyone say 13's in the 1/4 isn't fast. Look at a majority of the muscle cars from the "muscle car age" they were low 14's to high 14's yeah they had some that did 13's and 12's, but the 12's weren't as common as people think.

but the power to weight ratio is hella nice on these cars, again my other car 2700 lbs fiero 400 HP and its priceless pulling up to a newer camaro ss and smoking it

Hell I'd be happy to break 13.5 with my balt with a tune and and intake, not sure what to expect, but this is my DD. My other car on the other hand 11.8@115 that hasn't been dyno tuned and didn't have LSD in the transmission. I have the LSD on the trans now and the dyno tune comes when I get the wiring switched from obd 1.5 to obd 2. But having a mid engine car RWD is just flat out. I could go more and make it turn 10's but then it becomes a drag car strictly and as the saying goes you pay to play, cause stuff starts breaking as you get faster.

 

I don't need to do research, newb. I thought you were talking about the GM stage kit. Be more clear. You're the one that needs to do research.

 

I decided to do all the same upgrades except the turbo upgrade. Just a tune, ported heads, cams, valve springs, retainers, 50mm box, etc. A clutch exhaust and CAI. Ill be adding a intercooler and a water methanol kit to help stabilize combustion. With just these simple upgrades ill be pushing close to 450hp on a factory turbo (: Maybe upgrade in the future.

 

to the wheels you will only get 360 give or take. the stock turbo just doesn't flow enough air to get the kind of hp you are looking for. youre gonna have to upgrade the turbo to get those numbers. ditch the ported head idea and invest that money in a bigger snail

 

Ive got an idea....... Learn to drive the car before you modify it and make it even faster than it already is......Drive it for a while, put some miles on it, get used to the car, the way it goes stops and turns....try to learn yours and the cars limits. THEN once you think youve reached the point where you are fast and you can handle the car, go to a track day or autox with it and ask to have the FWD instructor drive your car with you in it.......When youre done crying because he showed you how fast it actually was then go by some parts and brag how fast your car is online

 

Ended up with a cobalt ss sedan. Just stock the thing has some nice pull. Already put a CAI 3" catless downpipe and 3" zzp exhaust. Also got a tune. Car moves like a bat out of hell. Working on a new intercooler, bov, and a retune. Ill keep everyone posted! Thanks for the help.

 

Congrats! I just read this whole thread and I remember being your age (7 years ago? geeez) and wanting something fast but it took me until I was 24 and I'm damn glad it did.

Just be careful with the thing, we do have several airbags in our cars but I would hesitate to call them "safe" for the speeds they are able to achieve. Hell I almost killed myself on a weekly basis in my 93 4cyl Camry when I was out of HS and into college.

Intercooler is a good idea, as for the BOV... realize this is just a sound mod (many will say the intake is too) and will not increase performance and I would recommend searching around for peoples takes on the BOV's for our cars - the general consensus is that it is not a good idea.

Look into the Forge BPV if you just want a little more "blow off sound" the car will likely run much better and you will avoid a lot of tuning nightmares, plus the expense of relocating the MAF into the IC piping (this pipe is not exactly cheap + wiring) plus the blowoff valve itself.

If you do want the sound do it! I'm just saying it is typically discouraged by most tuners on here.

 

Sounds like someone is a young one who didn't do to much research and is over enthusiastic about modding. Take a step back, breath, think, research, get some money, then begin

 

Exactly what happened.

 

The only reason I was looking into a bov in the first place was because the package came with all the piping and didn't offer a non bov flanged upper intercooler piping. They do now without the maf sensor relocate. Looks like someone gets to save some money (: after putting the intake and tuning it I really hear the bpv pop more, so I might not even get the bov. Ill look into it and get back to you guys! Thanks for the help!

 

Goodluck with the build and congrats on the purchase. Bought mine as a daily but have already started with modding. only had it 3 weeks.

And the whole mini ZZP bad customer serive thread inside of this one. I am very new to this platform and its vendors. But I used ZZP for my first big order and they have been great with both questions before ordering and questions after. As well as fast shipping.

Have given me no reason to start drinking hateraide yet.

 

Cool story bro.

You will need:

stage 2 tranny - $2500
stage 4-5 clutch $1000
upgraded block pistons etc $3000+
Turbo upgrade $2000
intercooler, pipes, intake $1000
exhaust $500+
nitrous $500
hp tune $500

So you are into it for $10K before incidentals (another $2000-5000 at least) + wheels and tires so you can actually grip something. it won't be easily DD. You can if you like but really for the price you might as well buy something already fast. Think of what you could buy used for $25k...

Food for thought.

 

Congrats on the new Cobalt. Sounds like you know a bit about your parts and you have some big ambitions. I remember when I was 17 (I'm 24 now) and I got my first "fast" car. A 2001 Mustang GT with a short throw shift kit, full exhaust, CAI, AC delete, long tube headers, no cats and an x pipe, under-drive pulleys and traction bars. It was pristine at 40k miles when I got it too. It was probably the most fun I ever had in my life, even though it was way too much car for me to handle at first. I really regret selling it...but I was young and dumb. Oh, and I almost killed myself in that car a few times. BE CAREFUL! I know what it's like to be a teenager and want to show off (but you're going to do it anyway, aren't you? No wonder my dad yelled at me so much back then )

 

I love zzp ordered everything through them so far. And I'm beyond happy with the 300+ whp my car puts down right now (haven't gotten it dynoed). Trust me though this car pulls on plenty of cars around where I live.

 

congrats on your purchase, you didnt sound like someone who was ready for owning and taking care of a SS balt at first, but alot has changed now hehe.

 

Yea I know man going back and reading it from the beginning I felt kinda stupid. Shoulda took everyone's advice in the beginning. Get the car first and see how I like it. Well after learning how it drives I felt comfortable modding it. But there is no need for anything higher than 400whp. Especially where I live. I embarrass everyone already xD