i'm guessing he's talking about his 100k powertrain...so with that being said, first off,how many miles?? how's the tires?? belts?? plugs?? in other words,what's the condition of the car?? fix obvious things first. if the car is in order, i would use the $800 on coilovers and continue on that platform. trying not to void your warranty is hard. imo,the gms1 is PITA. seen VERY few threads saying it was an easy install. even the dealers don't know what the hell they are doing...i would do other cosmetic things if suspension is not your fancy.. if warranty is something you want,stay stock motor.

 

Haven't seen this asked yet. What do you want to do with the car?

Drag race? GMS1 adds more power.
Auto cross or road track? Springs might be better if that's what you like.

 

Basically im trying to keep the 100k Powerterrain warranty. The bumper to bumper runs out in 2 months. Condition of the car is pretty mint, bought it a few months back with new brakes and tires. Car currently has 27,6xx miles.

This is my DD but it will see occasional track use viaaAutocross as well as the strip. I would bet it'll see the strip 3-5 times a year. Autocross will be atleast a couple times.

My goal for the car as it sits is to put it into the 13s (even if its a 13.99, and I have done both types of racing in the past, just with a camaro and not a FWD car) for right now. I dont need a track beast or anything and I know the car will perform well stock. I just want those few extra things to give it an edge. Winter driving is why im hesitant to lower it. If I do, I only want to go down an inch but prefer less.

Work, time, labor etc doesn't bother me. I bought this car b/c I have always loved them and wanted to learn something new outside of a RWD GM V8. If something is a PITA, I plan on taking my time to make sure its done right regardless. Better to do it right the first time than fix it later.

Thanks for the help yall

 

Voted but I'd say coilovers above any mod

 

If you think I would benefit or enjoy suspension more so and just wait to do anything engine wise, what would you suggest? I have looked into the Koni Yellows for my previous SS and I know there was alot of buzz about the YYZ's.... but are coilovers that much better? Ive just never spoken directly with anyone that has coilovers.

 

All depends on some searching online and reading thru threads. Lowering springs wouldn't lower me as far as I wanna go. And I'm over 100,000 miles so shocks/struts need changing soon

 

Ur cobalt as it sits is capble of 13.99 i forget but i think a few people have run 13.8/.9 with stock ss tc.

 

Gonna let dat hoe rest u be driving the **** outta her.

 

13.56 was done by someone.

 

I can't help it she's fun. She'll rest plenty when she's paid off and I get a busa

 

you should be able to get the springs and squeeze out for koni shocks n struts,

 

^^^ would this be a better option than coilovers? especially since I want to stay as high as possible??

 

Id say get something that makes your car faster or better.

Avoid ricing it out with small ****. But its up to you! This site is %80 ricers it seems :|

 

honestly, I was going to go gms1, but every since those times visiting the dealerships around here caused me to reconsider. They constantly try to void my warranty every chance they get. Honestly, bolt to hold down spark plug boot snapped and closed in = void warranty or won't cover it and you will pay everything. ****, I'm pretty sure, if all the bolt ons are on the car with the gms1, I guarantee you they will find a way to void my damn warranty. Freakin ******. Get the cp and intercooler first. The tune comes last. Go trifecta...that's the route I'm going.

 

Why would he drop $700 on cp and intercooler when they don't give any horsepower, when they are not needed whatsoever for being tuned OR stock?

This is what im talking about with ricers lol. Mod your airbox and get a catless downpipe, done. If you want to drop $3000 on "boltons" aka charge pipes, intake, intercooler, new exhaust.. be my guest. But they basically all give you little to no HP.


With GMS1 you keep your warranty. Which is there for when things break. If your a BITCH in real life and let them push you around...they will try to not warranty things. So this is only a problem if you are a punk.

With GMS1 you get 20HP and 60TQ and keep your warranty. If you want a aftermarket tune, catless downpipe and trifecta would be the way to go. Still $700 spent between the two, but you get 40hp and 80TQ instead of 0HP and 0TQ with the Charge pipes and intercooler.

 

honestly I would go powell v.2 springs( look at my before and after thread) and Powell transmission mounts and K&N intake. By far my favorite upgrades. I have the OTTP trans mounts but thats because I didnt know about powell at the time. Once these wear out im switching to powells mounts. Charge pipes are nice. intercooler is not worth it at all until it blows. twm sts is nice although it pisses me off because I can never get in reverse with it. and gms1 would be nice but I like my springs and trans mount and intake more than my tune. A tune is nothing if all you'll do is torque steer off the road lol.

 

I would definitely say dont go with coilovers. The only reason you would get them is if you want more low like stance low... But for people like me and you who have to deal with snow and dont wanna become snow plows, springs would be better. Springs are much cheaper and they ride better. The powell v.1 springs lower about a half inch in front and about .75 inches in the back. The v.2 which i just got lower about an inch in the front and back. Ive never rode in a cobalt with coilovers but ive heard for the most part they ride pretty bad. I have my springs with the stock shocks and struts and it feels like im driving on a cloud.

 

cp is nice. It really helps spool time but the intercooler doesn't really do much. Especially if your not tuned. It will do nothing at all. It only really affects things when you have a larger turbo. Ive heard that if your tuned then sometimes the endcaps may break off because there plastic but if you've got the warranty then they will just replace it anyway.

 

If I wanted to keep my car under warranty, I'd totally get GMS1.

Of course, if you wanted to just "dodge" the warranty system, get a spare ECU from ZZP, get an HPTuner and get tuned on the spare ECU. Then get GMS1 goodness and additional mods later.

 

Really appreciate the opinions and info guys, keep it coming

I want to consider everything possible but while I have the money, I want to make a big purchase is basically one thing it comes down to. I dont want to blow it on something I wont be happy with and I want to feel/notice a difference.

Be best if its something that will benefit me at the strip or on the course...

I dont really have only $800 to spend, thats just all I was hoping for but I could go up to about $1200 if I wanted to maybe a little more.... I know I could get a GMS1 no problem for $800 or Koni's and YYZ's for under $1k

 

Too many issues with GMS1. Trifecta select-a-tune might be a better option. I'd get YYZ springs and save the rest for Koni Yellows...

GMS1 is $720 and gives you a constant 21 PSI tune.. Trifecta gives you two (16/22 PSI) and an ability to revert back to stock if desired. Also costs a lot less ($300 at BNR with a free EZ flash cable, usually another $150 or so): Trifecta Cable Sale 11/23/12-12/31/12

Since your bumper to bumper is about to run out, have them replace your shocks/springs and upgrade to YYZ v2, you won't loose any warranty that way.

 

Bite the bullet, skip the crappy GMS1 and go for HP tune and make sure your tuner saves and/or gives you a copy of your stock tune to flash back to if you do need to take it in for warranty work.

 

You could just buy another PCM and get that one HP tuned. If you have any problems swap in the original PCM with stock tune on it and take it in.

but I voted for ZZP IC Kit, GMS1 is nice but too expensive for some MAP sensors and a canned tune

 

+1, what this guy said. (I was thinking everyone was friends with an HP tuner in their area, my bad ).

 

if you want to keep your warranty go with GMS1.

if you want a better handeling ride and your happy enough with the power the car has STOCK,then got coils and suspension ****. but then again....the car would be stock still besides the suspension.


god damn,some of the people who have trouble with the dealership trying to void warranties with GMS1 + other mods is crazy. ive never had a problem