Infernokron

My brother just traded his 06 Malibu for a 06 Black SS/SC (No LSD ). I'm trying to get on him to mod it at least a little. This is his daily driver, so reliability is paramount, and we want to keep the warranty, price is also a concern.

So far I'm trying to push:
Stage 2
Airbox mod, probably with a dryflow
GMPP Catback, possibly GMPP header as well
Poly mounts for the wheel hop
Hopefully a Short Throw shifter

The mod we're debating over is porting the blower. We would port it ourselves, so cost isn't a problem. Is this likely to void the warranty, is it even likely to be found? What all can be expected from a ported blower? I'm guessing lower IAT2 temps, more power, and crazy whine. Would porting the blower in addition to the airbox mod and exhaust mods require re-tuning to be safe or would he still be good with the stock Stage 2 tune?
In the end, would it be worth porting the blower or would it probably cause more hedaches then it's worth?

Is anyone willing to guestimate a ballpark hp/torque figure and/or 1/4 times with these mods?

On a side note is an Interceptor worth it or is it really just a luxury?

Thanks for the help in advance,
Jason

FryLoch

iTrader: (5)

I'd throw in the torque damper too, but what your sayin sounds good

RJSS

I could be wrong, but I don't believe that porting the blower makes much of a difference. Some people on the site have done it themselves and there have been debates over how much to take out and how to do it etc. At least I haven't seen anyone document any HP increases. Plus, there are easier/less risky things to do other than pulling off the blower of your daily driver but its up to you.

If you want the most bang for your buck and want to keep the warranty, which are the two goals of my balt since it is a daily driver, go with stage 2 and gmpp exhaust. I would also recommend an intake or the airbox mod, if you want the blower to be loud. Everything else from there should be traction mods. Any more mods to the motor and your reliability starts to fall off steeply. If you want to push the motor any further you need very good cooling mods and custom tunes from someone with experience. That's my opinion anyways.

IMADreamer

The interceptor is a great tool to have in your arsenal. It tells you a lot of really good info. As for porting the blower I probably wouldn't worry about it.

You should be in the mid to high 13s in the quartermile with those mods, but that's provide you don't suck at driving.

RJSS

PS-The interceptor is nice to have (I love mine) but not required until you go past stage 2. Then it becomes a necessity, especially to monitor knock and AFR once you get a wideband.

EDIT:you beat me to it on the interceptor

Infernokron

Thanks for the replies, and keep em comming. I personally like the poly mounts rather then the torque damper. The damper seems almost more like a bandaid fix, and I've heard some people have had problems with them (wearing out, and/or bending). Thanks for the detailed post RJSS.

More opinions on the porting would be great .

-Jason

RJSS

No problem

You are right though in the fact that many feel the TD is just a quick fix. But then again others swear by it. I can't give you any first hand info, but from reading what others have said both the TD and poly trans/engine mount are very effective and reduce wheel hop considerably. However, make sure that you are OK with the extra vibrations if you're going to be driving it every day, especially if you get some really hard mounts. That's why I don't ever launch the car from a complete stop or go completely WOT in first, so I have no problems with wheel hop, but I still have enough power with stage 2 to keep me entertained. The axles are definitely the weak point and if you hop due to vibrations or even hook up due to drags or something, you're screwed. Alright, enough of my rambling...

Infernokron

Hehe, it's my brothers car not mine unfortunatly. He's used to slow cars (96 T-bird with a v8 and the 06 Malibu v6), so he tends to beat the hell out of his cars. I'm guessing he'll deal with some vibes so he can hammer the go pedal is 1st, plus he would probably just beat a Torque damper into submission and send it home crying.
We also auto-cross (I'm trying to see how many auto-x's a 97 contour w/ 122k miles can take ) so I see steering knuckles is the very near future for him. Are the axles easy enough to break that we might want to replace them as preventative maintenence or is it un-likely he can break them without DR's or wheelhop? (keeping in mind he *does* drive hard).

Also thanks for bringing up the Torque damper SS07, I hadn't *really* considered it before. And thanks for the info on the Interceptor IMADreamer and RJSS.

Shortbus

Porting the blower is a nice diy mod if you know what your doing, and remember to clean the blower and re-grease the bearings before puting it back together, i gained about a 1-1.5lbs of boost and lower temps on my car, no dyno but for a diy mod it was worth it to me.

REIGN SS

you will have to come to our OFFICIAL css.NET MEET in Columbus during October, the one in april was HUGE...

heres all the pics from april: https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/mid-east-58/official-ohio-net-meet-pics-56949/

If your ever in the market for a custom tune PM WickedSS2005 hes a good friend of mine here in OH and does a good job!

GL with the car, hope to see you & your brother at some meets

Mikey851

Go with the poly mounts. The axles are most likely to break while drag racing (Launching) or if you have drag radials. For auto x you will be fine with sub 300WHP if driven correctly.

Infernokron

Thanks for the info about the meets REIGNftSOLDIER, Columbus is a bit out of the way for us but I'll look into it, looks like it could be fun.

Mikey851 thanks for the info, I'm assuming by "driven correctly" you mean as long as you don't wheelhop a lot?

Shortbus, how would you rate porting the blower in terms of danger? Is it fairly easy to do correctly as long as you arn't and idiot about it? Also was the car noticably faster with the ported blower? How about mid to low range power, throtle response ect.?

Thanks for all the info guys, your helping out a ton!

-Jason