I'm completely new to Cobalts or modding in general. This is my first car. Had it for about 2 months, 2006 SS/SC. I finally decided to say **** the warranty and mod/tune it up. My friend is a mechanic so he's going to help and guide me through everything because I want to learn more about my car.

Anyways, I have $3000 to spend, not a penny more. Any advice on what I should all do to it with that budget in mind? I'm a noob. Thanks

 

You can do a ton with that budget, these cars really open up with a few boltons.

1. Get some sort of full exhaust, header/DP/catback
2. Some sort of intake
3. Cooling Mods such as dual pass, front mount h/e, phenolic spacer, etc...
4. Rotated transmission mounts
5. Lowering springs or coilovers
6. Some sweet gauges and pod (wideband)
7. Depending how much of a budget you have left after this, pulley/tune/injectors. Hell, you may be able to afford a TVS. E-85 is also a great option if it is available in your area.

 

First think about what your goals are for your car, are you keeping it supercharged or turbo swapping. How much power do you want out of the car?

 

yea u could scoop up a used tvs for like 1500ish and then stil have enough left over to do injectors, cooling mods, intake, and exhaust

 

find someone selling a used lsj turbo kit

 

Get all used **** and do a TVS build.

 

Honestly all depends on goals. Could go TVS, cooling mods and exhaust for 3k. Or you could save so cash and just do like 2.7 m62 with meth and e85 and **** like that. Or you could find a used turbo kit and go that route. You have tons of options with that kind of money

 

and if u can't decide wut to do with it i am taking donations towards my build. lol

 

basicly what he said^ but he forgot a tune but thats just common sense

 

Sorry, but what is TVS? What does it stand for?

Here's basically what I was looking at so far....

60# injectors with 2.8" pulley
ZZP long tube header package, 3" downpipe w/ 3" exit.
ZZP 3" stainless catback exhaust with resonator and 3 chambered muffler
ZZP S3 heat exchanger
Clutchmasters stage 3 fx300 clutch.
Upgraded TO bearing.
ZZP 3" CAI


Someone recommended zzperformance.com to me so that's where I went.
Are they good? If not, what other brands would you recommend that make the same parts but less expensive, or same price but better quality?

 

they're a great company. i've got pretty much everything so far from them. the tvs is the harrop 1320 s/c that would replace the m62 that comes stock. moves a lot more air and way more efficiently

 

wut kind of numbers r u wanting to see from ur car? m62 with full bolt ons will net u somewhere around 265ish whp when tuned. tvs can get u up over 300whp

 

TVS is a bolt on supercharger upgrade and to be honest if u have 3 grand to play with id skip the stage kits and go either used tvs or turbo kit. With a stage kit and bolt ons ur looking around 265 to 275 on pump gas with a good tune 93 octane, 280 to 290ish with e85 fuel if u have that in ur area. with a turbo kit or tvs bolt on and cooling mods u can put down alot more hp.

 

How much is a tvs bolt on and where would I find it?

 

I would skip that clutchmasters clutch. Go with a spec stage 3 or 3+ or get a ky stage 3

 

I think this might help

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/adva...ow-faq-184037/

 

=( It's already ordered as of yesterday. My stock clutch is on it's way out the door, so I went ahead and ordered a clutch first before anything else.

Thanks! I'll check it out.

 

u can buy them brand new for around 2200. i know zzp used to sell them but didn't c it on their site last i visited. i think ottp and ttr might sell them. but keep an eye on the classifieds, they come up every now and then but aren't around for long

 

u can find them used on here for about 1400 to 1600, then u will just need bolts that should cost less then 1000 if u shop around on here for the used stuff and someone to tune ur car.

 

Ehh, I have an OCD thing about buying anything used lol. I just can't do it. And I was really looking forward to installing all the other things. And if I get TVS new, I won't be able to afford a new exhaust system AND a header/downpipe among other things.

I will, however, have another $4000 to spend in a couple months. I think I'll just go for full bolt-ons for now and maybe upgrade the s/c in a few months.

So, ZZP is a good place to get all those parts I mentioned?

Also... what should I install first? Any specific order? Can some parts be added on without a tune? I don't want to have to get a tune multiple times... and I can't just not drive it until everything is finished... it's my DD, I use this bitch to get to work and class.

 

zzp is the best place to get parts but dont use the canned tune u need someone that is a good tuner to give u a custom tune.

 

i wouldnt spend a single penny of your budget without first taking two weeks of researching the car, its capabilities, parts etc etc on this site. might save you some mistakes

 

**** monograt is selling a complete lnf turbokit you could bolt on get a intake IC exhaust and a retune and should have money left over

 

make sure ur ic pump is working also its its not that needs to be replaced first.

How To Check IC Pump On A Chevy Cobalt SS/SC - YouTube

 

this man knows what he is talking about...I'm still researching oarts and im 6k into my build and climbing rapidly.