Hey there guys. So im gonna be buying a cobalt. I want to start by saying a few years ago I owned a cobalt ss/sc. Stage 2 60# injectors. Tuned. Can. Etc. And it was a blast. I used to love spanking the cobras. Or staying right with them and seeing their face lol. Anyways. Some lady hit me one day and destroyed the car. So insurance payed me out and I bought a 2001 silverado. It's payed off and it's time for another cobalt. You know for the gas mileage ... Haha. But idk if I want the turbo or the suoercharged vs. I'm a turbo fan. I want the most power I can have without swapping turbos or superchargers. So im leaning towards the LNF. There is an 08 for sale for a good price around me. And an 07 for the same price. Both very clean. Now can a stage 3 sc hang with a tuned LNF? I plan on going out to Buttonwillow. A road racing course. With it. If I get a sc I will do cai. 2.7 pulley tune exhaust. That's about as far as I'll go. With the turbo. It will be a tune. Exhaust. Cai. Charge pipes. Bov. Etc. My brother has an srt4. I will beat him. Lol. Thanks for the help guys. I will be looking at them tomorrow. Just for ***** and giggles. How about a twin screw supercharger? Would that make a huge difference? Thanks.

 

If you're just looking to do some basic bolt ons, not get very serious with it, & don't want to do any big things (turbo swap LSJ, bigger sc LSJ), the LNF tromps the LSJ... & it really hurts me to say that. I'm an LSJ fanboy

 

I agree with Tstone. Downpipe, tune, and better couplers/intercooler will net you more than 300 to the wheels in many cases with an LNF.

 

Well lnf only takes intake and exhaust and a good tune to be hitting really good numbers. Then again i have a lnf so you can say im biased

 

Yeah that's what I was thinking. I just didn't know how a stage 3 sc compared to the tuned turbo. I loved my sc when I had it. But i love turbos.

 

My TVS set up on a small pulley and a lot of meth got outran by an LNF on stock turbo with bolt ons and e85

 

That solves it then. Turbo it is. Lol. I don't want to swap to a turbo just to beat a turbo cobalt lol

 

if i were to buy a cobalt right now, i would get an 05-06 na 2.4. they have the forged bottom end, fully unlocked ecu with hpt and more displacement. and they can be had for even cheaper than a lsj. that would be fun to work with, but im really just jealous of the hpt capability. lnf and lsj barely have half of the tables unlocked.

 

With a tuned TC you'll be able to do more than beat SRT4's!
This video was taken 3 years ago when I was mostly stock with intake, down pipe and a canned ZZP tune. Fun fun fun lol

 

With a stock tc, you will beat srt4s.

 

That was sweet man. Even on the straights he didn't pull you that much. Corner exit speed he had the most difference but that was sweet makes me excited to race my brother. Although he's an excellent driver. He used to race for his college in she. Has raced on the Ferrari track in Italy. At fontana speed way where he holds a couple records last I checked. So he's good so I need the upper hand in the car being better LOL

 

Why are our ecu locked? Can't I just trade my ecu for a NA ecu and tune it for my lnf?

 

Different ecu's

 

they arent locked. just not fully unlocked. the ecu used on the 2.4 was also used on many v8 applications. since that is where hptuners makes their money, they made sure to fully unlock all the tables on those ecus. the lnf and lsj ecus were only used on i-4's, i-5's, and v-6's, and they dont make as much money on these, so they just unlocked what you need to have to get by.

accessibility on the 2.4 is just way better when it comes to tuning. id have gone that route if i knew better. and no, you cant simply swap them. theres a thread that talks about this on here where a guy was trying to use the e37 ecu on the lsj, but ran into a few issues. the outcome of his experiment hasnt been seen yet, because he no longer frequents the forum. but i think that you must change out the reluctor wheel on the crank to make this possible

 

if the lnf youre looking at is the same price as the lsj, either that lnf is underpriced or the lsj is overpriced lol.

 

Well the lnf is an 08 60k asking 10999. The 07 with 70ish k. Is 11999. So yeah the lsj is over priced. I'm hoping the 08 is as clean as the pics. And I'm sure I could walk out the door for roughly 10500 after taxes etc. But we will see tomorrow.

 

no question. get the lnf. that lsj price is silly

 

lnf

 

So looked at 4 today. 2 were junk. 2 were pretty clean. 1 was 13999 an 09 with 66k. It had hahn charge pipes. It was tuned to 25psi.)(wicked fast in 3rd gear about 3300 i rolled into It. And it lit the tires up) but needed a clutch.

2nd was an 08 76k miles. Asking 9999 yellow. Has injen charge pipes. Cai. not tuned. Had either a BOV I couldn't see. Or a vented pbv valve. It did make the psshhh sound. It was fast. Had nitro tires on it brand new. Both had exhaust and sounded great. I went with the yellow one. It needed headlights fixed. They had HID and one kept going out. And the stereo was cut out when it was turned in. So no radio worked. They are fixing that. I'll be signing paperwork tomorrow morning.

So my next question is now. What mods to do next? I'm going to tune it. Not sure by who yet? Zzp. Hahn? Trifecta? Looking at the FMIc as well. Afr Guage. Short throw shifter possibly? Depending what we end up with on the price tomorrow. I may have 1-2k to spend right now. Let me know what you think. The tune is definitely number 1. But give me a list of mods you would do. I only want about 330. No higher. Basic stuff not looking to get all crazy with turbo swaps and all that. Just a fun daily driver that will see some drag strip and some road course racing. Thanks.

 

Pretty sure if it has a bov or even a vent to atmosphere bpv, it has to be tweaked in the tune to run either. Especially with the cai. Might check and see how high boost goes under full throttle. Better make sure it's not a boost leak or something else you are hearing before signing paperwork.

 

I'll have them double check. But boost in 2nd gear was pegged 15. It shifts at 6k. All signs of no tune. But it could be tuned but no extra boost. I'll have them check for a boost leak. My dad went with me. He's a master mech. Certified by gm and all that. He okayed the car mechanically. And I trust his judgment. But ill bring up a boost leak and see what he says. Thanks for the tip

 

First thing to do is tune it and get an aftermarket down pipe. Find a local place that has HPT or better yet buy HPT yourself, so you can pick your own (remote) tuner. Terminator2 on here is awesome.
Don't boost it anymore in its current state. Running an aftermarket CAI with stock tune is no bueno.
Other things to check are rear brakes for grooving in the rotors, they are problematic except in 2010's.
In the front, make sure the pins in the Brembos aren't seized.
Congrats on the purchase. You'll have lots of fun with this car!

 

I'll look into the hpt. What does term charge to tune it? I may just find someone to dyno tune it if it's gonna be similar in price. Why does it need the downpipe? Is the factory one that restrictive?

 

It doesn't need the downpipe but it's a cheap beneficial part. I want to say he's $250 but it might be $350, the problem with the dyno tune is I wouldn't trust too many people to tune the LNF motor, where as with Terminator2 you know you're getting a very good reliable tune.

 

Yeah. But for 650 for hpt. Then another 250-350. I'm at a grand for a tune. Where as if I go to a reputable dyno. And have them tune to my AFR gauge. Keep the boost lowest. 21-23. And keep it at a safe afr. Keep the timing back. Etc. Then it will only cost me maybe 500 or so and I know what it dyno at. As mentioned before. My dad is a master mech. As well as a gear head. He tunes all his vehicles. From a 12 seconds chevy 3500. To a 9 second nova. I'm sure term2 is an amazing tuner when it comes to lnf motors. Now if he had a way of it being 350 tuned out the door and I didn't have to buy hpt myself. Then yes I would. But if I'm buying hpt already I might as well tune it myself on a dyno. Or find someone local on a dyno.