Ashton White

I have a g6 with the 2.4 litre motor and I am looking to tune it and add a few bolt on parts, can Any one give me any advice

Slowbalt2000

iTrader: (1)

Supercharge it

steelmesh

Are you new to car modifying? Do you have any specific goals in mind? Like autocross or street racing?

Ashton White

Yes I am fairly new to tuning and modifying, i am more looking toward keeping it as my daily driver but I want to squeeze some more power out of it.

I am also considering looking for a supercharged 2.2l motor and manual transmission, or a 2.0L turbo LK9 and trying a complete swap. I was thinking if the motor mounts are the same the most might have to do is some work on the tunnel, I haven't heard of anybody doing it before so if it sounds crazy somebody please tell me.

steelmesh

Just to clarify:
2.4 LE5 = Naturally Aspirated Ecotec
2.0 LSJ = Supercharged Ecotec
2.0 LNF = Turbocharged Ecotec

You got to start somewhere, am I right?

If the mounts line up that would be great, do you know if the G6 manual transmission is the same as the Cobalt manual transmission? How about the chassis, can you use G6 shift linkage and clutch system on the Cobalt setup? Doing a total powertrain swap is pretty ambitious, this should be reserved for a project car not a daily driver. I envision a wiring harness and ECU nightmare, it will take quite a bit of motivation and patience to see this through...it would suck to quit half-way through you don't want to even start if there is a hint of doubt that you won't make it through.

Unfortunately being Naturally Aspirated you can only squeeze a little power out of it, like borderline un-noticable performance wise after doing the intake and exhaust, I hear a tune can help your low/mid-range power but not really up top, overall nothing to get too excited about either. If you invest into a really good exhaust you'll get the car sounded sweet and the secondary benefit is you're in a good position to benefit from an LSJ supercharger install later. The LSJ supercharger is partially bolt-on, in theory! However, being an automatic you might be better off with a K04 turbo from the LNF Ecotec so that the torque comes on a bit smoother and boost stays boosting, however turbos will need some more fab work (exhaust and intake piping).

Going forced induction isn't daily driver friendly if it is not a completely engineered bolt-on kit, if it is your only mode of transportation even a bolt-on kit is risky for a new and semi-experienced DIY mechanics. Warning, Red flag here, I can't seem to find much info on the G6 lsj supercharger swap which might indicate that it is hard to do, otherwise the G6 tuner community is non-existent in the big scheme of things.

Just throwing this out here, maybe others can estimate the hours better:
Semi-experienced DIY lsj supercharger swap with fab capabilities = 60-80 punched in working hours not counting research
Semi-experienced DIY turbocharge swap with fab capabilities = 90-120 punched in working hours not counting research
To save hours here, you can pay a tuner shop to do the fab work but you better have a big bank account

Since you're less experienced, you may want to double these hours and/or costs =(

Then there is nitrous wet fogger. Low horsepower shot is safe IF you install it with the best practices of wiring, plumbing and safety systems. This might be your best option as far as "bang for your buck". You can use the vehicle in the middle of installation, you can tap fuel off the fuel rail (probably just a standard AN hose, just remove the valve).

Ashton White

Im going to start by thanking you for all the information youve given me. This car it exactly my daily as of yet but I would like to keep it as a somewhat reliable road car, from what I've gathered and from what ive read this motor isn't very modifiable and trying to turbo or supercharge it is a lot more work that the cars really worth and I would be better off going with a complete swap. Like you said either way I go there's piping and a complete remap of the engine and wiring, i do like the thought of nitrous though 😈

Again thank you for clarifying the engine numbers for me, the other option I was considering was swapping in a manual LSJ or LNF motor if the mounts lined up properly as I've read that GM used alot of the same frames in their cars. I could go with one of the original I4 or v6 that come with the g6 but the LSJ and LNF motors have a lot more aftermarket parts.

So in short do you think a full LSJ motor and drivetrain swap into a g6 is very feasible? I know it might take some wiring and fab work to the chassis and tunnel but I would be a lot better off doing that as a beginner instead of like you said completely redoing the motor to install a supercharger or a turbo. Even stock from an LSJ I would get another 100 horsepower out of it that what I have now and lots of room for improvement!

Again thank you so much for your time I really do appreciate all the knowledge and tips!!

jdbaugh1

iTrader: (1)

If you want reliability, keep it stock. Like others have said I would only recommend boosting or adding nitrous to the car if you are ok with sacrificing reliability and have a secondary reliable form of transportation. It's not that you can't set it up to be a good daily but you have to accept that you most likely will have some issues and it may spend some time sitting every now and again for repairs. If you're in love with the delta platform and want more power, but also reliable, look into and LSJ, LNF cobalt, or ION redline.

Based on your goals for a reliable daily, swapping to LSJ or LNF complete motor is going to be too much work and money. I've been told the problem is that the LSJ and LNF ECM won't work with the BCM of your car and requires complete donor car and rewire to make it work and that's assuming it will all mount up without custom engine mounts.

Basically if you are willing to accept this car as an at times unreliable money pit than we can help you make all sorts of bad decisions in the quest for moooore powah. Otherwise for a reliable daily I would just throw an exhaust and intake on for nice sound and call it a day. Then later down the road, if you feel like it's worth it, add boost or nitrous.

steelmesh

With enough time and money anything is possible. Sounds cliche, but we see proof everywhere it is completely true thanks to the youtubes and internet.

Required Skills/Tools to make a functional highly modified car (such as a complete powertrain swap):
- Wiring tools and soldering skills, knowledge of best practices such as routing and grounding. Ability to read and trace wiring using factory diagrams and schematics.
- Metal working tools and skills to use them, at minimum: work bench, bench vice, angle grinder, chop saw, drills press, clamps, calipers, square
- Hand tools and skills to use them: mechanics set, wrenches and socket, hammers, gigantic channel locks, impact, light, you can just borrow special tools from auto parts stores and ask shops to press stuff for you
- MIG or TIG welder, and the skills that go with those
- Jack and jack stands
- Disposable income

When you "master" all of the above, you can accomplish almost anything car related in my opinion (this is when you can genuinely understand that the time and money cliche is true). Yes a factory LSJ/LNF powertrain is reliable, what is not reliable is the fabricator/installer, even experienced people fail here it is expected actually. Look at Toms Turbo garage LS swapped Miata, he is #1 super **** and highly skilled and #2 spent a ton of money on pre-engineered components; also consider he did not share fails after his project was completed, something went wrong I guarantee it.

steelmesh

....so what I would strongly suggested is:

1) Get the G6 bolt-on intake and exhaust systems, then do cosmetic enhancements if it makes you feel good
2) Purchase a self-propelled project vehicle to feed your need to modify stuff and go fast (dirt bike, motorcycle, moped, minibike, pwc, quad, go kart, etc). I started out on blown up stuff like that, plus it's way less expensive.
3) Build your shop while doing #2

Tennessee Green

I don't want to get bashed for hijacking a thread but I'm thinking along sort of the same lines as our thread pioneer except.... I'm running the ecotec in a VW bug desert car. I've read a hundred different threads and it's a fact; forced induction reduces lifespan.....but....I've read a lot that says 7-10 lbs at the upper end of mid range is doable and pretty reliable. My own personal reason for considering a turbo 2.4 is of course larger displacement for powers sake, with the boost coming in for a little extra 'umph' in the silt and coming out of corners. That being said (and be brutally honest)do I need to run my engine till it cracks and turbo the rebuild or are my ideas feasible?

steelmesh

I started to butt piston rings on the stock 2.4 at 15-18 psi on water/meth. I was making 320 whp at 18 psi very conservative timing. I beat the engine up it never failed (rapid self disassembly), found excessive wear on cylinder 4 burning oil and had low oil pressure like 15 at idle and 45 a redline. You'd be okay to boost to 7-10, and consider you may bode well with a supercharger in the sand.

Sharkey

iTrader: (1)

i really hate to be "that guy", and while boosting the ecotec in the g6 would be unique, its going to be quite costly. on the flip side, if you like the g6 platform, then you might consider finding a gt/gtp/gxp model with either the 3.9l or 3.6l and sell your car. a supercharged 2.4l is going to put out the same power as either v6 does, and those are already available with a 6 speed manual.

im usually not the one to bring this up, but when you add all the factors up it makes a whole lot more sense.

Tennessee Green

I'm unfamiliar with the 3.9 engine but I think it's a Dodge V6? Cast iron block? That's another huge advantage of the ecotec; all aluminum so light weight. Doesn't cause it to manufacture any more hp but it does free up what I make anyway. I appreciate all y'all input!

Tennessee Green

Id say the supercharger would be better and combat some spool up time maybe but they are exxxxxpennnnsiiiivve!! Lol

exninja

iTrader: (1)

Sharkey was responding to the OP. The V6's in the G6 were aluminum.

M62 take-off from a Cobalt with IM and other parts is likely just as expensive or cheaper than a quality turbo w/o the accessories.

Sharkey

iTrader: (1)

the 3.9l in the g6 is based on the gm 60 degree v6 platform. its an iron block aluminum headed engine. its 240 hp/ 240 ft/lb. really the engine itself isnt that heavy. the later versions come with the 3.6l dohc, they are 250hp.

the reason i mention this route is there is a lot of things stacked against doing a highly modded base model in this case. the g6 as a whole is a largely unsupported platform, although the ecotec is the engine thats easier to make power with. with any car, the more mods you do the less reliable it is, and when the car is a daily driver and your not that experienced at performing such mods, it can be a bad overall experience. ive been there, way over modding my daily with stuff most dont do, trying to fix stuff half the night so i can get to work the next day, it sucks. what also really sucks is after you have spent a pile of money and put blood sweat and tears making it "fast," and in the end a stock top level model of the same car is hanging right there with you.

im not saying dont mod cars, we all love modding cars. what im getting at is you need to be smart about it. if you just want a couple bolt ons, go for it, things like exhaust and intake are things that make you happy driving it more than giving much power, and thats fine. when it comes to adding boost you gotta make sure it makes sense in the grand scheme of things.

Slowbalt2000

iTrader: (1)

Supercharging an ecotec is the most cost effective way to make power. Much cheaper than a turbo setup.