How far to take your ecotec?

[sweefu]

Hey all, i have been thinking about this for a while and see people asking about it in the vr-vs section alot. How far to take the mods on your ecotec? By the time you have spent money on exhaust, cai, memcal or even $500 on FIT rockers, could you have saved the money and gotten a v8 in the first place? Or bought a full forced induction kit? Or where is the next place to go from there?
Anyone with an ecotec or Anyone that has an opinon on this would be great.
Cheers.

[WogBoyz]

i reakon ive spent at least $2500 just on the engine, not inlcuding lowering ect

[sweefu]

are you happy with the result or would you have prefered to have done nothing and got a s/c kit or something?
Cheers mate.

[alien]

W00000, go the superchargers But if you do that you'll want to push more out of it

[Philthy]

I wouldn't be spending big on an ecotec unless I was only allowed a v6 for P plate reasons or was going down the forced induction road.
Mine is just getting the basic mods te keep me happy until I know I can afford a V8 conversion + insurance, fuel etc.
When the time comes though, if I'm still reasonably happy with the way it's running I would have no problem boosting the ecotec

[mking]

yeh but if you were going F/I you would want to have rockers exhaust and all the goodys before you get one so you could get the full potential out of the s/c or turbo you choose to put on it

[Philthy]

yeh but if you were going F/I you would want to have rockers exhaust and all the goodys before you get one so you could get the full potential out of the s/c or turbo you choose to put on it

Of course, but most of that would come under the "basic mods" that I would do anyway

[cewing]

end of the day a modded v6 is still a v6.
There are people (many here!) who get exec level commodores, and do them up to a berlina/calais spec...end of the day its just a glorified exec....moneys better spent on getting the higher level outright.
my thoughts

[mking]

Of course, but most of that would come under the "basic mods" that I would do anyway

How far to take the mods on your ecotec? By the time you have spent money on exhaust, cai, memcal or even $500 on FIT rockers, could you have saved the money and gotten a v8 in the first place? Or bought a full forced induction kit?


was more aiming at the first post mate^^^^, sorry for the confusion

[S2_VR_]

save for a 5.0L or wack a LS1 in it!!!

[WogBoyz]

are you happy with the result or would you have prefered to have done nothing and got a s/c kit or something?
Cheers mate.

im acutrally pretty happy with the result i got ay, im on P's so have to stay N/A but overall happy with my money ive spent

[TMM]

end of the day a modded v6 is still a v6.
There are people (many here!) who get exec level commodores, and do them up to a berlina/calais spec...end of the day its just a glorified exec....moneys better spent on getting the higher level outright.
my thoughts

I would second this. As far as reselling the car you'll won't get anything back. If you're going to mod an ecotec, go for a supercharger and supporting mods (breathing mods, rockers, maybe cams). Anything less then forced induction will get minimal gains. Anything more is going to cost $$$$, but most people who go all out on an Ecotec do it because it's more interesting/unique then a V8.

If you just want bang for buck you're best of starting with an LS1 + tune .

[pjdm1980]

I got my S/C V6 stato when i was on my P's long time ago now and I'm glad i did as it's a great middle of the road car, good power with boost pulley and great on fuel compared to a 5.0ltr but if they'd been cheaper at the time i would of gone for a WH 5.7ltr.
But the fact is in most states now you can't drive a forced induction or V8 car on your P's so the only place to start is with a V6 and do internal mods.

[ECOTECnical]

ok here we go...i was thinking of putting v8 injectors on my ecotec....considering the fuel/air mixture will be stronger,is there any way of getting more air in my engine without forcing it down with turbos and superchargers... besides cold air intake,oversized throttle body...and will it be enough with thease mods? ive heard if you cant get the air in your just wasting fuel...so can it be done without force feeding? thanks for any help! p.s if i do anything stupid on this let me know cos im just starting on this thread/forum stuff :P

[MY-42-VT]

well mate i own a ecotec, i putta cold air intake on, k&n air filter, split fire leads and plugs and a 2 and a half inch exhaust system on her, to be honest its taken the dullness outta it and put a bitta sting up her ass... if you where to go supercharged theres a shit load of things to look at, cams, ECU, how many km's are on the motor and how shes been treated, exhaust system...mate thats just the start

i thought about supercharging but then i thought **** it ay, too much so im gonna see how much power i can get naturally aspirated...alotta people will tell you that you will get bugger all from the ecotec... there wrong, you put a 4.2 stroker kit in her, cam and a decent exhaust and it'll push as much power as a 5L V8 ( round 215 rwkw) and have bout 11nm more torque, now if you add all the other lil mods it would be pretty easy to reach 250kw in my opinion, im only 17 and i may be setting my goals to high, but to be honest its the cheapest and most effective and safest way to get power

[Philthy]

its the cheapest and most effective and safest way to get power

I would have thought a 250rwkw 5L would be much cheaper (and easier) to build, and much less likely to break

[MY-42-VT]

well if you only do stroker, cams, rockers etc etc..whats there too brake? you gotta fresh crank, con rods and pistons, new cam, new rockers... if its run in right what could go wrong? ( engine wise )

[sircruisealotVS]

ok here we go...i was thinking of putting v8 injectors on my ecotec....considering the fuel/air mixture will be stronger,is there any way of getting more air in my engine without forcing it down with turbos and superchargers... besides cold air intake,oversized throttle body...and will it be enough with thease mods? ive heard if you cant get the air in your just wasting fuel...so can it be done without force feeding? thanks for any help! p.s if i do anything stupid on this let me know cos im just starting on this thread/forum stuff :P

V8 injectors from what engine man? If they're off a 5L then they're going to flow the same rate, so there's not much point swapping to them.

For mods like putting higher flowing injectors in to make any improvement, there has to be a need for more fuel, which in 99% of n/a ecotec applications there just isn't any need to.
Only once there's some boost in the equation would you need new injectors for an ecotec.

You can't really get more air into the engine (n/a), as it's only going to suck in as much as it's capable of. Cold air induction has benifits of supplying cooler air, not neccessarily more air. Unless it's done up with a forward facing throttle body, using a ram style intake like the LS1's do, which is not possible on an ecotec without a new custom plenum.
All you can really do is create as little restriction between the throttle body and it's source of air as possible, with the air preferably coming from a cool area like the front of the car.

A larger throttle body tends to just make the engine toey on acceleration, but doesn't truely effect power very much. You need to be carefull also if the car is an auto as you'll likely have issues with the transmission playing up getting incorrect tps readings.

[sircruisealotVS]

i thought about supercharging but then i thought **** it ay, too much so im gonna see how much power i can get naturally aspirated...alotta people will tell you that you will get bugger all from the ecotec... there wrong, you put a 4.2 stroker kit in her, cam and a decent exhaust and it'll push as much power as a 5L V8 ( round 215 rwkw) and have bout 11nm more torque, now if you add all the other lil mods it would be pretty easy to reach 250kw in my opinion, im only 17 and i may be setting my goals to high, but to be honest its the cheapest and most effective and safest way to get power

I hope you meant 215kw at the engine man, cos there aren't any n/a ecotec strokers putting out 215 rear wheel kw. 200kw-240+kw at the engine is about as much as you'd expect from an ecotec stroker depending on its compression and cam specs.

[MY-42-VT]

you sure there isn't any? cause trust me there is, all you need is stroker, cams, rockers and a decent exhaust and you got ya 215rwkw+ easy....

i wouldn't be saying it if i havn't seen it

[sircruisealotVS]

you sure there isn't any? cause trust me there is, all you need is stroker, cams, rockers and a decent exhaust and you got ya 215rwkw+ easy....

i wouldn't be saying it if i havn't seen it

I'm absolutely positive.
There is not one n/a ecotec stroker rolling about Australia that puts out that sort of power.
If you have seen it, then point me in it's direction and prove me wrong.

Making that sort of power is just not possible on the ecotec without boost. Even alot of blown ecotecs, whether turbo or s/c don't make 215rwkw, it's definately not "easy" to get that much power out of one.

[greenfoam]

:P I like this thread

[DanVN]

:P I like this thread

*grabs popcorn*

[Gen3Jonesy]

215rwkw out of an n/a ecotec??

Show me how and the ls1 is gone...

I wont hold my breath

[FirstVR_JC]

you sure there isn't any? cause trust me there is, all you need is stroker, cams, rockers and a decent exhaust and you got ya 215rwkw+ easy....

i wouldn't be saying it if i havn't seen it

hehehe... the setup your explaining here looks very similar to the information provided in a recent commodore magazine (is this where you have SEEN it?)... Maybe you have misinterpreted the information provided....or the mag provided a misprint about figures (it was done in another article in the same section).

OF course i could be wrong, i dont have the mag with me right now as i'm at work....BUT .... that statement you made about the 11nm of more torque rings a bell... ie 'remember the v8 5ltr only put out 400mn' .....

Reference ---- SC mag issue 159, page 53 ..... Is this where you got your figures?