VS - early stages of planning

[savage1987]

I'm 17 and haven't even got a car to call my own yet, but bear with me...

I was thinking this morning about what kind of a level I'd take my car to in the performance and aesthetic departments... and thought I'd draw myself up a rough plan

The car I'm looking for is a 1997 VSII manual V6.

Here's what's on the drawing board so far:
(More or less sorted into engine mods and other mods)

Debadge it
Tinted windows, as dark as is legal
18" alloys (type depends on what's available and what suits car colour etc..)
Lowered pedders(?) springs and shocks all round (maybe airbags as well, depends how low... can't avoid speed humps forever)
Alpine head unit and decent system (haven't decided how far to go with audio yet..)
Xenon headlights

Short shifter (JHP)
Front brake upgrade: DBA slotted rotors, Bendix Ultimate pads and braided lines all round
K&N panel filter
S/C VS C.A.I.
Bored throttle body
Pacemaker extractors (size?)
Performance exhaust stainless steel full dual system (size?) (D&T Performance?) ceramic coated
Performance chip
1.9:1 high ratio roller rockers (FIT)
Performance plugs and leads
Turbo timer (?)

So that's the current plan, anyway (will be updated from time to time). Any comments appreciated...

Cheers
Sam

P.S.: I'll be away from May 30 until June 4, so please don't think that I've abandoned the thread or am rude for not replying...

[IH8WRX]

If you have your heart set on it then go for it. Your money, your car! Just some words of advice from someone a little older who has done up 3 Commodores in 10yrs (VL turbo, VS SS M5 & now VX SS M6) is if it's performance you're after save your money and get a V8. For the amount of money you will spend on those mods to a VR/VS you could have a VT LS1 or even VX SS. No matter how much money you throw at a V6 VR/VS it will never have the same power and reliability of a current V8 powered car.

[richie]

hehe your in the same dilemma i was dude
i am by no means an expert but hell and forgive my spelling i have been drowning my sorrows after the nsw loss

let me say if u want to only spend 3-4g then maybe my advice is ahndy
if youre resigned to the fact of spedning 10g or whatever on ur car then gof or it ignore me hahha

i make about 2g a month in my current job and it has been a fair spend the shit ive done to my car recently (vsII v6 acclaim)

anyway
harts has been helping me out so read his stuff for sure
heres a handy post
new exhaust system stole my baby

the pacemakers you want are PH5039 i think, 1.5" primary pipe into a tuned design collector
fits into whatever cat after that

and a CAI from holden should be more than sufficient
works well for me
i can here mine over 3000rpm nice whoosh to it hehe
kn filter is prolly worth while

i can tell u pedders sportssryder with the 1.5" lower is well worth it
made a world of diff to my ride

ive spent 1700 hundred on my stereo so i cant talk

engine cover seems kinda pointless lol

break upgrade always good, stop faster if yr driving faster makes sense to me ahha

board tb des wonders for ur throttle response apparently

i have tossed up about a performance chip but yeh, more cost,a nd more fkns shit to insure lol

beyond that i dont know to much eh
this is driunken ramblings at best
if soemething is ad is wrong
well it prolly is wrong
i woulnd not be surprised

[savage1987]

ok my post is too long i'll have to split it

haha pretty coherent considering ur hammered, richie...except for that last bit, dun know wtf u were on about there

yea i read that post by harts, read the whole thread. even had a couple of posts there, you may or may not have noticed...
holden cai, is that the factory vs one or off a vt v8 or something?
i was thinking about sportsryder, but maybe more than 1.5" lower... don't know yet for sure tho
brakes i'm upgrading cuz stock ones are shyte.
*defensively* i like that engine cover... it'd just make it look a bit different, i like the idea
don't know much about TB, whether bored v6 or v8 or bored v8 or if there'd be any difference...
apparently chips are worthwhile, esp. if ur towing
the family mechanic has a vsIII olympic edition ute with extractors and a chip as only mods, the chip improved fuel economy for towing on long highway trips by over 30% !!! he said something about the oxy sensor being in the wrong place... dunno

[savage1987]

i don't want to spend TOO much money all up on the car, just make it so i'm happy with where i've taken it to, if u know what i mean.
hoping to get plenty of kms out of my 1st car, so won't be thrashing it TOO much... reliability is pretty important for me

IH8WRX, i saw ur vx ss in ur other thread, wow
the only things that put me off a v8 at the moment are 17yo insurance premiums and fuel economy
hopefully i'll go that way in the future though, don't get me wrong i'd LOVE a v8 to call my own, just maybe not as a first car
if i decided to look into v8s i'd have to go through the models again and decide which gives best value for money, or which would be my favourite (like with the 6 i like the vs best, features and shape and ecotech engine)

[savage1987]

if anybody can give me feedback on anything i've questionmarked (pretty much means i really don't know what i'm on about there) i'd appreciate any comments, like regarding the turbo timer etc
also i don't know too much about engine reconditioning and internal work... blueprinting (don't even know what that is...) and so on, any tips/suggestions for the REVISED plan would be great.

cheers for that info, keep the posts coming please
sam

[IH8WRX]

i don't want to spend TOO much money all up on the car, just make it so i'm happy with where i've taken it to, if u know what i mean.
hoping to get plenty of kms out of my 1st car, so won't be thrashing it TOO much... reliability is pretty important for me

IH8WRX, i saw ur vx ss in ur other thread, wow
the only things that put me off a v8 at the moment are 17yo insurance premiums and fuel economy
hopefully i'll go that way in the future though, don't get me wrong i'd LOVE a v8 to call my own, just maybe not as a first car
if i decided to look into v8s i'd have to go through the models again and decide which gives best value for money, or which would be my favourite (like with the 6 i like the vs best, features and shape and ecotech engine)

Fuel economy in V8's is simply dependant on how you drive. If you drive with the accelerator pedal mashed to the firewall then expect it to guzzle fuel by the gallon! Drive them sensibly and you can get excellent mileage from them. I only have 20,000km on my VX SS but I have gotten 600km from a single tank. I even managed to get 600km from my VS SS too so it can be done. Insurance, yes it's a killer under 30, that I can speak from experience over. HOWEVER if you perform those mods in your "wish list" you will find it near impossible to get insurance on it full stop! If you do get insurance it will be the same price if not more then a V8 anyway.

Your wish list;-

Bodykit:- depends on your taste. Personally I believe if they are not the genuine factory kit don't bother as fibre glass just looks terrible after a few thousand km's, they add extra weight to the car sometimes that much so it can be as much as 20-40kg which is a small passenger.

HPC coating of headers/exhaust system:- HPC is simply a brand of ceramic coating, and a costly one at that. I have the headers on my SS ceramic coated. The HPC guy here in Brisbane wanted $650 to ceramic coat mine. I went down the road to another establishment and got them done for $330, simply because they use a different brand. It pays to shop around! Yes it's a worthwhile exercise not only for looks, but also for longetivity of the system and performance.

Performance plugs & leads:- This al depends on what you do to your engine. Always match plugs and leads to the current tune/settings of your engine.

Turbo timer:- Unless you will be making it forced induction save your money. Car alarms can do the same thing these days.

Lightened flywheel:- Yes it will make a difference but unless you intend on ripping the engine out and doing work to it the difference you will be able to feel will be non existant. Save your money.

Cryo temp testing:- Once again unless your towing heavy loads, or running mega HP, forget it. Add a transmission oil cooler and run some Castrol Transmax Z oil and that will be more than sufficient.

[death-from-above]

Debadge it
Interior neons
Tinted windows, as dark as is legal
18" alloys (type depends on what's available)
Lowered pedders springs and shocks all round (maybe airbags as well, depends how low... can't avoid speed humps forever)
Body kit (?)
Alpine head unit and decent system (haven't decided how far to go with audio yet..)
Xenon headlights
Engine cover (ecotec v6 carbon fibre finish)

Short shifter (JHP)
Front brake upgrade: DBA slotted rotors, Bendix Ultimate pads and braided lines all round
K&N panel filter
CAI (type?)
Bored TB / V8 TB
Pacemaker extractors (size?)
Performance exhaust stainless steel full dual system (size) (D&T Performance?) HPC coated (?)
Performance chip
1.9:1 high ratio roller rockers (FIT)
Performance plugs and leads (?)
Lightweight flywheel (?)
Turbo timer (is this as dumb an idea as i think it may be for a n/a 6??)
Gearbox internals Cryo-temp treated (read somewhere this is a good idea, but is it over the top??)

Suspension - look at some whiteline kits
Neons - should be questionamrked i reckon
Engine cover - can be painted quite easily and suited to a colour theme, paying around 300 for a carbon fibre look is not my idea of wise spending
Brake upgrade - VT -> VZ spec
CAI - S/C over radiator
TB - dont bother with a V8, get the V6 opened up, although really wont make too much of a difference without other engine mods
Leads - Top Gunn 9mm
Plugs - Bosch, the 4 point ones seem a little over the top and pointless , not to mention expensive
Flywheel - dont bother
Turbo timer - useless, just wasting petrol
Gearbox internals - waste of money with no engine mods

You might want to look at a stroker kit or CAPA bolt on supercharger if you want cheap power, you ideas seem very ambitious. I take it these mods will be done over year/s so start with little things and work from there. The things you listed are quite expensive when you add them up.

Oh and IH8WRX its that sort of attitude i love, the look on a guys face when you kick his ass in a 6 is tremendous. The fact is on streets an 8 will loose to even 4 cylinders, you simply just dont have the distance for the extra cylinders to work their magic. Track is completly different though.....

[savage1987]

600kms per tank in an 8. well that's more than i'd have thought hey. that's like the same as what we get in our vt v6! i'm thinking v6 first car, v8 second, depends on what i can find though, a big plus for the v8 is that they tend to last a sh!tload longer than the sixes do, at least from what i've seen. so i'll keep my eyes open.

turbo timer - i read some good things in issue99 of street commodores mag about the hks type 1 turbo timer, does all kinds of stuff. i'll think about that one
for now though, flywheel, cryo temp are off the list

as for interior neons, nah i like em, just not over the top, one in each front footwell and maybe a couple in the back... depends on what suits the car though (colour, etc, DEFINITELY NOT if i go a leather interior...).

death-from-above, we've got a vt v6 and the brakes squeal like shit, enough that i actually prefer driving our 89 lexcen even though it has a shit stereo and no ABS etc etc... i reckon they mismatched the callipers and the rotors, that's what my mechanic reckons too... and the upgrade i suggested can be done for a few hundred bucks so i reckon it's worth it

engine cover - good point, i'll just go the paint way
CAI - s/c vs or vt onward? are they the same??
and i never heard of a stroker kit for a ecotech v6... but i'd be interested in finding out more (don't like bolt on s/c assemblies..)

yea it'll be done over at least a year or two probably.

cheers guys, will edit my first post to revise the list as i go along
sam

[death-from-above]

The vt wont fit the vs because of the changes to the airbox, the s/c one should set you back about 60 bucks, plenty of threads on it.

The vt brake upgrade for the front is only $355 with brand new rotors, police pads, callipers and braided lines. Personally i think i might go brembo or HSV spec.

Check out the come racing website for more details on the stroker kit.

Oh and i dunno about neons in the footwells, my berlina has lights as standard in the footwells, and you can change the colour from green to whatever other colour just by putting on some different coloured covers.

[savage1987]

oh yea of course the vt cai won't fit *duh* forgot about that one...

brakes i'll have to look into further, and i can't find that stroker info

yea i was actually thinking about the neons point, don't think i'll go that way. doesn't suit commodores, neons belong in ricers, inside and out

[IH8WRX]

oh yea of course the vt cai won't fit *duh* forgot about that one...

brakes i'll have to look into further, and i can't find that stroker info

yea i was actually thinking about the neons point, don't think i'll go that way. doesn't suit commodores, neons belong in ricers, inside and out

C.O.M.E. I think make a stroker kit for the V6, taking out to over 4.0ltrs from memory (I think it's 4.2ltrs)

In all honesty if you're looking at going that way why not got for a s/c V6? You can buy them resonably cheap as a create engine these days.

Brakes, well simply the VT twin piston front upgrade is a simple and cost effective measure, unless you have a cool $8,000 for Harrops etc.

As for the comment over V6's blowing off V8's on the streets, I haven't had any major dramas eating WRX's etc as it all comes down to displacement and torque. The more displacement, the more torque = more wins (well in most cases anyway)

[savage1987]

yeah the only thing is that factory s/c vs are pretty rare (haven't seen any for sale in wa yet if i did, i'd jump on it right away)
'create engine'?
i think the dba slotted rotors etc are a similar price to a vt front upgrade - about $330 or so (there's a thread on em in the vt-vx section)

[sikvs]

i emailed come about a week ago about the stroker kit as i cant wait for it to come out and this was there reply:

We'll be offering 2 turbo/blower kits and one normally aspirated setup.

Balanced kit price will be $2530.00 for crank, rods, cast pistons, rings, rod and main bearings for normally aspirated engines.

Same as above with bigger pin bore "I" beam rods for extra strength and custom forged pistons (low compression type) is $3500.00

Same as above but with "H" beam rods for boost levels over 10psi, kit price is $4000.00

All should be available by about June/July 2005

hope that helps