best power upgrade for ECOTEC V6 ($1000 worth)

[vx_commodore]

Hey again, Just wanting some ideas on what's the best engine mods to do to a stock VX Ecotec using around the $1000 mark....besides K&N panel filter and cold air intake, The Vt/Vx already has a CAI wich im sure would take plenty enough air for a stock engine. just really looking for the best bang for my $1000...thats all im really wanting to spend right at the moment... Also what power increase would i see?...
going from a VP to a VX i really noticed the VX has less low/mid end power...alot smoother though..the engine has 100.000K.
Thanx again

[jr689]

You'd definitely get the best bang from high ratio roller rockers... Check out mace engineering, they'll be able to sort you out ay mate!

[vx_commodore]

Thanx for the reply, I have been thinking about high ratio rockers but have heard u only get the benifit from 4000RPM+, I very rearly go near/over that, im just looking for better of the mark power and mid range power(Ecotec's are horrible for mid range power -i have found), Obvisley top end would be good to... what ratio is the BEST recomended for stock ecotec? without having to do the valve springs or anything like that?
Thanx again...

[MR_VX]

Plenum and manifold spacers will set u back about $370 that will help with the low/mid torque and a 69mm throttle body $220. All will help you out. Just send MACE a pm to help you out. If you get roller rockers go for 1.9:1's

[HamaTime™]

Either way, your still going to have a nugget 6...the little bolt on's help salvage a bit of a the torque...But your not going to see real results out of $1000 on a stock eco.

[GEN3RATD]

I'd be looking at diff gears for better off the mark acceleration.

[and3rs]

If you want decent performance you bought the wrong car man, a vs with the ecotec feels so much more powerful than the vt/vx. I have both a vs wagon and a vt sedan both with extractors/exhaust and the vs feels like a totally different car, the torque of the ecotec is way better suited to the vs and no amount of money is worth spending to make a vt go slightly better, u should either sell it and buy a v8 version or some other car that is designed to perform. Probably not the answer u want but fact is u bought a family sedan at least they look nice though, spend money on extractors/exhaust and some fat rims

[Mick1988]

My VT wagon got chopped repeatedly by a VS wagon last night.... Even when I reacted quicker he caught me by the top of 1st gear My VX II would have smashed him though.

[MR_VX]

If you want decent performance you bought the wrong car man, a vs with the ecotec feels so much more powerful than the vt/vx. I have both a vs wagon and a vt sedan both with extractors/exhaust and the vs feels like a totally different car, the torque of the ecotec is way better suited to the vs and no amount of money is worth spending to make a vt go slightly better, u should either sell it and buy a v8 version or some other car that is designed to perform. Probably not the answer u want but fact is u bought a family sedan at least they look nice though, spend money on extractors/exhaust and some fat rims

It would have more to do with power to weight ratio, the vs is heaps lighter then the vt. Its the same motor after all

[vx_commodore]

Sorry guys i should have explained my self a bit better at the start.
Im not at all after a super quick cool look at my car its the fastest in town sort of deal,Coz i know thats not at all possible with the money i want to spend, All i was after is a BIT more power, As i said, I have found that the ECOTEC's are shocking as lowish/mid range power and im wanting to spend a little money on trying to resolve that problem, Im sure for $1000 there will be a good improvement from the standard power range, I just need to know whats the best way to go about it.
Im really heading toward High Ratio Rockers, 1.9.1 OR 1.98.1,Wichever will be better?, I have a VY engine BTW. But maby there is a better option wich is the reason of asking the question. Obviosly the best power for the money is better. Exhaust is already done
But again guys im not after a V8 supercar im just after a bit more power than the Vt/Vx have to offer (standard),For now anyway.
Thanx again all for your help...

[jr689]

So if it's the killer lack of low-end torque you want to "sort of" fix, apparently Mace's manifold insulator and plenum spacer is said to solve this, relatively...

After that go get roller rockers... Seeing as your engine is apprently out of a VY you'll only be able to get the 1.9:1 ratio rockers! I guess this a good thing seeing as you don't want to spend big dollars, cause anything higher than this ration you will need an aftermarket camshaft (as seen on mace's website) and when you start going down this path you'll need a tune to suit... Well and truly into 2g territory now haha

[jr689]

So what your wishlist should read (with the dollars that you want to spend):

25mm manifold insulator - $220
12mm plenum spacer - 150
1.9:1 ratio roller rockers - $650
TOTAL - $1020 (+ whatever postage comes to)

P.s. I'd be careful with the plenum spacer as I have heard/read that it "can" make you loose some throttle response... Whether this is the truth or not i don't know cause I don't have it installed on my car

[vx_commodore]

brought a VX S x cop car, habib that owned it before me cooked the motor, so i got it and brought new heads and put them on and it went great, after that it started making a ticking/knocking noise so instead of chasing the problem i just pulled the old motor out and got a VY engine with 60.000K on it, but i pulled the old heads off the VY motor and put my recently brought new heads on it,(why not).. so anyway thats the story of why i have a VY motor..and yes it was out of a VY!...i know u were all dying to hear that!..
I think im just going to go with 1.9.1 rockers, That seems to be the safe way of going about it, Then i wont have to worry about 'maby' having to get new pushrods/springs ect, also plenum + manafold spacers. Just hate waiting for shit to arrive in the mail, Very impatient.
I would really like to buy a L67 and throw that in but i only just got this good cond VY engine.... and i really dont want to go thrugh the whole engine change over again by myself!!! Of corse all my mates were 'busy' that weekend
Thanx again

[Reaper]

Sorry guys i should have explained my self a bit better at the start.
Im not at all after a super quick cool look at my car its the fastest in town sort of deal,Coz i know thats not at all possible with the money i want to spend, All i was after is a BIT more power, As i said, I have found that the ECOTEC's are shocking as lowish/mid range power and im wanting to spend a little money on trying to resolve that problem, Im sure for $1000 there will be a good improvement from the standard power range, I just need to know whats the best way to go about it.
Im really heading toward High Ratio Rockers, 1.9.1 OR 1.98.1,Wichever will be better?, I have a VY engine BTW. But maby there is a better option wich is the reason of asking the question. Obviosly the best power for the money is better. Exhaust is already done
But again guys im not after a V8 supercar im just after a bit more power than the Vt/Vx have to offer (standard),For now anyway.
Thanx again all for your help...

The best thing you can do is a good service and make sure your leads, plugs and injectors are in tip top shape. This is very basic but overlooked very often. Beyond that you don't have the budget to get even modest gains as IMO unless you go FI you are pissing in the wind with those things. All of the mods listed above are about removing restriction of air flow at high RPM. For your street car that spends most of it's life at relatively low RPM this is counter productive as it will actually slow air flow and kill low end torque. You may gain 5 extra top end kw which you might use once a week for a cost of 10% torque (or more) where you use the engine 99% of the time.

Reaper

[drift-it]

buy an l67, drive your N/a vx while you strip down and rebuild the l67 to handle 20psi

jr689's wish list is where you should start and if that doesnt make you happy a diff swap to 3.4 or 3.7:1 might be what you want!

[vx_commodore]

yeh i definitly keep my engine in tip top shape, when i put the motor in i fully cleaned everything to do with the plenum/engine,Also got my mecanic to do a bit of porting while it was all apart, but other than that the oil is changed every 4000k(lil obsessive i know) plugs every 6000k, lead's,well i havent had to do them yet since i put new ones on with the new motor. I also keep up with a fully clean plenum by fully re cleaning it every service, Probably the cleanest engine around. I find it a good chill out sorta thing to just clean bits of the car.
I know im not going to get a 10 sec car on a $1000 budget but just want that response back like my old VP.

Thanx jr689 for that price list! definitly a good route to go for the $1000 mark, and im sure after thats done ill be happy with the results and thats all ill need to do.

[Reaper]

yeh i definitly keep my engine in tip top shape, when i put the motor in i fully cleaned everything to do with the plenum/engine,Also got my mecanic to do a bit of porting while it was all apart, but other than that the oil is changed every 4000k(lil obsessive i know) plugs every 6000k, lead's,well i havent had to do them yet since i put new ones on with the new motor. I also keep up with a fully clean plenum by fully re cleaning it every service, Probably the cleanest engine around. I find it a good chill out sorta thing to just clean bits of the car.
I know im not going to get a 10 sec car on a $1000 budget but just want that response back like my old VP.

Thanx jr689 for that price list! definitly a good route to go for the $1000 mark, and im sure after thats done ill be happy with the results and thats all ill need to do.

The ecotecs were very doughy motors compared to the VP/VR motors. Not much you can do about that.

Reaper

[and3rs]

Swapping to a higher diff ratio is the only thing I can see correcting the low torque issues. Look for 3.7 or 3.9 gears they will give a higher multiplication of torque and push rpm's up. You could probs do it for under 1000 too Also is it possible to put a tuned memcal in a vx ecu? I would recommend a tuned memcal to get more out of your exhaust. I want to get my memcal tuned too, it's supposed to be a pretty cheap mod

[MACE]

If you're on a budget (much less then 1K) I would consider the manifold spacers first, in particular the a manifold insulator, which many reviews like the one shown in the link below from people who actually have our products. More so in your case given what characteristic you're after

MACE Manifold Insulator & Plenum Spacer Review

From there on end you could consider a set of 1.9:1 rockers which arguably, as the best value for money mod on these engines

Though rockers help our mainly in the mid to top end range they also help out with part throttle drive ability which you'll positively notice under transient low RPM consider, plus the genuine power gains.

Otherwise if you're you only want to focus on low range driveability, then a shorter diff ratio would also be something to consider.

So what your wishlist should read (with the dollars that you want to spend):

25mm manifold insulator - $220
12mm plenum spacer - 150
1.9:1 ratio roller rockers - $650
TOTAL - $1020 (+ whatever postage comes to)

P.s. I'd be careful with the plenum spacer as I have heard/read that it "can" make you loose some throttle response... Whether this is the truth or not i don't know cause I don't have it installed on my car

Can even get the lower then that as well.

Cheers,
Steve

[vx_commodore]

Thankyou very much for all the great feedback, I definitly have a good path to folow, This is my list:
25mm Manafold Spacer - MACE
12mm Plenum Spacer - MACE
1.9.1? Rockers - MACE?
Would 1.9.1 OR 1.98.1 Rockers be better for my needs??
Because i have a VY motor will i need new pushrods? The heads i put on the motor were a RECO deal, So im not 100% sure what they were off originaly, I'd say VY because thats what i asked for,
As far as im aware VX- you dont need new pushrods for rockers but VY - you do need new pushrods?

[MR_VX]

not sure on push rods with the vx as i only installed the 1.9:1 rockers and thats it. i hope it doesnt matter lol

[MACE]

Thankyou very much for all the great feedback, I definitly have a good path to folow, This is my list:
25mm Manafold Spacer - MACE
12mm Plenum Spacer - MACE
1.9.1? Rockers - MACE?
Would 1.9.1 OR 1.98.1 Rockers be better for my needs??
Because i have a VY motor will i need new pushrods? The heads i put on the motor were a RECO deal, So im not 100% sure what they were off originaly, I'd say VY because thats what i asked for,
As far as im aware VX- you dont need new pushrods for rockers but VY - you do need new pushrods?

Given your requirements, I would stay with the 1.9’s

If you have a VY motor you’ll need new pushrods, however chances are pretty good that you wouldn’t have been given VY heads, as they all “look” the same. So by chance you don’t have VY heads you’ll be fine without pushrods.

not sure on push rods with the vx as i only installed the 1.9:1 rockers and thats it. i hope it doesnt matter lol

Unless it’s ticking heaps, I wouldn’t worry about it Skinner pushrods are normally needed on only the VY’s. In saying this though we’ve come up with a way of running 1.98’s on VY, just need the time to document parts/processes etc

[sus v6]

If it was me mate i would be saving another 4-500 and having an LSD center with 3.9 gear ratio heaps of low to mid power which what you want on the street.