Question on prices and feasibility.

[steelsabre]

Hey Steve,

I tired to inbox you but your mail is FULL! I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions.

I have a Manual LFX my 12 Holden SV6 ute. Ive had it for around a 8 months now and i am looking to add some power to it. At the moment the engine is in a really strange state. The first gear is a pain in the bum, i hardly get any movement out of it before it revs out and i loose power. Its only used to get a quick squirt before changing to 2nd gear.

Also the engine sounds almost sick sometimes.. like wheezing hahah.

Im curious is this normal for this engine, ??

In saying that i am contemplating either upgrading this engine, or maybe saving for an SS later on. However i really love the car as it looks, its exactly how i want it and in my opinion would only really need to open the engine up a bit to give it some more power, and i would be happy with it.

I'm curious how much would the following set me back ?

CAMS ( im not sure which grinds are best for a manual )
OTR CAI
TUNE
Manifold spacer

price ??

I would upgrade the exhaust and maybe do the ported throttle body mod with resin. And when / if a proper supercharger kit comes out i might install that too. It all depends if the power can be justified vs the price.

Would the gains be noticeable ? roughly what type of gains ? and in your opinion worth it ?

Last question i noticed that BRN/trifect tune on the camaro5 website for the lfx engine can generate 25rwkw and 34nm at the wheel. Is the mace tune similar ?

Thanks for you time, i am serious about the mods so if it would be worth it then i will get the ball rolling asap.

Cheers

 

[MACE]

Hey Steelsabre,

My sincere apologies for the delay in getting back to you

In regards to your questions/statements

“I tired to inbox you but your mail is FULL! I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions.”
No problems. For a faster response please refer to the link below when asking questions

support.maceengineering.com.au

“I have a Manual LFX my 12 Holden SV6 ute. Ive had it for around a 8 months now and i am looking to add some power to it. At the moment the engine is in a really strange state. The first gear is a pain in the bum, i hardly get any movement out of it before it revs out and i loose power. Its only used to get a quick squirt before changing to 2nd gear.
Also the engine sounds almost sick sometimes.. like wheezing hahah.
Im curious is this normal for this engine, ??”
In regards to the engine being normal, it would be subject to interpretation I guess. Assuming that the car is 100% perfect though, we can certainly get rid of a lot of the torque management to make it livelier to drive

“In saying that i am contemplating either upgrading this engine, or maybe saving for an SS later on. However i really love the car as it looks, its exactly how i want it and in my opinion would only really need to open the engine up a bit to give it some more power, and i would be happy with it.”
The current generation 3.6L V6 is surprising good. Please refer to the dyno graphs shown below with basic bolt ons.

I'm curious how much would the following set me back ?

CAMS ( im not sure which grinds are best for a manual )
$1290

OTR CAI
$680 (inc manifold spacer)

TUNE
$550

Depending on what items you purchased at once, we may be able to do a package price for you

“I would upgrade the exhaust and maybe do the ported throttle body mod with resin.”
You can port and resin the manifold, but don’t touch the throttle body

“And when / if a proper supercharger kit comes out i might install that too. It all depends if the power can be justified vs the price.”
I can understand this

“Would the gains be noticeable ? roughly what type of gains ? and in your opinion worth it ?”
Please refer to the attached dyno graph. I dare say with an OTR, it would have made more again. With cams, expect gains of around 30rwkw. This will be validated soon enough once we get Vongy’s car sorted with cams, however going by the results we're getting from alloytecs and earlier SIDI engines, it seems to be around the 30rwkw mark

“Last question i noticed that BRN/trifect tune on the camaro5 website for the lfx engine can generate 25rwkw and 34nm at the wheel. Is the mace tune similar ?”
The E39 ECM controller in the current gen V6’s seem to have more scope for gains, unlike the earlier Bosch ECMs. This is due to the fact that a lot more E39 ECM has been reversed engineered. In saying that though, depending on the dyno, figures from the US generally read higher than what is recorded locally.

If you have any more questions please don’t hesitate to ask

Kindest Regards,
Steve