VE Calais 6.0 Sportswagon Exhaust + CAI upgrade reccomendations

[The Great Micksy]

Hi All,

Long time reader, first time posting..
Ive a 09 Calais 6.0 Sportswagon with an LS3 Cam+lifters upgrade done by GM Motorsports (original L98 cam was dead and needed replacing) and tuned, running 250RWKW. Its my daily drive. I am now ready for my next upgrade, exhaust + CAI, and potentially headers. I am after a smooth V8 Note, nothing lumpy or too loud. I am more interested in increasing my power. Should I go for the headers and complete exhaust upgrade or can I achieve this with a cat back + Ramjet CAI ?
What kind of power increase can I expect to achieve with this upgrade?

I am on a budget of approx 2k.

What should I be looking for? Am I safe with purchasing used exhausts from Gumtree/Ebay?

Any reccomendations would be highly appreciated.

My apologies in advance if this has already been asked a million times in previous threads.

Thank you all

 

[Nanoxcel]

You should do full exhaust including headers, Ive used Xforce as its good value for money, makes great power but is not perfect with fitment. a full system will cost you about 2K fitted. CAI i got fitted was Harrop ($600). My last VE i used a cheaper one but it ended up splitting underneath so i was happy that the workshop wanted to fit the better quality, (never want dust going in). i recently got a cam(VCM11), CAI and exhaust and tune, ended up with 300RWKW and was done on a 45deg day.
Dont forget after you fit your exhaust and CAI you will need to get another tune done if you wanna get the best power increase so you will be up for some more dollars.