[gotswap]

big blower

[PROMETHEUS]

Originally Posted by Can'tHave2MuchHP

Warranty means keep it stock. That's pretty much it.

I'm a Chevy dealer and have plenty of experience dealing with warranty claims and modifications etc. If GM really wants to play hard enough, depending on severity of the failure, they can void your warranty for any modification; even if it has been removed. There are logs of the vehicle's ECU they can access with their higher level technical team that will literally show them on a graph where a CAI was added and how the computer learned/compensated for it and that it is now removed. This and much more. That said, if you have a wiring issue or a squeak, rattle, or basic part failure, you will be fine 99.9% of the time. But if you blow an engine expect them to pull out all of the stops.

In addition, it's debatable whether any mods that don't receive a tune even add benefit after a certain amount of time. These modern ECUs are super smart. They learn and compensate for lots of things over time. They were programmed for specific CFMs, fuel flows, exhaust flows, etc. and read these values down to the decimal point. Variations are always detected and compensated for; the system is very sophisticated.

When you bolt on a CAI, you'll get an immediate 10, 15, or maybe 25 HP. Next month, it might be none. In fact, Ben @ Weapon X put a car on the dyno some time ago with a cat-back/intake/throttlebody on a stock tune that was hating life. Without a tune, almost all engine mods are a waste of money.

Hit the nail on the HEAD. I got into a debate about 3 weeks ago with a forum member about how much added power there is with a CAI. After 10 mins of "banging my head against the wall", I gave up, trying to convince him, without a tune, it is a car show "pretty" thing!

[JonDaddy82]

*facepalm*

No. Nononono. I did my baseline, did my mods, then dynoed 3 months later. Gained 54 RWHP from:

Root-Fab Dry
Katech 87mm TB
Borla 60606
Kooks axle-back

Same dyno, same dyno operator. Posted many times. Car runs great, no issues. Would it run BETTER with a tune? Well no shit, of course it would. However I’ve run guys with LT’s/E85/tune/RF and run the same times at the track.

Avoiding tubes and further mods until my oil pump shits the bed.

[ZL1naples]

Despite what you see for asking prices on modded cars direct from owners, dealers will always give you less for a modded car on trade. Selling retail will be harder yet because there are fewer buyers for used modded cars, many fearing very hard use. So by definition the cost of mods basically depreciates near 100% right out the door. So be forewarned.

As to prices, yes they are declining and the curve is steep. Even before the stock market crash and the virus crisis, sales of cars were slowing and inventories of new and used cars were growing. Unemployment is soaring and many who are employed live in fear of losing their jobs. In this kind of environment, expensive used cars like the ZL1 will not fare well price-wise. Just the economic facts of life.

[ZL1Fan24]

Add one of Tony Mamo's ported throttle body (Mamo Motorsports). Under $500, makes the car way more driveable and adds 12-15 HP. Simple bolt on. Won't void your warranty.

[JamesNoBrakes]

Originally Posted by PROMETHEUS

Hit the nail on the HEAD. I got into a debate about 3 weeks ago with a forum member about how much added power there is with a CAI. After 10 mins of "banging my head against the wall", I gave up, trying to convince him, without a tune, it is a car show "pretty" thing!

But it makes more noise!

[jvandy50]

Originally Posted by Can'tHave2MuchHP

Warranty means keep it stock. That's pretty much it.

I'm a Chevy dealer and have plenty of experience dealing with warranty claims and modifications etc. If GM really wants to play hard enough, depending on severity of the failure, they can void your warranty for any modification; even if it has been removed. There are logs of the vehicle's ECU they can access with their higher level technical team that will literally show them on a graph where a CAI was added and how the computer learned/compensated for it and that it is now removed. This and much more. That said, if you have a wiring issue or a squeak, rattle, or basic part failure, you will be fine 99.9% of the time. But if you blow an engine expect them to pull out all of the stops.

In addition, it's debatable whether any mods that don't receive a tune even add benefit after a certain amount of time. These modern ECUs are super smart. They learn and compensate for lots of things over time. They were programmed for specific CFMs, fuel flows, exhaust flows, etc. and read these values down to the decimal point. Variations are always detected and compensated for; the system is very sophisticated.

When you bolt on a CAI, you'll get an immediate 10, 15, or maybe 25 HP. Next month, it might be none. In fact, Ben @ Weapon X put a car on the dyno some time ago with a cat-back/intake/throttlebody on a stock tune that was hating life. Without a tune, almost all engine mods are a waste of money.

This is my experience also. My CAI/TB are just for noise til I’m ready to tune. These cars are too smart.

And OP, concerning the oil pump...I’m thinking when I’m ready to REALLY void my warranty, a nice cam to get that old school chop and go ahead and do a newer pump while in there...but that’s gonna cost some $$$

[SJFGTO]

Originally Posted by Can'tHave2MuchHP

Warranty means keep it stock. That's pretty much it.

I'm a Chevy dealer and have plenty of experience dealing with warranty claims and modifications etc. If GM really wants to play hard enough, depending on severity of the failure, they can void your warranty for any modification; even if it has been removed. There are logs of the vehicle's ECU they can access with their higher level technical team that will literally show them on a graph where a CAI was added and how the computer learned/compensated for it and that it is now removed. This and much more. That said, if you have a wiring issue or a squeak, rattle, or basic part failure, you will be fine 99.9% of the time. But if you blow an engine expect them to pull out all of the stops.

In addition, it's debatable whether any mods that don't receive a tune even add benefit after a certain amount of time. These modern ECUs are super smart. They learn and compensate for lots of things over time. They were programmed for specific CFMs, fuel flows, exhaust flows, etc. and read these values down to the decimal point. Variations are always detected and compensated for; the system is very sophisticated.

When you bolt on a CAI, you'll get an immediate 10, 15, or maybe 25 HP. Next month, it might be none. In fact, Ben @ Weapon X put a car on the dyno some time ago with a cat-back/intake/throttlebody on a stock tune that was hating life. Without a tune, almost all engine mods are a waste of money.

This should be a “must read.” Perfect!

[Artryan]

I forgot to add that I also put on the Soler TB in an effort to get rid of the dreaded off-idle dead spot. That mod, although showing some initial improvement eventually turned out to be a waste of money as the car is really no different than stock now. So, at this point I've spent roughly $900 on an CAI and TB and have literally nothing to show for it in terms of power OR drivability.

If I had a money tree, I'd throw everything I could at it, but I don't. At this point, I am considering removing the TB and CAI simply because they offer nothing but looks and worse case scenario, warranty denial.

[jvandy50]

Originally Posted by Artryan

I forgot to add that I also put on the Soler TB in an effort to get rid of the dreaded off-idle dead spot. That mod, although showing some initial improvement eventually turned out to be a waste of money as the car is really no different than stock now. So, at this point I've spent roughly $900 on an CAI and TB and have literally nothing to show for it in terms of power OR drivability.

If I had a money tree, I'd throw everything I could at it, but I don't. At this point, I am considering removing the TB and CAI simply because they offer nothing but looks and worse case scenario, warranty denial.

at least you get a little whine out of it, but i agree...kind of a waste without a tune(i have the same mods, same issues)

[Alponcho]

I’m looking into weight reduction rather than engine mods. Can be expensive, and there are certainly practical limits if you want to maintain comforts. But 100# would be like 15-20hp across rpms.

[Cleancoupe]

If you are truly worried about the value of the car, don’t spend another dollar on modding it because you’ll never get that back. Yes the values of these cars have gone down lately, but so have a lot of other vehicles. These cars are not investments. Just be glad you didn’t buy it brand new. Drive her & enjoy it. There’s not many cars on the road that can give you the same performance for the price tag. As far as mods, most big power adders are all going to void your warranty. To be honest this car has more power & torque than any of us need, but that HP number is an addictive bug even if we don’t really need it. Add some exhaust & change the wheels up.