How much power do you think I have now?

[hrcslam]

Hello All,

I have a 2001 Suburban 5.3L 4WD. It is rated at 285 hp peak stock. I did a little bit of mods and was wondering about how much power I got out of them. Here's a list of what I did:

K & N drop filter, I also cut of the silence ducts (and pluged them) on my intake tube and ported the air box for more flow.

Throttlebody Spacer

Strait pipe exhaust

New Spark plugs (the cheap ones)

New Spark plug wires (they were like $70)

My guess is about 295hp now. (flywheel)

What do you guys think?

[AndrewGS]

At the flywheel, probably 290hp., at the rear wheels, probably 220hp. at the wheels.

A custom tune would do wonders.

[hrcslam]

Originally Posted by AndrewGS

At the flywheel, probably 290hp., at the rear wheels, probably 220hp. at the wheels.

A custom tune would do wonders.

Yeah that's what I was thinking.

[nailhead425]

put a good muffler on it and you'll fatten up your mid-range torque.

290 without the muffler, 295 with.

[hrcslam]

Originally Posted by nailhead425

put a good muffler on it and you'll fatten up your mid-range torque.

290 without the muffler, 295 with.

Yeah I was thinking a Flowmaster 40 series. And I am trying to find a shop, either here in Seattle, WA or in Albuquerque, NM(I am moving in a week), that can reprogram my ECU. I can't afford the Programer itself.

[likearock00]

Great work you're doing on her though! Do you feel any change yet? I would love to do those things to my truck but can't get my wife to agree!

[Old Dood]

What about an SS Badge? Wouldn't that increase Horse Power?

OK...I will stop now...

[jasaero]

Those are usually good for 500hp aren't they?? Even if it was 70hp before the badge!?

[hrcslam]

Yeah the SS badge is instantaneous for a 0-60 time of 3.2 secs, if not better. Reguardless of how big the car/truck is. Ohh, and when the Shoping cart spoiler goes on, even dragsters couldn't keep up. Come on guys I'm not stupid.

[hrcslam]

Originally Posted by likearock00

Great work you're doing on her though! Do you feel any change yet? I would love to do those things to my truck but can't get my wife to agree!

Thanks for the complement. They way I got my wife to agree is I took her car out and bought her rims and tire then I lowered her car and dropped in a stereo (complete minus headunit). Then I told her I am going to do my truck and she couldn't disagree. But, we had some extra cash then.

I don't really think there's any more power But the throttle response is great compared to before, I don't think she's any faster but it isn't really my concern. I got the Suburban for family use. I have three Rottweilers and I needed more space for that. I have a Baby on the way also. The reason I lowered it is because I won't keep it stock (none of my cars are) and my pregnant wife has a broken back, so it is easier for her to get in and out of. Plus it raised my mpg's. I bought the truck used with 109,000 miles on it and it was bone stock. Now I have done a complete tune up and some slight mods. When I first bought the truck I was getting about 12 mpg. With everything I have done, minus the throttlebody spacer and cutting the silence ducts off the intake tube, my mileage has gone up to about 14.5 - 15 mpg. I am trying to get it up to about 16 - 16.5 mpgs. The way I see it, if I can increase my power (especially low end) without using any more fuel my mpgs will rise.

And for all you haters out there. There are people who lower their trucks cause it looks cool and there are poeple who have a damn good reason for it. I am both.

P.S: Droping the truck raised my fuel efficency by 2mpg alone. Less drag remember?

[howpeculiar]

Realistically, you may see a slight increase with the filter and CAI conversion, though all you did when you removed the hemholtz resonators is make noise. I really question any return on the TB spacer considering the tremendous volume of the intake plenum. Freeing up the exhaust is where you will get the biggest bang for your buck in this case. Some decent headers will wake it up, and there are som epretty nice mufflers out there as well. Unless your old plugs were really worn/dirty, the plugs and wires gained you nothing but peace of mind. The factory wires are really nice. Not being familiar with the emmisions laws in your state, if you really want to wake the 5.3L up, upgrade the cam, get headers on, use a true CAI and have the PCM dyno tuned. There is a LOT of potential in that engine. For further advice on Gen III performance, go the LS1Tech.com

[hrcslam]

Originally Posted by howpeculiar

Realistically, you may see a slight increase with the filter and CAI conversion, though all you did when you removed the hemholtz resonators is make noise. I really question any return on the TB spacer considering the tremendous volume of the intake plenum. Freeing up the exhaust is where you will get the biggest bang for your buck in this case. Some decent headers will wake it up, and there are som epretty nice mufflers out there as well. Unless your old plugs were really worn/dirty, the plugs and wires gained you nothing but peace of mind. The factory wires are really nice. Not being familiar with the emmisions laws in your state, if you really want to wake the 5.3L up, upgrade the cam, get headers on, use a true CAI and have the PCM dyno tuned. There is a LOT of potential in that engine. For further advice on Gen III performance, go the LS1Tech.com

Yeah I want to do a full true dual exhaust set up from the headers back. But it's like $1000+ so it's gonna have to wait. I'm moving to NM and they require the smog checks so I'll have to do more research on my limits. I want to get a ECU chip or programer eventually but, all has to wait until the move is done. Thanks for the link I'll check it out.

[howpeculiar]

No problem. Most shops will tune for between $300 and $600, depends on what they do, and the competition in the area. The PCM isn't "chipped" lik ein the old days, it needs to be programmed. You will see a tremendous gain just in having the tune done, though if you plan any large mods (Cam, head work, CR change, Force dInduction) wait until the work is done to go have the vehicle tuned. Why pay for it twice?

[hrcslam]

Originally Posted by howpeculiar

No problem. Most shops will tune for between $300 and $600, depends on what they do, and the competition in the area. The PCM isn't "chipped" lik ein the old days, it needs to be programmed. You will see a tremendous gain just in having the tune done, though if you plan any large mods (Cam, head work, CR change, Force dInduction) wait until the work is done to go have the vehicle tuned. Why pay for it twice?

Yeah I will probably just get the tune after I get my exhaust and then call it good. I want to get a project car eventually though. I am moving from Seattle, WA to Albuquerque, NM so I'd have to find a shop in NM. But, at that price I might as well buy the programer myself. Any who speakin of the move, I decide to check the fuel filter turns out it was pluged. I tried to blow through it and I popped my ears instead. I am suprised my truck was running. I just replaced it and it really woke her up. The spark plugs were bad too, that's why I just replaced them, along with the wires one ripped apart when I pulled it off to replace the plugs. That did help slightly. I haven't got to measure my mpg's yet and I'll be moving cross country in a week pulling a Uhaul so I won't be able to get an acurate diffrence in mpg's for about a month. Hopefully I'll see the 16 mpg's I'm looking for.

I checked out that link it is really use full. Lots of good technical articles and advise. thanks!

[hrcslam]

O.K I did some research and a stock 5.3L 4x4 2001 Chevy Tahoe Z71 does 0-60 in 11.02 secs(best time found). I ran my truck today and got 0-60 in 10.47 secs. My truck is bigger and has much heavier wheels than the stock ones( The stock wheels were 265/75R16's now I have 305/45R22's, I'd figure at least 15lbs of rotary weight per wheel and another 1.2" in diameter) and I came in 0.49 secs faster to 60mph. That's gotta count for more than 5-10 hp. I figured out my vehicle weight; curb weight is 5120 plus the extra 15 per wheel and the 100 lbs from the stereo subs and my 220lbs minus 105lbs for half a tank of gas equals about 5400lbs. Using a 0-60 hp calculator it says I have 320 hp at the flywheel. That is an increase of about 35 hp, way high IMHO. I figure about 15-20hp now though, realisticly. How much hp would it take to loose a half second to 60 in a 5400lb truck?