What direction will you go on a stage III mod or mods? including cost!!

[RR/TT]

let me start by saying this is a great time to own a modern v-8. now with that being said it has taken a long time for after market (a/m) to catch up and show some true power gains. there has been a lot of chrome with no go! everyone knows the saying, "chrome will not get you home.".

initially i was going to go with a complete bolt on route. this would have included cam, heads, headers, full exhaust, some kind of retune such as b&g or mopar, custom air intake. recently there was discussion of a mopar performance package that included a new torque converter, pcm, and tcm reprogram. after adding up the parts cost and installation the hp to dollar ratio was just wacky!!

40 hp at the wheels is not a large enuff increase for me personally for this kit with no warranty and being at the mercy of what ever dealership you are close to. part of this feeling is for the cost i need to see a 12.9 quarter mile. gots to have 12's!!!!

supercharging seemed to be another option, except the lx community is very small, there is no choices for s/c's at this time (that i know of.) just one that is re-branded. once again since the community is small, the cost for a supercharger is up there also and no reports of 12's either. we talking stock, any mods and that is another discussion of blown up engines.

i do feel great that these hemi's are producing great hp and torque stock. performance and mods always want to extract more hp and torque! i want to maintain driveability and stock looking appearance.

there is testing on the remote turbo from cts. i like the overall performance and simplicity of this unit. there has not been a unit in use for opinions to be formed. what i mean by "in use" is for sale to the general public.

bottom line i am willing to spend $5,000 to shave .8 off of my 1/4 and be in the 12 second range all while still having mds, having 50 state legality. this is not the only factors but a few that have been on my mind.

so what mods are you going with? what methodology of power boosters do you feel comfortable with? nitrous, s/charging, school of turbo, stroked, every bolt on available, other? what is you plan for use, everday driver, 1/4 track, race track, sleeper?

for those of you that have started modifications what have been your experience at the track or street if you are using super chips tuner or g-tech? feel free to candidly praise or slam what you like or dislike.

[GLHS837]

Any mods that get you 12s WILL demolish your warranty, its that simple. Unless of course you plan on commiting fraud by removing any mods before attempting to get service. Adding +40whp is enough that any damage to the engine or drivetrain could be blamed on that increase alone.

[broc2238]

I personally only have the JBA Shorties and Magnaflow Cat-back installed. But I haven't been able to do any testing as of yet in terms of performance.

Ultimately, I'd like to have a mid 12 sec everyday car out of this thing, and here is the list of things I plan on changing to try and accomplish it.


High Flow Catted Mid Pipes
AirHammer (or Similar) intake
Ported Heads
Semi-Mild cam
Drag Radials
Higher Stall Torque Converter
Custom tuning


I figure this combo COULD get me to around 360-370 RWHP which should equate to a high 12 on a good day. If all this doesn't get me where I'd like to be, then I'm strongly considering the cartuning turbo kit at around 4-5 psi of boost to top off the performance side of things.

I really don't like cookie cutter tunes (ie. superchips, B&G, jet, hypertech) as every car and every modification is different and the same tune will not yield the same results for everyone. For me, the tune has nothing to do with performance and EVERYTHING to do with reliability. I like to see a flat line a/f ratio sitting right at or maybe just below 14:1. I like running a 112 cam with hella lift and not having to worry about the car idling itself to death because of a tune that wasn't tailored to the mods I've got (Very common in LS1-land). That's why I really want to wait until some sort of custom tuning software is released, or someone starts offering completely custom tunes, before expecting too much out of the car.

[RR/TT]

i think stage III has established your warranty is toast!! lol tuning or after market tunes are just hard to come by at this time that are specific to mods. with over 1 million 5.7l's produced there is a a after market base!!! i would be happy with a 12.9 quarter, would prefer 12.7 though just so i am not on the edge. lol!! i am looking at a remote turbo myself. seems to be a complete kit and does not require any other mod for big power.

[95ttoplt1]

I agree that a tune is vehicle specific. Heck I have spent the last couple years help people dial in an internet tune to there vehivle.

With that being said, no one that I helped had a negative review of there cheap mail order tune as there is plenty of room for improvement.

Maybe Dodge didn't leave a lot of HP on the table with the tune, but they certainly left alot on the table with the application of that power.

For me I want mods that are easily removed for what ever reason. Be it resale or warranty.

I will do the basic stuuf and anything else I can get away with. A cam would be about as far as I would go. The heads flow enough to make more power than the tranny can hold IMO.

Those turbo kits are looking killer though.

[ciwiz]

IMO, the perfect charger would have mopar CAI, mopar long tubes and cats, magnaflow (or substitute your fav.) catback system, FastMats stage 1 setup(ppheads, stage1 MDS cam) mopar TC upgrade, PCM,TCM flash, hypertech programmer and a FULL ( bottle heater, bottle opener, window switch) Zex wet kit w 125 jets and a good set of DR's for the weekends.

[RR/TT]

IMO, the perfect charger would have mopar CAI, mopar long tubes and cats, magnaflow (or substitute your fav.) catback system, FastMats stage 1 setup(ppheads, stage1 MDS cam) mopar TC upgrade, PCM,TCM flash, hypertech programmer and a FULL ( bottle heater, bottle opener, window switch) Zex wet kit w 125 jets and a good set of DR's for the weekends.

how much do you think it would cost for your perfect charger including labor?

[DeamonCharger]

Will I go, or would I want to go? I want to go for heads/cam, ultimately I'd like a twin screw blower (somebody needs to get on the ball!!!). I already have the NX wet kit, so that's cool, but I'd love to go to the blower. I would also like a forged block...bored and stroked, of course!!! Gears, new diff. and a manual tranny....oh and a switch that would let me be invisible to cops...but who's asking too much!!!

[Scottwoos06RT]

Well......I think I'll go out on a limb here. My Dealer is a "motorhead". That said, see sig. Would I do it again? Yes. I am getting "Post Install" dyno numbers late next week.....that will tell if it ($$$$ to HP) was worth it.

[RedHotSRT8]

I've pretty much made up my mind to go all GS Motorsports. I just have to plan my next few vacations around driving to California. I figure their intake, port & polish, headers, and eventually a supercharger should do it. The way I look at it is if Dodge won't look after you, these guys probably will since it's their product you're using.

[broc2238]

how much do you think it would cost for your perfect charger including labor?

I believe the setup he is considering would cost about $6500 in parts and install completely depends on the person...There's nothing in his list that I wouldn't install myself, so for me labor would be free. For someone not even willing to install the CAI themselves, I'd say about $3500 for labor.

So for $10,000 or less, you could be very close to the 11s if not in the 11s

[ciwiz]

Originally Posted by RR/TT
how much do you think it would cost for your perfect charger including labor?I think a little over 6K would do it, I didn't Include suspension upgrades because I haven't had time to research and my back seat has two car seats in it preventing me from pushing the stock suspension, YET(except for thrashing my brakes in the first 10k miles). I think I could have the BADDEST, best looking, most comfortable, hardest g pulling, most economical 4 door ever made for $49k. Now if I come up with about 7k more $, I'll be there.
I have a question for u SC and turbo guys, what advantage do you think a $5-6k sc system or $4-5 turbo system has over Nitrous.

[broc2238]

...I have a question for u SC and turbo guys, what advantage do you think a $5-6k sc system or $4-5 turbo system has over Nitrous.

The fact that you'll never run out of turbo ;) but the nitrous has a limited supply. Also the fact that Nitrous is illegal for use on the streets and the fact that you don't have to give up any trunk or back seat room for your turbo, but the nitrous bottle's gotta go somewhere. Other than that, I'd probably go the nitrous route myself and set the purge up to come out of the ram head's nose at the front of the car:D

[RR/TT]

with nitrous 11's are possible. i have yet to see a complete bolt on that achieves high 12's. if there is a turbo for around $4k and about $1k in labor that can get me 12's i am there!!! cost to benefit ratio is not a exact number and can change from day to day, but spending $10 grand on a $29k car is a little much for my blood.

[Scottwoos06RT]

All told....bill is 12,350.00 Can. ($10,800.00 USD).

[BLUE-MIDNIGHT]

How about slappin on the 6.1 ltr short block on the 5.7 and getting dr heads and cam for the 5.7? think youll see low 12s Think about it 6.1 ltr mds in the 12s yyyyuuuuummmm

[bluecar1968]

I've pretty much made up my mind to go all GS Motorsports. I just have to plan my next few vacations around driving to California. I figure their intake, port & polish, headers, and eventually a supercharger should do it. The way I look at it is if Dodge won't look after you, these guys probably will since it's their product you're using.

Not likely GS Motorsports took my money on a set of custom fuel rails last year after 6 months my credit card company finally got my money back. KRC machined them and had them to me in 3 weeks. I have read that GS s/c have fuel distribution problems with their supplemental fuel injectors resulting in engine failure

[Black R/T R&T]

Woulden't you need at least 400whp to have a consistent 12 sec car??

A SRT-8 is around 370whp, and they are not a consistant 12 second car. I know that some have run 12's, but not all.

[RR/TT]

All told....bill is 12,350.00 Can. ($10,800.00 USD).

lol that is closer to $11 grand!! gots to have the mds and the ability to drive it all year round.

i do think that 400 hp might be the magic number to deliver consistent runs along with some different rubber not necessarily drag rubber.

no i had a opportunity to do a mopar remote start mod... instead i just reserved two copies of gears of war!! i don't even have a xbox 360!!! lol

[JT...]

Hey guy's interesting thread...The SRT's make some great power stock...However, to get these cars into the mid 12's or high 12's it would have been great if the Charger were 500-700 lbs lighter...These cars are way to fat for good numbers...IMHO, to get decent numbers either SC or turbo is the only way to get there without going to a stroker motor...With a stroker,broke open more then your piggy banks, you would need to hand over your first born for that kind of money to stroke a hemi...


JT

[RR/TT]

i have seen the mopar drift car, and they have shaved a lot of weight off of it. not streetable but light and nimble.

not that much weight you can shave off of a daily driver. only other option is to boost hp and torque to compensate.

if a good turbo system becomes available it will trump the need for heads, headers, cams, intake, exhaust, and cai all with one blow!! it is nice to have a list of power adders and tune everything to "sing" properly, but i want my power list to be one word... turbo!!! then i could work on some other things such as swaybars, hid's, rims.

can you imagine a turbo blowing off with every gear change or romp of the gas pedal? a big v-8 growl and a heavy blow off sound what a match!! i would drive around speeding up and slowing down to get the full effect!!!
400 hp at the wheels would make me stop modding the engine. there should be full disclosure on what mods if any that can go with the turbo and that could risk blowing the engine up!! i want pain english this is the turbo mod and you can not f... with this or the engine will blow up!!

[broc2238]

i have seen the mopar drift car, and they have shaved a lot of weight off of it. not streetable but light and nimble.

not that much weight you can shave off of a daily driver. only other option is to boost hp and torque to compensate.

if a good turbo system becomes available it will trump the need for heads, headers, cams, intake, exhaust, and cai all with one blow!! it is nice to have a list of power adders and tune everything to "sing" properly, but i want my power list to be one word... turbo!!! then i could work on some other things such as swaybars, hid's, rims.

can you imagine a turbo blowing off with every gear change or romp of the gas pedal? a big v-8 growl and a heavy blow off sound what a match!! i would drive around speeding up and slowing down to get the full effect!!!
400 hp at the wheels would make me stop modding the engine. there should be full disclosure on what mods if any that can go with the turbo and that could risk blowing the engine up!! i want pain english this is the turbo mod and you can not f... with this or the engine will blow up!!
The cartuning turbo that just went into production was seeing 393 RWHP on an otherwise stock Magnum R/T at 4.5 psi. their production kit will be tuned to 6-7 psi and should see between 420-440 RWHP. That'll definately get you well into the 12s. I don't think they've been able to quote a solid price yet though as they are not yet a supporting vendor...They gotta get on that :D

My plan is to get this turbo kit when the car hits 36,000 miles. I'd probably keep the boost at ~5 psi along with a set of fully ported heads (ah la DynamicRacing) and a custom grind mild turbo specific camshaft, I'm hoping for around 450 reliable RWHP and consistent low to mid 12s...then I will stop modding :D

I'll save the sub 12 second 1/4 mile runs to the LS1 camaro I plan on building withing the next few years.

[Scottwoos06RT]

[QUOTE=RR/TT;397159]lol that is closer to $11 grand!! gots to have the mds and the ability to drive it all year round.

Well, could be that things have changed a wee bit since I was a youngster....math we used to use was $1000 per 100 HP....and YES, NO MDS....fact of matter is, you want HP on these cars, you are going to loose the MDS, aint no way round it. If you're not willing to loose the MDS then the $$$ on Heads and Cam is plain old a waste of money.