Advice about bolt ons and the like

[F1Aussie]

Hi all, I have my SV6 booked in for a otrcai and tune but after being on hold for a couple of weeks and trawling through websites am thinking of some other mods as well.
My car is a daily driver so not going to go silly with it but I was thinking of a Mace 12mm manifold spacer, I believe these will give a good low down torque increase.
I am a bit torn about cams v exhaust. Mace do some cams for the LFX engine that seem to make good power if tuned correctly, not sure how many out there can properly tune these though? Not sure I can justify both cams and exhaust so if you were after a bit more poke would you go cams or exhaust?
I believe exhaust wise the cats and mufflers are the most restrictive part of the system. Would a full high flow exhaust system be likely to make more or less power than cams? Can you actually get a free flow V6 exhaust system to sound near stock and not like a mouse farting through a straw? I am not interested in making more noise just to get a bit more power.
Also would there be any benefit in just getting high flow cats amd mufflers and leaving the original pipework in place?
All comments welcome, cheers.

 

[bluehighway]

Probably not what your gonna want to hear...but...Why not just save your money for maintaining your car when it needs maintenance...things like a new alternator, brake pads , radiator, starter etc .... when you start modding cars you are spending money on things it probably really doesnt need and that sometimes comes at the cost of things it really needs...Ive got VXV8 and its all stock standard except for the boot spoiler which I put on because it didnt have 1 ($25) ....What I can say is this 'its well maintained and reliable' ...things on cars wear out over time (waterpumps for example dont last forever ) what I can say is ive pulled up alongside other v8 holdens that have the fancy mags / rowdy exhaust and found sometimes that noise and or look doesnt equate to efficiency... cars are made to be driven and a fundamental law with 'things' is if they arent broke dont fix them...enjoy your car as it is and save your money for the day you might need it be it to repair your car or to buy something more powerful (factory) . Truth is cars can empty your wallet and getting back what you spent is not usually gonna happen for most that spend up large on extras....my 10 cents...

 

[losh1971]

Meh, car blokes and modding goes without saying......

 

[vr304]

Exhaust upgrade is usually a pre cams or cam mod so if your gonna do one or the other go for the exhaust, just be careful with your choice of system tho v6 s sound like crap with big free flow systems on them

 

[F1Aussie]

Probably not what your gonna want to hear...but...Why not just save your money for maintaining your car when it needs maintenance...things like a new alternator, brake pads , radiator, starter etc .... when you start modding cars you are spending money on things it probably really doesnt need and that sometimes comes at the cost of things it really needs...Ive got VXV8 and its all stock standard except for the boot spoiler which I put on because it didnt have 1 ($25) ....What I can say is this 'its well maintained and reliable' ...things on cars wear out over time (waterpumps for example dont last forever ) what I can say is ive pulled up alongside other v8 holdens that have the fancy mags / rowdy exhaust and found sometimes that noise and or look doesnt equate to efficiency... cars are made to be driven and a fundamental law with 'things' is if they arent broke dont fix them...enjoy your car as it is and save your money for the day you might need it be it to repair your car or to buy something more powerful (factory) . Truth is cars can empty your wallet and getting back what you spent is not usually gonna happen for most that spend up large on extras....my 10 cents... View attachment 231812

I used to plough a lot of money into my V8's to make them go faster, I have not done so for more than 15 years now as I grew out of that, I hear what you are saying and that is basically what I have done for the last 15 years. Am very happy with my car and can see me hanging into it long term but I would just like to do a few things here and there to give it a bit more get up and go instead of selling it for something older with more poke. I would have to fork out quite a lot more to get a low km V8 of the same vintage and am not willing to do that at this stage in my life.

 

[losh1971]

I've heard the factory V8 system is the go on the V6. I wouldn't bother with cams. I'd start saving up for boost.

 

[F1Aussie]

Exhaust upgrade is usually a pre cams or cam mod so if your gonna do one or the other go for the exhaust, just be careful with your choice of system tho v6 s sound like crap with big free flow systems on them

Okay, interesting, thought the cam even without an exhaust upgrade would give it more go? Haven't heard any of these V6 that sound good with a better exhaust system on them, lol.

 

[F1Aussie]

I've heard the factory V8 system is the go on the V6. I wouldn't bother with cams. I'd start saving up for boost.

Interesting, I think the factory V8 and V6 do share some some parts in the exhaust but not sure what. How would you get a factory V8 exhaust for these now? They seem to be all aftermarket brands

 

[gossie]

Leave it alone and service it as the books tell you.

 

[bluehighway]

Everybody wants to go faster...everybody wants louder pipes...more torque....the problem is this,If its your daily driver...theres really no point in throwing your bank at it....because the LAW says you cant go faster than this ...the LAW says must stop at the next set of lights..the LAW says if you lose traction your gonna be stung....if you hold higher classes/cat licenses you start to see the bigger picture real fast....bottom line is its not logical to have a 500hp daily to get from one set of lights to another because regardless of how quickly you get there the car behind you will still catch up...its egos that drive the madness...lol. If your using it on a track or strip its a different story but even then its very likely sooner or later someone will overtake you....How many nice Holdens have ended up at the wrecking yard because someone wanted to be quicker than someone else and somewhere along the way it got ugly and resulted in a crash...how many marriages have gone bad because that car means more to you than me....keep it simple...I hold too many license classes to risk blowing it...lol