Recommended upgrades for an SV6

[stormtrooper]

Hey guys, before anyone laughs (inevitable heh) I am looking for ways to wring some power out of the trusty SV6. As dyno in about september last year at a performance dyno day (only commy there heh, thanks Shane) it pulled a rather surprising 193rwhp stock. This was on a dyno dynnamics dyno in Bibra Lake.

I have since been doing some research into what can be done and the key areas I want to focus on.

1) Initial power down: These cars have awesome mid-top end pull, but they are fucking SHOCKING for initial powerdown. There is no way in HELL I can do a fkn burnout from standstill (except in the wet). Only way to lose traction is to either a) donut or b) power-over.

2) 0-100 time. As it is my car is capable of doing 0-100 sprint in just shy of 7 secs (seems like a fkn lifetime).

There are a few things I have come across that would help in these regards. 1 is a bolt-on mod from Performance Manifolds http://www.performancemanifolds.com.au/ which says 20rwhp from a bolt on mod and 2 hours of work with a few spanners. Quite achievable, still waiting on a response back from them in regards to how much this is going to cost.

The next is a VCM suite tune. These have been since developed for the SV6 model of commodores and give a gain of between 20-30rwhp AND, and this is the sweet part of the deal, REMOVES the torque limiting coding. Basically with SV6's they have torque limiting so that if you are sitting in neutral and stamp on the "go fast" pedal, it'll rev to 2,000rpm and sit there. Also, if you are in 1st or whathaveyou, foot on the brake, and plant it, same thing, rev's to 2,000rpm and sits there. Then, to add insult to injury, max torque (about 360nM) does not become available until around 3300 RPM. From here it pulls like the clackers however. Don't get me wrong, I dont have ANY trouble smoking a 10 yr old V8 off the line or what have you, but I want more :D

I should mention that the power from the manifold adds to the power of anything else added like exhaust, tune etc. As it is, if I got just the tune and the manifold at the moment, I'd be looking at an increase of 50rwhp. The tune is $900 but dont know about the manifold at the moment. So, 240rwhp is looking good at the moment....

Now here come the "get a turbo ya weak kaaarrrnnttt". Well, the option is there, but not right now heh. At the moment there are no turbo kits available for SV6's but there are sueprcharger kits available. These are about $7k 3 day work drive in drive out, and give a healthy 220rwkw (with full exhaust, possibly a little more with stock diff as the car that has this supercharger is running 3.46 diff gears as opposed to 3.08's on a stock SV6, thereby deminishing the dyno figure, but can't be too sure).

SO! Any thoughts? Also, the reason I am wanting to do a little work to this, is that I have the car for the next 4 years (don't get me wrong, I love the car, it's only 3 years old) but I want some more fun-factor out of it at the moment until then, when I turn my eye on an import.

Thanks in advance...

-Chris

[kingmoron]

shift kit :dunno:

[stormtrooper]

Had a look into that, currently no shiftkits available for the A5 SV6's, and none in development from what I know of either.

[stumps.]

ls1... cheap as chips now.


Look on ls1.com.au there is heaps of stuff about the alloytech they have developed an over the radiator intake with tune exhaust and cam should see some good figures.

[Bakerboy]

Get extractors, exhaust one of these kits http://www.raptorsc.com.au/kits.php?id=37 and full tune low down torque of supercharger will get you pulling skids from standstill easy until the gearbox crys enough

[Brute]

^^^ Yep LS1 / L98 conversion.

[Bakerboy]

you shld be able to do a skid from standstill easy, i can in my vt ecotec you just gota rev it hard enough

[stormtrooper]

Agree stumps, LS1's are cheap at the moment. However then you have to consider wiring harness, brake master cylinder/brake upgrade, radiator, radiator fan etc which all ads up exponentially.

Does anyone know how much it usually costs for a Ls1 upgrade to a V6 car? The work that is, not the motor...

Extractors are on the to do list. And yeah, I have seen the raptorSC stuff, I have been following closely the development of ImpulseSV6's project, and looks good so far. The thing was pulling something STUPID like 1026nM of torque in 2nd, on a box that is only supposed to be able to handle 450+nM of torque. Yet it still hasn't died. (time will tell though heh).

CAN do a skid from standstill, but you have to rev/foot off brake at the right time to be able to do it. Took a lot of practice heh. It's because of the rev limiting/torque limiting.

Also, does nuts easily thanks to factory LSD diff :D

[gt86wa]

Agree stumps, LS1's are cheap at the moment. However then you have to consider wiring harness, brake master cylinder/brake upgrade, radiator, radiator fan etc which all ads up exponentially.

Does anyone know how much it usually costs for a Ls1 upgrade to a V6 car? The work that is, not the motor...



Who would bother with a conversion considering what you can get a vz sv8 or ss for now.

[Simon]

$400 nos kit.

problem solved

[stormtrooper]

One of the reasons why I am not really interested in upgrading the motor in it at the moment. It's more a case of the car is secured under finance for the next 4 years, so can't sell it. (Though if I private sell it I could prolly pay it out... but with the financial market in such turmoil at the moment, not likely to get what I want for it).

LoL NOS kit, just like that VE commodore on an AntiLag cruise a few months ago on NOS :D Rental wasn't it? haha

[stumps.]

a cam is your friend. with otr and exhaust and tune just guessing but around 250 kw?

[stormtrooper]

I have actually heard of a CAM'd SV6 running 13.5's on the quater. Putting out roughly 260rwhp. However with the SV6's it's not cheap, theres 4 cam's to replace heh. From what I have found out/heard it's around the $3-4k mark for cam upgrade. Also, OTRCAI's are possible, but no MAF'less tune can be done with the motor's yet. 5 years the model has been around for and still no one's figure out how to do it? Muppets :)

[Klutch]

5 years the model has been around for and still no one's figure out how to do it? Muppets :)

Probably because modifying your engine is a complete waste of money and time? :P

[stormtrooper]

Shut up and get a bridge-port you fucking rotary nazi :D

[Turbo2.6L]

Just do your usual bolt-ons, ie exhaust, extractors, underdriven pulley, CAI, that manifold you mentioned & then get it tuned. Should do 250rwhp which isn't bad for a Holden V6...
Alternatively, get a stroker kit from C.O.M.E :)

[kingmoron]

weight reduction!

[TJ]

Diff gears will transform the off the line performance. The things probably geared for 340kmh when it doesnt need to be.

[stormtrooper]

Pulleys don't do squat on these motors from what I have found. Exhaust and extractors on their own do nothing to increase the power significantly, though they do appear to help a lot more when the engine side of the motor's are free'd up (manifold). These motor's love to breathe hard. Have a K&N panel filter on it at the moment and that improved throttle response a little. And yeah, in terms of speed it's faster than shanes 300rwhp soarer (awww, limited to 180kmph hehe). But whoopee. Want to look at getting 3.46 diff gears for it. Only increases highway 100kmph RPM's by about 200rpm.

[Klutch]

And yeah, in terms of speed it's faster than shanes 300rwhp soarer (awww, limited to 180kmph hehe).
Doesn't take him 5 minutes to get to 180 though.

[upgarage]

SV8

[scj91]

insurance and a jerry can's a good performance mod if it's under finance.

[Skitzo]

keep it as a daily and purchase a yellow RB25 silvia making 280rwhp on 10 pounds. injectors and retune will see over 350rwhp.

[kingmoron]

hah get a 1j / 2j

[stormtrooper]

hahah Skitzo you trying to sell something mate ? :D
yeah should get a 2jz and piss neil off ...

[Skitzo]

yeah but not mine. 10,500 for yellow s13 with rb25 (registered) is cheap as cheap stuff.

[rev210]

Because you are stuck for money your car will be slow.

It's the rule.

The SV6 is an absolute handicap for going fast. You are starting with a very slow car and so trying to make it fast will cost you. It will cost you way too much. And you will also belong to that team of people who are fixated on making commo V6's something they aren't.

Don't even bother upgrading the exhaust or anything at all. Just drive it and save the money. You will get out of the situation that much faster and the car will be easier to sell unmodified.

That way you can bail on the car and buy the one you really want.

[EYEH8HSV]

AGREE 100% ^^^

[spookware]

Because you are stuck for money your car will be slow.

It's the rule.

The SV6 is an absolute handicap for going fast. You are starting with a very slow car and so trying to make it fast will cost you. It will cost you way too much. And you will also belong to that team of people who are fixated on making commo V6's something they aren't.

Don't even bother upgrading the exhaust or anything at all. Just drive it and save the money. You will get out of the situation that much faster and the car will be easier to sell unmodified.

That way you can bail on the car and buy the one you really want.


That is the best shit I have ever read...... today

[RICEY]

Welcome fellow VZ SV owner, youre missing 2 cylinders but we'll ignore that fact for now :D

As said earlier the big issue with the SV6 is the diff gears, putting better gears in makes a big difference with bottom end performance.

Ive heard the retunes do make a difference but to be worthwhile a full exhaust as well is the way to go.

It wont be a 10 second warrior but it will go pretty well for a 6 banger.

On another note the alloytec engine is very bad for sludging, we've had to pull down a few of these engines (mainly lease vehicles) that are serviced every 15k. The oil filter looks like its full of mud. Definately do an oil and filter change every 7500kms to keep the engine healthy.

End of the day the way to true performance is an LSx conversion but the cost probably isnt worth the hassle. Do your minor mods to get some more enjoyment/better performance out of the car and if you get hungry for more power do the trade up :D

[BOSS 290]

1 mod - tune it. Remove the torque tags and get it dyno tuned. Probably the best BFYB mod. Leave it at that until you're ready to sell it and move on to something with more potential.

[stormtrooper]

Yeah, I am not looking for anything drastic in the power increase. Just something to make it more enjoyable/driveable for the time being. Most likely I will keep it as my daily and just buy another when the time comes around. So for now looks like the VCM tune will be the go, as I said before, this is the tune that removes the torque tags.

I replace the oil filter on my cars at 10,000 all the time anwyays, so doing it at 7.5k won't be a hassel for me so I'll do that aswel.

Cheers for the input guys much appreciate it. And yeah Ricey, will prolly be looking at a VY/VZ clubby when the time comes, thats if the missus won't lemme have a skyline or the like heh.

[RICEY]

Yeh normal service intervals for the alloytecs are 15k as opposed to the old 10k hence recommending hal way services at 7.5k

If you go for a Clubby/SS go for the vz 6 litre ;) The Chevs are capable of decent performance for reasonably low cost. For instance with just a retune my VZ ran a 13.4 down the 1/4. Move onto exhaust intake and cam and youre well into the 12s.

[Lonewolf]

Yeah, I am not looking for anything drastic in the power increase. Just something to make it more enjoyable/driveable for the time being. Most likely I will keep it as my daily and just buy another when the time comes around. So for now looks like the VCM tune will be the go, as I said before, this is the tune that removes the torque tags.

I replace the oil filter on my cars at 10,000 all the time anwyays, so doing it at 7.5k won't be a hassel for me so I'll do that aswel.

Cheers for the input guys much appreciate it. And yeah Ricey, will prolly be looking at a VY/VZ clubby when the time comes, thats if the missus won't lemme have a skyline or the like heh.

ECU retune is also handy as cops wont hassle you, and maintains stock comfort levels.
Diff gears are probably and easy swap too, and really do make a big difference to performance.

[joshg123]

Is this the bloke that came and saw me on friday regarding noise in front end at 80km/h?

If so, small world eh :)

Cheers

Josh

[stormtrooper]

Haha yeah that's me :)

[RICEY]

Dewing it too, looks heaps better :D

[Turbo2.6L]

Yeh normal service intervals for the alloytecs are 15k as opposed to the old 10k hence recommending hal way services at 7.5k

If you go for a Clubby/SS go for the vz 6 litre ;) The Chevs are capable of decent performance for reasonably low cost. For instance with just a retune my VZ ran a 13.4 down the 1/4. Move onto exhaust intake and cam and youre well into the 12s.

What's average times for a VZ clubby M6 when they're bog stock? My mate ran consistent 13.2's with cat back zorst & it was his first time at the strip... I thought that was fairly impressive??

[RICEY]

5.7 or 6 litah? Either way yes good times for a non tuned one. Did he own it from new? If not good chance the previous owner tuned it...

[Turbo2.6L]

6 litre mate.
Na he got it from a dealer & it was used. Doesn't feel overly impressive in terms of how power delivery or anything so i thought it was stock for sure...

[RICEY]

Not much would feel impressive after being in your car id imagine..

[DT95WA]

LOL

[Turbo2.6L]

Haha cheers.
I drove it before i got the Phoon though...

[Torquen]

buy a faster car :) LS1 FTW if your a holden fan.

[stormtrooper]

Heh, cheers for the work on the car Josh, much appreciated. Spot on diagnosis of front left wheel bearing hub going.

[stormtrooper]

Heh, finally got word back on the Performance Manifolds Intake Manifold, $1900ex GST for the unit w/ new gasket for 25rwhp gain. Pass? Think I will just stick with the VCM tune which is pretty much the same gain for around the $900 mark.

[xr06t]

here is another vote for diff gears! go more than 3.45 if you can, do they do something around 3.70?

[stormtrooper]

Would be looking at 3.46's. But pretty much all it will end up being is tune, diff gears and possibly exhaust. Cheers for all the input guys, greatly appreciate it.

[RICEY]

Wheel bearing going? Must have taken a hit?

[4A10SHN]

Go a maffless tune and OTR :)

[joshg123]

Wheel bearing going? Must have taken a hit?

Nar was just a typical holden wheel bearing that'd gone rough.

I see a few, moreso on VT's rather than the later models

[Volatile Rob]

Custom V6 TT kit will set you back about $10k Fitted & Tuned

Price includes Twin Garrett Turbos, Custom Steam Pipe Manifolds, Front Mount I/C, Custom I/C Pipework, Custom Turbo Inlet Pipes, Twin K & N Air Filters, Oil Cooler, Bigger transcooler (if Auto), Upgraded Fuel Pump & Injectors & ECU Re-Tune.

Recommend also Diff gear upgrade to 3.46 gearing, larger Cat back exhaust (3 - 3.5" single system) and hi-flo Catco Metal Catalytic Converter.

That should make it a bit more fun for ya. Will need the car for two weeks from start to finish.

We are about to start our V6 TT Conversion on my 3ltr V6 Pajero with a tired 235,000 km motor (there will be a sweepstakes going to guess the exact day the motor lets go, with a bonus draw for the correct cause guessed)

Rob

[RICEY]

Nar was just a typical holden wheel bearing that'd gone rough.

I see a few, moreso on VT's rather than the later models

Yeah not common on VZs though

[kingmoron]

does a stock sv6 go 14.5 1/4 mile i was thinking more of low/mid 15s

[ED40]

^ No fucken chance mate. Mid to high 15's.

[zeroyon]

I second the NOS comment on the first page. Will go a lot faster and you can remove it to put on another car once you relise that your better of with another car.

[stormtrooper]

Actually wheels bfyb 06 had the vz sv6 doing a 15.03 1/4 mile thanks shane :)

[shane]

My A5 SV6 has a 2.87 diff ratio so diff gears will make a huge differance.

[stormtrooper]

Zeroyon, I think you hav'nt stopped to read the entire thread before you commented. I have never said that I want this to be long term, I am saying that I just want to give it a little more poke until I DO get something with more power.

[Passage GT]

he had the right idea though, the mods you've planned are fine and should make quite a difference, but nos will make a big power difference and it easy to fit and remove, it's quick and cheap hp:)
guy at work just bought one of these, same colour too, good luck with it all

[kingmoron]

two of the big ones

[Bradoo]

just another comment on the diff gears, my car is basicly stock apart from high-flow cats and dual 2.5inch exhaust. its good for a 14.4 down the 1/4mile..

i bought it with the dff gears in it but a car the same as mine was pulling around 15.2's...

ive got 3.93:1 in mine to back up the 5 speed manual, which is a good combo, but not too good for long drives as at 110km/h it sits on 3000rpm. but up against a 6spd manual or 4spd auto, u should be on between 2200-2500rpm..

relatively easy and cheapish mod if you ask me.

[RICEY]

I thought yours was supercharged?

[Bradoo]

mine? if so its not, apparently theres 2 types of power steering pumps u can get for mine, one makes noise, one doesnt.. unfortunately i got the one that does (warranty job) still works fine and fluid is full too so it must be a dodgey bearing or some crap.. so yeh its bog stock :P

[YOUR MATE]

Think he got you confused with YEHBOI that whtie vt with a blower. Not your ps pump.

[RICEY]

mine? if so its not, apparently theres 2 types of power steering pumps u can get for mine, one makes noise, one doesnt.. unfortunately i got the one that does (warranty job) still works fine and fluid is full too so it must be a dodgey bearing or some crap.. so yeh its bog stock :P


lol thats one loud power steering pump

[Bradoo]

Think he got you confused with YEHBOI that whtie vt with a blower. Not your ps pump.

you'd be surprised how many times people ask me if it is supercharged.. i wish it was though lol

[Bradoo]

Hey buddy was lookin in the newest issue of street commodores, and theyve got a tech feature on an sv6 alloytech.

Stock run it pulled 156kw

After dong a CAI setup, extractors full exhaust and tune and managed to get just over 200kw out of it so that might be worth a look into

brad

[joshg123]

mine? if so its not, apparently theres 2 types of power steering pumps u can get for mine, one makes noise, one doesnt.. unfortunately i got the one that does (warranty job) still works fine and fluid is full too so it must be a dodgey bearing or some crap.. so yeh its bog stock :P

I hate seeing holdens coming in with chinese power steering pumps. Shits me to tears, put them on and all they do is cavitate.

Just rebuild the stock ones, the internals are excellent just the o-rings fail. Get a rebuild kit for like $10, spend an hour on the bench with it and its good as new. Would do a couple a fortnight and would see maybe one a year spring a leak. But nearly every chinese pump i see eats the shit

[Bradoo]

Will keep that in mind for the next time i get a quiet one and it shits, thanks mate :) ya might have saved me a bit of cash lol

brad