What to do next?

Well now that the transmission has been repaired and working well, I really want to take the Riviera to the track. But before I do I am considering doing one more Mod to the Riviera. Either a Bigger TB ( Ported stock, N*, LS1 ). Or I might do the exhaust. 3" pipe 3" resonator to a single Hi-flow muffler with 2 2.5 outs.

I figure both will help my trap a hair. And my car seems to fall on its face above 80 MPH.

Which of the two would you choose? Or if you have suggestion "except a Cam" please make it.


Thanks in advance

I plan on doing the ported throttle body soon enough. I think theres a guy on regalgs.org who gained 2mph on the traps. I don't think thats normal , but hes now trapping like 102-103 without headers or rockers.

I like the exhaust upgrade idea. Bigger pipes might let you run the 3.3" pulley, but a bigger TB surely won't.

I suppose it doesn;t help to mention that intense has their cams 10% off until the 15th...

I know i know... you said not a cam...

But its a good deal.

I voted for exhaust, but really think a cam should be in the mix. I'm surprised at the "falling on its face above 80" comment. Figured the rockers would be doing the job up there.

1998 Riv wrote:

I voted for exhaust, but really think a cam should be in the mix. I'm surprised at the "falling on its face above 80" comment. Figured the rockers would be doing the job up there.

I figured the rockers would help but I don't see it. I figure my car is hungry or constipated

My rockers seem to run out of steam around 5800 RPM. I think it's normal. But I'm well above 80 mph at that point.

AA wrote:

My rockers seem to run out of steam around 5800 RPM. I think it's normal. But I'm well above 80 mph at that point.

What are your shiftpoints?

My WOT shift points are 5700 RPM from 1-2, and 5700 RPM again from 2-3. I've experimented with higher shift points, but for my car, these points provide close to optimum power delivery while being fairly safe to the engine and trans. I could squeeze a little more power out of the car, but not enough to justify putting such stress on the drivetrain.

Well it looks like I am going for exhaust.

In my opinion, especially with those injectors and a tuner, you should be able to run a 3.2" pulley no problem, maybe pick up the LQ4 maf sensor (w/ or w/o bigger TB) to make tuning a little more certain, and that pulley with some adjustment aught to give you a nice boost you're looking for, no pun intended.

Tuning for anything smaller then the 3.4 has been Hell. I am really starting to think my exhaust is holding me back.

AA wrote:

My rockers seem to run out of steam around 5800 RPM. I think it's normal. But I'm well above 80 mph at that point.

CAM FTW

but i would do exhaust 2.5" mandrel bent

You and I are pretty much in the same boat with mods. I have a helluva time getting my 3.2 to run consistently, the 3.4 pulls as well as the 3.2. Exhaust is next on my list.

deekster_caddy wrote:

You and I are pretty much in the same boat with mods. I have a helluva time getting my 3.2 to run consistently, the 3.4 pulls as well as the 3.2. Exhaust is next on my list.

im sorry i found that funny as hell

Boat was just funny as hell.

they call it a boat for a reason...

I don't have a tuner but I can tell you my riv pulls quite noticably harder with the 3.2" than it does with the 3.4" and I don't even have the mods or tuning capability yall do.

I know because when it started getting hot out and I didn't have the cam in yet, I put the 3.4" back on and it felt like dog slow to me in comparison.

My 3.2" also pulls noticeably harder, because it makes more torque down low, but it doesn't make my car that much faster, because that torque doesn't equate to much extra HP, if any. Ran 13.9 secs ET with 3.2", ran 14.0 with 3.4".

If I had a cam or IC, I might be able to get more out of the 3.2", but with my current set-up, the extra boost wasn't doing me much good. But does feel faster with everyday driving. Throttle response is very nice.