Hi guys
New to forum but I wanted to share my experience with my 2013 ATS Build as I notice not many people look into the V6 and those that do are always looking for reviews on parts. I come from a background of moderately fast cars owning and building a 350whp 300zx then 2 3000GT Vr4s in the 375-410awhp range. I decided I was getting older didnt have time to keep fixing cars and needed a daily with a little kick the ATS V wasnt out yet and I was tired of dealing with turbo issues so passed on the 2.0T. I purchased my ATS in 2015 used with just 18K Miles and then started modding when I hit the 30K Range earlier this year. I will list the upgrades in the order I did them and try and give an honest review of each.
1st thing I did was a Full K&N Intake System. While it gave the car more growl I wasn't really impressed with it for the $340+ Price tag. I wouldn't recommend this unless you are adding a different Throttle Body or Intake Manifold Mods. If your simply want a hair more power or better MPG and dont see yourself going further in depth just stick with a K&N Drop in filter and save some $$$.
2nd Modification was V Maxx Ported Throttle Body for $150 after getting core charge back I feel this was a more reasonable Modification. I felt some better pull in the mid range and Felt it gave some added justice to the K&N Intake. Now I didn't ever feel the so called dead spot around 2-2500rpm like some People mention but if you notice that this should be the fix. Local Camaro owner commented on how smooth my throttle Felt when driving the car.
Next up was the Exhaust I dont have any good local shops here so they took me to the cleaners. With Exhaust I recommend doing research and figuring out everything before they put it on the rack. I paid $350 for labor only to get stock muffler out and Dynomax Super Turbos in this gave me some added growl but I wasnt impressed with the sound. Now this is coming from a guy who used to drive a turbo car with a 4" Catback with no cats resonators or any type of silencer. So I went back and had the secondary Cats removed another $120 added growl and maybe a hair more power above 5K RPMs. The exhaust made the car sound better but I dont think it gained much the stock 3.6 cat back flows very well for a stock car. If you want loud Look into a set of Dynomax Bullets great for V8 Rumble. If you want a tad more growl and power just remove 2ndary cats and run stock muffler.
Finally up was Tuning I started with the Diablo Can Tune I can tell it added some power to the car Cut down my 0-60 by .2-.5 Pending the 91 or 93 tune. I also like the firm shift program car felt more sporty. I made some changes on my own because I didnt want to have as firm shifts from 1-3rd 24/7 in tour mode. With diablo I was able to change pressure and point so in tour its better than stock but not rough and in sport mode I get the hard shifts of a older muscle car.
After a few weeks I wanted to try some custom tuning I reached out to Will at OverKill and got a set of tunes and TCM tune. Wow it was better than the Diablo tune. Ive only run the 93 but he cleaned up the areas I felt diablo was lacking. Dropped the 0-60 by .7 if I can hook and added more power after the 4500RPm Range. Now one thing I will mention is Overkill is very tough to get a hold of. I have had a rough time getting any support for a retune/reviewing files. The TCM tune was a little to rough to daily so I run the Overkill ECM tune and Diablo TCM tune. Will has messaged me back after a few emails but I've yet to receive any retunes. Now his tunes are better than the canned Diablo tunes hands down but keep in mind you will be waiting possibly weeks.
Next up is a Intake Manifold Spacer (Coming from Overkill) its been ordered just awaiting for it to come in. Supposed to add some Midrange power. After that if Will says my logs look good its off to the Dyno in the fall to see what the numbers look like. One thing I forgot to mention is I dont have access to E85 in my area so my car is a 93 Pump gas car. I have heard the 3.6 wakes up more on e85 but can not confirm.
As a package I feel the car is more Fun but not really too Quick. Now that might be because I cant hook as well on the 225 Uniroyals or because as always when you start modding the Bug never goes away. You can easily get used to a 300-400whp car and it not feel fast after driving for a few weeks. I would really like to Line up with a stock 3.6 Camaro or ATS and see the difference. The local guy has a 2011 Camaro but refuses to race me because he says I will beat him. A dyno is opening in the Fall so I can get some numbers and the local track opens up in Sept So I can back those numbers with 1/4 times. Until then I can only go by the ol Butt Dyno.
One mod thats not really for performance but I highly recommend is a catch can. My car has 36K and the oil Build up was already starting on the valves. A good catch can can help with engine longevity if your planning on keeping the car past 50K. Also if you dont mind the looks Pull the beauty cover and Foam behind it this lowers Intake Temps by up to 10-18 degrees pending outside weather.
Looking back if I was to do it over again I would probably go K&N Drop in, remove Secondary cats and Catch Can and maybe Ported T.B. Then put the rest of the money towards Looks. Like a nicer set of Wheels and Roof Spoiler, ATS V trunk Spoiler and body panels. Since I have already brought my car past the point of simple Mods I just keep digging more and more I would like to break the 300whp without E85 and have a quick 3.6 ATS but only time will tell.
New to forum but I wanted to share my experience with my 2013 ATS Build as I notice not many people look into the V6 and those that do are always looking for reviews on parts. I come from a background of moderately fast cars owning and building a 350whp 300zx then 2 3000GT Vr4s in the 375-410awhp range. I decided I was getting older didnt have time to keep fixing cars and needed a daily with a little kick the ATS V wasnt out yet and I was tired of dealing with turbo issues so passed on the 2.0T. I purchased my ATS in 2015 used with just 18K Miles and then started modding when I hit the 30K Range earlier this year. I will list the upgrades in the order I did them and try and give an honest review of each.
1st thing I did was a Full K&N Intake System. While it gave the car more growl I wasn't really impressed with it for the $340+ Price tag. I wouldn't recommend this unless you are adding a different Throttle Body or Intake Manifold Mods. If your simply want a hair more power or better MPG and dont see yourself going further in depth just stick with a K&N Drop in filter and save some $$$.
2nd Modification was V Maxx Ported Throttle Body for $150 after getting core charge back I feel this was a more reasonable Modification. I felt some better pull in the mid range and Felt it gave some added justice to the K&N Intake. Now I didn't ever feel the so called dead spot around 2-2500rpm like some People mention but if you notice that this should be the fix. Local Camaro owner commented on how smooth my throttle Felt when driving the car.
Next up was the Exhaust I dont have any good local shops here so they took me to the cleaners. With Exhaust I recommend doing research and figuring out everything before they put it on the rack. I paid $350 for labor only to get stock muffler out and Dynomax Super Turbos in this gave me some added growl but I wasnt impressed with the sound. Now this is coming from a guy who used to drive a turbo car with a 4" Catback with no cats resonators or any type of silencer. So I went back and had the secondary Cats removed another $120 added growl and maybe a hair more power above 5K RPMs. The exhaust made the car sound better but I dont think it gained much the stock 3.6 cat back flows very well for a stock car. If you want loud Look into a set of Dynomax Bullets great for V8 Rumble. If you want a tad more growl and power just remove 2ndary cats and run stock muffler.
Finally up was Tuning I started with the Diablo Can Tune I can tell it added some power to the car Cut down my 0-60 by .2-.5 Pending the 91 or 93 tune. I also like the firm shift program car felt more sporty. I made some changes on my own because I didnt want to have as firm shifts from 1-3rd 24/7 in tour mode. With diablo I was able to change pressure and point so in tour its better than stock but not rough and in sport mode I get the hard shifts of a older muscle car.
After a few weeks I wanted to try some custom tuning I reached out to Will at OverKill and got a set of tunes and TCM tune. Wow it was better than the Diablo tune. Ive only run the 93 but he cleaned up the areas I felt diablo was lacking. Dropped the 0-60 by .7 if I can hook and added more power after the 4500RPm Range. Now one thing I will mention is Overkill is very tough to get a hold of. I have had a rough time getting any support for a retune/reviewing files. The TCM tune was a little to rough to daily so I run the Overkill ECM tune and Diablo TCM tune. Will has messaged me back after a few emails but I've yet to receive any retunes. Now his tunes are better than the canned Diablo tunes hands down but keep in mind you will be waiting possibly weeks.
Next up is a Intake Manifold Spacer (Coming from Overkill) its been ordered just awaiting for it to come in. Supposed to add some Midrange power. After that if Will says my logs look good its off to the Dyno in the fall to see what the numbers look like. One thing I forgot to mention is I dont have access to E85 in my area so my car is a 93 Pump gas car. I have heard the 3.6 wakes up more on e85 but can not confirm.
As a package I feel the car is more Fun but not really too Quick. Now that might be because I cant hook as well on the 225 Uniroyals or because as always when you start modding the Bug never goes away. You can easily get used to a 300-400whp car and it not feel fast after driving for a few weeks. I would really like to Line up with a stock 3.6 Camaro or ATS and see the difference. The local guy has a 2011 Camaro but refuses to race me because he says I will beat him. A dyno is opening in the Fall so I can get some numbers and the local track opens up in Sept So I can back those numbers with 1/4 times. Until then I can only go by the ol Butt Dyno.
One mod thats not really for performance but I highly recommend is a catch can. My car has 36K and the oil Build up was already starting on the valves. A good catch can can help with engine longevity if your planning on keeping the car past 50K. Also if you dont mind the looks Pull the beauty cover and Foam behind it this lowers Intake Temps by up to 10-18 degrees pending outside weather.
Looking back if I was to do it over again I would probably go K&N Drop in, remove Secondary cats and Catch Can and maybe Ported T.B. Then put the rest of the money towards Looks. Like a nicer set of Wheels and Roof Spoiler, ATS V trunk Spoiler and body panels. Since I have already brought my car past the point of simple Mods I just keep digging more and more I would like to break the 300whp without E85 and have a quick 3.6 ATS but only time will tell.