Just bought a VS series 2 V8 commodore and was wondering what are the best mods to do without opening the engine up. Have made a few enquires about chips from like c.o.m.e racing etc but not convinced that they will make that much improvment, it already has a cat back 2.5 inch exhust and from wht I can tell the rest is stock but it actually goes really well, much better than a stocker. Are chips really worth it? Thanks some help would be great as all I have ever had is VL turbo's so dont have much experience with 8's

Factory cold air induction which came out on the very late VS V8s. Auto box is very weak in them and prone to major failure so beware. I think an aftermarket throttle body may be what you need. What year etc is yours? BT1 ?

aus880 i agree... cold air would be a start followed by a (minimum) 68mm throttle body $395 i beleive from Commsport (www.commsport.com.au) The T700 wasn't the toughest auto out there so some strengthening may be wise if you're planning big HP from it. I know COME do a cam/chip package but from what i've heard the CROW Cams one is very good, as is the CRANE Cams one. If you're wanting to spend a little less, try Powerchip (www.powerchipgroup.com)

i'm also interested in this... my thoughts were the throttle body... the extractors and twin pipe exhaust.. then the cam and chip package.. all over time.. apparently a pacemaker exhaust kit has proven over 20rwkw on the 5.0L motor... so i've been told... but would be costly to get that zorst?? unless someone has one 2nd hand... cheers -Mike

Well you need to answer a few questions before you can go looking to modify your car. What do you want out of it? Does Fuel concern you? How big is your bank account/creditcard? How do you drive it? Is it a daily? Answering those questions will give you and us and aftermarket salespersons and idea of what can/needs to be done. South

Just after a little more, nothing like huge cams and **** yet or supercharger, but thought maybe just a nice chip some extractors and cold air. Does that holden cold air really do anything at all, the opening at the front is very small, cant see much air gettig through there. Also I see a few of you say that the T700 is not that strong, how much rwhp will it hold safely, I'm adding a tranny cooler to it tommorow, keeping in mind that I don't thrash it everyday.

T700 will take 200-220rwhp with a tranny cooler. Some words of advice are to do the mods only once.. if you want some good HP in the end go a twin cat, twin 2.5" mandrel system into single 3". If your not intending for lots of power and just sound, go a single 3" system. Same goes with cam/chip/throttle upgrades.. only do them once

mate i had extractors, twin cat, twin 2.5 into a 3", and changed to hi tech extractors, into one hi flowed cat and a stainless 3" exaust, there was a power increase and it sounded better. twin systems are a waste of time and money in my book.

Yeah i'm going to go a single system, have heard the same thing and agree that single systems sound better

"twin systems are a waste of time and money in my book." you f@ckin serious? thats the biggest laugh I have had in ages.. ahhahaha.. maybe your car just wasnt putting out enough power to make a difference. You didnt say whether you had a high flow cat before or not, you also say you changed to a stainless system.. I changed my exhaust from single 3" to twin 2.5" mandrel, 2 x cats, into single 3" with a race magnum muffler and out the back to 3". Made a HUGE difference in power, performance and sound. Made the exhaust a tinny-high pitched type race car sound at high rev's instead of that deep, standard sounding growl.. sounded very tuff indeed. Not getting into you buddy, but why would all quick street, race and drag prepared V8's go for a dual system? Proven point that the single system dont flow as good.. All im saying is do it right the first time and dont have to change it over if you get the Horsepower bug a few months later 8)

mate ALL im saying is my VS SS (enhanced to 185) ute came with extractors, with a twin cat system, twin 2.5 inch exaust into one muffler, then a 3" system from there back. I didnt like the way it sounded, and it had no balls in the top end, AFTER changing my system to a single 3" pipe with one hi flowed cat, hi tech extractors (hi tech is the brand name), im my opinion (not proved on dyno), i think my ute goes alot better, sounds better, and is better on fuel. Im not after a street racing drag racing son of a bitch car, its my everyday driving car, and i think the performance has been increased with my new exaust system. maybe your 3" system wasnt any good? and the change to the twin system was a good up-grade, that doesnt mean a good stainless 3" system with proper extractors, the right mufflers and cats cannot have the same kind of power output as a twin system.

Understandable.. was you system to the 3" part stock from factory? and the extractors? My 3" system was pretty good actually, it had a high flow cat and still my race magnum. It was the sort of system that people upgrade to from a stock system, wasnt no ****ter system In your case it sounds like it improved your performance as the previous system maybe wasnt done right and wasnt matched to the performance of your car. The right twin system is really going to cost you some big bucks, but sounds very tuff and does perform to the task. A good example is look at all the twin systems advertised for the new V8's in the commodores (VT onwards).. they are all with decent extractors, twin 2.5" mandrel (mild steel and stainless) twin high flow cats, into twin high flow mufflers, then into single 3" or keep twin the whole way with that pipe in between that balances the flow out. Now they are guaranteeing 20-25rwkw's improvement.. I have NEVER seen one advertised with 3" single system.. food for thought anyway, not getting into you, just trying to expand your view on these twin systems that you have dissed so quickly 8) http://www.dtperformance.com.au/commodore.htm read that anyway, they dont use them systems for nothing

Hey guy's stick to the topic ha, I asked for help not a discussion on which system is better, single for me anyway

roof - yeah my twin system came from the factory i think, the extractors were bent, there was a crack in the exaust and the cats had been hollowed. it sounded like a carbied V8. didnt like it at all. - Those dyno sheets are impressive. Pity its not a melb company.

yep sweet.. factory systems in almost any car are useless. D&T are Australia wide I think.. I know there is a place in Perth that trades as D&T like the eastern states.

Quote: Originally Posted by RooF T700 will take 200-220rwhp with a tranny cooler. The VS V8 auto gearboxes are quite weak and frequently fail in unmodified cars at 100,000kms plus. It's a design fault.

I was taking a stab at the VS series boxes, I have a mate who had a supercharged VP V8 and it was taking 220rwhp on stock auto. When he got the stall in for the auto he had it strengthened and tranny cooler added to be sure. Think it got up to around 260rwhp with the exhaust mods done later.

My mates auto box in his VQ stato holds up nice, he may well only have exhust and chip but he does give it a fairly hard time.