Horse Power

[brob74]

What can i do to add more horsepower to my 2012 Tahoe. I added a cold air intake today.

 

[domin8]

Get more horses. 1 actual horse = 3 horsepower. True story.

Tune, exhaust, supercharger, built motor, etc, etc, etc. What are you looking for? What engine do you have? What so you hope to achieve? We need more info.

 

[brob74]

i have the 5.3L i want to achieve spinning the tires kind of power but don't want a super charger to expensive

 

[domin8]

Well, a corvette servo and a tune will make the tires chirp in the 1-2 shift, but that sounds like it's not going to be enough.

You'll need to get a bit more technical here. Obviously, the goal is more power. The #1 problem I see is the model year. You say your truck is a 2012. Do you care about having a warranty? If you want to keep your warranty, do nothing. Even though Magnuson-Moss says the dealer has to prove your mods caused a failure, anything they can claim will make your life hell.

If you don't care much for your warranty here's how I'd start.

1) figure out which transmission you have. If it's the 6L70, and the odds are pretty good this is the one you have, get it built. You'll need it to be able to tolerate the power you want to throw at it. If it's the 6L80, you may be good here, but I'd still think about building it. It all depends on how much power you want.

2) Gears. The bigger the gear the better the acceleration. Acceleration is key to burnouts (and so are tires, but we really don't need to go into that). I'm not familiar enough with 6Lxx series transmissions to tell you which gears to go with. Hopefully somebody else that knows more will come in here.

3) build the engine head. Cams, valves, pnp heads, pnp intake and exhaust ports, pnp throttle body, valve springs, proper sized injectors, etc. This is where you must get a tune. There are so many different combinations that will work it is ridiculous. The primary focus, imo, should be flow rates. The more your engine can breath the more power it can make. Do it right and 400+ bhp is easily attainable.

4) how do you feel about turbochargers? Hotrod Magazine did an article a little over a year ago where they took a junk yard 5.3 and slapped an Ebay turbo on it. Iirc, it made close to 500bhp. Then they slapped in a LS6 cam and made over 500bhp easily. This was just a turbo and junk yard motor, nothing more. No cooling, etc. Reliability and streetability were never tested. They speculated with the proper supporting mods they should be able to get close to 550-600bhp.

5) and most importantly, do your homework. The more you know the better off you'll be. There is a ton of information out there. Collect and study it and you'll come up with enough data that you'll be able to figure out exactly what you want.

 

[maxls00]

trade the tahoe for a denali

 

[quattrotman]

Well, a corvette servo and a tune will make the tires chirp in the 1-2 shift, but that sounds like it's not going to be enough.

You'll need to get a bit more technical here. Obviously, the goal is more power. The #1 problem I see is the model year. You say your truck is a 2012. Do you care about having a warranty? If you want to keep your warranty, do nothing. Even though Magnuson-Moss says the dealer has to prove your mods caused a failure, anything they can claim will make your life hell.

If you don't care much for your warranty here's how I'd start.

1) figure out which transmission you have. If it's the 6L70, and the odds are pretty good this is the one you have, get it built. You'll need it to be able to tolerate the power you want to throw at it. If it's the 6L80, you may be good here, but I'd still think about building it. It all depends on how much power you want.

2) Gears. The bigger the gear the better the acceleration. Acceleration is key to burnouts (and so are tires, but we really don't need to go into that). I'm not familiar enough with 6Lxx series transmissions to tell you which gears to go with. Hopefully somebody else that knows more will come in here.

3) build the engine head. Cams, valves, pnp heads, pnp intake and exhaust ports, pnp throttle body, valve springs, proper sized injectors, etc. This is where you must get a tune. There are so many different combinations that will work it is ridiculous. The primary focus, imo, should be flow rates. The more your engine can breath the more power it can make. Do it right and 400+ bhp is easily attainable.

4) how do you feel about turbochargers? Hotrod Magazine did an article a little over a year ago where they took a junk yard 5.3 and slapped an Ebay turbo on it. Iirc, it made close to 500bhp. Then they slapped in a LS6 cam and made over 500bhp easily. This was just a turbo and junk yard motor, nothing more. No cooling, etc. Reliability and streetability were never tested. They speculated with the proper supporting mods they should be able to get close to 550-600bhp.

5) and most importantly, do your homework. The more you know the better off you'll be. There is a ton of information out there. Collect and study it and you'll come up with enough data that you'll be able to figure out exactly what you want.

Your suggestions are all good and valid but also expensive. Maybe the OP should start with headers, exhaust and tune. Not necessarily gonna spin the tires but it's a good place to start. Honestly, if it were me I wouldn't do anything that major to a new vehicle. Better off buying a few years older truck with a bigger motor to start with and mod that. Engine mods are $$.

 

[sumo]

i have the 5.3L i want to achieve spinning the tires kind of power but don't want a super charger to expensive

you want power your going to have to spend money. There is no cheap mod that will boost Hp. You want a quick shot of hp, look into some nitrous.

could get a Callaway Kit

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/04/13/callaway-turns-chevrolet-silverado-into-c19-sporttruck/

 

[domin8]

If we're going to talk money, Callaway is one way to go. Another option is Hennessy.