Login
Post Topic
|
Post #1
 21st July 2011 - 02:27 AM
|
|---|---|
|
After Seeing so many threads each week from a P Plater asking what mods he/she could do to their 6 Cylinder Commodore, i've decided to compile..... The Ultimate P Plater VL-VE 6 Cylinder Commodore Guide! Will be doing each variation with the appropriate sub sections, under each section will be a list of mods for the best power/bang for your buck ect. I also take no responsiblility for anything that goes wrong/things being performed in the wrong manner/done by someone not knowing what they're doing/Defects and Fines ect. So here goes.... ___________________________________ VL Commodore (RB30E 3L Engine)  Engine *K&N Panel Filter in the Factory Airbox (Bolt in, Easy) *Pod Filter in a Custom Box (Little More Costly) *Custom Cold Air/Air Ram (Custom pipe leading to the filter to give maximum air flow) *Remove the Air Con Compressor (If you're not worried about not having air con) *Advance the Timing to 20deg (Only do if you're confident, can stuff the motor if done wrong) *Port and polish of heads/Headwork (Talk to a professional about what will suit your needs) *Cam and Chip Package (Great Upgrade, Easy to come By, Big Power Increase) *Forged Pistons (Best if doing a complete overhaul) *Custom Intake Plenum/Ford XF Throttle Body (Again, if you're going all out) *Full Rebuild with New Gaskets/Bearings/Seals ect Exhaust *Extractors *High Flow Cat (Not a huge increase in power, but will help) *2 1/2" Exhaust (No Larger, no Smaller) Gearbox *Shift Kit/High Stall For the Auto *Heavy Duty Clutch for the Manual *Manual Conversion if Auto *Upgrade to an R32 Skyline RB20 Gearbox (Much stronger than the RB30 Box) *Short Shifter if Manual (Makes shifting from 2nd-3rd much easier) Diff *LSD or Minispool *Rebuild with New Bearings/Oil ect *Gear Upgrade from 3.45 - 4.11 (The Higher the ratio, the quicker it will accelerate. Top Speed is dropped though) Brakes *Convert to a Disc Brake Rear End *Double diaphragm Brake Booster and 1" Master cylinder (Found in most VN-VR V8's) *VN-VR V8 Front Discs/Calipers/Lines (Cheap and larger than the VL items) *VT Twin Piston Big Brake Conversion (Huge upgrade from stock) *Decent Pads Suspension *Lowered Springs with Short Shocks (Dont cheap out by just lowering the car, decent shocks help alot and also keep the springs captive) *Coil-overs in the Front (Expensive, but worth it) *Replace all Bushes with Nolathane/Urathane Items (Stock Bushes will be stuffed 9/10) *New Ball Joints/Tie Rods ect (Again 9/10 will be stuffed) *Thicker Front and Rear Swaybars (Decrease in body roll, Great upgrade for handling) *Adjustable Panhard Rod (Makes the Diff sit in the center again after lowering) *Strut Brace (Stiffens up the front end a little for handling) *Heavy Duty Swaybar Linkages (Stock ones suck and fall to pieces) ___________________________________ VN-VS Commodore (3.8L Buick Engine)  Engine *K&N Panel Filter in the Factory Airbox (Bolt in, Easy) *Cold Air Intake from a VS Supercharged Model/Aftermarket (Sits over the Radiator for Maximum Air Flow) *Remove the Air Con Compressor *Remove the "Belmouth" restrictor from the intake (VN Series 2 onwards) *Series Two Coil Packs (VN Series 1) *Aftermarket 70mm Throttle Body *65mm Throttle from the 5L V8 *High Ratio Rockers (Better Acceleration) *Port and polish of heads/Headwork (Consult a Pro on what suits your needs) *Cam and Chip Package (Great Power increase from stock) *Forged Pistons (Best if doing a full rebuild) *Full Rebuild with New Gaskets/Bearings/Seals ect *4.2L Stroker Kit (Expensive, but huge power increase from stock) Gearbox *Shift Kit/High Stall For the Auto *Heavy Duty Clutch for the Manual *Manual Conversion if Auto *Short Shifter if Manual (Makes shifting from 2nd-3rd much easier) Diff *LSD or Minispool *Rebuild with New Bearings/Oil ect *Gear Upgrade from 3.45 - 4.11 (The Higher the ratio, the quicker it will accelerate. Top Speed is dropped though) Brakes *Double diaphragm Brake Booster and 1" Master cylinder (Found in most VN-VR V8's) *VT Twin Piston Big Brake Conversion. (Huge Brake Upgrade from stock) *Decent Pads Suspension *Lowered Springs with Short Shocks (Dont cheap out by just lowering the car, decent shocks help alot and also keep the springs captive) *Coil-overs in the Front (Expensive, but worth it) *Replace all Bushes with Nolathane/Urathane Items (Stock Bushes will be stuffed 9/10) *New Ball Joints/Tie Rods ect (Again 9/10 will be stuffed) *Thicker Front and Rear Swaybars (Decrease in body roll, Great upgrade for handling) *Adjustable Panhard Rod (Makes the Diff sit in the center again after lowering, if Live Axle) *Strut Brace (Stiffens up the front end a little for handling) *Heavy Duty Swaybar Linkages (Stock ones suck and fall to pieces) *4 Point Camber Kit (Brings the rear wheels flush again after lowering, If IRS) ___________________________________ VS-VY Commodore (3.8L Ecotech Engine)  Engine *K&N Panel Filter in the Factory Airbox (Bolt in, Easy) *Aftermarket 70mm Throttle Body *Intake Manifold Spacer (Increases low end power) *Plenum Spacer (Provides better air distribution between cylinders, resulting in more power) *Remove Air Con Compressor *High Ratio Rockers (Better Acceleration) *Port and polish of heads/Headwork (Consult a Pro on what suits your needs) *Cam and Chip Package (Great Power increase from stock) *Forged Pistons (Best if doing a full rebuild) *Full Rebuild with New Gaskets/Bearings/Seals ect *4.2L Stroker Kit (Expensive, but huge power increase from stock) Exhaust *Extractors *High Flow Cat *2 1/2" Exhaust Gearbox *Shift Kit/High Stall For the Auto *Heavy Duty Clutch and a Single Flywheel Conversion for the Manual (Stock Flywheel cannot be machined) *Manual Conversion if Auto *Short Shifter if Manual (Easier to shift from 2nd to 3rd) *Replace the Shifter Linkage Bushes (Tighten up the shifting between gears) Diff *LSD or Minispool *Rebuild with New Bearings/Oil ect *Gear Upgrade from 3.45 - 4.11 (The Higher the ratio, the quicker it will accelerate. Top Speed is dropped though) Brakes *Decent Pads (Brakes are Excellent from Factory) Suspension *Lowered Springs with Short Shocks (Cheaper Option, dont cheap out and just get springs, decent shocks help alot and also keep the springs captive) *Coilovers (Huge increase in handling) *Heavy Duty Swaybar Linkages (Stock ones suck and fall to pieces) *Replace all Bushes with Nolathane/Urathane Items (Stock will most likely be shagged) *Thicker Front and Rear Swaybars (Stops Body Roll, increase handling) *4 Point Camber Kit (Brings the rear wheels flush again after lowering) VZ-VE Commodore (3.6L Alloytech)  Engine *K&N Panel Filter in the Factory Airbox (Bolt in, Easy) *Intake Manifold Spacer (Increases low end power) *Aftermarket Air-Hammer Induction Setup *CPR6 Manifold (Double the plenum volume of standard manifold) Exhaust *High Flow Cat *2 1/2" Exhaust Gearbox *Shift Kit/High Stall For the Auto *Manual Conversion if Auto Diff *LSD *Gear Upgrade from 3.45 - 4.11 (The Higher the ratio, the quicker it will accelerate. Top Speed is dropped though) Brakes *Decent Pads (Brakes are Excellent from Factory) Suspension *Lowered Springs with Short Shocks (Cheaper Option, dont cheap out and just get springs, decent shocks help alot and also keep the springs captive) *Coilovers (Huge increase in handling) *Thicker Front and Rear Swaybars (Stops Body Roll, increase handling) All this has been out of my own head, and not stolen from anywhere what so ever! Heres some links to help you on your way also... Street Commodores Forum Great Forum for info, build threads, Community Just Commodores Forum Great Forum for info, build threads, Community Mace Engineering Great Parts for V6 Commodores V6 Supercharged/FIT Great Parts for V6 Commodores Cheers! 
|
|
 |
VZ_commo
Post #10
out of the 5.765 million threads I have seen about exhausts for the VZ. A mandrel bent twin 2.25 is the best for sound and power. It is VERY hard to get a nice note out of the alloytec. With a cheap exhaust, they sound like a bucket of ass. |
|---|
 |
calais bloke
Post #11
are you able to also add in there for the vn and vs commodores what belt do you use when you remove the ac commpressors? thanks, great advice good job mate |
|---|
 |
Joyrid3r
Post #12
QUOTE (calais bloke @ Aug 4 2011, 09:42 PM)  are you able to also add in there for the vn and vs commodores what belt do you use when you remove the ac commpressors? thanks, great advice good job mate VN-R 6PK2370 Belt Multi Acc 6PK1650 Belt Multi Acc (without A/C) VS 6PK2720 Belt Multi Acc 6PK2230 Belt Multi Acc (without A/C) VT 6PK2830 Belt Multi Acc 6PK2230 Belt Multi Acc (without A/C) VX/VU 6PK2830 Belt Multi Acc (to Vin L661775) 6PK2815 Belt Multi Acc (from Vin L661776) 6PK2230 Belt Multi Acc (without A/C) VY 6PK2815 Belt Multi Acc 6PK2230 Belt Multi Acc (without A/C) VZ-E Alloytec 175, 190 & SIDI engines 6PK2555 Belt Multi Acc |
|---|
 |
jw.pfitzner
Post #13
some of the stuff youve written about the engine are performance mods, like porting the heads, the stroker kit and the cam and ecu chip upgrades... isnt it illegal to have any mods like that for a p-plater? im guessing that if u go ahead with some of these mods that u pray the jacks dont pull u up and have a geeze at whats happening under the bonnet? i know its all internal and all and u cant see it just by looking but just out of curiosity to what extremity do they go to see if your engines been modified? |
|---|
 |
EUniqe
Post #14
QUOTE (W1NT3R @ Jul 21 2011, 08:57 PM) *Thicker Front and Rear Swaybars (Stops Body Roll, increase handling) Be very, VERY careful with this. The commodore, regardless of anyone's opinion, is not a car with handling a priority. Sure it handles very well for what it is, but it was not designed with twisties in mind. Most commodore owners will have the same priorities, and are most likely to spend their money on straight line speed. This means that they will not be thinking very hard about suspension modifications. This leads me onto my point. Swaybars are the cheapest and also most cost-effective modification you can make to improve a car's handling. Therefore, they are likely to be the first item purchased in regards to handling. However, they don't merely increase all-around handling. They increase a car's tendency to oversteer or understeer depending on which sway bar is upgraded. The rear will always be easier to upgrade, as there's no engine or gearbox for it to work its way around and thus will be more likely to be installed first. This is where the danger applies. A rear sway bar, despite what common conception believes - improving rear-end grip - will increase a car's tendency to oversteer (it's all to do with weight transfer, the most important handling characteristic - cant have more grip if less weight is being applied to the outside wheel). That means getting sideways. This is NOT what you want in a big, heavy rear-driven car. It will make the car more touchy to to power-oversteer and incredibly more dangerous to the inexperienced. You don't want your car to slide easier, believe me. That is what crappy tyres are for. You'll understand me when you take that corner a little too hard in the wet, invoke lift-off oversteer and find yourself up a tree, backwards. A front-sway bar does the exact opposite. Yes, it improves front-end grip and turn-in, but it will also invoke more understeer. Yes, this can be considered to be safer than oversteer and, given the opportunity in a rear-driven car, it is ALWAYS the one to choose first. However, if the appropriate suspension mods are not included alongside the sway bar, it is like blowing on an oil-rig fire. Hardly effective at increasing overall handling. But it will still increase understeer, and will make the limit of grip and thus when the car will indeed understeer, less obvious. The huge weight of the commodore negates any gain (loss?) in roll invoked by a sway bar, and it will perform its job at reducing roll, much, much more efficiently with the appropriate suspension. Imo on a commodore, change the springs and dampers before the sway bars. Yes, it can be very costly as a package, but its worth doing things properly when most "p-plater crashes" footage/photos contain commodores.... |
|---|
|
|
EUniqe
Post #15
QUOTE (jw.pfitzner @ Apr 29 2012, 11:56 AM) some of the stuff youve written about the engine are performance mods, like porting the heads, the stroker kit and the cam and ecu chip upgrades... isnt it illegal to have any mods like that for a p-plater? im guessing that if u go ahead with some of these mods that u pray the jacks dont pull u up and have a geeze at whats happening under the bonnet? i know its all internal and all and u cant see it just by looking but just out of curiosity to what extremity do they go to see if your engines been modified? True, internal modifications are illegal for p-platers but as you've said yourself they are impossible for anyone to detect without ripping your head off. It's the same principal as torrenting, or any illegal downloads - everyone knows it's illegal and that you CAN be seized for it, but the chance of being detected is so remote that everyone takes the tiny risk regardless of the legality. I wouldn't hesitate at internals if was still a p-plater. Hell, I don't even know if my intercooler is legal in SA but you'd have to spend half an hour tearing up my car to even see it. |
|---|
 |
vk134
Post #16
QUOTE (VZ_commo @ Jul 21 2011, 09:18 PM) out of the 5.765 million threads I have seen about exhausts for the VZ. A mandrel bent twin 2.25 is the best for sound and power. It is VERY hard to get a nice note out of the alloytec. With a cheap exhaust, they sound like a bucket of ass. A STOCK exhaust from a v8 ( mine is the full SS mandrel bent twin 2.25 from an r8 with genuine HSV mufflers. ) fits beautifully. A shit load cheaper than the shitty ass X-force you can buy from ebay. ( which sound like shit! ) TB mods do nothing but make your car have problems and throws error codes all over the place. Injectors are pointless, unless you SC or turbo. My 2Cents. And a good 2c worth advice as well, an easy pickup from exhaust shops for next to nothing, especially if you remove all your old v6 gear fit up all the hung exhaust and get the same exhaust shop to do the engine pipe, cheaper and better than Ebay crap and a no defect magnet, plod has a quick look, all stock. A good write up, only thing of concern is the minspool mention, LSD, lokka, yes legal, minispool illegal |
|---|
|
|
ash.chamberlin.52
Post #19
What about extractors for the series 1 and larger throttle bodies do nothin much to your series 1 without re-mapping the ECU |
|---|
|
TheChosenKiwi
Post #22
All, |
|---|
 |
mark1414
Post #24
QUOTE (TheChosenKiwi @ Aug 19 2014, 12:56 PM) All, Please remember to do your homework before carrying out any of these modifications. Whilst I am thankful for all this information and like most of the ideas, it is important to remember that some of the modifications are illegal as stated above and in some cases can create more damage than good. I.E. MiniSpool is illegal in NSW and for any road driven cars would mean damaging the car every time you turn a corner - great if you are racing in a straight line though. Thank you though W1NT3R - some great ideas. Seriously? Why would anyone do a modification without researching it first? Also it says "guide" in the name, its not mandatory. |
|---|
|
|
Jacobcurtis21
Post #27
nice list Yu made mate, I'm wondering about what Yu mean with taking the aircon compressor off the ecotec engines? What would I block the holes up with? |
|---|
-
Member Login
If you have a BoostCruising account enter your user name and password into the yellow box.
Alternatively, you can quickly login with Facebook.
If you don't have an account create one below.
Create Account -
Login using your Facebook account!
2 User(s) are reading this topic (2 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members:
Loading...
x