Need Help? Thanks in advance.

[Garb55]

Well I had the opportunity to take the ZO6 out on a long cruise to Burleson, TX to visit with my father in law, a nice 60+ mile round trip, longest so far! I averaged 25 miles to the gallon. Dam, better than my AFM (AUTOMATIC FUEL MANAGEMENT) 2008 GMC SIERRA! I know not a good comparison. Throttle response was not what I thought it should be, well I had the wife with me so I drive much more milder but seemed to be hesitate to get up and go at times on the highway, yes I downshifted. When I got home I took apart the air intake, cleaned out the throttle body, Dam I did not know the Z06 was an electronic acceleration, LOL, still learning. I also checked the filter, "WOW" it needs to be replaced it was "NASTY". So now I need to either replace it with a Drop inn like a K$N or order a new Cold air intake? As I do not race or run at the track I thought the Drop inn would be fine. what should I do, Drop in or Go with a cold air inn take? My Z06 is all stock and not looking at doing anything Radical.


I also noticed at times a bit of drifting, not sure this is normal but feel it is not. Car runs a straight line with hands off the wheel but when going over small humps / bumps it seems to go the to the right or left no certain pattern, and a little unstable feeling. I feel new Shocks all around are in order. So for question two, stick with stock Z06 Shocks or upgrade?

Questions 1, Cold air intake or Drop inn??

Question 2, Replace Stock Shocks or Upgrade?

All input welcome. Thank you and sorry for Long Post!

[MYSCZ06]

Well coming from me as I cant leave well enough alone I say hells yea put a CAI and a set of pfadts!!!

[Culookin]

Problem with most intakes is they are not cold air, just better flowing, unless you go with a very expensive one, i.e., Vararam, which are also a PITA to install. I have a blackwing myself that I got used for like 60 bucks, cleaned it up, and I was good to go.

#2: Pfadt or the new LG coil overs!

[kylebuck]

Get a c4 ... fix all of those problems.

[Garb55]

Originally Posted by joebuck

Get a c4 ... fix all of those problems.

[71corv]

Some good ideas, so far. I have the Blackwing on my car and it helped with smoothing the idle. A new air duct will help along with replacing the accordian style bellows. As for the shocks, I replaced mine with the Bilstein sports and like them a lot. A little stiffer ride, but something I can live with. Had about 21000 miles on the shocks when replaced and they were still super firm. As far as the drifting, my car still does this to some extent, depends on how rutted the road is. You could try a 4 wheel alignment and see how that works.
Sounds like you need to drive the car more than you do. If 60 miles is the longest you have been, you really haven't broken her in yet. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

Gene

[Garb55]

Originally Posted by 71corv

Some good ideas, so far. I have the Blackwing on my car and it helped with smoothing the idle. A new air duct will help along with replacing the accordian style bellows. As for the shocks, I replaced mine with the Bilstein sports and like them a lot. A little stiffer ride, but something I can live with. Had about 21000 miles on the shocks when replaced and they were still super firm. As far as the drifting, my car still does this to some extent, depends on how rutted the road is. You could try a 4 wheel alignment and see how that works.
Sounds like you need to drive the car more than you do. If 60 miles is the longest you have been, you really haven't broken her in yet. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

Gene

I just recently pick up the car at the beginning of the month and have not had time to dive it as much as I would like. I opted on just replacing the Air Filter with a K&N Drop inn, Much better on the short run I made although anything is better than a factory clogged filter! Still looking into shocks. Thanks for all the suggestions I appreciate everyone's time.

[Sneaks]

1. If you're going to go with a CAI, make a a true CAI, not one that draws air from underhood. Even though you're drawing in more air, you're still just drawing in warm air from the engine bay.
The Vararam and the Vortex rammer work really well. Vararam is a PIA to install, but I hear it works great.
I have the rammer. Simple install, and works great.

2. What you're describing is bump steer. Pretty much all low profile tired sport cars experience it to some degree. The vette seems to get it more, because it is wider, longer, and lighter than most cars running the same series tires. It is MUCH worse with run-flat tires.
Other than changing to a softer shock, or doing a full coil over switch, I don't know what else will eliminate bump steer.

[The Dingo]

Originally Posted by joebuck

Get a c4 ... fix all of those problems.

Yeah, and when he does he will be here asking how to fix squeaks and rattles.

[Garb55]

Originally Posted by The Dingo

Yeah, and when he does he will be here asking how to fix squeaks and rattles.

[Y2Kvert4me]

If you're intent is keeping the car basically stock, a replacement panel filter, or K&N gauze style will work fine. The Z06 airbox is not nearly as restrictive as the base C5 unit is, so there are minimal gains switching to an expensive underhood filter setup like the Blackwing, Halltech, etc.
A true CAI like a Vararam or Vortex is worth it for performance, but it becomes up to you if the cost and installation hassles are worth it.

The other thing to note too, is that 02-04 Z06s and some aftermarket filter systems do tend to mess with the unscreened MAF sensor's ability to accurately read incoming airmass, and seeing lean codes as a result isn't uncommon. See my post in this thread for more info about that:
https://www.thevettebarn.com/forums/c...er-bridge.html


For a simple shock upgrade, the Bilstein Sports are the way to go. They may not help much with the bump steer or wandering tendencies...but they will do wonders for the ride quality. Getting a good alignment may help with the bump steer.
Yeah, if you got $2k to throw at it, coilovers are amazing, but again, probably a bit overkill if your intent is to keep the car stock-ish.


Lastly, I've sent this thread over to the C5 Tech section, as your questions fit perfectly here. Off topic is the place to discuss non-Corvette stuff.

[Garb55]

Originally Posted by Y2Kvert4me

The Z06 airbox is not nearly as restrictive as the base C5 unit is, so there are minimal gains switching to an expensive underhood filter setup like the Blackwing, Halltech, etc.

That's what I thought from different readings, so that was the deciding factor on the Drop Inn.

I do not have 2k for Shocks. I don't mind going back with the stock Z06 Shocks just not sure if putting something like the pfadt-sport-shock is all that much better for just a Stock Street Z? The coil overs are definitely over kill for me, still researching.

More info here.

Originally Posted by Y2Kvert4me

Lastly, I've sent this thread over to the C5 Tech section, as your questions fit perfectly here. Off topic is the place to discuss non-Corvette stuff.

Perfect, thanks. I appreciate your time and response.

[71corv]

Keep us posted on the changes and there effect on the Z.

Gene