Installing Exhaust/Intake 2011 Chevy Cruze

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Get the trifecta tune. It gives a huge bump in power over the stock tune, as well as much better shift programming if you have the auto. Also, you can install it with the invisible mode or whatever, so if you have to get warranty work done, you can revert to the stock tune, and it won't log that any changes have been made to the ECM/TCM.
 
Scurvy, I don't actually disagree with all of your drivel. Particularly the financial opinions. Cars, at the consumer level, are not investments. Especially modded ones. On that we agree. Your lecture on "sandblasting" and how he should drive, not so much.
OTOH, there is no factual info in your post or elsewhere on BITOG about the OP's vehicle and whether attempting to reduce intake or exhaust restriction on that engine might be effective at accomplishing his objectives. Nor should he expect there to be. That was my main point. It's also a fact.(Insert smiley here. It wouldn't post.)
 
I would just like to thank everyone for responding and being honest. I dont know why scurvy would get into attack mode like that. I havent spent any cash on the mods. I decided to post here to get opinions from people that have moded vehicles or know what they are doing. I was asking questions to see the befits and the downfalls of it. I understand where you were coming from and you do make sense. I didnt post to argue or anything. To answer someone elses question, no I did not post the same thing a couple weeks ago. I was just trying to figure out if the intake or exhaust really did what they claim to or if it is nonsence. Thanks everyone
 
I'd agree that you probably won't gain much (if any) mpg from anything but the tune. Particularly being turbo-ed, the tune has a lot it can play with, so you'll definitely see at least some gain.

Also, don't let people tell you that modding for power will hurt mpg. When I put better flowing heads, a slightly bigger cam, a full exhaust on the Jeep, and a tune to go with it, I ended up going from 245hp / 345 ft. lbs. stock to an estimated 320 - 330 hp, and 430 - 450 ft. lbs. of torque. I still get the same mpg around town, and once I get the shift points, etc, dialed in might do a little better, and I picked up a full mpg on the highway (went from mid 17s at 60 to mid 18s at 60). I probably still have some more room for improvement in the tune too.
 
Personally, when I shop for a used car I avoid cars that are modded or have signs of being modded, especially when the only things installed are bolt on air intake and a [censored] can. I imagine a lot of people and dealers also see these mods as useless and a sign of abuse. In the end you will get hit at trade in or when selling privately, unless you keep all stock parts and reinstall them.
For this econobox I would only get a tune.
 
Originally Posted By: 72te27
Your lecture on "sandblasting" and how he should drive, not so much.

K&Ns don't filter as well as normal panel filters. This has been well documented and I've seen it first hand. I took out a K&N from my MIL's Golf over a year ago and was horrified at all the dust & grit on the 'clean' side of the airbox. Gave it a good cleaning, put an OEM Mann air filter back in and the clean side is still spotless now.

They can and have ruined MAFs, which I have also seen first hand. Helped a guy diagnose why his car ran like poop several years ago - bad MAF. Replaced it with another OE unit, dead within a few months. Discovered he had a K&N - replaced it with an OEM filter and the second replacement OE MAF is still working perfectly.

If all that extra dirt & grit is bad for the MAF, what is it doing for a 100k RPM turbocharger? My opinion is that it's probably bad.
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Originally Posted By: JMac101
I dont know why scurvy would get into attack mode like that. I havent spent any cash on the mods. I decided to post here to get opinions from people that have moded vehicles or know what they are doing. I was asking questions to see the befits and the downfalls of it. I understand where you were coming from and you do make sense. I didnt post to argue or anything.


That wasn't attack mode or an argument at all... my apologies if it came off that way.
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I just hate seeing people throw good money after bad. IMO hot air intakes, K&N strainers and pooty mufflers are astoundingly overpriced and from a thermodynamics standpoint simply don't work on turbocharged engines.

The Cruze Eco sure looks to be a fun, economical car, and frankly I hope a sign of better days ahead for GM.
 
Originally Posted By: scurvy
Originally Posted By: JMac101
Im not looking to compete or race. I would just like a throatier sound, better gas mileage and deeper sounding exhaust. I would like to free up a little hp and possible get a little more get up and go.

With the K&N hot air intake/rock strainer combo you will not only gain zero HP, performance or economy, you will sandblast your MAF & turbocharger compressor wheel, possibly also the valves, pistons & turbocharger turbine. But it may make the engine a little louder.

The Magnapoot will not gain you any HP, performance or economy as the turbocharger controls backpressure to the engine - and it depends on it to operate correctly! But it will make your exhaust louder.

So you will make it louder, yes. And you will think that makes it sportier, so you will drive more aggressively which wastes more fuel. And you will be also quicker to put it upside down in a ditch or into a crub/fents/bursh driving it 'sportily'.

You bought an economy car with a tiny milk crate engine. Drive it like a normal person and you'll squeeze acceptable performance, good economy and hopefully excellent longevity out of it. I understand these principles and I love cars like that - driving my wife's unmodified 11 year old 90 horsepower diesel Beetle is awfully fun and hysterically economical. The Fiat Bravo I got to drive in Slovakia was similarly equipped and a real giggle to drive.

If you want the engine or exhaust to be a little louder, turn your radio off and roll the windows down.

Originally Posted By: JMac101
Do you guys think it is worth it?

I would rather set fire to $1000 than install that junk on a perfectly operating vehicle. So I guess I would say... no.

Originally Posted By: JMac101
It is a $1,000 investment.

No, it isn't. You will never (ever) recoup the $1000. If you never get out of it what you put in it, it isn't a good financial investment tool, is it?

Cars are not investments - except in astoundingly rare cases cars always lose value and do so hand over fist for many years. Most will never recover much of their original value in real money terms. Bling parts are not investments.

Real estate can be an investment, as can gold, money market mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc... in the right market, blue jeans, ammunition, alcohol and tobacco can be investments.

Originally Posted By: JMac101
Im financing the car to own I might as well customize it.

I also heartily disagree with this statement. You're better off putting that $1000 toward a lump sum payment on the principle and keeping the car bone stock. You'll own it MUCH sooner and then you can freely decorate it with all the autozone special gaudy trinkets you can buy. Don't forget the fuzzy dice or hula girl bobblehead.

Originally Posted By: JMac101
Its good as it is but why not go better? lol. Just dont want to shell out the cash for no improvement.


You will shell out the cash and be worse off if you buy that junk. If you want to spend $1000 on something, put money toward the principal of your loan (in addition to your regular payments). Done up front, it will drastically reduce the amount of money you spend on the car versus taking the full term to pay it off.


I whole heartedly AGREE with everything said above, at 35 im only 3-5 years past my days of modding everything to the hilt, my current pickup truck is modded, but not how you think. After i paid it off rapidly in 3 years i put a bed liner in it, high end laser cut floor protector's, tinted the windows, added molded mud-flaps ect,ect, you get the theme.. none of this stuff was performance or mpg oriented.. ok im fibbing i spent $40 on a K&N and then after a year pulled it out after some BITOG threads got me thinking.. The point ? pay off this auto, when its paid off use the mass amount of money you have saved on the loan to mod you car any way you see fit.. but pay that sucker off first.. or in retrospect when you purchase your next auto buy something you dont need to mod at all, buy something thats already built from the manufacturer to your likeing.. 2 pennies
 
I would really like to have someone risk their powertrain warranty to find out about the "invisible tune". After checking with GM Powertrain, they're confident that it can't be changed without leaving evidence that it has been. Evidence they can easily detect, document, and use to void your warranty.
 
What are the chances you're gonna need your warranty anyway? The thing that gets me is that most of these guys will say that your drivetrain will last long after the body of the vehicle with just routine maintenance, but as soon as something that may affect the warranty comes up they go into lawyer mode.

Modding cars for performance will usually put you at a higher risk for damaging them yada yada yada. Live a little ya know!
 
Originally Posted By: JT1
What are the chances you're gonna need your warranty anyway? The thing that gets me is that most of these guys will say that your drivetrain will last long after the body of the vehicle with just routine maintenance, but as soon as something that may affect the warranty comes up they go into lawyer mode.

Modding cars for performance will usually put you at a higher risk for damaging them yada yada yada. Live a little ya know!


JT, I like the way you think. Powertrain warranty claims are at an all time low.

However, there are morons with holes in the hood for blower clearance on their '10 Camaro, and the rear diff in pieces pulled into dealer shops weekly with the owner screaming bloody murder when you call them with an estimate for repairs.

My personal favorite though has to be the winners who post their trips to the track (complete with slicks) on YouTube, and then call you with the transmission slipping on the low mileage, same model year vehicles.
 
Your wasting your money, its a boosted motor.

The turbo doesn't care what filter you have it will suck through enough air to make boost. So factory vs K&N is meaningless.

Same with the exhaust.

IMHO the most cost affective way to get a little more power is through tuning to make it run a bit better than stock, and probably use 93 octane as well.
 
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Actually boosted motors like no backpressure so the exhaust will increase ur hp. So an bigger exhaust would net u sum extra power not sure if ur mpg would go up thou. A catback exhaust isnt going to void ur warranty and will probably give the car the sound u looking for

Dont like KN filters on MAF cars cause they allow too much dirt in and if you overoil them it ruins MAFS too. That can get a warranty claim voided.
 
You can drill and tap exhaust system and put a guage on it to see if there's back pressure. Im betting the cat is the restriction. I put 3 inch bullet cats on challenger sounded way better and got 2 more mpg on hwy. Look into water methanol injection. It will let you run alot more boost without pinging.
 
Originally Posted By: hardcore302
Originally Posted By: 1999nick
Also, hope that you have no need to make a warranty claim on your modified engine.


The dealer has to prove that the modifications which he installed failed the part he's looking to fix.

Just because you modify something doesn't mean they deny your warrannty. I had an x-pipe, intakem shifter, exhaust, tune, and suspension on my mustang almost since day one.


Very interesting. The question is: has your car required any warranty work on these engine parts affected by your modifications, and did you return your vehicle to stock before seeing the dealer?
 
I can't speak for another member here, but I have a K&N 77 series intake and a Gibson exhaust on my truck. I've never had any warranty claim denied by the dealer or Fidelity extended warranty corporation. They covered the $3000 repair for a GM reman. A/T, to give you an example.

For the record, the MAF and intake piping is clean and was checked roughly after 40k miles of usage. I cleaned both over clean paper towels and saw no dust or dirt. The throttle body even looked pretty decent.

It depends on application and environment. We have had this discussion many times in the Air Filter forum. This is BITOG, have some evenness to the debate fellas. No need to vilify a company.

We know that K&N filters less than most paper filters and has the potential to allow more debris into the engine. It may or may not, however, make any difference.

I doubt the addition of a higher flowing filter or exhaust will make any difference to MPG, but it may be something that is desired for other reasons.
 
Originally Posted By: JMac101
Hey Everyone.
I decided to post a new post about a different topic.
I know my car is not made for performance, it is made for fuel economy but I was thinking about a few things to do to it.

I have a 2011 Chevy Cruze LT 1.4L 4 Cylinder.

I was thinking about installing the following:

K&N 69 Series Typhoon Short Ram Intake ($250.00)

Magna Flow Exhaust with 2-1/4" pipe - 3.5" Polished tips Dual split rear exit. ($689.00)
(Single exhaust is $579.00)

Im not looking to compete or race. I would just like a throatier sound, better gas mileage and deeper sounding exhaust. I would like to free up a little hp and possible get a little more get up and go. Do you guys think it is worth it? It is a $1,000 investment. Im financing the car to own I might as well customize it. Its good as it is but why not go better? lol. Just dont want to shell out the cash for no improvement.

Thanks Guys

Being super cheap, I'd try just taking off the muffler and see what kind of sound that produces. The SRT-4's had no mufflers at all and sound great. If you like the sound with no muffler, get an exhaust shop to bend up some pipe to the outlet location and get a simple tip. Total cost, like $70, and you trimmed 1% of the weight off the car.
I'm with SteveSRT8 in letting other be the beta testers on tuning, especially one that claims that much improvement. I imagine eventually someone will come out with one that gives a small increase in HP but also improves mileage and general driveability.
 
Originally Posted By: RH+G
Actually boosted motors like no backpressure so the exhaust will increase ur hp. So an bigger exhaust would net u sum extra power not sure if ur mpg would go up thou. A catback exhaust isnt going to void ur warranty and will probably give the car the sound u looking for

Dont like KN filters on MAF cars cause they allow too much dirt in and if you overoil them it ruins MAFS too. That can get a warranty claim voided.


No the exhaust will make no difference, stock exhausts these days don't have any excess back pressure.

What will happen if you have to much back pressure is the turbo will be slow to spool up causing lag. The HP you put out in the end is related to boost, and unless your exhaust is literally clogged it will eventually make boost.

I'm more familiar with diesels but to get more HP out of a gas engine with a turbo you need to crank up the boost. Now that's a bit of a tricky proposition if you want the engine to last for awhile. The question now becomes how much boost can you run in this motor before something pops? Does anyone know yet?

Also why bother its an economy car?
 
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