New guy here.. I have a 2004 black cavalier 5spd.. Bought it with 36k miles, it now has 87k miles. Been a great car, super reliable. Been everywhere from Mexico to Canada in this thig and everywhere in between. Anyways, I come from a background of muscle car/hot rods etc. I am a V8 RWD type of guy. However, with the cavalier being my daily that I spend a lot of time in, I wouldn't mind making it a little more lively to drive.
I'm sure it's been beat to death a million times, but what do these cars like? What makes them just more enjoyable and a little more fun to drive everyday? If I get ricer suggestions, I won't even warrant them with a reply. Please, no fart cans or other annoying parts. Function over form.
Just from the browsing I have done briefly.. A little suspension work coupled with a supercharger sounds like it would be a little fun. Not really sure I want to dump supercharger money on a car that's only worth a few grand to begin with though. That being said, let's hear some good, practical, non ricey suggestions.
I would swap in the turbo-charged Saab Ecotec engine with some headers Hi-flow cat, and exhaust and a CAI that should get you what you want.
If GM only knew how great a 3400 powered Sunfire is...
Chris Browning wrote:
Just from the browsing I have done briefly.. A little suspension work coupled with a supercharger sounds like it would be a little fun. Not really sure I want to dump supercharger money on a car that's only worth a few grand to begin with though.
That does make a fun and reliable DD.
Will Boston wrote:I would swap in the turbo-charged Saab Ecotec engine with some headers Hi-flow cat, and exhaust and a CAI that should get you what you want.
1st off we only use one header, you are just wasting money on buying the second one. You cannot use a standard header on a turbocharged engine. No one makes a CAI for LK9 swapped J-bodies. The LK9 swap is not a simple swap, the turbo system is, but the whole engine isnt.
Lmao I meant to say you could go as far as a lk9 swap or even do a header and a cai and exhaust I gotta stop posting while I am half asleep sorry about that
If GM only knew how great a 3400 powered Sunfire is...
Chris Browning wrote:Just from the browsing I have done briefly.. A little suspension work coupled with a supercharger sounds like it would be a little fun. Not really sure I want to dump supercharger money on a car that's only worth a few grand to begin with though. That being said, let's hear some good, practical, non ricey suggestions.
This is your best bet. And a blown ecotec does make an extremely fun, yet still manageable DD. And good news is, you don't need to dump a ton of money to supercharge it. Go check out the classifieds on cobaltss.net, those guys pretty much give things away, lol; and the cobalt's kit is essentially bolt on to our cars. You can get a close to complete kit for $1000, many times much less. Couple hundred more should find you a staged kit with some cooling upgrades.
Same goes for the Saab turbo kit...the kit (for the most part) is bolt on, will yield you about the same gains as the m62, and fall in the same price range. Though me personally...I love the instant power to be had from the m62.
If you're interested in the supercharger route, give
THIS a read. I compiled all the main needed info on the m62, such as what you can/can't use off the cobalt, extras you need to make it fit the j-body, and extras like tuning and upgrades.
I'd also look into an exhaust upgrade as well (especially if you boost the car). I'm running the Pacesetter LSJ header into a 2.5" stainless steel exhaust, high flow cat, resonator (BIG resonators on our cars help to keep them from sounding raspy like little rice burners) and a Dynomax Superturbo muffler. Absolutely love my setup.
