just got a gmc 06 ecsb 4x4 z71 5.3 L (actually, the girl friend did but im jealous of it and going to slowly take it over). in order to start my take over, im going to throw a few hundred dollars into it early for some performance mods and im wondering whats the best way to start out? should i go with a tune first or should i get intake/exhaust stuff or a cam or what? i would like to get the best of both worlds with speed/power and fuel efficiency but if push comes to shove, im looking more for speed/power. any opinions would be great

 

that should eat up the 400- 600 and then a tune would be in order.

 

if your not goin to the extreme with it, just go get a Muffler and slap that on there in place of the factory muffler.
I got a Magnaflow PN#12619 its a 6" Round / 3" Center Inlet / 3" Center Outlet / 14" Body Length / 20" Overall Lenth.
right now they are goin for $72ish. It sounds good and its quiet while cruising, and its straight through.

You could either build a Intake for under $100 i would guess, or find a K&N intake in the classifieds.

Thats only bout $200 right there.. then you could probably get it tuned..

But im tight with my money, so thats what i would do..
I dont think its worth it to go buy a $300 Catback system when you can get a muffler and replace the factory one for bout $100. maybe a 1 or 2hp difference, but we all know the TB bypass will get that back. lol.

 

$400-600

Dual Exaust
Tune
CAI

And then save some more....$$$$$

 

yeah like stated above replace stock muffler, cold air intake, and tune. u can delete cats if wanted personal preference there.

 

the brand muffler / CAI ill figure out on my own. ill probably fab up my own ram air as well for a little gain...as for the tune: what are my options, what are they costing, and how much faster / gas mileage improving do they do? ive heard of nelsons and jesse's (wait4me) mail tuning but i know nothing about em

can i really do all this and stay within the $400-$600 range? i really appreciate the help you all

 

Jesses tune cost about 150 and you keep the stock computer.
The others available are nelsons, westers, pcmforless; and they are more expensive. There are many out there and a lot of different opinions on who is best. I have been happy with W4me. With my level of mods his price was about right. Say i go a little heavier into the mod department i will be looking at a custom dyno tune. For your current needs a mail order should be just fine. All up to you how much you wanna spend.

Matt

 

you have gone further with the modding than i probably will on this truck....will jesse's still be good for me? do his tunes help or hurt fuel efficiency (i assume you can get an economy tune, but i am more interested in getting power with enhanced economy only as a hopeful added benefit)
if jesse's tune's are only $150, that would be great since then i will be able to spend money on the additional mods like exhaust work and intake system.

what is your alls opinion of which is best between doing intake/muffler or headers?

 

Nelson Tune! Like No Other and wouldn't have any other.

Jim

 

what kind of et will this see with an intake/muffler/tune?