Introduction & Questions on High RPM power drop
 

Hey everyone, first post here and figured I'd give a quick summary of my car history. First car was an 03.5 MSP; loved it, great first car, did some exhaust work myself, but I eventually got the bug for a muscle car. Second car was an 01 Black Mustang Bullit, several bolt ons, lowered and some custom interior stuff, really really nice car overall. Current car is an 01 Z28 with a lot of custom appearance stuff as well as headers, exhaust, lid, etc (basic bolt ons), dropped, torq thrusts, panhard bar, subframe connectors (handles pretty good!) berger stripe, fiberglass SS hood, custom katzkin interior, etc. I love the car but I think its time for something different, mainly something newer. The straight line power is addicting but the steering feel is nearly nonexistent and I'd just like something newer and more practical. Its a 12 year old car at this point!

I'm contemplating an MS3 based on the fact that I loved the handling on my MSP, the MS3 interior and stereo are nice / more modern, and a little over 300 hp seems reasonably achievable and safe with bolt ons, upgraded HPFP and an AP (correct me if I'm wrong). The one thing that I've been searching for but can't seem to find is this - does the lack of high RPM power (i.e. the power falling off dramatically over 5500-5900 rpm) diminish once you install the upgraded HPFP and some bolt ons? Or is it always kind of dead above 6k RPM? I only ask because my Mustang used to run out of breath at high RPM but I've gotten really used to the Camaro pulling harder and harder to redline, and it seems like the MS3 wastes its last 1k RPM... is this engine characteristic changeable and if so, what mods does it require?

I'll take a shot @ this.

In oem form, the turbo and ecu mapping tend to make the car to run out of power in the high revs.

After having a custom map made, the power drops off because the oem turbo runs out of juice.

The only thing @ this point to keep power climbing until redline is a turbo upgrade.

It's the tune that drops power. But at least get hpfp internals first and the other mods will bring it to life. Also the other downfall is the stock turbo. Get a bnr stage 3 and hold power to redline.

You guys are kinda supporting what I had thought, that its a combination of mainly the small K04, the conservative factory tune, the weak stock HPFP, and other bolt on restrictions. If I wanted to keep the K04 and strictly do things like HPFP, BPV, RP, TMIC, CAI, and AP (probably an OTS tune), would I see a good amount of improvement? Would the top end become more usable up to like 6,500 RPM? What about with a DP?

Depends on what your goals are.

With supporting mods, a K04 is typically good for about 18 psi @ 6500 rpm.

With high octane from meth injection or an e85 mix, that will put you north of 300 hp.

This car has 2 cats, and imo, the biggest gain is seen when removing one or both.

If I wanted to start over I would,

-hpfp
-AP
-upgraded tmic
-test pipe
-cat back
-rmm
-tune
-bnr s3
-e85 or meth injection

I would definitely consider a custom tune along with the flow modifications since it will get you more gains and safety than any of the hard parts installed.

I would not get a BPV unless you want the sound.

For best bang for the buck power on the K04 I would get an intake, an HPFP, a TMIC, a race pipe and an AP/tune. If you have E85 locally I would get an E85 mix map as well.

thanks for all the good info! I've had my Z28 for 3 years now and haven't gone past the basic bolt ons (although there are more for the MS3), so realistically I'd most likely stick to the stock K04 and an AP OTS type tune, but I plan on going catless and basically following rfinkle2's plan up to the RMM, maybe adding a DP in there too... No E85 or meth though, I don't expect it to be faster than my camaro, just stock I see some people shifting at like 5200, with bolt ons and an AP tune at least like 6100 is usable right?

I consider most of my band dead after 6k with my mods. Mods in sig.

Replacing with a testpipe and ordered some jbr mounts yesterday. Need to look into custom fmic vs a tmic.

Nitrous will fix it.

lol I can't believe you havent shot a rod through your hood spraying, did NOT think the DISI could take that. And maybe I'm asking the wrong question here, what I should be asking is this - does the fact that you have to short shift detract from the fun of the car? I'm used to shifting at redline for max performance - I would think being forced to shift 1-1.5k RPM short of redline would mean you're constantly shifting and like the car's gearing is poorly utilized... does it seem this way while driving?

I would recommend getting a tune, but at the very least I would get an aftermarket BPV. That will allow you to hold boost a little bit better considering the stock ones are made of crap plastic "mine was the source of my boost leak"

Just because it's made of plastic, that doesn't make it crap. As a matter of fact, most (if not all, though there are reported cases of leaks) of the OEM BPV are good for what they are.

I won't lie, I swapped mine out because I wanted the sound.

If you don't at least get rmm, full intake, and shifter bushings you're driving a shadow of what the car can be.