Hello everyone! How and where does one go to look at upgrades for a 2010 CTS 3.6? I don’t know much but I’m trying to learn and upgrade my car to make it more of a beast than it already is. I know there’s not a lot of mods for a normal CTS but I want to see my car make some more hp. If I can get some guidance that would be awesome!
2010 CTS 3.6 Upgrades
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Wyoming Caboose 310
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Hello everyone! How and where does one go to look at upgrades for a 2010 CTS 3.6? I don’t know much but I’m trying to learn and upgrade my car to make it more of a beast than it already is. I know there’s not a lot of mods for a normal CTS but I want to see my car make some more hp. If I can get some guidance that would be awesome!
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I have 125k miles and it is an awd.
2011 CTS Coupe FE3, 2003 Thunderbird, Gone 2013 ATS, 02 Deville
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there are some problems with AWD and the shaft from the trans or transfer case. do a search on this sight to read about those problems.
check for fluid leaks
if you have the maintenance history see when all the fluids have been changed, Coolant, transmission, transfer case differentials, brake fluid and engine oil.
clean the throttle body.
check for fluid leaks
if you have the maintenance history see when all the fluids have been changed, Coolant, transmission, transfer case differentials, brake fluid and engine oil.
clean the throttle body.
Throw caution to the wind and make good use of your youth. The only concern I'd have about boosting performance is the state of the AWD system in regards to whether or not you have the corrected version, or the old.
High mileage does not equate to short lived following performance enhancements as long as the appropriate considerations have been made. Proper maintenance goes without saying. TheFlash is encouraging caution and there's nothing wrong with that, but if you can afford to experiment, by all means do so. The Cadillac forum, except for the "V" section, is not the best source by far for performance enhancements that actually yield measurable results beyond just testimonials and more noise from the exhaust.
Spend some time on the Camaro forum, different car, same motor and transmission and note the accomplishments and that the cars are not disintegrating from modifications combined with high mileage. The 3.6L is very well built and dependable when equally well maintained. The Camaro owners are responsible for establishing the boosted power limits of the stock 3.6L to be somewhere in the area of 600 hp at the crank, possibly more considering the failure in at least one instance could have been avoided and they all followed lots of abuse on the dyno and at the track before breaking so a mostly street driven car should hold up very well, especially at much more conservative performance levels. GM did not build them to the edge of their limit, there's a lot of reserve to take advantage of. It's the gadget failures that will drive you crazy with this car.
I doubt a cold air intake will offer any measurable benefit beyond possibly increasing intake noise if it has crossed your mind, a tune may change acceleration feel and shift character in a way you might be happy with, beyond that you'll have to put some thought into what you want to achieve and then decide how to get there.
Be sure to come back and report what you find.
The Overkill supercharger is a good upgrade at $6000 for +125 whp. Other than that you can add 10 whp with a $450-600 tune, +20 whp if you run 91+ with that tune. If you want some more intake sound just remove the snorkel/silencer from the airbox. It won't add any power but it sounds better when you floor it.
You should check out Will Overkills site... There are a number of things you can do to your engine assuming it is the LLT. You can also jump into the Camaro 5th gen forums or facebook pages and find out more.
My car is newer and has slightly different engine but I will be doing the following to mine within the next year. Since I decided to go with a better programmer and my truck's rear end went out I had to put off some of the upgrades until later.
The best upgrades out of the box....
Intake spacer. Good for ~10hp(Little less), especially around the middle RPM's which is where it can really be used.
Ported Intake Allows an additional %20 more air flow through the intake into your engine.
Jacfab, the maker of the intake spacer and the biggest one that does the porting shows an improvement of about 20hp across the whole range when including the spacer and a ported intake.
With those, going to an 80mm throttle body can also help move more air through the engine. (Jacfab also ports these too to make them a little smoother.) Haven't seen any numbers but I have read where people say the car responds a lot quicker than it did before.
Will programming... Running 91/93 octane I believe he suggests you can gain ~20hp-30hp from his tune.
E85 fuel system with Will programming.. His site has the information but I was told to expect 60hp+ with this combo alone.
People on the Camaro forums talk about how some are seeing 245whp with the LFX and with these upgrades are now 305-315whp. The LLT engine should expect a few less since the LLT is rated less than the LFX.
Tracy Performance also sells a new torque convertor that he advertises that when installed you can expect your 1/4 mile time to drop by .5-.7 in the quarter mile.
My LFX Wagon is supposed to run about 14.4 in the 1/4 mile. I am told if I do everything listed above it should make my car run low 13's.
My car is newer and has slightly different engine but I will be doing the following to mine within the next year. Since I decided to go with a better programmer and my truck's rear end went out I had to put off some of the upgrades until later.
The best upgrades out of the box....
Intake spacer. Good for ~10hp(Little less), especially around the middle RPM's which is where it can really be used.
Ported Intake Allows an additional %20 more air flow through the intake into your engine.
Jacfab, the maker of the intake spacer and the biggest one that does the porting shows an improvement of about 20hp across the whole range when including the spacer and a ported intake.
With those, going to an 80mm throttle body can also help move more air through the engine. (Jacfab also ports these too to make them a little smoother.) Haven't seen any numbers but I have read where people say the car responds a lot quicker than it did before.
Will programming... Running 91/93 octane I believe he suggests you can gain ~20hp-30hp from his tune.
E85 fuel system with Will programming.. His site has the information but I was told to expect 60hp+ with this combo alone.
People on the Camaro forums talk about how some are seeing 245whp with the LFX and with these upgrades are now 305-315whp. The LLT engine should expect a few less since the LLT is rated less than the LFX.
Tracy Performance also sells a new torque convertor that he advertises that when installed you can expect your 1/4 mile time to drop by .5-.7 in the quarter mile.
My LFX Wagon is supposed to run about 14.4 in the 1/4 mile. I am told if I do everything listed above it should make my car run low 13's.
Additional upgrades are also available which I am still researching. Tracy Performance working with Will Overkill has gotten a Vortech Centrifugal super charger working with these engines.
They also have had twin turbos and Eaton 2300 Roots style superchargers working with these engines.
I am discussing with Tracy now about the different options and he told me Corey is the only one that has had any issues even with AWD. (He tore up a driveshaft.)
Corey is running about 450whp with his 2010 CTS AWD. Which is about 200whp more than stock. At that power you have to expect things will break.
They advertise up to 600whp with the supercharger setup but I will assume that will involve Forged Pistons and rods and maybe more. No idea what they have available. I know the LFX also has a bigger fuel pump available for it that the LLT does not. Corey is trying to source one though and get it to work on the LLT.
So there are PLENTY of options. All depends on what you want to do. The bolt ons in the first message should be no problem. The forced induction stuff can really get you moving but can break stuff easily.
There is also NOS but very easy to screw up your engine with that stuff if you are not careful.
They also have had twin turbos and Eaton 2300 Roots style superchargers working with these engines.
I am discussing with Tracy now about the different options and he told me Corey is the only one that has had any issues even with AWD. (He tore up a driveshaft.)
Corey is running about 450whp with his 2010 CTS AWD. Which is about 200whp more than stock. At that power you have to expect things will break.
They advertise up to 600whp with the supercharger setup but I will assume that will involve Forged Pistons and rods and maybe more. No idea what they have available. I know the LFX also has a bigger fuel pump available for it that the LLT does not. Corey is trying to source one though and get it to work on the LLT.
So there are PLENTY of options. All depends on what you want to do. The bolt ons in the first message should be no problem. The forced induction stuff can really get you moving but can break stuff easily.
There is also NOS but very easy to screw up your engine with that stuff if you are not careful.
Don't forget to always take the vendor's claims with a large grain of salt. Below are some more ideas with more conservative expectations.
Tune, air filter, ported throttle body, premium (or E85 if you can get it). Those are the basics that open the engine up for some performance. It's a 10 so it's direct injection as the LY7 was disbanded in 09 on the CTS.
Headers are a nightmare for these cars, there isn't anything bolt on available. Exhaust beyond the headers and a CAI are really just going to give you a nice sound but not much power. From there shit gets really expensive, you could spray it with a small wet kit if you're courageous. Forced induction is the top level for these engines, but that gets really pricey unless you're good with a welder lol.
The engine is already very optimal from the factory, the Aussies are pretty much the top source for anything LY7/LLT other than Will and Tracy. You can run an underdrive harmonic balancer as well, I have one and am still considering it. It will require you change your front timing chain cover to a gen 5 Camaro LLT and a few other things.
Headers are a nightmare for these cars, there isn't anything bolt on available. Exhaust beyond the headers and a CAI are really just going to give you a nice sound but not much power. From there shit gets really expensive, you could spray it with a small wet kit if you're courageous. Forced induction is the top level for these engines, but that gets really pricey unless you're good with a welder lol.
The engine is already very optimal from the factory, the Aussies are pretty much the top source for anything LY7/LLT other than Will and Tracy. You can run an underdrive harmonic balancer as well, I have one and am still considering it. It will require you change your front timing chain cover to a gen 5 Camaro LLT and a few other things.
Don't think an underdrive pully is smart for a daily driven car unless you do a lot of long miles.
The first of those two links was a waste. The article isn't really there and the video is of a totally different car.
The LLT can have long tube headers... The LFX has the exhaust manifold built into the heads so the only thing you can really do is provide a different downtube and higher flow cats. And higher flowing cats I am seeing can help too.
The first of those two links was a waste. The article isn't really there and the video is of a totally different car.
The LLT can have long tube headers... The LFX has the exhaust manifold built into the heads so the only thing you can really do is provide a different downtube and higher flow cats. And higher flowing cats I am seeing can help too.
FWIW I daily drove with a 20% underdrive crank pulley for 3 years and 30k miles with a turbo, full exhaust and 60% more hp/tq. I was skeptical at first but I never had an issue. In fact, the turbo installation required me to switch to a smaller battery with 550 cca vs the 700 cca oem. Different engine but just relaying my personal experience with a UD pulley.
Thanks for the heads-up on the bad link, Rod. I removed it.
Thanks for the heads-up on the bad link, Rod. I removed it.
I would have to disagree. Considering the underdrive pulley is made in AUS and those guys run them on everything... in that crazy heat as well.
The LLT or the CTS? There are lots of headers for the LLT but none that I know of that are a direct bolt-on for the CTS.
Just stating in general terms.. You can likely have them fabed up for the CTS but won't be cheap.
Rodney
Rodney
2011 CTS Coupe FE3, 2003 Thunderbird, Gone 2013 ATS, 02 Deville
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2,925 Posts
I don't see a lot of cars, just my own but the right side exhaust pipe that bolts directly to the Cyl. head has a big flat crushed section in it. I see no reason a for it, on my car there is not a clearance problem that they crushed the pipe for. But that can't be a good thing for the exhaust.
are they all crushed?
are they all crushed?
He has the LLT head with the 3 pipes still. There are gains to be had with a header on the car but there needs to be mods to support it. There isn't much you can do with the LFX exhaust manifold, although I would assume it could be opened up with porting.
^ Therein lies my problem with performance bolt-ons. Typically you gain very little with any one thing. To get significant gains requires several changes to the intake and exhaust, a tune and premium fuel. In my limited experience, I've spent ~$2500 in bolt-on intake/header/exhaust/tune just to gain 15% more power. I've also made 75% more power by spending ~$5000 on a turbo setup. I really like the bang-buck ratio boost provides.
I guess what I'm saying is that my new philosophy is to save up for boost or don't bother with the nickel and dime mods that end up costing a lot per hp and rarely satisfy for long. I'm pretty sure that the biggest bang-buck performance mod I can make to my CTS is to manually clean the intake valves. A task I keep putting off but will accomplish before the new year.
I guess what I'm saying is that my new philosophy is to save up for boost or don't bother with the nickel and dime mods that end up costing a lot per hp and rarely satisfy for long. I'm pretty sure that the biggest bang-buck performance mod I can make to my CTS is to manually clean the intake valves. A task I keep putting off but will accomplish before the new year.
2011 CTS Coupe FE3, 2003 Thunderbird, Gone 2013 ATS, 02 Deville
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while I was check my engine air filter today (yes, I have done this in the past) the air snorkel fell off. and I looked at the small amount of clearance and amount of restriction caused by the snorkel and remembering some words of wisdom from Joe Upson about the air intake. Plus I had taken the snorkel of my 2003 Tbird in 2003 and how that improved the performance.
So I removed the snorkel form my coupe and it runs better, plus it sounds better.
So off it will stay.
So I removed the snorkel form my coupe and it runs better, plus it sounds better.
So off it will stay.
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