CT5-V Time to mod...

[blkout]

I've made the decision to mod my 2024 CT5-V BW with 8500 miles on it. I'm tentatively scheduled to send it to Vengeance Racing in mid Nov. since they stay booked up well over a month out. I already laid down my deposit so I'm committed at this point. I had previously used Vengeance Racing on my 2021 Camaro ZL1. They installed their stage 3 FBO package and it made 697whp on 93 octane. That package included a Kong ported stock blower, ATI damper w/9.45 lower pulley, 103mm NW throttle body, Might Mouse catch can, NGK plugs, and Kooks 2" headers and high flow cats, ECM tune. I drove that car for just over 4 years without any issues before selling it locally and then buying my 2024 Blackwing.

The mods for the Blackwing will be:

JLT intake with 5" tubing
Nick Williams 103mm throttle body
Magnuson 2650 blower, 90mm pulley
ATI damper, stock pulley
DSX low side aux pump
Brisk silver plugs
ECM tune
Mighty Mouse catch can

I will be leaving the exhaust 100% stock for now. As tempting as it would be to add headers, I know how loud the LT4 gets with headers so I wanted to see if this will deliver enough power now to make me happy without having to add headers although it's not ideal not to install headers on any LT4 engine.

My hope is to see somewhere around 75-90whp gain, getting as close as possible to 700whp before the fuel system is out of fuel.

 

[alloy00]

I bet you pick up more than that - the supercharger alone will likely give you the gain you're seeking. I didn't think these cars ran out of fuel until 800+ whp?

 

[blkout]

I bet you pick up more than that - the supercharger alone will likely give you the gain you're seeking. I didn't think these cars ran out of fuel until 800+ whp?

LT4s run out of fuel on the stock fuel system right around 700whp (800 crank HP). At that point, you have several options to increase fueling, port fuel injection, camshaft, high side high pressure fuel pump. Meth injection can also be used as a band-aid to help with fueling.

 

[PrimeTime]

Mike Kelley and the crew! They build some bad ass Vee's over there!

 

[PrimeTime]

Plum 92 says "what's up"!

 

[TERRAVAST4]

I think the 2650 and a tune will get you 100hp easy

 

[blkout]

I think the 2650 and a tune will get you 100hp easy

We're going to find out how much of a restriction the stock exhaust manifolds and cats are. I have no doubt that the 2650 is capable of making 100hp, just don't want to have to spin it harder to get there because the stock exhaust is a bit restrictive.

 

[Yo Nadz]

What’s a build like that cost?

 

[blkout]

What’s a build like that cost?

VR is not cheap but they're work is impeccable and surprisingly, there are quite a few things that are needed to go with a build like that most people probably don't factor in. But to answer your question, its roughly $23k, I chose to have the car tuned instead of letting the stock ECM adjust for the mods. I was told by VR that the stock ECM does a good job of adjusting for a lot of mods due to the global B architecture and I could have installed the blower and ran it that way without issues, but tuning the ECM would optimize it even further so the tuning was roughly $3400 by itself to unlock the ECM, dyno time, and HP tuners credits, plus the cost of the actual tune.

 

[BigBrett]

no cam and that cost 23K wow blower must be expensive, why not port the stock blower, that seems to do very well on most builds

 

[blkout]

no cam and that cost 23K wow blower must be expensive, why not port the stock blower, that seems to do very well on most builds

Magnuson 2650 is around 8k by itself. Then you need new valve covers unless you plan on cutting yours up, thats another 1k. Porting the stock blower is certainly an option but the cooling sucks so you have to add more equipment to keep the stock blower from heat soaking such as heat exchanger, auxiliary cooling tank and even then when you start pushing more boost, it will still overheat before the 2650. Bottom line, the 2650 costs more up front but saves more in the long run if your plans ever change to do more. All that being said, Vengeance Racing is not cheap but you get what you pay for. One of the top shops in the country is going to cost more.

 

[BigBrett]

A heat exchanger is like 1100
And expansion tank what 800
I hear ya but unless your hot lapping it it would cool on its own and I would think but not an expert the cam would yield better numbers with a ported stock blower and 103. Again unless road racing or def racing it hot laps it would be ok.
But I do like there valve covers with coil relocation

 

[blkout]

A heat exchanger is like 1100
And expansion tank what 800
I hear ya but unless your hot lapping it it would cool on its own and I would think but not an expert the cam would yield better numbers with a ported stock blower and 103. Again unless road racing or def racing it hot laps it would be ok.
But I do like there valve covers with coil relocation

Already been there, done that with the ported blower on my 2021 ZL1, had upgraded heat exchanger and aux tank. car made 697whp before it ran out of fuel on 93 octane, but I did a lot of data logs and it would heat up quick with a back to back pull in the spring and summer months. You're right that you will come out slightly cheaper that route, you're essentially paying $1300 or so for the ported blower and another $2k or so for the upgraded cooling, and it will work just fine for drag strip runs since you have plenty of time to allow it to cool between runs, but for street pulls, long pulls up to 150mph plus or any track work, the 2650 will perform better every time since it will never heat soak and unlike the stock blower that starts to run out of steam around 6K rpm, the 2650 will continue to pull well beyond that. I figure by the time you got $3k in a ported stock blower and a pulley as well, you have half the cost of the 2650 tied up in it and if you ever want more than 13-14psi of boost, the ported stock blower is only going to perform worse and worse the more you push it. I have yet to read about anyone that went with a 2650 and regretted it, however there are quite a few people that went with a stock blower and regretted not going with a 2650 from the beginning. There are different paths, but with this car, I'm going a different route than I did with my ZL1. It is going to cost me more upfront, but I like that I get consistent power any time I want to smash the pedal. I also live where its stupidly hot and humid for 6-9 months out of the year in GA so it will pay off even more than someone who is building theirs in much cooler DA up north.

Also if you decide to go with a ported stock blower and cam, you're going to be at or above the price that I'm paying for this route. You're correct, that on a dyno and hero runs, you will make more peak power but that power will fade when the stock blower heat soaks and it's possible you could end up with slightly less power than the stock cam and 2650 at that point. I realize this is isn't the cheapest way to make power, I'm thinking more long term and where I want to be later instead of throwing away money up front. Future plans for next year will likely be port injection and headers w/high flow cats. From there I can run full E85 and add more boost with another pulley which will likely put the car around 850-900whp without ever going into the engine.

 

[BigBrett]

You only made 697 with cam and ported blower? Ugh. I was told cam and ported blower and headers and pulley will make 750-800 wheel. With tune etc.
again new to blower game all I ever did was na. But I like a nice chop I will be doing ported blower and cam and 103 with headers no cats and upper and lower pully and clutch. Should net like 750 plus.
I don’t race hell I don’t drive it lol less than 1000 miles a year lol. I am old man at 55 now

 

[blkout]

You only made 697 with cam and ported blower? Ugh. I was told cam and ported blower and headers and pulley will make 750-800 wheel. With tune etc.
again new to blower game all I ever did was na. But I like a nice chop I will be doing ported blower and cam and 103 with headers no cats and upper and lower pully and clutch. Should net like 750 plus.
I don’t race hell I don’t drive it lol less than 1000 miles a year lol. I am old man at 55 now

No, my ZL1 made 697whp FBO on 93 octane, this included Rotofab intake, 103mm TB, Kong ported blower (not X-port), ATI Damper w/9.45 lower pulley, stock upper pulley, 2" Kooks headers, high flow cats, ECM tune. A cam would have added another 30whp for sure and more fuel if I wanted to push the blower harder, but it costs $3500 or more to install a cam depending on the shop and then if you're smart, you're better off porting the heads too while they're in there and that's going to set you back another $2k or so.

My goals are probably very different than yours. I like some chop but not in a Cadillac. I had thought about installing a cam in my ZL1 before I sold it but never did. I also don't want the Cadillac to be obnoxiously loud. One of the things I love about this car is how quiet it is in cabin, so I'm hesitant about what I do with the exhaust as well.

 

[BigBrett]

Awesome
I was going to ask the forum like does adding an aftermarket set of heads make more sense than using stock ones
What would be the gain
I have read the oe heads are really ported nice. Etc.
but would say a set of Frankenstein heads make more and how much. The x port is what I would do
Cam to delete the shitty lifters etc
And 103 tb
Pully upper and lower
Also on fence with Katech oil pump some say it should be done others are ugh.
I know my buddies with oil pump makes like 90 psi on a run.
And the stock internals seem to be really safe up to 1000 hp.
Good stuff I like learning and understanding what guys do
When I raced it was all motorcycle stuff
Either turbo or mountain motor.
Then did a c6 z full build now onto this
Mine is a 6 speed so no auto transmission to mess with and or converter.

 

[blkout]

Awesome
I was going to ask the forum like does adding an aftermarket set of heads make more sense than using stock ones
What would be the gain
I have read the oe heads are really ported nice. Etc.
but would say a set of Frankenstein heads make more and how much. The x port is what I would do
Cam to delete the shitty lifters etc
And 103 tb
Pully upper and lower
Also on fence with Katech oil pump some say it should be done others are ugh.
I know my buddies with oil pump makes like 90 psi on a run.
And the stock internals seem to be really safe up to 1000 hp.
Good stuff I like learning and understanding what guys do
When I raced it was all motorcycle stuff
Either turbo or mountain motor.
Then did a c6 z full build now onto this
Mine is a 6 speed so no auto transmission to mess with and or converter.

Everything you mentioned is solid recommendations. The OE heads are very good but more power can be gained by porting and the engine has to be pulled to install a cam in these cars so it just makes sense to port the heads while you're there so that you're not paying for labor twice if you decide to do it later. I agree deleting the OEM lifters makes sense too if you're going into the block. The Katech pump isn't a necessity like it was on the 2017-2018 ZL1 and probably some CTS-V's in that same model year which had a batch of defective pumps, those were corrected in 2019 but again, if you're installing a cam and going to be doing work in that area, the Katech is certainly good peace of mind. The rest of the stock internals are good to 900-1000whp depending on how much beating on the car you're going to be doing. Being a manual, you can get by with a lumpy cam without having surge issues and having to install a higher stall converter.

 

[RDATLTE]

Already been there, done that with the ported blower on my 2021 ZL1, had upgraded heat exchanger and aux tank. car made 697whp before it ran out of fuel on 93 octane, but I did a lot of data logs and it would heat up quick with a back to back pull in the spring and summer months. You're right that you will come out slightly cheaper that route, you're essentially paying $1300 or so for the ported blower and another $2k or so for the upgraded cooling, and it will work just fine for drag strip runs since you have plenty of time to allow it to cool between runs, but for street pulls, long pulls up to 150mph plus or any track work, the 2650 will perform better every time since it will never heat soak and unlike the stock blower that starts to run out of steam around 6K rpm, the 2650 will continue to pull well beyond that. I figure by the time you got $3k in a ported stock blower and a pulley as well, you have half the cost of the 2650 tied up in it and if you ever want more than 13-14psi of boost, the ported stock blower is only going to perform worse and worse the more you push it. I have yet to read about anyone that went with a 2650 and regretted it, however there are quite a few people that went with a stock blower and regretted not going with a 2650 from the beginning. There are different paths, but with this car, I'm going a different route than I did with my ZL1. It is going to cost me more upfront, but I like that I get consistent power any time I want to smash the pedal. I also live where its stupidly hot and humid for 6-9 months out of the year in GA so it will pay off even more than someone who is building theirs in much cooler DA up north.

Also if you decide to go with a ported stock blower and cam, you're going to be at or above the price that I'm paying for this route. You're correct, that on a dyno and hero runs, you will make more peak power but that power will fade when the stock blower heat soaks and it's possible you could end up with slightly less power than the stock cam and 2650 at that point. I realize this is isn't the cheapest way to make power, I'm thinking more long term and where I want to be later instead of throwing away money up front. Future plans for next year will likely be port injection and headers w/high flow cats. From there I can run full E85 and add more boost with another pulley which will likely put the car around 850-900whp without ever going into the engine.

Additionally, you can recoup some of the cost of the 2650 if you choose to sell the stock blower.

 

[blkout]

Additionally, you can recoup some of the cost of the 2650 if you choose to sell the stock blower.

Thats true too. It is an option unlike porting your OEM blower.