WS6 For Beginners- HP and Mods w/o voiding warranty

[Josh2002WS6]

Hey, I just found this site recently. I started going through it, but there is a LOT of content so I wanted to just start over. I bought my first TA last year on Ebay Motors of all places. It is a Black 2002 WS6 and only had 13K miles.
-I have been hearing about the under rated HP ever since I got it. How under rated it is really? Does the WS6 have more HP then the basic TA's? A friend of mine said that the 325 factory rating is at the fly and even if it is underrated, it doesn't produce over 300 at the RW. Tell me he is wrong!
-Was the LS6 intake on all TA's or just the WS6?
-Does the Flowmaster exhaust do anything positive for the WS6? I was driving the other day, and saw a car that looked identical to mine, but the exhaust sounded so much louder. I had my eye on the Borla Catbacks, how do they sound with my car? Add any HP? I just like the look of the polished quad tips.
-Last, with the low mileage, I still have the warranty on my car. IT sat on a dealer showroom floor for a year and a half before the original owner bought it in Nov 2003 so my 30/30 warranty runs until this November. What can I do to it that will NOT void any warranty but make it sound and perform better?

Thanks

[Capster78]

They are underated. They advertise 325 at the crank but most see 305-315 to the wheels in the 02's which is more around 350-360 at the crank.

The LS6 intake came on I belive 2000+ cars. I might be wrong but I know the 98-99 cars definatly have LS1 Intakes on them. It was just a progression to up HP on the later models.

The flomaster exaust frees up a little hp and reduces backpressure but what really kills the exhaust system is the Y-pipe and shortie headers. There is alot of restriction there. When I pulled the Y-pipe off my 99 I couldent belive they had the Y-pipe smashed like a pancake in the middle.

It really depends on the dealer as far as warranty issues go. Many F-body guys have had problems with the dealership the minute they mod the car. Some dealerships will refuse to fix anything if you touch anything on the car. On the other hand iv seen instances where head/cam cars had warranty work done. Its all dealer discretion. By law, the dealer can not refuse any warranty work unless there is evidence that a modification by the owner caused the failure. In reality, its just up the the dealer. So find yourself a good dealer that will work with you.

[PushroD]

I've worked at several GM dealers, please keep in mind, the tech couldn't care less what you did to your car, as long as he has something to do. In the end, warranty work is authorized or denied on the service manager's call.

Warranty work is only shot down on systems YOU modified. For example, If you put an aftermarket head unit in, and complain of blown or rattling speakers, you're outta luck. That's fair, right? Engine noise on a car YOU put heads on? Outta luck, and yes, we WILL know if you modified it, so either bring it back to stock, or fix it yourself.

Point is, Warranty is decided on weather or not YOU modified the particular system in question.

[Capster78]

I've worked at several GM dealers, please keep in mind, the tech couldn't care less what you did to your car, as long as he has something to do. In the end, warranty work is authorized or denied on the service manager's call.

Warranty work is only shot down on systems YOU modified. For example, If you put an aftermarket head unit in, and complain of blown or rattling speakers, you're outta luck. That's fair, right? Engine noise on a car YOU put heads on? Outta luck, and yes, we WILL know if you modified it, so either bring it back to stock, or fix it yourself.

Point is, Warranty is decided on weather or not YOU modified the particular system in question.

Thats all good and well but alot of dealerships use this as a loophole. The service managers job is to keep warranty work to a minimum. I know for a fact that dealerships get recognized by higher ups for keeping warranty work down because they are said to be selling higher quality vehicles. And they are looked down on if they perform to much warranty work.

Bring it back stock, or fix it yourself. You said it. Thats what most dealers are like. Iv seen instances where people had transmission/rear end issues. The owner modified the exuast or put headers on and their warranty claims were denied because the dealer said the additional horsepower put extra strain on the transmission/rear end and caused it to break.

Like I said above, some dealerships will work with you more than others.

[BLKbandit98]

only 2001 and 2002 trans am's had the LS6 intake. Same with the camaro

[Danger731]

yeah just free up the exhaust - see sig

[nhraformula]

Iv seen instances where people had transmission/rear end issues. The owner modified the exuast or put headers on and their warranty claims were denied because the dealer said the additional horsepower put extra strain on the transmission/rear end and caused it to break.
.

when i worked as a salesmen for a dealership, they would deny even minor work to a car.
the excuse was always the same, the car was made for x amount of power, you added more power and thats why its broke. go to youre warrenty booklet and take a look what it says.
they can get out of fixing it if you mod it.

you dont have much more time left on youre warrenty, i wouldnt worry about it.

[Hurley711]

Chokemaster is probably the worst flowing CB made for our cars. Does it sound good? But there are better flowing CB out there for the $$$, Hooker and Magnaflow come to mind

[LS1 Junkie]

only 2001 and 2002 trans am's had the LS6 intake. Same with the camaro

My 2000 T/A has the LS6 intake stock.......

[Hurley711]

My 2000 T/A has the LS6 intake stock.......

[01WS6_4_ME]

My 2000 T/A has the LS6 intake stock.......

It was probably swapped out then. They didn't start coming on our cars till 01 and 02.

[SeVeReDiStOrTiOn]

My 2000 T/A has the LS6 intake stock.......

Not stock it doesn't....take a pic of your engine bay and post it...does it have the egr tube going into the intake behind the throttle body? Why do you think it's a ls6 manifold?

[jeffsredt/a]

hey josh i just put a borla cb on in december it sounds and feels great (on the pedal that is) i noticed a big differance in power and also saw the y=pipe is flat i can't beleive they would do that

[Josh2002WS6]

Thanks jeffsredt/a , I don't know enough about the different brand of catbacks, I just know that Borla is high up there in cost so I hope it would be a good one, and most of all I liked the look. This just adds to the idea of getting one of those bad boy bolted on! Did you replace the flowmaster (assuming you did since you have the WS6 as well_? Does it sound better?

[jeffsredt/a]

Hell ya it did. It made a big differance in soud and power. I have the adjustable system its very loud with the larger plate in. But I have a tip for you if you deside to go with a borla. Make sure you have a full tank of gas. The reason is when i did mine i did not have a full tank it was almost empty so when i filled up i got a rattle and i had to back under and twist and move the pipes a little it was a PETA. As for the flowmaster question i did replace it.

[MIWS62001]

I too have the borla. I am very happy with it. People compliment it all the time, but I think the Hooker LTs and ORY might have something to do with that.....oh and I seem to have lost my cats too...

[MIWS62001]

I too have the borla. I am very happy with it. People compliment it all the time, but I think the Hooker LTs and ORY might have something to do with that.....oh and I seem to have lost my cats too...

[Zboner]

i know the SLP lid and the Corsa and SLP cat backs are factory options so i do not believe that these mods would make u loose the warrenty

the corsa came on the Vett's

[timowen1]

I did mine in steps. Installed a Borla cb in 2003. Only took about 2 1/2 hours laying on my back on the garage floor. In 2004 did a set of Edelbrock shorties and Borla Y-pipe. Get this, headers from start to finish 2 hours. Y-pipe 5 hours!! The Borla y-pipe was 6 inches too long, I had to cut it to length and I just could not get the rattle out of it after it was installed. Most of the time installing was griving and adjusting. I finally took it to a local muffler shop where they could put it on a drive on rack and they adjusted it for me. $15 Damn! Should have had them install it from the start. The performance, unbelievable and the sound even better. I like the adjustable baffles you get with the cb exhaust. I started out about half open exhaust till the wife stopped complaining then over time I opened it up untill I now have no baffle in it at all. Sounds real good.
About warranty work, I never worried too much about it. My car ran out of time before it ran out of miles. I bought it new and it still only has 10,000 miles on it. The way I always undersood it if you change a cam on a new car and the radio breaks under warranty they fix the radio. The cam had nothing to do with the radio crapping out. If you change the exhaust and a ball joint fails the exhaust had nothing to do with the ball joint so it will be fixed. Now if you put a hot cam in a new car and drop a valve or bend a push rod six month later you are screwed.

[nhraformula]

My 2000 T/A has the LS6 intake stock.......

it didnt come on there stock