LS1 Motorsports Direct Flo Lid & Holley Power Shot Air Filter: (Installed July 4th, 2002)

The addition of the Air lid and Air filter made a huge difference in the "seat of the pants" performance. The car now builds the revs much faster and there is a definite increase in throttle response. Since the factory airbox is now removed, the engine is much louder at wide open throttle. The engine compartment looks much nicer with the lid compared to the factory airbox.

SLP Loudmouth cat-back exhaust: (Installed September 26th, 2002)

Being that the factory Trans Am exhaust is so restrictive and quiet, I choose to have DCV Tech Performance Inc. install the SLP Loudmouth system on my car. The new exhaust is LOUD. It brings to mind the sound of the late 60's to early 70's muscle cars. The sound at idle is much louder than stock and at wide open throttle it makes you think the world is coming to an end. There seems to be a good amount of "seat of the pants" punch and an overall increase in pulling power. With the factory exhaust, there was some sort of hesitation when I would tap the throttle but since the new exhaust has been installed it is a very smooth and builds the revs even faster than when I installed the airbox lid. If you want to be heard before you are seen and like the sound of "almost" open pipes, the Loudmouth will not disappoint.

Clickto listen to the factory exhaust and for the Loudmouth.

SLP Sub Frame Connectors: (Installed November 8th, 2002)

The sub frames make a huge difference in the handling of the car. There is much more road feel and the steering feels much more precise. There is also much less body roll around hard turns and the car feels much more solid. An interesting side effect is that my t-tops and dash rattles are now gone.

SLP Strut Tower Brace: (Installed September 26th, 2002)

I was not sure if this modification would have an impact but I was pleasantly surprised after taking a couple of hard corners. This part seems to have tightened up the steering and has improved the overall steering response. The car tracks much better around turns and also has a bit less body roll than before plus it looks good.

Afterthoughts Auto decals (Installed August 24th, 2002)

I added the door Trans Am, backend Pontiac letters, licence plate bird and H.O. 350 decals on the lower door moldings near the rear wheels. All decals are silver colored and really make the car stand out. Even though the car looked good before the decals really add a touch of class to the overall appearance. You can email Afterthoughts Auto here. Check out my pictures page for some images of the decals.

Last of the Breed badges (Installed June 29th, 2002)

These give the car that different from the rest look. I have noticed many people looking at them when the car is out in traffic. I ordered them from Dal at Van Devere Pontiac-Buick. You can email Dal here. Check out my pictures page for some images of the badges.

LS1 Motorsports Direct Flo bellows (Installed April 22nd, 2003)

The factory bellows does not fit very well so I replaced it with the Direct Flo bellows.  I am not sure if there was any performance gains from it but it does make the engine look much nicer.  I did have to cut about one inch off the bellows since it was causing the clips on the air lid to pop off when I would hit a hard bump in the road.

SLP Cold Air Intake (Installed May 9th , 2003)

I ordered this unit even though I was not sure what impact it would have on performance.  It took about three hours to install it, without the right tools for cutting plastic, but overall it was not too hard.  After I installed the unit, I noticed a definite increase in throttle response and it builds the revs much faster than before.  There is more low end SOTP kick when taking off.  I haven't had a chance to test it out at higher speeds or time it yet but the 0-60 times feel much faster and the acceleration feels much smoother.  I took about 40 pictures of the installation and hope to have them and detailed instructions posted here over the next week or so.  The instructions from SLP leave a lot to be desired.

BMR 32mm Front and 21mm Rear Sway Bars (Installed July 12th, 2003)

Even though the car handled well from the factory, it had a tendency to dive into hard corners.  After talking with Chris and John from Powerhouse Performance and going for a ride in Chris's Firehawk with the same sway bars, I ordered set and had them installed.  The car now stays much flatter on hard turns and feels much more stable on quick lane changes.  The sway bars are painted silver and look really nice even though they cannot be seen without laying on the ground under the car.  The new sway bars are solid 32mm front and solid 21mm rear which replace the hollow factory 30mm and hollow 19mm size.