New Car Mod Discussion

S

swhauser

New member
Ok, my grandmother decided she wanted to go out one day and buy a brand new 2012 chevy sonic 1.8L LT. I began my senior year and did not have a car. She decided to give me her brand new car. Because she acted in such a selfless manner, I plan to keep this car for a very long time. I plan on doing everything to this car mod wise. When that turbo comes out I am most definitely getting it. I recently purchased the ddm works exhaust without muffler or res. I was wondering if I SHOULD BUY A MUFFLER or just run it WITHOUT the muffler? Also I got the injen intake. I am about to get tint. I will buy new wheels for it. I wanted to get it lowered. I want to get the trifecta tune. I was thinking of swapping the engine for an altima engine? Is that even possible? WHAT OTHER MODS SHOULD I CONSIDER? Being that this is my first car and I am new to the car world, does anyone have any suggestions? I really want to make this car special. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to comment.
Thanks!
 
C

C.E.Divine

New member
You don't currently have a turbo, which offers a little muffling effect, so the exhaust with no muffler or resonator will probably be pretty loud.
 
Eric Smit

Eric Smit

Enforcer
why would you swap in an Altima engine? get rid of the injen. get a trifecta tune. get eibach springs. get a muffler.

good call on tint.


-Eric Smit
 
Red Sonic LT

Red Sonic LT

New member
Muffler with no res is your best bet. Springs to lower. If they can fit an LS3 in a Chevy spark, I'm sure you can do your Altima swap, why that motor idk. But with sufficient money it's almost all possible
 
S

swhauser

New member
I am a car novice so forgive me if my knowledge isn't up to anyone who reads this standards. But, I just want to make my car sick from the inside out. Thank you to all of those who responded.
 
$ub$onic

$ub$onic

The Sticker Guy
From a fellow 1.8 owner I would just the normal tint lowering intake and exhaust the new zzp exhaust is the best for the money right now and I would wait for k&n or ddm works intake
 
$ub$onic

$ub$onic

The Sticker Guy
Dont know im gonna assume its a couple grande. Your gonna have that just in computers for a engine swap though
 
sx sonic

sx sonic

New member
Welcome to the forum

you'll definetly want a muffler on the 1.8, the 1.4ts are very loud without a resonator or muffler and that's with a turbo that significantly lowers and deepens the exhuast note. Yours will be ungodly loud without atleast a resonator, might be cool for a few days but not for much longer.

Tints a great idea, a lot of memebers are "Plasti-dipping" their wheels, trim, spoilers, etc to good effect and it can be done cheap easily, and if you don't like it just peel it off.

Eibach springs (or others) give a much nicer stance and tighten up the handling.

An engine swap is a very very expensive mod (most cars) and if you go that route a turbo LNF engine would be way better (ss cobalt engine). Putting in the altima engine would be unique but is uncharted territory. Do you have a trans? How's the aftermarket for that engine? Can you fabricate motor trans mounts for it? Do you have an ECM for it and are able to wire it up? Will the axles work? Will it fit? How will the ECM communicate with the other modules? Do you have the funds for this R&D and can you be without this car for a long time as you make the swap a reality?

Not trying to burst your bubble or be a jerk, just some things to consider and it would be really cool but its all in the details.

Elsewise your on the right track and it won't be too long before the 1.8 gets flooded with aftermarket parts. Search thru some members build threads and see what they're doing and what's working and looks good to you as well as browse thru the Vendor forums to see what they've got brewing.

Good luck and don't forget to start a build thread once you get things going!

-tyler
 
S

swhauser

New member
sx sonic said:
Welcome to the forum

you'll definetly want a muffler on the 1.8, the 1.4ts are very loud without a resonator or muffler and that's with a turbo that significantly lowers and deepens the exhuast note. Yours will be ungodly loud without atleast a resonator, might be cool for a few days but not for much longer.

Tints a great idea, a lot of memebers are "Plasti-dipping" their wheels, trim, spoilers, etc to good effect and it can be done cheap easily, and if you don't like it just peel it off.

Eibach springs (or others) give a much nicer stance and tighten up the handling.

An engine swap is a very very expensive mod (most cars) and if you go that route a turbo LNF engine would be way better (ss cobalt engine). Putting in the altima engine would be unique but is uncharted territory. Do you have a trans? How's the aftermarket for that engine? Can you fabricate motor trans mounts for it? Do you have an ECM for it and are able to wire it up? Will the axles work? Will it fit? How will the ECM communicate with the other modules? Do you have the funds for this R&D and can you be without this car for a long time as you make the swap a reality?

Not trying to burst your bubble or be a jerk, just some things to consider and it would be really cool but its all in the details.

Elsewise your on the right track and it won't be too long before the 1.8 gets flooded with aftermarket parts. Search thru some members build threads and see what they're doing and what's working and looks good to you as well as browse thru the Vendor forums to see what they've got brewing.

Good luck and don't forget to start a build thread once you get things going!

-tyler
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the informative response. Yeah I am definitely getting tint on all windows prob 5% even though nj gay laws say different. I honestly was very uneducated about engine swapping. I think I will wait for the BNR turbo kit that I hear is in the making. I have the ddm works exhaust, I guess I will pick up a magnaflow muffler for it or something since I got it without the res or muff. I have the injen intake.

My car is summit white so i figured I'd had black accents. As I said I'm tinting the windows, I'm going to get wheels when I have the money but I guess plasti-dipping the wheels for now would be a cheaper alternative? Where could I learn how to do that? I also wanted to smoke out the taillights, how do I do that? I was gona ask my tint place if they could tint the chevy bowtie too. I think that would look sick with the white. I will get a trifecta tune also. As I only work a min. wage job, this will take time and I look forward to posting my accomplishments on this forum.
 
sx sonic

sx sonic

New member
,No problem bud, we're all in here to learn and share. There are cars out there were an engine swap can be relatively cheap (some hondas for example) and pretty intensive.

The DDM exhaust is a very nice unit and a good number of members are using it, not sure if any 1.com8 guys have one straight piped, usually a muffler, resonator, or both but the ones I've heard sound good. You can try running it as ordered and if its too loud add in a muffler.

When I plasti-dipped my wheels I used two or 3 cans which cost about $5 a can and spent about 3 hours doing it working slowly (I also plasti dipped my chrome trim, bow ties and spoiler with 1 more can). Its applied a lot like spray paint, There are a few "how to" threads in this forum, check out the DIY section or try a search for the product. I believe one is titled "plastidipped my wheels". I'm sure there are also youtube videos on it that would be very informative.

There are a few members here with summit white cars and black accents, tint, rims, etc and they look amazing, check out the "derploaders" build thread and I think "stormtrooper in training" and you can get a good idea of how awesome your car will look :)

-tyler
 
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