Luke's 2013 Cyber Sonic LTZ

[Pirate Luke]

Hi everyone. I've been thinking about making a build thread for a while, but haven't had much time to get around to it. I have this whole week off, so I'm about to install a few parts I've accumulated over the past few months. Seeing as Black Friday is right around the corner, I may be picking up some more goodies as well.

I bought this car new and paid it off in 2013, but decided to use it as a daily. Now I have a new daily and a 5 year old/118k mile sonic with an engine and trans that's still in damn near perfect condition, so I'm not really planning on getting rid of it. With that said, it's 5 years old and some simple things are starting to need replacing. My main goal is to replace any visibly aging parts, things that usually fail by now (ie: water pump) for preventative maintenance, and add a few performance mods. I will also be tuning the car myself.

Currently up to this point the only performance type mods I have installed are a Forge BPV and V2 intake mod. Apart from that, a ton of aesthetic changes.

Here's my beauty:

Here's a stock engine photo for reference later:

Side note/history lesson: I entered the first photo here in the November Sonic contest and have had a few members message me about the RS badge on an LTZ car. When I bought the car in 2013, they didn't make an RS version of the sedan, only the hatchback. I really didn't want a hatchback so I bought the LTZ and added a bunch of aesthetic changes and dubbed it my own RS. :banana:

 

[Pirate Luke]

Reserved for later.

 

[Pirate Luke]

So today was my first day in about 15 weeks that I had to do whatever the heck I wanted. I did a bunch of chilling in my garage and began the change of my cat. Today was the replacement of my turbo cat for the BNR straight catless downpipe. I bought this off a fellow forum member Tyler13999.

I must say....the sound of the turbo is much clearer. I can hear the turbo spool up much quicker than before and it's much more audible. Whether you have ZZP or BNR downpipe, I can't imagine a major difference between the two.

I have the code for inefficient cat but I've ordered the HPTuners equipment. Only a matter of time before I can tune the car myself.

Here's the GM cat:

Here's the BNR downpipe:

 

[djsm]

I have the same car 2013 ltz 6mt had the chance to trade friend for 2007 350z and said no. This car has history with me and many more to go very reliable

 

[Pirate Luke]

I agree, I love this little car! As long as I take care of it, it takes care of me. :banana:

I have the same car 2013 ltz 6mt had the chance to trade friend for 2007 350z and said no. This car has history with me and many more to go very reliable

 

[Pirate Luke]

Today is Sunday funday.

 

[Jads_99]

How difficult would you say the downpipe install is? I have the ZZP catless downpipe I picked up for Black Friday and I hear a lot about a hidden bolt making it kind of a hassle. Any tips? Thanks!

 

[Smashley23]

There shouldn't be any hidden bolt. They are fairly easy to install. Let me know if you have any questions. I have done this install a few times.

 

[Pirate Luke]

Oh there's definitely one bolt that you don't know about until you try to pull it off and realize you can't haha. It's basically right behind the cat between the cat and engine. If you have a socket extension and some type of u-joint it makes it much easier to reach. With those tools it took maybe 20 minutes. There should be 6 total bolts/nuts to deal with.

 

[Smashley23]

Oh there's definitely one bolt that you don't know about until you try to pull it off and realize you can't haha. It's basically right behind the cat between the cat and engine. If you have a socket extension and some type of u-joint it makes it much easier to reach. With those tools it took maybe 20 minutes. There should be 6 total bolts/nuts to deal with.

LOL.... Hidden(ish) is a much better way to say it than saying totally hidden. I'll give ya that!

 

[Pirate Luke]

So I listed my old cat with 100k+ miles on it on eBay and it sold for more than double what I paid for the BNR downpipe. That's what I call a win win. :banana:

Some poor soul in California. Darn emissions testing lol.

 

[Pirate Luke]

I've seen a lot of misinformed articles over the years say things about the BPV not being serviceable requiring the whole turbo to be replaced, and if I'm not mistaken, the dealership literally does that if the BPV fails. Thought I'd share this photo from when I replaced mine with a Forge BPV for anyone curious. It's definitely serviceable, and I can't imagine how much money GM has cost themselves by replacing the entire turbo every time a BPV failure may occur.

 

[Pirate Luke]

I don't understand Amazons add-on deals or why they randomly offer me awesome deals, but I got a couple silicone couplers and an aluminum hard pipe for $11. Will look much better than the old plastic air intake currently on my engine.

 

[YouBeTailsIllBeSonic]

I don't understand Amazons add-on deals or why they randomly offer me awesome deals, but I got a couple silicone couplers and an aluminum hard pipe for $11. Will look much better than the old plastic air intake currently on my engine.

WTF HOW? DAMNIT.

Sent from my SM-A520W using Tapatalk

 

[Pirate Luke]

Going to install this RacerX catch can today, thanks to member UltimaSanctus.

 

[Pirate Luke]

Got the catch can all finished up. Lookin good.

I noticed while doing the install that the fuel line has been rubbing against the intake manifold. Not good. But routing it over the rubber coming from the intake now will prevent that from getting worse.

 

[DynomiteDan]

Got the catch can all finished up. Lookin good.

I noticed while doing the install that the fuel line has been rubbing against the intake manifold. Not good. But routing it over the rubber coming from the intake now will prevent that from getting worse.

I just got the RacerX catch can and intake manifold and I'm trying to make heads or tails of the provided parts. Did your catch can come with those hoses and with the fittings attached?

 

[Pirate Luke]

I just got the RacerX catch can and intake manifold and I'm trying to make heads or tails of the provided parts. Did your catch can come with those hoses and with the fittings attached?

It came with the hoses, but the fitting are taken from the recirculation hose from turbo to intake and you use those. If you use a heat gun on the plastic you can remove the two end parts pretty easily and then use the hoses that come with the racerX can and hook it all up. I've attached a photo of the fittings when removed from plastic stock hose. A note though: I've noticed after a few thousand miles the rubber hose becomes rather soft and when idling or deceleration, basically when there's vacuum, the hose compresses too much for my liking. Almost seems like it will kink eventually. Will probably get a braided vacuum hose soon.


Turbo fitting on the left, manifold fitting on the right. Excuse my nosey dog.