Love HHR's and looking at a frickin gem
Thread Starter
Joined: 02-08-2014
Posts: 7
From: At home
Love HHR's and looking at a frickin gem
I am considering purchasing a 2008 HHR SS 5MT with 80+K on the clock.
I used to travel a lot for work and always rented an HHR when available. Perfect for hauling tools, people, whatever. I love the SS look and have always been a Chevy guy. I also enjoy the occasional throttle jockey session on my way to work
It has a Hahn intercooler, Hahn Charge air piping, K&N intake, and what sounded like a catless DP but I didnt crawl under to see. Definitely Hahn exhaust of some sort as indicated by the insignia on the exhaust tip. A little loud but I think I can manage. I drove it just a few blocks to verify basic crap like brakes, alignment and boost(hit 14 pretty quick then I dumped it into neutral way before redline). So far so good, not sure about the tune but we are a racing community so tuners are around if I need the 0's and 1's cleaned up.
I wanted to check in here with you guys to see if there are any obvious red flag issues with the drive train on these cars before I proceed.
Thank you in advance for your input!
I used to travel a lot for work and always rented an HHR when available. Perfect for hauling tools, people, whatever. I love the SS look and have always been a Chevy guy. I also enjoy the occasional throttle jockey session on my way to work
It has a Hahn intercooler, Hahn Charge air piping, K&N intake, and what sounded like a catless DP but I didnt crawl under to see. Definitely Hahn exhaust of some sort as indicated by the insignia on the exhaust tip. A little loud but I think I can manage. I drove it just a few blocks to verify basic crap like brakes, alignment and boost(hit 14 pretty quick then I dumped it into neutral way before redline). So far so good, not sure about the tune but we are a racing community so tuners are around if I need the 0's and 1's cleaned up.
I wanted to check in here with you guys to see if there are any obvious red flag issues with the drive train on these cars before I proceed.
Thank you in advance for your input!
Deceased
Joined: 06-30-2010
Posts: 25,739
From: Kannapolis NC
to the forum!With any modified vehicle it's best to approach them with caution, stock SS's are highly strung to begin with, modded and tuned ones even more so.
If the dealer or owner will allow it, take it to a trusted tech and have it looked over by a critical eye. Pull the codes if any are stored, look over the mods carefully, have they been done professionally, or are you going to be buying a headache.
Then run a CarFax on it, just to make sure it hasn't been wrecked, flooded, or through a ton of owners in a short period of time.
Platinum Member
Joined: 12-06-2009
Posts: 11,719
From: Alabama
Welcome to the site. 
With all the mods you listed, it's almost a given that it's been tuned.
By who and how good the tune is, hard to say.
One quick way to see if it may have the Turbo upgrade(GMTU or Stage 1), is look for the Tmap sensors with the Bosch label.
Attachment 15767
With all the mods you listed, it's almost a given that it's been tuned.
By who and how good the tune is, hard to say.
One quick way to see if it may have the Turbo upgrade(GMTU or Stage 1), is look for the Tmap sensors with the Bosch label.
Attachment 15767
Last edited by firemangeorge; May 30, 2014 at 11:07 PM.
Get it!
Platinum Member
Joined: 12-06-2009
Posts: 11,719
From: Alabama
Berky1976. That's the SS.
He hasn't been on this site since 6/2013 according to his stats.
I wonder what became of the original SS rims?
Check this link:https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/2-0l-performance-tech-46/upgrades-soon-installed-34948/
It's when Berky1976 was getting the Hahn stuff back in 2011. Seems he wasn't real pleased with some problems he'd had with the car.
He hasn't been on this site since 6/2013 according to his stats.
I wonder what became of the original SS rims?
Check this link:https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/2-0l-performance-tech-46/upgrades-soon-installed-34948/
It's when Berky1976 was getting the Hahn stuff back in 2011. Seems he wasn't real pleased with some problems he'd had with the car.