'07 stock LS upgrades?
 

I have a stock 07 LS HHR Auto and I was looking to get better performance and sound out of it. What would you guys suggest? I'm not sure what upgrades I could put on without hurting my trans. Im looking for parts where after I put em on, I dont really need to do anything else except get a tune.

Welcome to the site. :thumb:

Lot's of ways to go with this, plus a lot of opinions. Don't worry about the trans. Unless you got totally nuts with horsepower, the trans can handle a mild increase.

the most popular things to do is changing the exhaust (preferably cat-back) and adding a different style cold air intake (from either Airaid or K&N - depending on if its a 2.2 or 2.4)
you can also swap the exhaust manifold, intake manifold and throttle body (from a 2.4L if your a 2.2) as well for an extra oomph

:welcome8: to the forum!

Tires, tires, and tires.

Ditch the OEM rubber, or whatever the dealer may have slapped on it, and invest in some really good rubber.

I run Continental's and Uniroyal Tiger Paw GTZ's, you'll be amazed at what premium touring or performance tires will do to wake up an HHR.

This is an 07 LS so it is a 2.2l L61 motor.

From what it looks like from searching this forum our 07 LS's do not gain much of any true HP without the tune and even with the tune it is still below 20hp. The tune alone is around $300. Intakes are not cheap for our cars either coming in around $200 on up. You can make one if you are willing to cut out the MAF from the factory air box and save some money there. Pre built catback exhausts are few and far between too and seem to start at $500 and up but again if you can piece something together a muffler shop should be able to get you out the door for less than that. Basically what I am saying is it can cost you $500 -$1000 just for a few HP.

The 2.4l intake manifold that makes a difference for our engine is the one piece intake manifold from the Cobalt SS N/A 2.4l 05-07 motor and is around $500 alone.

with that mani..do you have to re-route the brake booster hose or is it in the same location as our HHRs?

I do not remember exactly what was said in the threads I read but it looks like Prod answer you on that same question back in May.

Sell it and get an LT, 26 hp there for the same price on the used market. :) Or you could get a header, down pipe, CAI, tune and say a magnaflow for around a grand and most likely have less than the 26 hp of the LT. In the end the value wouldn't go up that's why I think if you want more power it would be cheaper to sell it, buy an LT and swap out the muffler for the sound you want.

I chipped mine, did a CAI, and hi-flow muffler. Plus with the chip I run 92 octane. Ive noticed a good difference from it. Ive had my fair share of highway runs with different cars and id say ive invested maybe $350 so far and its been worth it. Plus slapping on a set of Goodyear Eagle GT's gave her some pretty decent grip and better curve handling. suspension wise.. ive heard alot of people say that a rear Sway Bar helps ALOT as far as cornering, keeps the rear planted nice.. but all in all its ALOT more fun to drive vs when i first got her..

finaly got a tune done this past weekend, low end is finally better and acceleration has improved, but i was hoping for a bit more oomph but i guess thts what you get with a 2.2 lol