Hey everyone, I just picked up a new to me 2008 HHR SS, Victory Red, 5M, all stock with 101k miles on it. Looks like it was very well taken care of the seats and interior are in great shape and the exterior looks great for a car with that mileage. Car also runs great and does not seem to have any issues.

I bought the car to use as my work vehicle since I travel for work through the week. I was using my '16 SS for work but with the winter weather blowing in I wanted something a little more capable and did not mind getting the salt and crap on. I also wanted something that was fun to drive, got decent mpg, and had plenty of room to carry my equipment for work. The HHR SS seemed to fit those requirements and then some.

I plan to keep the mods light just to wake the car up a little bit and fix some of the factory "weaknesses". So far I plan on a GM Turbo Upgrade kit, K&N tube and maybe filter, core the second cat, a forge BPV, and a Dyno tune. I will see where that gets me and go from there. Thanks you guys for the sight and the plethora of information available on here.

 

Welcome to the site.

I would suggest not going with the GM Turbo upgrade. It is outdated and most dealers are not even familiar with it. (that kit does require a GM dealer programming reflash)
Best bet would be aftermarket such as Trifecta.

 

Ok, I thought that the benefit would be having the better sensors in place for running higher boost, I guess I would say I would mainly just be using the sensors and having a tune done with HPtuners.

 

Welcome to the site, enjoy the ride!

 

Welcome

I feel HPT would be a better option. A couple of us here use it. Do you intend to purchase HPTuners?

 

I think so too, much more you can do with it. I might go ahead and get HPTuners since I have other vehicles that I can use it onto do some mild tuning on. I have a LS swap project going on that HPT would be very useful for. Might have to check the forums to see if there are any tuning tips on here, as well as the HPT site.


I saw ZZP sells the sensors and the wiring harness. I am thinking that is the way to go with a custom tune.

 

If you are going to use HPT on other cars I'd suggest you get the pro version so you don't have to pipe the WB signal through a sensor connection. It's cheaper to do the pro version rather than doing the upgrade. Ask me how I know

Also as a suggestion, I would replace the timing chain and guides while you add the sensors. Cheap insurance.

We are here to help when we can. I have a 5 spd stage tune that you can compare to your stock file.

 

I believe 5m indicates a manual transmission

 

OB You posted before I could edit my post..... quick on the kb

 

Yeah it is a 5 speed manual like OldBlue pointed out. I will have to check the service records at the dealer to see what all has been done. It said there was an 80,000 service done, doubtful that they did the timing chains since it does not appear to be a recommended service in the owner manual. Do the timing chains wear out on these often? I know belts are something that should be changed often but I have always known chains to be a little more durable. What else is a common weak point on these that should be addressed?