Horsepower Optimizing - Efficient Power Up

We're tinkerers by nature here at GMHTP, so it should come as no surprise that we just couldn't leave well enough alone when it came to Greg Lovell's 2010 Camaro SS project. Over the course of the last year, you've followed along with us as we tackled project after project on the 2010, searching for elapsed time on the track, seconds on the road course, feet in the braking zones and, most importantly, fun on the street. It's no secret that the stock LS3 is a wonderful engine and we were elated with the 382.37 rear-wheel horsepower and 385.24 lb-ft of torque that the stock 376 cubic-inch mill laid down during our initial dyno testing ("Breathin' Easy," September '10). Tackling the low hanging (and great sounding) fruit first, Greg Lovell of AntiVenom was quick to install a set of 1 7/8-inch long-tube headers and a full exhaust from American Racing Headers on his Camaro, which bumped the otherwise stock LS3 up to 411.10 rwhp and 406.75 lb-ft of torque. With air heading out, we also decided to increase our air coming in, adding an ADM Performance cold-air intake, which increased power and torque to the tune of 413.3 rwhp and 418.5 lb-ft of torque.

While that power was great for a little while, we caught the mod bug again a year later, in September '11, when Greg swapped out the stock LS3 camshaft for a new bumpstick from Futral Motorsports. Cut on a healthy 228/242 duration with .629/.620-inches of lift at .050 and a nice 112 LSA, the Futral camshaft did wonders to our Camaro project, adding 54.74 rwhp and an additional 6.95 ft-lbs of torque, bringing our total numbers up to 468.04 rwhp and 425.45 lb-ft of torque. This month, we're taking a look under the hood to eliminate some of the power loss from the front dress of our LS3 engine. That is to say, we wanted to increase the LS3's efficiency by cutting down on parasitic loss and rotational weight in the front belt drive system, which would "add" horsepower while maintaining the wonderful drivability and refinement that we have come to know and love in the fifth-gen.

While obviously efficient in stock form, we were curious to see just how much power and torque the factory water pump and heavy OEM balancer were costing us at the rear wheels and it didn't take long to find a plethora of aftermarket parts to replace them. Down low, we selected a quality 10-percent under driven harmonic damper from ATI Performance, which will reduce overall rotational weight while also slowing down our factory accessories (alternator, power steering), which reduces parasitic loss. Additionally, we hooked up with Meziere Enterprises for one of the company's new fifth-gen specific 55 gallon per minute , bolt-on electric water pump, which eliminates the factory belt-driven unit for a much more efficient and capable electric unit that can free up horsepower while keeping the Camaro cool under almost any driving conditions, including severe track abuse. And while parts of this nature are usually overlooked for more obvious and aggressive modifications, as you will see on the following pages, they are worth a lot more to the rear wheels than you may think upon first glance.