16 days 1600 miles, now what?

[Chevyguy]

Almost to 55K miles :banana2:

Yeah, guess I must like the Marauder, my normal commute week is 350 miles.

http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q329/folingo/2004%20Marauder/SL372088.jpg

Nice sunny day, car could be cleaner

http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q329/folingo/2004%20Marauder/SL372091.jpg

Love the pipes, still have not detailed it myself needs polishing
http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q329/folingo/2004%20Marauder/SL372097.jpg

Frankly this is one sweet car even in 100% pure stock form. Will enjoy tweaking it of course!! MPG total 20 - 22 MPG TOTAL!! Not one tank below 20 yet even with traffic jams, idling with AC on and "Spirited Driving"

Mods / service in order of urgency

Synthetic oil change, RP in axle (For $30 this is a no brainer) Going with 0W 30 or 5W30 synthetic oil too


J MOD want to do a mild one just drill seperator plate no spring changes. This will also drain more fluid for the first trans filter change as the TC has no drain plug. Will change out the power steering fluid with fresh Mercon V while at it.

Brake fluid and Coolant flush. May delay till spring depending on spare time.

Underdrive pulleys

GOOD TUNE, who have you guys gone with?

Some type of intake mods, TB, ported/polished upper plenum maybe cold air.


3.55 gears stayin for a long time I drive the car don't need the 4.10's

Would instead a nice stall converter , and a proper tune to go with it.

Would Love Long tube headers but would hate to cut into the sweet stock exhaust. And it would be a waste to hook up the headers to the stock cat back (or would it be)

:banana: :beer: :coolman: :beatnik: :D

[ImpalaSlayer]

hmm looks too me like you have CV tail lights and rear back up lights.

might just be the lighting, but is that chrome trim above the back up lights? if so, definitely not marauder

[LANDY]

Dave, that's looks like the reflection of the sun.

[Chevyguy]

Dave, that's looks like the reflection of the sun.

Yup, it's hard to take pictures of this thing, it's 100% stock original paint etc..

Here is one the dealer took
http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q329/folingo/2004%20Marauder/16334913780281204119IM106565x4 21_A562x421.jpg

[ChiTownMaraud3r]

It looks like the rubber moldings above the tail lights and the one across that he is mistaking for chrome have become washed out due to waxing the car's paint. Mine is the same way and will not come back to normal, even when using Mother's back to black solution, it isn't perfect.

[dgi]

Looks good!!! I love hearing positive impressions of these cars as im currently in the market.

The potiential mod list sounds good... looking forward to the responses!

[steve fox]

certainly change lube, but save your money for a Trilogy. If you like the performance now, you will love it witha s/c.

[MrBluGruv]

Honestly, I think if you're gonna drop serious change on mods, you need to really figure out what you're gonna be doing with it.

If you just want the real nice cruiser and don't care too too much about really hauling ass, swap 4.10 gear in the rear and get an ECU retune and call it a day. My experience isn't gonna be everyone's experience, but almost ALL the other bolt-ons don't yield much return for the money and as with any modification, if not done right it can cause a number of problems with that part and possibly with others. Also unless racing from a dig is all you care about, I wouldn't bother at all with a higher stall torque converter, it will give you nothing at-speed. If that's one thing I've learned in the two years of modification on this car, it's that modding always opens the door to problems, and modding can and will turn into a VERY expensive game the further you go into it.


If you just want really fast, I'd say don't bother with ANYTHING else except a trilogy kit (and a tune for it of course). Everything is included, it's practically a factory bolt-on, and it'll give you enough performance to out-run just about anything that isn't modded itself.


None of this applies of course if you have limitless amounts of money and want to be the fastest thing on the street. :P