my friend has a 06 Silverado with the 5.3 V8. He is looking to increase the MPG and HP. He wants to put in new plugs and wires, thermostat, cold air intake, programmer and exhuast. I told him I would help him out with the install when he got the stuff, but he is not sure what to get.

What is the best products for him to purchase to increase MPG and HP for the items listed below.

1. Plugs and Wires
2. Thermostat
3. Cold Air Intake
4. Programmer
5. Exhaust

Is there anything else you would recommend? He is looking for mainly the increase in MPG.

 

1. AC DELCO
2. leave stock unless damaged/malfunctioning, then factory replacement
3. K&N
4. Custom tune, blackbear performance
5. flowmaster or Magnaflow, this is based on personal opinion and you will get 500 different answers.

the best modification he can do to get better mpg is adjust how his right foot uses the skinny pedal. the second best will be the custom tune and keeping his right foot off the skinny pedal

 

bad2006z71 Thanks

 

I rather like my E3 spark plugs, but they're expensive. AC Delco's are okay; I wouldn't say they're amazing or anything.

If he hasn't already, switch the truck over to synthetic oil. Make sure it's a good synthetic too; not a blend or a high quality dino oil labeled as synthetic. That ought to free the engine up a little bit, not to mention prolong longevity as long as it hasn't already surpassed the 100k mile mark.

 

Blindsight What kind of synthetic oil do you recommend?

 

I run bosch platinum plugs and belden wires in everything I own. never run autolite or other generic cheap brand plugs and wires. they will degrade on short order.

also I run valvoline full synthetic in my gas hogs, chevron delo 400 in my heavy truck and royal purple in my drag truck... never run pissoil or quackerscrap oh I mean pennzoil or quakerstate you'll have fun scraping goo and **** out of your engine for a few hours.

if you really want to clean your engine out, drain the oil, before you drop the filter fill the crank with diesel and let it idle for about 10-20 min, drain it then put the clean oil and filter in.

 

This doesn't sound like an easy road.

I chose to improve my MPG over the long term. Many decide, and probably rightly so, that they want more horsepower.

These two goals, however, are at opposite ends of the performance spectrum, sort of like having your cake, and eating it, too. Good luck with that.

 

It has been my experience you can get both gains with a proper ECU tune, or "chip" upgrade, Personally I use "powerchip" and gained about 38 HP and 1-2 MPG. as well as many other features I was looking for. I did a quick search of their site, and they only list the 6.6 diesel silverado for an 06. they do list a avalanche 5.3 (but states not currently available) there are several other 3rd party chip tuners, and maybe even Chevy specific tunes available. I would state that these will not be tremendous gains over stock, but for me the value recieved was worth it.

 

Just dont think those pretty Bosch, E3, etc.. plugs will give you any more gain than the stock plugs. HP gains are all within your vehicles computer. Dont waste your $$ on pretty gimmick parts that are meant for cars over seas.

To me no spark plug is amazing, they all are just spark plugs if your using them in a stock application.

 

I wish my 6.0 got the mileage of a 5.3!!!