Tuning the Cadillac ATS

"Tuning guide to the best Cadillac ATS modifications."

We outline options for your ATS tuning and show the best modifications for your car. Cadillac ATS's have loads of potential and with the optimum uprated upgrades you can definitely increase your driving opportunities.

The 463bhp version of the ATS-V shows the sheer potential of the ATS platform, and even basic ATS engines can be dramatically improved with a relatively small outlay.

If you do your homework then you can create an awesome ATS but don't be fooled there are lots of parts out there that will simply not suit it read our unbiased guides first.

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Handling modifications are high on the agenda for the ATS.

ATS-V suspension upgrades make good sense and show what is lacking on the rather lacklustre ATS suspension setup.

Adding a little negative camber to the front and around 1 to 1.7 degrees of toe in to improve stability or toe out for better cornering, will dramatically improve your ATS in handling and cornering.

Drop the car by as much as 30mm - 42 mm. and fit sports stiffer dampers, bigger drops will need other modifications in most instances.

Top end power should be your overall aim on the ATS with a nice fat peak torque band.

Smaller engines do not provide much of a return in terms of power so start with a bigger engine. Engine swaps are a good option if you have a small engine size.

Engine Tuning.

• 2.5 L LCV Ecotec I4 (gasoline)
• 2.0 L LTG Ecotec i4 (turbocharged gasoline)
• 3.6 L LFX V6 (gasoline / E85)
• 3.6 L LGX V6 (gasoline)

The ATS-V performance version

• 3.6 L LF4 Twin-turbo DOHC V6

This list of the stages and motorsport mods are usually installed by our members, decide how far you want to push your car before you get started.

Getting the correct grade of modified mods for your planned usage of the car is vital. Stage 3 competition upgrades just won't work well on the road hard to control in slow traffic.

Please watch our introduction Video tutorial to car tuning. Be sure to subscribe and support our new channel.

Modifying to Stage 1:

 Remap, Alloy wheels, Panel air filter, Lighter flywheel, Suspension upgrade (drop 30mm - 42 mm.), Sports exhaust.

Modifying to Stage 2:

 Ported and polished head, fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injector, Power/Sport clutch.

Modifying to Stage 3:

 Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Sports gearbox, Competition cam, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Engine balancing.

Your aims when modding the engine should be a wide torque output. You want to avoid sending all the torque to be at the top end unless you are creating a motor sport car.

The point of our guides is to give a brief overview of modifying modifications and point you in the right direction, our forum is the place to go for detailed advice and tips on your customized car project, the best sport kits and all aspects of modding cars.

A fast road cam is widely accepted as one of the best NASP power mods you can do mechanically to your engine.

It maximises the intake and exhaust durations and increases the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a reflashed ECU. TorqueCars would caution you not to go with a competition cam as this affects the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

Don't forget to ramp up the fuelling when you are increasing the power - it makes the car more thirsty.

Most power losses, flat spots and erratic idling after sports kits are done can usually be traced to fuel delivery or timing issues. Upgrading the injectors is another beneficial modification and will deliver sufficient fuel.

If have increased your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Air induction kits only help to add performance if your air intake is struggling!

Adding an induction kit to most stock engines will see LITTLE LOW END POWER GAIN AT ALL. If you have heavily modified your engine and it's need for air INCREASES DRAMATICALLY then an induction kit is the answer and will help remove this restriction.

For most ATS engines TorqueCars would suggest you just go with a washable panel air filter. On heavily tuned engines and turbo vehicles an induction kit will help release the power providing you address the problem of needing cold air.

Sports exhausts balance the flow of gases through the engine. But if your exhaust pipe is too large, ie: it's over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a lot of your flow rate and end up sapping power and torque.

Getting the head ported and polished will further help more air into each cylinder. This is definitely a job for a pro with a flow bench.

Your clutch can seriously let you down as you increase the power if it starts to suffer and the standard clutches are only ever good for power gains of up to 48%.

Fit a sports clutch to avoid power leak through the transmission. The best mods we recommend for your ATS are remaps, sports camshafts and induction improvements.

Turbo engines are just begging to be remapped. You will see phenomenal power gains on most modern turbo charged cars including diesels making a remap one of the most cost effective and phenomenal modifications for your money.

We've also seen some tuners playing with twincharging applications and making some impressively high power hikes.

The most phenomenal power gains for NASP engines usually involve the addition of forced induction. Superchargers are generally easier to add than a turbo. Turbos provide boost in increasing proportion to increasing engine speed and this can make mapping difficult.

Superchargers however will give a boost which is proportional to engine speed so is simpler. To cope with forced induction you will usually need to decrease the compression ratio of the engine .

Alloy wheel upgrades.

Alloy wheels will help the brakes cool down and are generally lighter than steel ones.

Don't forget that your choice of rubber greatly affects your cars grip and handling.

It is not worth compromising performance with cheap tyres when you can buy track legal slick performance tires.Large ATS alloys can decrease performance. If you get big alloys you will be changing your final drive ratio.

Due to this try to keep the overall rolling diameter of the wheel the OEM setup. In all cases not going larger than 18 inches.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss ATS options in more detail with our ATS owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Cadillac tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

Please help us improve these tips by sending us your feedback in the comments box below.

We love to hear what our visitors have got up to and which mods work best for them on each model of car. Comments are used to improve the accuracy of these articles which are continually updated.

This article was written by Waynne Smith on TorqueCars, and I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Cadillac. You can leave a response below or join TorqueCars forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

If you liked this page please share it with your friends, drop a link to it in your favourite forum or use the bookmarking options to save it to your social media profile.

Check out TorqueCars new YouTube channel, and see their awesome new content...