A buddy of mine just bought his dads old '88 Vette and he's already talkin smack to me that his car can drop boots to mine. I don't know much about TPI vettes, but do i stand a chance? I looked the car over, and it apears to be stock. What do you guys think? Can i beat it?

 

I think you'll beat him.

 

by the way the vette is an A4, my car is an A4...just thought i'd add that in

 

I agree as well..
Let us know how it goes if you do race!

 

You’ll actually kill him, my best friend had a TPI vette his was a manual though and we both went to the track together and I spanked him in 3 separate races. I had him by about an average of .5 sec every time. To bad he just bought an LT1 vette so I can't wait to go to the track with him this season.

 

on the street you are romped.

my buddy with 91 vette (a bit better than 88) would ROCK me to 70 BONE stock EVERY TIME. I was running 13.2@106 and then some minor mods. 70+ I I flew by him.
I pulled 2.0's regularly so its not like i'm a crappy driver.

They are just sooo light and soo torquey.

 

Don't you just love the variety of opinions you get on this board? Already they range from "you'll kill him" to "you'll get romped" On this issue I can talk from some personal experience. I have two good friends, one (still) owns his '88 Vette (auto trans), and one owned a '96 Z28 (M6). The only mod the Vette had was a chip, (yes you can re-chip TPI motors), and the Camaro was bone stock with a good driver. Trey is right, (though not often j/k ) you'll get romped. Sorry to break the bad news

 

Well, I have one of each although my 'Vette is an '87 and my Z is a '94. Vette is an A4 (2.73) and Z is M6 (3.42).

Driven back to back, you'd swear the Vette was much quicker but in the 1/8, the Z is a tenth or two quicker and about 1 more MPH of trap speed. If they were equal weight (Vette weighs 3160 with half tank), it wouldn't even be close.

Corvette has a K&N element, aftermarket exhaust, and a slightly ported plenum/base.

Z28 has mods listed although I haven't run it since I installed the headers and electric WP. It is definitely stronger with those two additions!

The '88 Vettes were rated 5HP higher than mine due to a redesign of the heads. They are pretty comparable in dragstrip performance to the '87s.

In your case, it's a hard call overall. It could go either way based on starting speed, vehicle condition, etc.

 

so i guess my buddy just can't shift or something because you guys are all saying how close it would be. but we've got the timeslipps and he never got below a 14.2 @ 97 in his TPI vette.

 

thats about all they were good for was low 14's. i have a buddy whose dad has had a couple of 88-89 vettes and they all ran low-mid 14's. with a few boltons they will go high 13's mid13's with good traction. if you get him out of the hole he wont catch you. they will run out of steam at about 5400rpm so dont sweat it.

 

I think we're gonna try to run them tonight, as long as it doesn't rain. I'm not big on street racing, but this is a hard one to pass up unlike the typical honda that i usually ignore when the pull up reving

 

Weird...I always thought the tpi vettes were slow, like high 14's. Good thing I'm modded or I'd have to worry a little. Let us know how it goes.

 

WTF.....soo many different opinions on this board, gotta love it. Didn't you say it was a convertable? If so, then theres a tenth or so on your side. But, from what I have always seen...those vettes are dogs. I have never had a problem with one from a stop or roll(have raced 3 of them...all people I knew). But my car isnt stock anymore either. I have never seen a stock TPIvette run better than a intune stock LT1 fbody. Some fbody LT1s run high 13s stock. I have not ever seen a stock TPI vette run 13s. Now with tires and a bolt on or two...that can all change, my2cents. Either way, have fun.

 

if you want to make it a fai race, tell your buddy to shift at 48-4900, not the "real" redline.

the race better go over 65 or your ****ed

 

Ditto My friend ran a TPI vette auto in his 97 LT1 2.73 auto and until about 60 the vette had him by a smidge then after that it was all over. They do have great low end, but run out of steam real quick. I'd say an LT1 vs TPI is about like an LT1 vs LS1. The older of the 2 will have a slight advantage low end then the newer of the 2 will pull away. Find a desolate road and run em to 100+ just to tear his ego and shut him up

Jason