It is called picking the right parts and making the car light. I did not think it was possible either but i am being amazed.

 

SAR2K lists his race weight at 3525 lbs, that's not exactly light is it, or is it, I've never weighed my car??? I'm only trapping low 100's (101-102) without the power adder and he's running 110's (also with the A4), that's nearly what I'm trapping with a 150 shot of juice!!! Where in the world is all that extra horsepower coming from, please tell me that 1.7 RR arent making all that power!!! I'd love to know SAR2K's combo as I'm sure others would too. It just blows my mind to think all that power can be found before touching the heads or cam (obviously not that it cant be done).............SAR2K, what's your secret!!!

Joe.

 

Joe, (this may get long but sorry)
Shon has a VERY good point... picking the right parts. And yes weight plays a good part too. My TA is lighter than many out there, but by NO means among the light weight F-Bodies (cars in the 3100 to 3300 range).
I bought this car in 1998 and ran it at the track for a full year before I made any changes to the car. This allowed me to get used to the car and see how it acts at the strip. Yes you even need to get used to an A4. I wanted 13's bone stock before I did any mods. The car went 13.90 in good air, at that point I figured it had run the best it could stock.
By the end of 1999 I began to mod the car. I litterally did one thing at to see how the car reacted to it.
At this point in time Frank W was running 12.2 in a bolt-on LT1. Considering that was 2 years ago it's still incredable. Once I heard about his car it gave me a goal to shoot for.
The numbers I'm currently putting down at the track are the results of over three years of slowly moding the car, playing with the tuning, learning the hard way what works & does'nt work, & looking at what other people are doing as well. I log every pass I make at the track and keep a spreadsheet. I track everything from car set up to air temp, humidity, Baro, intake temp. This helps out greatly. if you don't keep track of every litle thing you'll never truly know if you're improving or going the wrong way.
The only time I've done multiple mods at once was back in May & June of this year getting ready for the GMTHP LT1 Bolt-On shootout in Englishtown. The quick mods I did then are paying off now, but actally hurt me at the Shootout.
I had added a Meziere w/p, bumped the converter from 2800 to 3600 (actually flashes to 3800), installed sub frames, tubular K-member, dropped the front sway bar, roller rockers, MSD box, underdrive pulley, 52MM TB, & retuned the car on the Dyno.
With all that the car picked up power and I dropped some weight where it counted... up front. But when I got to E-Town it all came back and bit me HARD!!! With a bit more power and a bigger converter the car would not hook!!! And I should have known it was going to happen. The best 60' I could pull at E-town was a 1.72 spinning & wheel hopping my a$$ off, where before the car was consistent 1.66. Had I of spent another $110 for some LCA relocation brackets I'd of been dead hooking up there!!! As you can see another hard lesson learned.
As for my set up it's all listed in the article in GMHTP from the shootout. Jan 2003 issue.
Since the Shootout I've dropped some weight from the car for the winter to see how far I can take it without GUTTING the car. I've pulled the jack, spare, my subwoofer, & back seat. All combined good for 102 lbs. I actually keep the car above 3500 lbs with my fuel level. I still want to keep a realistic weight for a street car.
Now does this mean everyone should go out and buy every bolt-on I have and set their cars up exactly like mine, no way!!!
I do not suggest people drive on the highway with skinnies, no front sway bar, & bald BFG's... it's not real cool in the rain TRUST me. Plus this car is no longer my daily driver, so I can take my time and tinker with it and not have to worry about getting to work Monday, I'm VERY fortunate.
People need to decide what their goal for their car is... cam down the road, blower, stroker, N2O, etc... this will determine where they should spend their $$$. My car will remain a bolt-on car, so I'll keep spending $$$ on my 10 bolt rearend for example to make it live. Where as if I were going to spray or cam this car I'd be putting that money in a 12 bolt. Granted M6 bolt-on cars need the 12 bolt eventually, the converter cars can survive a bit longer with a 10 bolt and not loose any weight or efficency.
I still have other ideas to try to see just how far I can get and still be a bolt-on car.
I'm off to the track in Hattiesburg, Mississippi tomorrow to try out my cutout and ET Streets. Granted the weather will be nowhere like what I had for my 12.07 pass (DA -1700), but I will see how these new mods improve over runs from weather similar to I will see tomorrow. Looking at tomorrow forecast I should run 12.28 - 12.30 without any changes, but if the cutout & ET Streets do what I anticipate 12.10 should be seen.
Any way sorry to ramble and I hope all this helps out some.
Steve...

 

I can explain this one! Your car isn't making any power with your 150 shot man! My friend has a 94 6spd z28 with LT's and Cai it runs 107-108 on motor and 115 with his 75 shot !! Your no where near that. Look at my times and think about it for a second. Do you think your car is running like a 450rwhp 550rwtq car?

 

kazman... sorry bud I didn't recognize the name at first. You ever get those bugs with the long tubes worked out???
Steve...

 

Steve ya bugs were a broken plug wire. I was running on 7 cylinders. No wonder I went 14's. I did get down into the 12.80 range. I'm getting rid of the stick for next season. I have a Turbo 400 being built and should have it by January. Car will be at the Englishtown test and tune's in March and should be ready for the bracket points starting in April.

 

When did I ever say that my car was a 450rwhp car???? And obviously I'm not going to be trapping as much as your friends 6 speed because it's just that, a 6 speed, I have an auto, power loss right there. I honestly feel that my car runs pretty much right on par for '95 model with 104,000 miles on it (it's every bit as fast or faster than most LT1 cars in this area with similar mods, A4 or M6). And I believe it's making power with the 150 shot to gain over 12 mph in the 1/8 mile with no timing retard or tuning. The whole point of my reply to this post was to try and get some info on how it was at all possible to get an all bolt-on LT1 in the 11's (or close), not to argue my car's power versus another.

Anyway, SAR2K, you've obviously done your homework and you know what your doing, thanks for the insight on your quest. My best wishes to you in reaching that 11 second mark, GOOD LUCK!!!

Joe.

 

Well looks like we know the problem now! If you have already gained 12mph in the first 1/8 then tell me why you are only gaining 9 total in the quarter? That would mean that even if you did not spray in the last half of the track that you would already be 12mph faster in the 1/4! So to sum it up you are gaining nothing in the last half of the track and infact losing 3mph.

 

I agree, I also believe that my car should be trapping a little faster MPH in the 1/4, not much, but a little. The times in the sig (NA) are last years best, not this season. The car would only trap 100-101 in the 1/4 this year, and on the juice the best trap speed was 111.99, once again a gain close to 12mph over all-motor. I only ran the spray twice on the 1/4, so there is plenty of room for improvement. But like I stated before, this has all been done before any tuning whatsoever, slapped the kit on and went racing. We had planned on hooking the car up to my friends lap-top (LT1 edit) to see what the car was doing while on the juice but never got the chance before the season ended, maybe next year. But this is SAR2K's thread, not mine, so this should probably end here.

Joe.

 

You've got some problem, or your car weights in the 4,000lb range. You should be trapping atleast 115 or higher. Not bashing here.

 

I seriously doubt that it weighs that much never had it on the scales though. Full street trim, with 17" WS6's and 225lb me behind the wheel. I started a new thread in the N2O forum, if you want to delve further into this dilema. Thanks.

Joe.

 

OMG! That is truly commendable!

You are now living my dream before I get heads/cam, etc. I still have Crane 1.6 race rockers to install along with springs and pushrods. I'm glad the bolt-on cars are "allowed" to run them, as I didn't really see my car going any quicker without serious weight reduction or a cutout/longtube combo. I would like to try my luck with the roll control, ET Streets instead of drag radials and install 4.10's, but in all honesty, I think my low-mile '95's rearend is on its way out.

Moser 12-bolt soon to come!

Great runs once again, my hat's off to ya!