I have been a all motor guy for a long time...always like to say N/A..but the reality is if I want to have a bad street car, I have to boost the thing. Nitrous will be expensive once I start using it...probably a bottle or two a week. Yes, I am a freaking maniac.

The thing that has been changing my mind is my 03 Lightning. It idles low, great driveability, makes decent power for being basically stock(cai)378/445@wheels. I really like how it comes into it's power and it just holds the tq the entire time. It should shortly be making 400+/500+ while being a tame, my wife could drive the thing, beast. This appeals to me.

I was planning on buying a 12 bolt this year and have a 10 pt rollcage put in, get some forged pistons, throw on my AFR 220 LT4 heads, big solid roller, more stall and look for solid 10's on the motor, then spray a 200 shot. But, this is hardly a streetable and friendly combo. Fast, sure, but pretty radical.

I still plan on getting a 12 bolt and having the 10 pt rollcage put in. But now I am wondering are my AFR heads a little big for a boosted application?

I would like to know if 700rwhp on 93 octane is doable. Am I losing it with this goal? I would like to run mid 9's@140+ looking externally stock.

Turbo, Procharger, Vortech???

Any thoughts?

 

big jump from 600 to 700HP, its do-able, turbo would be nice so u could easily turn the boost down and run pump gas or up at the track with some higher octane Tuning is key, and really deep pockets

 

If you are talking about a street production car like a 4th gen, the cost and complexity associated with going faster rises enormously when you want to run in the nines. At the same time, you are talking about buying a Lightning. Before you invest a fortune in the Camaro you need to decide what you really want, unless you are able to afford both.

There are endless debates and a lot of talk about "street" cars in the nines. But I have seen very, very few of them. I guess it all depends on your definition of a street car. To me, a street car has to have good manners, be reasonably quiet and relaible and have a full complement of "creature comforts" like AC. This means it's heavy and therefore requires big hp to go fast. But even with serious weight reduction a 4th gen is a pretty heavy car. If it were easy or cheap, everyone would have one.

Rich Krause

 

I already own a 2003 Lightning.

I know what your saying and lately I just have changed my line of thinking. I would like to have something that is not a race car, but yet runs like one with a/c, comfortable, handles ok.

I would rather have a stock looking and handling Z28 that runs very well than something that is simply a PITA to drive on the street. If I boost it, I don't have to run massive stall or a lot of gear.

 

Boost is the answer...

11s on Motor is good, just think of that motor on crack BOOST BOOST BOOST!

 

Sorry, I misunderstood about the Lightning. Yes, a very fast but civilized street 4th is possible. That's what my goal was for my car and I finally have it 90% to where I want it. The piece of the puzzle that I still haven't completely solved is the tranny. I am currently running a TH400 and the car needs an OD to be really enjoyable on the street. Once I decide which way to go I will try either a strengthened T56, a beefed up 4L80 or the TH400 with a Gear Vendors OD.

The solution to making the HP needed yet stay with a mild cam and small heads that I adopted was a centrifugal SC plus nitrous (for the track). The nitrous provides the low end torque and the SC gives it the needed top end. A big fuel system and beefy driveline parts are needed. In one sense you could see it as very expensive. In another, it's only a fraction of the price of an exotic supercar and is a lot faster than any of them.

As far as your specific question, I think you are correct. The AFR 227's aren't needed and the port size will compromise the drivability. The valvetrain components needed for those heads will also be an unnecessary expense and complication. I am using a set of ported AFR 195cc castings and would do it the same way again for my goals.

Rich Krause

 

I've been wanting to ask you Rich, what cam are you running? Shelf or Custom Grind. And where? Thanks again

 

I am on my third custom cam. The first two were entirely my own ideas. I consulted on this new one with Bret Bauer. No results yet - the motor will be going in the car this week (next week at the latest) though and we'll see how it works then.

Rich Krause

 

Dude, you've been on here for years, you know your ****....Id say go the FI route...no one on heres gonna tell you anything that you dont know....Good luck whatever you do...your LT1 isnt too shabby as it it.

 

I know my way around all motor cars somewhat...never really paid much attention to the boosted crowd until recently.

 

I think the trick to running on pump gas is to strap on the biggest intercooler you can fit and plumb it with as bigga pipe as you can fit. Lose those heads in favor of some with 64cc chambers and keep the compression ratio around 9.5 to 1 or a little lower on an LT1. The heads can be ported to breathe, but keep the compression lower. With a blower that can spin up past 10#s of boost, you won't need to worry about about the low end and you can go a lot lower than most would think on the torque convertor. An LT1 setup this way gets to rpm real quick. The main problem is keeping it from becoming a smoke machine. Rich is right on the money regarding the tranny. I stuck with the fully built 4L60e, but the jury is out...

We threw a lot at it on the dyno and had no problems with 91 octane pump gas. Never a hint of detonation. Of course the MAF maxes out at 5000 rpm, so you have to jack up the fuel tables above that. Hopefully the ProFlow MAF will help with that problem, but won't know for a few weeks.

 

I agree with both rskrause and TonyJ

There is alot of research to be done on blowers before going that route.