BadmeanIROCZ

Okay, since I just joined today I have to be honest, this race happened back in late August of this year. At the time I was going to a local performance parts store to pick up my new Prothane trans mount for a lovely $31.00.

On my way to the store, I was just driving 40mph and I am coming to a stoplight. I am at the light listening to some tunes and then I see a black on black rims 2010 Camaro V6 pull up next to me. I liked the car alot, real sharp. I was looking for a SS badge but it was the LT Camaro. Still a fast car for a V6 I was thinking. Most dyno's of the V6's show them making anywhere from 240rwhp to 250rwhp bone stock to the air filter. I know they weigh abit more but with this new technology engines have, it's crazy!

Anyway, the driver and I start going at the green light. I was thinking nothing special and then the Camaro just leaps really quick accelerating away to the next light. I'm thinking, this guy wants to play I guess, lolz. At the time I had a bad tranny mount (old rubber one causing my trans to jump up/down) and I wasn't racing anyone. In fact my racing had calmed down abit since I'm just more into cruising and enjoying the moment.

At the light I had my window down and he had his down. The light turns green and we both go slowly..... We get to almost 25mph and he looks over at me and motions to race. I don't have a horn that works on my car right now but he honked his once and started to go. As soon as he did that I hit the gas and along with my tranny mount jumping up/down, my car just freaking flew off. I pass the guy at around 40mph (he got the jump on me) and after I pass him up, I'm still going as he is (I can hear his aftermarket exhaust) and I'm thinking now come on, beat me dude. You got a 305hp engine, what's up? We were both going at it but once I got up to 90-95, I shut it down. He just couldn't catch me and I had about 3 car lengths on him. I slowed down on purpose and he got up next to me and I thumbed him up on his nice ride and he thumbed me up and the look on his face was priceless indeed. It was a nice and clean friendly race and I beat him fairly well. I was impressed with my car and I knew she ran well. So that's one of my many racing stories.

One guy I mentioned this to said something was wrong with the race because he figured the V6 should've beat me (this is coming from a guy who knew nothing about my car period) and I just told him simply that we both had automatic's, so there's no room for error with the driver, lolz.

Anywho, hope you guy's enjoyed it.

BadmeanIROCZ

Wow, no interest in a old car vs. a new car. Maybe this section just doesn't get alot of hits.

foxbat

you have superior torque 320 to his 273, and 300-400 pounds less weight. more hp does not always win the stoplight grand prix.

good kill

BadmeanIROCZ

Well, let's dissect what you said there because it's interesting you say that.
1.) My car came with 330 torque and 230hp stock. Stock it weighed 3,280lbs. without a driver. Yeah, the new Camaro's weigh more but they also have that additional power to help somewhat curb that.

2.) You're right, more horsepower doesn't mean anything all the time. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it's not as important as other factors. In this case, it was a 25-95 race, which would mean he should've beaten me which would be true if my car were stock or close to it anyway.

3.) My car isn't anything close to stock so when I raced him, I ran him knowing my power output and I wanted to see how I'd do once he started going. The fact that the dude couldn't even catch me was an eye opener into the whole thing as I'm one of those types that loves to dissect all details, no matter how mundane it is to others.

4.) If my car were stock or close to, he would've laid the rape on me at some point before we even hit 80mph. Since we were both going already, traction wasn't an issue even though my tires were pretty much bald on the rear. Plus he had exhaust so that should've given him some more power than stock.

I had a poll somewhere awhile back about a stock L98 vs. a stock LT V6 Camaro and most agreed that the a stock L98 would get the jump but would lose in the race the longer it carried on. If we had gone from a dig, dead stop, I'd say I would've been many more car lengths as I am aware of my car's set-up and most guy's running in new cars figure an old car like ours is beat the crap.

BTW: Thanks for the thanks, lolz.

Quite awhile back I had raced a G8 GT and the guy I raced had told me his car was stock. Stock G8 GT's make somewhere around stock LS1 powers, like my old LS1 T/A did at 304rwhp. Most dyno's I've seen for the G8's made around 290-305rwhp bone stock. This guy lied to me though about his power output and including his T/C that I don't have, I lost to him. I did an okay job at running him but he beat me because he had alot more power and had better traction. I only mention this because my car weighs considerably less than that one and lesser weight doesn't always help without right traction and so forth. Plus you have a G8 GT and I thought you'd be interested in this bit. Those 4 door sedan's are no joke though, I think they're one of THE best sport's sedan's Pontiac ever made.

CharlzO

Just wanted to point out, that it's only interesting to say that, because nothing in your original post lets us know that you weren't compaing a stock 'ROC, to the new ride. You made it sound like you were totally surprised that he didn't just whoop by you, but then you told us that you aren't stock. Not diggin, just sayin.

Speaking of which, what have you done to yours? Curious to know

I do miss my '86 though. Was just so much more fun to drive than anything new I've had. Just had a better feel to it.

BadmeanIROCZ

Right on, right on guy. I can understand your feeling for the IROC. Before I actually tell you what's done to my car below, I've got some extra words for you and anyone else who read this to see. I hope you don't mind reading a story somewhat, lolz. It's just my way of talking.

In the broad scheme of things, my car is nothing special or extravagant. Others have done more and and others have done the same at some point I'm sure. I like to find out everything about a car when I own it, so I do alot of testing and dyno them when I have the time and feel it's time to do so. Also, with more than 15 years working on domestic cars in one way or another, I feel that I do a fairly good job when I put my head into something. I have friends who are car guru's/mechanics who pitch in when possible. Makes it more fun that way!

When I first bought the car, I decided it would be wise to get it dynoed and to take it to the track to see how she would run. Back then the set-up on my car was quite abit different and much much more close to stock.

Even though I bought it with some good mild work already put into the motor/car, it had full weight, a stock 700r4 transmission, 15" rims with non-performance tires, an aluminum driveshaft which came stock on the car, a 2:77 9 bolt rear end and the suspension/chassis was the stock IROC-Z suspension. All of that had to change. She only had 122k original miles when I bought her. I knew I was going to be putting some time/money into her. So I had her dynoed 3 times and the best was 236rwhp and 320rwt. Not bad at all for a modified TPI set-up I thought. My best 0-60 back then was about 6.5 seconds on average which is decent for a then 22 year old car.

In March 2009, I took her to Gateway (before they closed) and ran 4 times with 1 being against a mid-90's Mustang GT 5 speed. I did this in cool early spring temps, little wind out and fairly okay traction. My 1st run was 14.3, then 14.2 and my last run I got in was a 14.0 @ 98mph. The race against the Mustang was good as I beat him and I think he ran a 14.8 or something like that at around 93mph. Anywho, back then I thought those were good times with what was done to the car.

Fast forward nearly 3 years later and over $9,000 including my own labor into her, and I've got a car that can zip to 0-60 in 4.9 seconds (my best so far) and can do it in the low 5's on average. We know however that 0-60's don't really tell anything compared to a 1/4 mile run and dyno tuning. But it's been a work in progress and hasn't been without it's hurdles getting there & also plenty of naysayers who talk trash on L98's. That's why I keep to myself on my car mostly. I don't like trash talkers and I don't like anyone trying to tell me I don't know what my car can do or what it's capable of either. Too many know it all's in the world, especially on the internet!

Without further ado, here's the general list of what's done to my car so far.
Built up & stalled "slaughtermatic" 700r4 transmission with gas mileage in the mid-20's on highway, mid-high teen's in the city if easy on gas. Next up is a nearly complete built suspension set-up, gears, minor brake modding, high performance Kumho Ecsta tires, full exhaust, a fully modified air intake system & TPI, mild cam, extensive weight reduction, aluminum driveshaft, full bolt-on's, a nearly finished upgraded ignition system, timing advanced, B&M ratchet shifter for ability to control my shifting in races or testing when I choose to do so, cooling upgrades & general maintenance kept up. I also have a rebuilt interior I did myself with help from a friend/my wife which includes a new head unit. Nothing special.

So there you go, nothing fancy but it's enough for the moment and I'm still doing more upgrading and modifying. It's a money pit and a never-ending work horse. Since our track is not open for 1/4 mile runs and won't be for another year supposedly, I have no idea what she would do 1/4 mile wise anymore. I had her dynoed earlier this Fall & she made pretty good numbers pulling 279rwhp and 360rwt. Driving the car, she pulls through gears pretty hard and sweet.

These new Kumho tires should provide me with much better traction because of the tread pattern and softer design. Past few months I've been driving on low tread rear tires and my traction has been zilch to none with alot of wheel spin when heavy off the line.

I'm sorry if I've talked too much, lolz.

kwik_ta

Damn you're long winded lol... Just playing.

When did they close gateway? That was the one on the east side right?

BadmeanIROCZ

I think IIRC that it was closed last year in early 2010 sometime but now it's re-opened partially I think, don't quote me on it, for some racing. But I'm sure it won't be open again for 1/4 miler's and Mid-Night Madness until next September based on an article from around here I read.

Gtpguy

I just came from my 6th 3rd gen before my current Trans Am. I love TPI, I love squeezing everything thing out of them. My last one did a 14.8@95. Something was going on the lowend, a stuck caliper, failing torque converter, gummed injectors, something. I feel the 22yr old bone stock car was capable of a 14.3 or a 14.4.

The V6s do low 14's@96ish. With that much HP you should be low 13's@105ish. I guess you only went from a 25 roll so you never got to use your torque from a launch. So that might explain a bit. And of course his power probably goes up to near 6500-7000rpms where yours dies off around 5000. So that extra 15-2000 rpm of usable power really comes into play.

Very interesting race. You got more power in a smaller range and weigh less, he has less power in a broader range and weighs more. The outcome makes sense.

kwik_ta

Damn the Lou lost 2 tracks. What a bummer. I used to live in st peters and ofallon. It pissed me off when those retarded yuppies forced mid America to close but to lose gateway too... Time to race the 367 autobahn lol

AutoRoc

Same color as my 89!! Looks good. Im a fan of hidden exhaust tips myself..

BadmeanIROCZ

Yeah, I hear ya. TPI is an awesome set-up IMHO, regardless of naysayers and there are plenty of ways to make alot more power with it and pull to 6,000 RPM's too. You can stick a turbo or 2 on them or supercharge them and pick up an additional 100-125rwhp on a BONE STOCK TPI L98. I've got the video I ordered last winter showing how they did that. One picked up 100rwhp and one picked up 125rwhp where it made 325rwhp on a bone stock engine except the aftermarket exhaust they added and the supercharger I mentioned above (no headers). Stick one turbo (depending on size, etc) and you can pick up about 90rwhp at least on a bone stock TPI system. I know a guy who had it like that and I think he did some more stuff and made about 320rwhp on a single turbo system with some exhaust work too. That's just 3 ways you can do it. H/C/I/E work, you'll pick up well over a 100rwhp and it's better to do at once.

On the race, when we went from a 25mph roll, I still have alot of torque but also more horsepower from that point than I would've from a dig to use AND I had traction at that point which helped. Back in late August when this happened, I still didn't have a misfire issue up top, and my car pulls to 5,700 RPM's without a problem. Now with the misfire issue that I'm getting close to finding out what it is, my car really won't go over 5,000 RPM's because of it unless I keep my foot on the gas and then I can get up there.

Yeah, the race was good and the way he couldn't even pull on me at all, at any speed, I was surprised. I know the V6's now have around 320hp new, so we'll see. That's LS1 territory from 10-12 years ago!

BadmeanIROCZ

Yeah, I hear you. They just weren't making as much money as they used to at Gateway and I think that's why they closed it all down for awhile. Now it's opened again like I said up top and I'm not sure on all of what they're doing there. But 367, lol, I know where that's at and I'm in the area you used to live in. I hate it here BTW.

TO AUTO ROC: I saw your page on your website and your car looks amazing. I think our cars look identical except I had painted my car flat cherry red instead of leaving it glossy cherry red. But here's my website if you want to see my stuff going on and look at other articles there.

www.iroczthecamaro.webs.com

Gtpguy

It may be 320 on paper, but it will dyno much less than an LS1's dyno of 300.

BadmeanIROCZ

Well, I know that but still, the 323hp at the crank on new V6's, dude, you gotta admit, that's pretty impressive. I like how have this new technology on one hand that can do this for engine's, even V6's. With 323hp at the crank, I'd say it's making around 250-260rwhp. That's typically what I've seen on dyno papers on rwhp numbers in the 320 region.