So is it all worth it? (performance thread)

cwhit23 said:

don't get me wrong, the car is impressive for dang near stock, but I'm looking to leap and get over this barely better than stock..

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Sounds to me like you've already answered your own question, just looking for reinforcement, and you know what we're gonna say :winks

Yes, get FI. But for how long will that satisfy you before you want more again?

Just checking...

hubkap said:

Yes, get FI. But for how long will that satisfy you before you want more again?

Just checking...

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Exactly, I just got a S/C and I am like a kid in a candy store who can't get enough. Its very addictive once you get going.

hubkap said:

Sounds to me like you've already answered your own question, just looking for reinforcement, and you know what we're gonna say :winks

Yes, get FI. But for how long will that satisfy you before you want more again?

Just checking...

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lol! you're right.. how long does it keep you satisfied until it feels slow again? Again, you arey right.. I think I'm just looking for maybe a bump of motivation/reinforcement or something to talk myself into such a pricey mod.

On the other side of that coin, I've always prided myself on having decently fast n/a cars. Kind of a hang up I've had, is being able to run n/a against cars that werent. .. However.. that was stroked windsors, a built 390 even at one point, old school hot rod stuff... I think I'm just behind the technology curve, odd considering I am an IT tech. lol

warp 7 said:

It never ends I started bone stock, now I have 754rwhp + 2-150 shots of NOS, and I'm still looking as to how I can add more and still be streeable???

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true so very true, it's never enough. Add a little and want alot. It's like a drug. lol.. thats the other side of it, I like to keep things "streetable" I don't want a full out roll caged race car.

I am curious, how many of you with over 500 horsepower would be comfortable driving your car long haul on Power Tour? Do you trust that the car would get you there and back again? Without something breaking? Could you afford the gas for a 1200 mile trip?
I only bring this up because I built a 94 Z28 that had Direct Port NOS, Rossler TH400 RMVB, 4000 stall Nitrous converter, Strange 12 Bolt with 4.10 and a spool. It was a blast at the track or 20 minutes around town but for anything more than that it sucked. The car sat in the garage way more than it ever got driven. The bigger its balls got the more it sat in the garage. I ended up parting it out.
I offer this as a cautionary tale. Make sure you know what you want the car to be and that you can live with it. The mods stack up easily and compromises seem trivial at the time while chasing a RWHP rating or a timeslip.
I think I subconsciously bought a V6 just so I would not be near as tempted to gut it and make it a race car. I can jump in it at a seconds notice and go anywhere.
I just don't want you to look at the car one day many mods from now and come to the realization that the car is so hardcore that its no fun anymore.
It happened to me.

revtime said:

I am curious, how many of you with over 500 horsepower would be comfortable driving your car long haul on Power Tour? Do you trust that the car would get you there and back again? Without something breaking? Could you afford the gas for a 1200 mile trip?

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I'm comfortable knowing that my car would be up to it, the ride would be comfy and a/c would work when needed, nothing would break, and gas mileage would be decent...but having done a portion of the Hot Rod Power Tour before for work, it gets boring. So yeah, my car's up for it but not me :nogrinner

But I hear what both you and cwhit are saying. My race seats and 8-pt with removable door bars is as far as I'm willing to take my car. No sense having more than 700 rwhp in a street car IMO because at that level you can't even track it without major changes...and I'm not willing to go there.

cwhit23 said:

So I've been sitting here, just back from the track, my car slowed down tonight.. :mesad:

I'm sure the difference is it was 91 degrees and humid as crap. however it's never a good track night when you digress. my track was crappy and my 60ft times were worse..

I'm just wondering if all the little stuff is even worth it anymore. All the bolt on mods, or should one just go f/i and be done with it? I know some bolt-ons compliment the f/i.. But in reality, would one be better off skipping all the inbetween stuff and just getting a supercharger.

don't get me wrong, the car is impressive for dang near stock, but I'm looking to leap and get over this barely better than stock..

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Well, I'm a big fan of forced induction (ATI ProCharger specifically), but it depends on what you call the "little stuff". All of the boost in the world won't help if you can't hook it up! :yup:

OP my opinion is a supercharger is the most cost effective way to get to 450rwhp. And with a blower driveability does not suffer. I drove my car back from Brenspeed (700 miles) after blower install. It never missed a beat. My car had not once given me and problems that I did not cause myself. The other day at 50mph for a 7 mile stretch I hit 31mpg.

My .02 cents. I think the weather played a huge factor, without those mods, you would have done worse. See that's the cup is half full look.

Now as for the F/I. I was thinking of getting nitrous (I wont pay 6-7K for more acceleration, at least not at this point in life) but I thought about it and said to myself why? I'm happy with my car 95% of the time. The 5% is when like today a Corvette came up to me a revved up and I shook him off. So to me the price is too high for a little more satisfaction when pressing the gas pedal.

Get those 4.10s installed. I know those will make your car more fun. Maybe you'll be satisfied... for a month or so anyway:winks

Yeah, I need to get my 4:10s in, I'm waiting on my mechanic though, I'm pretty much at his mercy because he doesn't charge me, so it's kind of when he wants to do it.. But hey, it saves me a ton of money. So I can't complain..

You're right, I've always wanted f/i but man the price is high.. I think I'm just gonna get my gears done, a few little things, window tint, and a few things like that, sit back and enjoy the ride, perhaps trade up for a used shelby in a few years !

revtime said:

I just don't want you to look at the car one day many mods from now and come to the realization that the car is so hardcore that its no fun anymore.
It happened to me.

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This is good advice and kind of made sense to me. I love driving my car and I'd hate to have it such a beast I didn't wanna drive it no more..

I just wanna run in the 12's and I'll be happy, I think I should be able to do that with some modest mods and some good tires from feedback I recieved in other threads.

revtime said:

I am curious, how many of you with over 500 horsepower would be comfortable driving your car long haul on Power Tour? Do you trust that the car would get you there and back again? Without something breaking? Could you afford the gas for a 1200 mile trip?
I only bring this up because I built a 94 Z28 that had Direct Port NOS, Rossler TH400 RMVB, 4000 stall Nitrous converter, Strange 12 Bolt with 4.10 and a spool. It was a blast at the track or 20 minutes around town but for anything more than that it sucked. The car sat in the garage way more than it ever got driven.

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I just noticed this part...no wonder it sucked on the streets and sat in the garage - you had a spool!

Without that, donthcha think you'd have actually driven it more on the streets??

Those $200 things are race & straight-line only, and the only thing I see that made your Camaro so "hardcore" it was no longer fun/streetable...

cwhit23 said:

Yeah, I need to get my 4:10s in, I'm waiting on my mechanic though, I'm pretty much at his mercy because he doesn't charge me, so it's kind of when he wants to do it.. But hey, it saves me a ton of money. So I can't complain..

You're right, I've always wanted f/i but man the price is high.. I think I'm just gonna get my gears done, a few little things, window tint, and a few things like that, sit back and enjoy the ride, perhaps trade up for a used shelby in a few years !

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That makes a lot of sense. I was wondering what was taking so long, you've had them 4.10s forever. I'd wait too to save $400+ on install. :bigthumbsup

If you want that acceleration for the track only, get a nitrous kit. It's cheap. Plus no added strain on a regular basis. You'll get into the mid-low 12s for sure.

Or do the sqidd intake piece by piece over time. :bigthumbsup Not much cheaper overall but it can be if you find good deals, and you can do it over a year or so.