we all seem to be on a constant quest to make our cars faster, now having been this route over and over for fourty plus years and with many cars, and dozens of engines ETC. and having spent a small fortune on cars and engines over the years it EVENTUALLY sinks in that YOULL NEVER have the fastest car around and you only get to ENJOY your car when its running correctly So, whats a realistic goal, whats IMPRESSIVE to you? and what will make YOU happy?now I sat down and spent some time thinking this thru, thinking about what it takes, to have a good car, and for ME its not all about speed or E.T.,
Ive owned a very low 10 second corvette,and a low 10 second camaro, Ive had several 11 second cars, but the cars Ive enjoyed the most were the ones I got to drive on the street with both performance and DARN FEW PROBLEMS, CARS that while faster than average, were also cars that appeared to be nearly stock, and didn,t attract a good bit of attention, its just a P.I.T.A. to drive a car when your constantly needing to think about keeping the plugs from fouling or the local cops hearing it running, or one thats about to get stolen if you park it,without constant supervision,ETC. and when the local track requires a certifed roll cage, trans blanket,blow proof bell housings, and battery disconnects, ETC. and you can,t drive to the track, it fast becomes a P.I.T.A. most of the cars Ive really enjoyed driving were big block cars that would run in the low 12s or high 11 second range on street tires, they could be driven on trips to the store, or on vacation,, DEPENDABILITY was a HUGE PLUS, what made them so great was that they were both dependable and faster than ALMOST all the cars they got to play with on the street,you could EMBARRASS the local street screach ricers and mustang crowd, and there was little worry about breakage or problems, and you could park them without needing to watch them every second.
I just thought ID point that out for the newer guys here!
don,t get so worried about running fast! build your car so you can ENJOY it and DRIVE IT.
having 600-700 hp is nice, but nearly useless if you can,t go anywhere with the car............think it thru......you may really want 400-550 hp and a dependable car rather than a 600hp-900hp garage queen!
having a larger displacement engine generally means you can run with the engine slightly out of perfect tune and still have impressive performance, as in most things a compromise needs to be struck, but having a car you can enjoy on the street beats having a toy you can rarely get to drive, and only at the track, in most cases.
WHEN YOU CAN,T DEPEND ON THE CAR TO JUMP INTO IT ANY TIME AND DRIVE IT ON A local 2-3 hour TRIP ITS BASICALLY NOT A STREET CAR

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Ive worked on hundreds of cars over the years and the trend seems to be that a skilled driver in a good ,well thought thru combo can have a relieable car in the high 11 second range,to the low 12s, but once you get into a much faster car the problems opperating it on the street multiply to the point where you don,t enjoy driving it and spend an enormous amount of time and money just maintaining it.
and a guy who knows how to tune/adjust,a large displacement big block or car with a power assist like a turbo, nitrous,or in some cases a supercharger makes the goal far easier because your engines not putting all its potential power out all the time at a given rpm range.
now I'm certainly not saying you can,t build a good 9-10 second combo, but its going to take a good deal of thought and an enormous amount of money if you want it reliable, and your driving & mechanical skills better be good:D
the one factor I didn,t touch on was power to weight ratio while its very unlikely you can do it starting with a nearly stock corvette due to the weight, the LIGHTER the WEIGHT the easier it is to ACCELERATE AND SLOW a car and the LESS STRESS the suspension and drive train will be under, so there ARE OPTIONS if you want a fast street car, but they may NOT be a corvette, there are some kit cars, t-buckets, etc. that can be built that weight easily a full 1000-1500 lbs less than a stock corvette, that will allow a 500hp engine to produce astounding performance.
maybe I'm just getting older and hopefully smarter, but after owning several cars that run low 10 second 1/4 mile times
Ive come to realize performance is mostly about how much money your willing to spend, how carefully you plan and carefully selecting the car and components, you can beat 90% of the street cars if your car can run true 12 second flat times in the 1/4 mile, once you get into the mid to low 11 second range you'll find the prices keep increasing rapidly and its a never ending bottomless money pit, with more and more regulation, track required equipment and less fun driving the car in most cases.
while its true that if you've got a large enough checking balance that you could build a street-able 11 or even a 10 second car, its, not really common to see one, because it is so expensive to do it correctly and it takes far more than a few bolt on mods from some catalog and a few weekends to build one!
If you can,t jump in, start it up and drive it or you require a car trailer to move it to where you can drive it ,chances are good that your spending far more money and having less fun as a result of your modifications, so think thru your goals

http://www.miata.net/sport/Physics/

is power addictive?
yes it seems to be! if your still playing with 400hp sbc combos,just wait untill you eventually get a 477-540-572 BBC with decent compression and a roller valve train, once you start playing with 600-700 plus hp your wallet just cringes and wimpers and sobs but you smile at the total insanity of trying to go faster than 140mph plus in the 1/4 mile

NO! I don,t know whos car it is, but it sure brings back memories of my 1968 race vette....I only ran very low 10s at 135-137mph but it launched and sounded similar


http://challengevideos.com/video2.php?v ... Blue+Coupe

just click on the (download video)

many of you guys spend far to much time worrying more about paper hp and torque numbers vs the cars ability to be fun to drive and reasonably fast, if the car will run mid-low 12s at about 110mph and stop on a dime your far faster than most cars on the road, in a 3500 lb vette that takes about 380 rear wheel hp
heres some calculator links

viewtopic.php?f=69&t=1814

I get guys in the shop all the time that think they want and need 550-600hp, what they really want is the ability to destroy rear tires at the flick of the throttle and to run mid 12s or slightly faster because that's all that's required to amaze and impress their friends 90% of the time.
any decently researched and built 383sbc or 396 BBC car produce those power numbers and performance matched to a 3000rpm stall converter and 3.73 rear gears
WHEN YOU CAN,T DEPEND ON THE CAR TO JUMP INTO IT ANY TIME AND DRIVE IT ON A COAST TO COAST TRIP ITS BASICALLY NOT A STREET CAR, so keep that in mind during the parts selection process if you depend on the car for transportation

grumpy, i can so appreciate your point.

my old 87 firebird ran 12.35s in PHX, could have been 11.99 with a little more tuning, but was docile and a total sleeper on the street ( oops, forgot the lope of the cam and the monster rear tire width)

i cannot tell you how many surprised and hurt wannabes were taken to school by that car. i only lost once on the street, to a 72 cougar that had procured a used roundy round motor , 351 cleveland, along with some 5 something rear gears.

also, i loved your linked blue corvette video . that thing sounded awesome and was really fun to watch launch!

IF your absolutely convinced you can,t live without owning a car that will both be street-able and still have it run in the 10 or 11 second range Id strongly suggest making life far easier on yourself and select a basically light weight car with a suspension built to be raced and stick the largest displacement engine you can afford in it from a major brand name (MOPAR,FORD,CHEVY,) so you don,t also need to go crazy sourcing engine and drive train components.

now obviously youve got dozens of options , but a COBRA KIT CAR or T-BUCKET with 470-540 cubic inches of high compression big block or a super charger or turbo assisted small block comes instantly to my mind, because its a whole lot easier to get 2500-2800lbs of kit car into the 10 second range, and make it handle well and stop effectively with a solid aftermarket frame,suspension and light weight body components, than trying to push a 3600-3900lb street car that fast


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