how doable is this: beating a 91 ZR1 down the 1/4 mile..

[novaderrik]

my uncle just got done throwing a huge pile of money at his 91 ZR1 to make it faster- he is hoping for 425rwhp and thinks that is a lot of power for what he has into it for some reason.. he's not a race car driver by any means, and he'd be afraid to break his baby or ruin his investment so i don't think he'd be doing any 8000rpm WOT powershifts..
so how much work would it take to get my mostly stock 84 to a point where it would be a close race- or even slightly edge him out? my stock trans is probably getting put back together with a few upgrades (some better hard parts, shift kit, maybe a 2800 or so stall converter) this winter.
for some reason, i just want to at least run alongside his money pit with my old beater..

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

It can be done. I am at 400-425 rwhp and just ran a 12.6 at 106 in the quarter on 93 Octane, Alky and 20 lb boost. There is more to be had with my car by either running race gas/ E85 and higher boost levels. Take a look at my signature.I will gladly give you any information you need. Brad

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

sneaky pete still around ?? may be hire him? I am.
Good luck
uncles can be funny people Mines refused to race me after he towed his car from his home in MD all the way to Atco i guess my sh1t talk was so good that he got scared??

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

Keep in mind the stock 1991 ZR1 is a mid thirteens quarter mile car. It will depend on what mods he did to the car and your budget. brad

 

[charlief1]

I would do a little research as well as ask questions. If you haven't upgraded your tubo I would go ahead and do it this winter as well as get the better hard parts in the tranny. E-85 is a great idea and upgrading to an 86-87 puter is also a good idea. What other upgrades have you done to it other than getting 16" wheels and tires on it?

 

[novaderrik]

my car is about as much of a "stripper" as you are probably ever going to find- the only option it has on top of the basic T Type package is the rear window defogger and the G80 posi.. no silly things like buckets, consoles, power windows or locks, tilt, cruise control or t tops or moon roof that do nothing to help make the car faster.. just a basic blue/blue Regal with a 60/40 split bench and the good suspension and drivetrain. i've never weighed it, but it can't be much more than 3400 pounds.
as it sits now, it's got an 87 ECM with a Turbo Tweak chip. the long block is just some generic parts store 3.8 that the previous owner put in back in '92 or 93 after the original engine blew up when he let a kid take it for a test drive. as far as i can tell, it's got the stock injectors, stock replacement reman turbo, and pretty much everything else. the wastegate is adjustable. it's got a rather large K&N cone air filter on it in place of the stock air box. the stock cat is on it, but gutted. it has the Flowmaster muffler (yeah, i know- it supposedly sucks, but it runs better with that than it did with no muffler at all..) and tailpipes on it.. i got rid of the flex part of the stock up pipe and welded in a chunk of 2" pipe- that alone really woke up the car. the fuel pump is the Carter "upgrade" pump that i got from Rockauto a few years ago, and it's hotwired. the stock clutch fan has been replaced with a Hayden 16" electric fan that is controlled by the ecm. the radiator is a 3 core from a Cutlass and the top plate came from the same car.
before the stock trans blew out the rear sprag at the track, i was running 20psi on E85- but that was with the stock ecm and chip, and yes, i know you're not supposed to do that... the junkyard trans that's in it now doesn't shift at all at more than 1/2 throttle, so it's hard to know how fast it is now.. but it does pull really hard thru 1st gear and in 2nd once i let it shift..

i'm thinking up and down pipes, hog out the exhaust elbow, 60# injectors with the chip redone for E85, 3" single exhaust with no muffler, and getting the stock trans put back together with some CK parts should get me to at least be close enough to his money pit to make him feel kinda silly. i don't really need to "win"- just keep it close since he just spent about 2X what my total investment in my whole car for the last 8 years would be on just getting his engine redone.. maybe after that, i can make him look even more silly with some cheap suspension and brake upgrades..

 

[bison]

I am at 400-425 rwhp and just ran a 12.6 at 106 in the quarter on 93 Octane, Alky and 20 lb boost.

Youre at about 320whp.

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

Youre at about 320whp.

Good to know since I have now idea how it is calculated. I only go on what people have told me. Thanks- Brad

 

[novaderrik]

he got his dyno sheet and posted it on Facebook.. 448rwhp on a dynojet .. 528 or so at the flywheel.. i think i might have to forget about this, unless my uncle is scared of the power and won't actually drive it like it was meant to be driven.. he's gonna fly out to Chicago tomorrow to pick it up and drive it back to Minneapolis, so we'll see how overwhelming it is for him..

this is what $10k thrown at a 20 year old ZR1 will get you..

 

[Jerryl]

he got his dyno sheet and posted it on Facebook.. 448rwhp on a dynojet .. 528 or so at the flywheel.. i think i might have to forget about this, unless my uncle is scared of the power and won't actually drive it like it was meant to be driven.. he's gonna fly out to Chicago tomorrow to pick it up and drive it back to Minneapolis, so we'll see how overwhelming it is for him..

this is what $10k thrown at a 20 year old ZR1 will get you..

It is a tall order but . . . maybe, just maybe . . .
These are calculated numbers, to provide some idea of the possibilities based on budget, etc.
So this is what “my” calculator indicates with converter @12% slip, 65F ambient;

If you run E85 + Alky injection, and get the boost to about 35lbs, 5000 rpm . . . . about 435 WHP (Unported heads)
At an estimated 3600lb race weight, you should be around 11.5@115mph

All else being the same;
Add ported heads = 480 WHP
Add ported heads and small cam = 526 WHP

If you wanted to run less boost, than the combo of Heads/cam/Alky/23lbs boost would get it done. (426WHP = 11.6@114MPH)
If you had a good converter (5% slip), Heads/cam/Alky/23lbs boost: 460WHP = 11.32@117MPH

This should give some idea what you are up against.
You can always borrow a SII car, turn the boost down to 10PSI and smoke him (LOL!)

 

[fmster]

he got his dyno sheet and posted it on Facebook.. 448rwhp on a dynojet .. 528 or so at the flywheel.. i think i might have to forget about this, unless my uncle is scared of the power and won't actually drive it like it was meant to be driven.. he's gonna fly out to Chicago tomorrow to pick it up and drive it back to Minneapolis, so we'll see how overwhelming it is for him..

this is what $10k thrown at a 20 year old ZR1 will get you..


He could of bought a 500$ kit and sprayed that bad boy and got that HP!!!

 

[chopped39]

The difference is Haibeck will build reliable horsepower. That engine will take alot of abuse. The only problem with the Zr1 is there is a select few that know what they are doing with them and Haibeck is probably the best in the midwest. My buddies trans am went 13.1 in august. we were screwing around and we raced three times 1st time we went from a dig and my gsc's went up in smoke but I ran him down but still lost by a fender.Next two we went from a roll about 30mph. Both times I pulled him by two cars. My Zr1 is bone stock right down to the tires.
If his car hooks you might be in trouble.