May 2003 GM Hight Tech Performance Mag

[matt87]

do what i do.....dont waste your money on a subscription, just go to the local magazine shop, check out the issue and buy it if it has anything good. i have noticed a downward spiral of tr coverage since 01. ls1 are great and all but i dont own one and really dont care about the latest 15k dollar big bore ls1 with nitrous. doesnt apply to my car in any way.

 

[ttypewe4jim]

Originally posted by JDSfastGN
Yeah I agree as well, it is a good read, I do like F-bodies, but you never see an article on SY/Tys or TTAs like stated above, heck even a 3800 II supercharged car would be intersting to see. The mag has a lot more potential but I just think they are heading more towards F-body high tech performance. I did really like ther Jack Merkle (sp) engine build up, I followed it to a T and so far so good.

but dont u think that is were the money is at right now atleast its like that around here..i mean f-bodys not gns

 

[GN SBS]

Still one of my favorites

No, there aren't gobs of stories about TRs in every article, but I'm still always happy to see it come in the mail.

Their arguments about the LS1 guys being greater in number are reasonable and I'm happy to have something to read that occasionally has TRs at all.

That said, I do enjoy the LS1 stuff as well-- I've always liked the thunderchicken idea though as is always the case I'd be most interested in seeing their total budget for the car (I know we'll never know...).

The series a couple of months ago about Merkel's engine build-up were interesting and the staff obviously spent some time there. Granted, there are many opinions about how to best build a mild TR engine, but it was nice to see one of them in print.

Ideas:

1. I always liked the "does this product work/gain size" storyline-- just think, with some educated testing they could finally settle the power plate issue. More of this for TRs would perhaps increase the amount of education added per TR story. Picking cheap and non-labor intensive installs could keep the costs down too.

2. This is more far fetched, but I've always fantasized about a magazine building a road course GN with a basic theory similar to thunder chicken. Topics would include suspension setup, dealing with turbocharging on a road corse, brake upgrades, and the host of oiling, cooling and brake upgrades that one would (or would not) need to make . I know Racer X here on the board has a road course GN. I have another friend in DC with nice brake and suspension upgrades that work well on the street but might need help to get going on a road course.

Thanks for listening.

Scott Scrivner
Subscription holder since (about) 1998-9

 

[MeanBuicks]

Originally posted by Mr. T
And yes, Magnum TPI was awful.

Well then, you'll be glad to know that you now have the opportunity to purchase that vehicle. This was just posted.

 

[mark b]

Go back, get the magazine out of the trash and read the editors article on what kind of cars get into the magazine. Then you can BURN the magazine instead of throwing it out.

IMHO, they are hypocrites. They mock the ricers but impose their standard for what "our" cars should be. If it wasn't for ALL of us and OUR cars, they wouldn't have a magazine. They don't report any GM exclusive news that you can't find anywhere else, so they are nothing special.

BTW - they de-emphasize black and white cars, so that leaves out all us GN and TTA owners!

 

[TType84]

i just went and read that magnum tpi post..

since when can you run 11.99 with 337hp @ the wheels? does that car weigh like 3000lb with driver?

 

[jon_we4]

Originally posted by matt87
i dont own one and really dont care about the latest 15k dollar big bore ls1 with nitrous. doesnt apply to my car in any way.

I wonder what the LS1 owners say when they see a "buick issue"

 

[WFO]

Originally posted by TType84
i just went and read that magnum tpi post..

since when can you run 11.99 with 337hp @ the wheels? does that car weigh like 3000lb with driver?

according to this horsepower calculator:

http://www.smokemup.com/auto_math/hp_mph.php

it takes 333 rwhp to power a 3500# car to 112 mph.mph shows how much hp is being made.if the car hooks up,it'll run the et.

 

[TType84]

i used the mustangworks.com calculator

337rwhp and 3500lb =

ET CALCULATOR RESULTS
ET your car is capable of: 12.71
MPH your car is capable of: 107
Given ideal conditions, this is roughly the elapsed time (ET) and mile per hour (MPH) your Mustang could run.

11.99@112mph @ 3500lb
HORSEPOWER CALCULATOR RESULTS
Peak Horsepower: 401
Average Horsepower: 383
Peak horsepower is based on your elapsed time (ET). The average horsepower is based on your mile per hour (MPH) and shows you the amount of horsepower, on average, your engine generated throughout a run.

 

[matt87]

hey it may have or have not run into the 11's but its a hell of a buy for 9k. lots of good parts and a tuff engine. i'd look at it if i was into thirdgens. dont forget that cars runs on pump gas and passes emissions. not to bad for a n/a engine.

 

[Two Lane]

Magnum TP!

And especially not bad for 26# injectors! There's a lot of E.T. improvement left in just better tuning alone.

 

[1320]

337 rwhp......sounds fishy...but thats not the numbers from that day ar they? I had a 67 nova with a 406, 700r4, 9 " with 3.89's....it weight 3300 and ran almost the same exact numbers.....112 to 114 .....11.90 to 12.10 and dynoed 340 at the wheels.....

I d be surprised if the magnum car was even close to that light.....but hey I ran at 2500 ft......

In a couple years the ls1 guys will be wanting articles......that car is dead too......atleast the f bodies.....

 

[JCotton]

Interesting thread we have going here, I wasn't going to post, but, what the h-ll...... I have my own opinion based on many years of subscribing, supportting, promoting and advertising in GMHTP. From the perspective of a subscriber, it is a very interesting magazine with what appears to be some very good articles, no doubt I enjoyed it much more when there were, at least, a few GN articles a issue. Having met Johnny personally was a thrill, to say the least, I really enjoyed several meetings with him, both at the track and on a business\personal level. On my profesional level, I had becme very disappointed, not going into detail, I will just say, many promises including a feature on my car were never fulflled. I had many conversations with Johnny concerning Buick content in the magazine that I felt many readers would have enjoyed and benifitted from. I would have liked to share my many years of experience in the building of combinations as well as the technical and maintenance side of what it takes to keep our cars running and running strong. Unfortunately, all I was ever offered was a fuel pump install in Johhnys F-body and a GNX rear install in Ricks car. I was also told that Rick would be contacting me with opportunitys in the future to share my experience in tech articles, never happened, as a result, I not only droppedmy subscriptions but also my advertising since I saw no benefit to me, either profesionally or personally as a Buick owner. There is much more I could share on this topic, but, what the H-ll, I don;t see where it would be of benefit to this thread, but I will say one more thing, the bigger the ad, the more likely one will receive coverage in an article. It's not based on experience, knowledge or friendship. It's all about the $$$$$.

 

[Red Regal T]

HEY.........GET OUT THERE AND BUY A CHEVY! THEN, LIKE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF OTHERS , YOU'LL ENJOY A MAGAZINE WITH A PICTURE OF A RED CAMARO ON EVERY PAGE.

 

[matt87]

well said Jack, its all about money. hell i'm gonna start reading muscle mustanges. minas well seeing it has about the same buick coverage. ok now the GMHTP guys are gonna chime in and start telling us to stop whining, send more pics into the readers rides and how they cant show black and white care cause they are boring. last time i checked red camaros are pretty boring too.

 

[JCotton]

Matt,

Whatta ya doing online, your supposed to be on your way out to the shop!!

Let me just say one thing, pertaining to my post. It really is about the $$$, but I don't necessarily say that in a negative way. Just as I need to make money to stay in business, so doesn't GMHTP, differance being, I give my customer what they want for their money. I don't minipulate them with promises.

 

[matt87]

Jack, agreed about the money thing. need it to live. i unfortunatly wont be able to make it, gotta babysit my two neices and my daughter. nothing better than being surrounded by whining little girls while you guys are having all the fun.

 

[JCotton]

by the way Matt, how's Pops doing, give him my regards, and hope he is doing better.

 

[Ken Cunningham]

Originally posted by TType84


feature buicks would be nice, but tech articles on them is a waste of space. come on guys, if you know anything about buicks, you probably learned most of it RIGHT HERE.

anything they publish about tech is gonna get an attitude from you guys, because 99.9% of the time you already saw / learned that online a month ago... if its new technology the inventor / innovator most likely will post about it here. if they do an article in the mag its gonna take a month before you see it.

Very well put, and worth everyone's consideration. I used to get my tech info from the BGNRA [sorta] monthly newsletter. Then when these Buick sites caught fire (gnttype.org and this board) the amount of tech info just puts to shame anything a periodical can produce, even a periodical devoted entirely to the TR.

I became disappointed with the BGNRA because their tech stuff and want ads were nowhere near as comprehensive as the web sites. I dropped my BGNRA membership for awhile, but now I'm back because I realize that there's more to the Assoc. then just tech info.

GMHTP magazine should be seen for what it is: a good read with pictures of cars you may or may not like. But truly innovative TR-specific info. will always be here first. With plenty of supporters and detractors to chew the fat with (hmmm... Power Plates anyone?)

 

[GNSCOTT]

I would be curious to know what the breakdown is on subscribers cars. I've owned 7 f-bodies, and there are 10 magazines out there monthly filled with f-body articles, so I might not even notice GM HTM...Now i'm a TB owner. How many magazines do I have to choose from?? about 1/3 of a magazine. This magazine could own the tb market, but instead they beleive if there are only 5 fearured f-bodys instead of 6, they will lose subscribers. I don't think we are asking for much. I don't see the problem with devoting maybe 3 pages on turbobuicks out of 75 page magazine. I mean surely we represent at least 5% of the subscribers, so 5% of your magazine should be devoted to us. Look at what the All buick issues sell for on ebay. What does that tell you? You could have hooked a bunch of TR owners after that issue, but instead they came back with little or no coverage. If they kept at it with some good informative articles (not the whole issues again mind you) in the issues directly following, i'm sure they would have had alot more TR ownerr/ subscribers, but like me, I saw that there was nothing for me there, so i deceided just to pick and choose my issues, also.