Took on 02 SS Z-28

[70Firebird/TTA]

Going to dinner with wife...a 2002 SS comes pacing along side me and then cuts in front of me (without signal-I hate that). A couple of lights more and we eventually line up on a Red. On Green I dead stomp on the pedal and before the guy knew what happened I was 3-4 car lengths. I took it to 80mph (anticipated cop patrols on this street... I did notice that the car was a 5-spd and the guy was gaining on me right before I cut off on throttle. Wifey thought the guy wized by me--the racey thing is new to her and she isn't really familiar with the "protocol" I suspect that the weight difference in passengers (SS driver looked like a 150 lber)...I am 230lbs and wifey (130lbs won't admit it and a full tank.

I did the smackdown on wifey by demonstrating the proper way of launching the TTA via off 2lbs of boost...a REAL difference. Wifey had to admit (after yelling) that the 2 launch techniques are vastly dramatic. If I would have boosted on the takeoff...instead o 3-4 car lengths...I would have had a bus load and a 1/2 SS was a nice car though...I don't think the guy new what he was racing and probably thought his LS-1 "passified" the Buick V-6 Clueless???

 

[87gnNV]

Nice! What are your mods?

 

[70Firebird/TTA]

No mods except for mild perf chip and custom performance exhaust, breather, Jacob 8.8 mm wires. I strongly believe that the extra 150-200lbs on board hurt me on this short run. I was surprised that the SS was gaining..but again if I would have launched properly....(2lbs off the line)..well the short contest...would have been shorter and the guy probably would have s*** his pants. Incidently a white 99 Mustang was lined up in the far right lane...this car wasn't even in the picture...my attention was (sort of) directed to the SS. I don't really get challenged much in the TTA...and kind of disappointed that my 100% effort wasn't paid to this little run. I guess I was a little paranoid of the cops on a SAT night on a main street in a Beach City.

Oh well!

BTW my race with a buddies 96 LT-1 SS seemed to have a little more on the launch than the newer LS-1. Might have been driver...but at the look of his tires...they were the semi dragstrip types from tread pattern and his shifting prowess was there or else he wouldn't have made up any ground...so it probably wasn't driver error on his part and his LS-1 SS was probably in the ball park of what these cars can do. Not too bad.

 

[RPM WS6]

Nice run!

Good run!

There aren't too many turbo buick powered cars around my area to play with, but I always enjoy the few chances I get.

If it was a manual car, then it was a 6-speed. No 5-speed offered in V8 F-bodies since 1992.

I am not really impressed with the launching abilities of manual LS1 cars with stock gears and stock suspension. They come out of the hole very soft, IMO, but they do pull very strong from a roll. You'd probably be shocked at just how hard even a stock one will pull from a 70mph roll.

Be careful of us auto LS1 with build trannies and big stalls though, we come out pretty hard. When my car was all stock except for a 3500 stall and some drag radials I was getting 1.7X 60 foots no problem with ETs in the 12.7X range, and many guys with these cars run as big as 4500 stalls even for street use. Those cars tend to cut 1.5-1.6 60s even if all else is stock, and can ET as well as 12.4 or better with traction

Now that I've done a good deal of work to my car I'd like to get a chance at a real run with a modded GN/TTA rather than the "messing around" that I've done with them when I was stock. I have a great deal of respect for turbo buicks, and they are truly one of the few modern fuel injected cars that really worry me even when they sound stock

 

[stroked347]

In the 1/4, the SS probably would pass you. If you had 3-4 and he was gaining at 80mph, at 110 it would be a different story.

 

[d0n_3d]

Re: Nice run!

Originally posted by RPM WS6
I have a great deal of respect for turbo buicks, and they are truly one of the few modern fuel injected cars that really worry me even when they sound stock

that's because most of us sound stock even if we run 10's or 14's...fear the evil HISS!

 

[BoostedBug]

Re: Nice run!

Originally posted by RPM WS6
Good run!


Be careful of us auto LS1 with build trannies and big stalls though, we come out pretty hard. When my car was all stock except for a 3500 stall and some drag radials I was getting 1.7X 60 foots no problem with ETs in the 12.7X range, and many guys with these cars run as big as 4500 stalls even for street use. Those cars tend to cut 1.5-1.6 60s even if all else is stock, and can ET as well as 12.4 or better with traction

Now that I've done a good deal of work to my car I'd like to get a chance at a real run with a modded GN/TTA rather than the "messing around" that I've done with them when I was stock. I have a great deal of respect for turbo buicks, and they are truly one of the few modern fuel injected cars that really worry me even when they sound stock

Wish you was closer by...I would love to be your huckleberry...

 

[70Firebird/TTA]

It would have been interesting...but I DO believe that with a launch with 1-2 lbs of boost of line...instead of a dead stomp...the 3-4 car length would have been 5-7 lengths...too much for the LS-1 to reel in the 1/4...esp with the wife out of the car and w/o a full tank of gas. This race thing was done as an afterthought on my part so my heart was only 1/2 into it...(I was looking for directions to resturant)...but the kid was looking for you know what by the aggressive driving stuff he was doing...and the looks of his semi drags on the back...I am sure he was wired for it.

 

[blackbuick87]

Re: Nice run!

Originally posted by RPM WS6

Be careful of us auto LS1 with build trannies and big stalls though, we come out pretty hard. When my car was all stock except for a 3500 stall and some drag radials I was getting 1.7X 60 foots no problem with ETs in the 12.7X range, and many guys with these cars run as big as 4500 stalls even for street use. Those cars tend to cut 1.5-1.6 60s even if all else is stock, and can ET as well as 12.4 or better with traction

Have you had any rear end problems launching harder?
Everyone seems to say with DR's things start to go bad and with slicks forgetaboutit.
Want to find out how true that is

 

[RPM WS6]

Re: Re: Nice run!

Originally posted by blackbuick87
Have you had any rear end problems launching harder?
Everyone seems to say with DR's things start to go bad and with slicks forgetaboutit.
Want to find out how true that is

Nah, no rear problems here. Stock 10 bolt is holding up fine with the stock 3.23 gears in my car. I run full time on DRs and have had TONS of full traction launches (1.6-1.7 60fts) without issue. Two points to consider here in reguards to your question:

1) It is usually the 6-speed cars that have an issue with breaking rears and gears. A manual trans tends to hit a rear end a lot more violently on launch than an auto will at the same power levels, assuming that the clutch is grabbing fully and tires are holding the launch. Not to say that auto LS1 cars can't break rears (it does certainly happen), just that it's not as likely (or often) as with 6-speeds.

2) Wheel hop is the #1 reason for broken F car rears. Kill the wheel hop and you will drasticly increase the life of your F-body 10-bolt. F cars tend to have a real issue with wheel hop when running stock suspension. One great cure is to replace the rear lower control arms. Not too pricy for a good set, and well worth the investment. Also re-location brakets for the LCAs will help to bring the rear of the LCA down and act more as a lift bar, also helping to prevent wheel hop. If all that fails, then you need to look at replacing the torque arm with a stronger adjustable unit.

As far as how much tire they can take, it all really depends on what gear you're running (the numerically bigger gears for 10-bolts like 3.73s or 4.10s will be weaker than stock gears due to smaller teeth to fit in the stock carrier), if you can rid yourself of wheel hop, whether you're a manual or auto, and how much luck you got I've seen auto LS1 cars with 4000+ stalls run 1.5X 60 foots on ET Drags with a stock 10 bolt and be ok for a long time, and then I've seen some 6-speeds break when running 1.9X 60s on STOCK tires dumping at 5000rpm...so it all depends really on how well you set up your suspension to soften the blow to the axle, how abusive you are on your axle in relation to your power level, and of course the weight of your particular car. Tires and traction are obviously a factor (and how hard your clutch is grabbing for manuals), but slicks and DRs are not necessarilly a death sentance for F-body 10 bolts like some may think. It's really more about trans type, launch rpm/technique/and clutch holding strenght for 6-speed guys, and wheel hop.

Sorry this was so long, just wanted to give you a complete answer

 

[boogerlizard]

are the f-body cars notorious for wheel hop?