3500lb raceweight, basically a stock suspension setup, how much HP is it gonna take to run 11.50s in the heat? I figure 400 rwhp,(500 at crank) 3000 stall in a GOOD converter, 3.70 gears should do it.

What you guys think? I know a couple of you guys are running mid 11s in early C3s, whats it taking?

On my old TA, it was going 12.0s@108 in a 3600lb car but it had a drag type suspension and only about 400-425 crank hp maybe. It had NO mph though. I want this thing to run around 115mph consistantly.


This should be an interesting thread if some heavy weights post up.

 

I was running mid 11's with a 84 camaro. 350 .060 over solid roller cam, dart heads, 3500 stall, 4.11 gears and 175 NOS single stage cheater shot, ET streets.

suspension mods....weld in sub frames, boxed and poly lower control arms, solid engine and poly tranny mount, beefed up torque arm.


I would think you need at least 475 RWHP to run mid 11s with 3500lbs curb wieght and basic suspension mods w/ ET streets or drag radials.

Or take a Lighter car (about 3000lbs)... more suspension mods. 90/10 shocks light front clip, skinnies... trans brake with a 3500-4000 converter, good gears... you could get away with 375 RWHP

 

Your proposed set-up should get you there, and I'm thinking 4.11 gears would really help. Good 3000 stall that flashes to 4100-4300, and the engine's peak TQ at about 4500-4800 rpm. I believe you are familiar with my combo, but my weight is less than your proposed (around 3100 lbs.). My 11.6s were ran on a warm day. With stickier tires and a cool night, the ET may drop to the 11.4s. Your 500-525 hp engine should do it.
Good luck.

 

I ran 11.67@119.79 mph with a mild 383 with 465 HP (365 RWHP) and a Tremec 5-speed. However, my race weight was ligher (probably 3100 lbs including driver)
You'll need more stall speed for mid 11's.. You should get AT LEAST a 3500 converter.. 3800 - 4000 would be ideal.. The 60' time is the key to a good ET!!

My 60' times with that old setup were between 1.59 - 1.65 (1.64 on my fastest run)

3500 lbs race weight is very heavy for a early C3.. You'll need to drop some weight..
Some easy weight savings are: composite rear spring, lighter wheels (recommend Centerline Convo Pro's), front skinnies and wrinke wall tires (instead of heavy radials), remove spare tire and spare tire carrier) etc. etc..
With the setup that you are describing, I highly doubt that you are even gonna hit 11's.. Why do I know?
I have a friend who has a 525 HP engine and his race weight is about 3150 lbs and he runs very high 11's (11.90 - 12.00) in summer and mid 11's in winter.. He has more power, more stall speed (3800) and a much ligher car than yours. I'd estimate a approx. 12.20 - 12.40 ET in hot temperature with your vehicle and probably high 11's in cold temps.. You can either drop weight or add power to reach the goal...

To answer the orignal question. I'd say that you'll need approx. 570 crank HP to hit mid 11's in summer unless you'll drop some weight off the car!!
My winter ET's are usually 5 tenths faster than my summer ET's..

 

Damn, I am not sure what tracks yall are running on but.... I have these examples of my buddy's cars, hp/wt/et:

My 99 TA when it was stock with a 150shot(about 450rwhp) with a 1.85 60' it went a 11.55@122, 6spd, no power shifting. With motor work, running NA on radials, 2.0 60', I went a 12.70@113.89, had a HORRIBLE 330' though at 5.59, should be about 5.10. This thing should be running 12.20s@115 in the winter with a good launch. 7.5" rear end is killing me.

My buddy's 70' Nova, 383(dynoed 491 on engine dyno), 3000 stall, 3.73 gears and a 3270lb race weight, good drag type suspension, 11.50-11.70s@114-116, 1.62-1.65 60's

My other buddy's 65' vette, 388", 407rwhp, richmond 5 spd(3.18 first), 3.08 rear, car weighed 31xxlbs and my buddy is about 250lbs, he went a 11.80@114 with a 1.65 60', granny shifting. went 11.0@128 on a 200hp shot.

My old 78 TA, 12.0s@108, 3650 race weight, good drag suspension, 3200 stall, 3.42 gears, MAYBE 400-425hp at the crank. 1.62-1.65 60's

We are at a sea level track but he heat and humidity are always high.




As for weight reduction, won't be much other then aluminum heads, water pump and intake. Already have the fiberglass rear spring. All other options are staying on the car. Spare tire is already removed at the 3380lb weight.

 

You can't really compare solid axle cars with Vettes.. Solid axle cars are usually faster with the same weight and power.. Nitrous distorts the results a little bit because you aren't just adding power, you are adding A LOT of bottom end torque which really helps at the track..
I have no idea why your car is that heavy.. My race '68 weighted 3200 lbs with the only mod being the spare tire carrier removed... Right now, the car is 2850 lbs without driver and 3050 with driver & equipment (helmet, jacket etc.)

OK, the 65' vette is the only comparable example... Was that ET a summer or winter ET??
Let's compare: 407 RWHP, 3350 lbs race weight, 11.80 ET.
His car was about 150 lbs ligher than yours.. Add 1.5 tenths (1 tenth for each 100 lbs) and you'll be at 11.95.. If this is a winter ET, it translates to about 12.45 in summer which would exactly confirm my prediction. Well, I also doubt that you'll get a 1.65 60' time with a 3000 RPM stall speed.. With 3500 RPM stall speed, you could be in the 1.65 range and with 3800 - 4000 RPM stall speed, you could even hit high 1.50's..
A stick shift car is usually faster with a good driver (and good gearing on the manual tranny), even if the driver is granny shifting.. Power shifting makes a stick shift car significantly faster than a automatic car..

I'm in Florida and weather conditions are similar to your area.. Florida winter = 65 degrees (on a cold day) with low humidity and high 90's with high humidity in summer (110+ degrees heat index) and the ET's vary by 5 tenths between summer and winter..

 

Grandsport, you are very correct about the instant torque nitrous adds, it really does help get em rolling.

As for mine, I weighed it last sunday....3380lbs. Thats completely stock aside from the spare being out and the fiberglass rear spring. AC, PS, cast iron everything...all still intact. I actually figured it would be heavier. After the Aluminum heads, water pump, intake and maybe radiator, I figure it will be 3300lbs with half tank of gas. With me in it, 3460lbs. I will be running the factory ralley wheels. Really trying to make it look stock like an LT1 car or similar but have it roll.


You car running 11.60 with on 365hp is awesome. My buddys 02 Z06 dynoed 370rwhp and on ET streets when 11.70@118 dumping it at 5k. His car weighed 3109lbs with some fuel and w/o driver.

 

I only run 12-eighties @ 105+ (and that is in an older Z28 ), but from what I have seen, I'd think you'll need more converter and gear to run those type (11.50s @ 115 MPH ) of numbers in the heat w/o giggle-gas.....

 

My car is in the 10's now, but I changed my entire setup... The key to my fast ET was weight!! My race weight was over 500 lbs lighter than your race setup. Each 100 lbs is .1 at the track. That means that I would've run 12.16 with your cars weight.. I also was launching hard and power shifted 2 - 3 and 3 - 4 shifts on that pass. The same car with automatic tranny and 3000 converter would not have been that fast!!
I have approx. 650 crank HP and automatic tranny right now and I'm "only" running high 10's in hot weather (and hopefully mid 10's in cold weather).. My best pass was a 1/8 mile pass which was 6.88 @ 100.03 mph which translates to 10.76 @ 125 mph and that was in 76 degrees temperature..

 

Ya I really don't want to go more then 3200 on the stall, I will be driving the **** out of this car on weekends and with a TH400 and 3.70 gears, its already going to be hummin on the highway. There is a chance I am going with a 408" to give me more low to mid range.

On my old pontiac, it was a 406", it made a ton of tq and ran just as good if not better with the 3.42s then it did 3.90s. I had a cheapy 2800-3200 converter, it would flash to about 4k. I 60' a best of 1.59 but averaged 1.62s. That was on slicks, no sway bar, 90/10s, sub frames, slapper bars and lots of weight off the front. That thing was basically a stock motor, with TRW forged pistons, medium hyd cam, shifting at 5500-5800rpms. 10-1 compression and if the heads flowed 180cfm on the intakes, I would be suprised. It was a lot of fun though. It would go 12.20-12.30s in the summer, 12.0s in the winter.

 

Solid axle cars with the right suspension always get much better 60' times... I've seen stock '02 Camaros (300 HP) beat stock '02 Vettes (350 HP and less weight) at the track... Solid axle cars with similar power always do better on the drag strip.. (at least what I've seen)

 

There has to be laws wrote down somewhere against people weighing
160 pounds

 

I'm not a heavy weight but I'm not light either.. 194 lbs right now.. 200 lbs with clothes, jacket and helmet..

 

Well I am at 4000' here and run 11.7s at 115-116MPH and my race weight is 3620lbs. 3.55 rear gear and a TH400 with a 4200rpm stall. 91 octane pump gas. My NHRA corrected run is 11.12 @ 122.5MPH.

 

Whole-'nother animal

TQ & traction/chassis = ET, HP = MPH.

 

Yeah, but you are forgetting to mention your power output

I'd bet that you are close to 600 HP with your setup.. Seems to be a very well built engine and great setup!!

Well, the 4200 RPM stall speed also helps to launch that beast

 

Just talked to a buddy of mine with an 01 Z28, last night he went a 11.80@115 with 380rwhp. The car has a 3200 Vigilante converter and weighed 3700lbs with driver. Thats with 3.23 gears. Stock heads and throttle body. Cam, exhaust and bolt ons. 1.72 60', 93mph in the 1/8. Basically stock suspension with sub frames.

Those LS1s run.

I NEED my vette to run atleast that. Time to start calling some builders..

BTW, anyone read that thread where 632C2 ran a 12.20@115 with 400 rwhp and only a 1.80 60'? Granted his car is probably only 3100-3200lbs but...

 

HEY... THE CAMARO AND CORVETTE USED THE SAME ENGINE... (THAT is nothing but GM BS w/the power output) Typically the camaro would even have better dyno numbers... in fact the camaro with a AUTO vs a Vette with a Auto... better gearing also. (Some say the tires and independent rear make the slight difference.)

3.23 gears vs 3.08 gears vette

I have a 00 SS SLP M6... lid/filter/hypertech makes 310 to the wheels (rated 325) Go figure.

 

BRO... get your SELF a LSx motor... for your vette... BIG CAMS idle so nice compared to GEN1 motors. I have a 224 duration with .581 lift... in my LSx Vette... idles better than any muscle car with a SMALLER CAM !! Drivability rocks also. HELL Factory LS heads flow better than aftermarket GEN1 heads. (unless you spend 2000 or more)

Listen the next ZO6 you see idle.... sounds perfectly smooth for duration and lift...

MY opinion... LS motors can go fast with less HP because the POWER CURVES are just AWESOME !!

 

Well, the Camaro also weights 400 lbs more than a Vette... You will get less drivetrain loss with a solid axle!! I'm aware that Camaros were intentionally underrated (power-wise) so that they wouldn't be too close to the Vette because the Vette had to be the fastest car (marketing)