How about new shocks, new tires, and a performance alignment?

There is more to life than horsepower.

Larry
code5coupe

 

I have new tires and shocks are only a year old Bilstein. Im getting new rims and slotted and cross drilled rotors as far as the look of the car a 70 yr old guy owned it. it looks like it rolled out of the show room never been driven in winter, and i dont drive it in winter either. So now its time for speed upgrades.

 

any more ideas?

 

my website might give you more to go on

 

Bottom line, my vette did 279.7 hp at 5200 rpm and 316.4 torque at around 3k rpm. After cam and rr's I did 316 horse at 5200 and 360 torque at 3200. The cam and rockers brought her to life for sure. Of course I have an LT1 but I'm sure you'd experience relative results.

 

Just put nitrous on it and call it a day. Before you dismiss my suggestion, hear me out. You've probably heard one or more of the following

-Nitrous is hard on engine parts
-Nitrous is dangerous
-Nitrous is for ricers/4 banger's
-Real men do it on motor
-Nitrous is for wussies
-Nitrous is cheating
-And a bunch of others I'm sure

There are more myths and misconceptions about nitrous that any other car modification on Earth. Before you dismiss it because of what you saw in 'The Fast and the Furious' or because 'that guy' you heard about blew up his engine with it, do some more research. At the very least learn how nitrous works and draw your own conclusions.

On the most very basic of levels, power potential is determined directly by the amount of fuel you can burn in any given time. The amount of fuel you can burn is determined by the engines ability to ingest oxygen. You can add fuel via larger injectors and more fuel pumping power until you literally flood the engine with gasoline and hydro-lock it. So, how do you get more oxygen into your engine? You add heads that flow better, a larger cam so the valves open further and longer, maybe change rockers to a more aggressive ratio to facilitate the entrance of more atmospheric air, etc... All for one purpose, to let more air, and hence more oxygen, into the engine. That extra oxygen allows you to burn more fuel, and make more power.

A supercharger accomplishes this same thing. Adds more oxygen by forcing a greater amount of atmospheric air into the engine than the engine could normally ingest. A turbocharger does the same thing, but it is powered by a different means than the supercharger.

Nitrous oxide does the SAME thing as all the other methods above, just by a different means. Atmospheric air that you, I, and our engines breathe every day is 21% oxygen, give or take a little. Nitrous oxide is 33% oxygen. By injecting this oxygen rich substance into the engine, you have added more oxygen, thereby increasing the amount of fuel you can burn, which results in more power. Just like adding heads, a cam, a supercharger, etc... Injecting nitrous oxide by itself will add no power, because nitrous oxide does not burn. All it does is supply the oxygen to burn more gasoline.

Why do you hear about catastrophic failures with nitrous oxide?

I have a couple theories on this. For one, nitrous is a lot less expensive that other big power mods. That means there are going to be more nitrous cars out there, than say, supercharged cars. Based on sheer probability there will be more failures because there are so many more nitrous users out there. Second, because it is cheap, the proper research is not put into it's use more often than anyone would like to admit. Before dropping $5,000+ on a supercharger, you can bet Joe Blow is going to research it a heck of a lot more than a $200 nitrous kit. There's more reasons, but the post is getting pretty long, so I'll digress.

Another benefit of nitrous is you get to try out a 350 RWHP car. I have several friends who were all jazzed to buy big heads, big cams, maybe even a blower; at my urging they tried nitrous before hand. At least 1/2 of them realized how dangerous 350+ RWHP can be in the wrong hands, and chose to only slightly modify their cars. How crappy would it of been for them to drop big cash on heads/cam, or even a blower only to discover that the car was so powerful, and so violent it scared them? With nitrous, they were only out a couple hundred dollars, and afternoon in the garage, and they could recoup almost all of that on E-bay.

So like I said, don't knock what you don't understand. Hopefully this has prompted you to do your own digging, and learn about the black magic contained in the blue bottle.

Oh yeah, one last thing; anyone who tells you you're cheating cause you have a bottle, or bitches about it in general, here is the ultimate STFU line, "You can bitch about my bottle all you want, just be sure to bitch REALLY loud because my tail lights don't hear so well." Then show em' your tail lights. If you cracked em' at the dragstrip does it really matter how you did it?

 

N20 is, imho, the EASIEST of the big power adders to tune and plan for. You have a set amount of o2 and a set amount of fuel going in, as opposed to f/i, where it is much more of a "F--k if I know".

 

that whole post was well done with respect to the above, what happens when the bottle runs out, you're back to stock performance, your weenie just blew its gasket, and the guy who built his engine from the inside out, runs 24/7 (well, not really), with a perma-hard on, and now you're seeing his tail lights until you can run to the store for another shot of juice?

 

I dare you to catch me with an empty bottle. For sake of argument, let's assume we're at the track, and you did manage to catch me with my pants down.

You say something like, "I built my engine from the inside out, and now I got your ***! My car runs like this 24/7 and your's only does it when the bottle is full! MWAHAHAHA!"

Well, the obvious answer is $$$ outlay. How much lighter is your wallet now that you a built motor? Compare that to my wallet. I spent a TON less than you did, probably in the neighborhood if 20% to what you spent, maybe less. Beyond that, the car can be returned to stock in a few hours.

In reference to a built motor; every time you mash the pedal, you are putting 500 HP worth of wear and tear on your engine, your transmission, your rear end, etc... I can go out and play with my 300 HP car, have a blast, and then crack the bottle when I really want to get it on. All that playing around, all that fun, all was had without putting the extra wear and tear 500 HP puts on a car's components.

Lastly, I'm not a child. I am an adult, and usually only play around in my car at pre-planned times. Why I would not have a full bottle when I knew I was going somewhere to race is beyond me. Obviously, you will get caught 1 out 100 times doing something un-expected and not have a full bottle, but is that 1 out of every 100 races worth the extra costs associated with building an entire engine? A drive train to support the constant application of that power? To some guys, yes it is. To me, not really. It's all a matter of opinion.

You are right though, the bottle does run dry. Eventually, if you plan to keep the N20 kit on the car forever, the residual costs of filling the bottle will out weigh any other mod. 10 years of $40 N20 fills will add up to a whole pile of cash. You could of bought a S/C, heads, or any other crazy combo of parts for that money. You would of had to wait 10 years to accrue the cash though, and you would bought the parts assuming you really wanted a car that makes 500 HP.

All in all, for 2k, nitrous is king. In my opinion, there is no other no mod out there for less than $2,000 that will add more power and grin factor to a car than the bottle.

If you seriously are thinking of laying down 5,6,7 thousand dollars on go fast parts, do nitrous first. Consider it research to determine if a high HP car is really what you want. If it is, sell the kit for 90% of what you paid for it, and go buy your other parts and build the car. If not, sell the kit for 90% of what you paid for it, and consider yourself lucky that you didn't spend mega bucks on building something you didn't want in the first place.

 

neat, great post once again it really outlines the fact that there are different needs, or reasons, for modding. thats the first time i ever saw someone post about using the nitrous route to see if a high hp car is something that ones would even want in the first place. great points all, from the price to the ease of returning to stock if its not your bag. this could some great advice to those who just aren't too sure about any of it.

i've got a sort of quirky personality. i'm kinda an all or nothing kind of person. jerking around with porting stock parts and whatnot for disappointingly modest gains is definitely not for me. i don't have patience or desire for spending all day forever doing that stuff. if it was techanically feasible to lay down 500,000 hp for a daily driver (insane, just making a point), i'd jump for it. if i just used it to go to the grocery store, i would. whether or not i could handle it at first would be totally secondary -- i'd make the adjustments no matter what so that could be accomplished. interestingly enough, i could care less about the track. i just want to turn that key each & every single day and get my rocks off on the spectacle of it all. back to reality..........i spent about $4.5k (actually more, but i don't want to get into that sad crazy story),
and couldn't be happier. its been almost a year now since the upgrades and tune has been completed. but, im just one of those guys........

having said that, i'm going to make sure my next vette a few years down the pike is already loaded up, or a nice used C6 thats got some minor mods. i don't want to go thru the expense if it again; once was enough, i learned some of it the really hard way (it was my 1rst experience ever), did all the research and ALL the parts gathering over a year span, and became integral with my trusted mechanic (who shaved a boatload of labor time off). so next time, its lightly modified factory hotrod power for me -- on tap, 24/7.

honestly, you really make some great points that the next guy might well heed for his own benefit, great job

 

I'm with you man. Messing around with stuff to go from 245 HP to 248 HP is kinda worthless to me. If you've got the free time, are low on cash, and are really looking to maximize your stock potential, go for it. It's just not my bag is all. You could port and polish until the cows come home and still never see the 100-150+ RWHP gain I see from nitrous, or see the 100+ HP gain from real aftermarket modifications like heads, supercharger, etc...

My second car was a 1975 Firebird with a 2 barrel equipped, Pontiac 350 in it. I was 16, broke as a joke, and had the speed bug is the worst way you could ever imagine. I would easily spend an entire weekend wrenching on it all for the possibility of gaining 3 HP. Now, I'm a little older, have a little more coin to spend, and nowhere near the free time I had as a teen. My point is that there is nothing wrong with maximizing your combo, and trying to squeeze every last bit of power out of it. Just think about it a bit before you do it. If you plan to eventually buy an intake for your L98, porting the stock plenum/runners/base is almost a waste of time. Spend the hours you would of spent porting delivering pizza or something to earn the cash to get the intake you really want. If you port the parts, then buy a complete aftermarket intake, you not only wasted the time you spent porting, but the parts will most likely sell for less than stock pieces would. Just be smart about the pieces you decide to modify, and maximize your wrench time as best you can.

Just some advice form a guy who has broken more parts than most people twice his age.

 

i personally started my upgrades in the speed dept with a new ignition system, wires, adj. fuel regulator, vortex ram air and 2.5" borla catback. 105,000 mile motor and ran 95.5 mph @14.01
and spun like hell leaving at 1500 rpm. as for the vortex question i and many that have been in my car before and after the ram air addition definatly notice a stronger pull above 35 mph. so in my opion i would go for it as well as the big mouth air scoop.

 

100% with Neat....

i have been lucky enough to have owned modded twin turbos ,superchargers,built motors and i still go back to nitrous...

nitrous is not for everyone....

you will also never catch me without a full bottle...i have 2 10lbs bottles...

 

Thanks for the advice guys keep it coming i m going to start ordering stuff next week so any advice is good.

 

What nitrous system do you recomend on stock motor?

 

Fix your oil leak and drive the car! Put some bling bling rims on and it will look kool! Cross two plug wires and it will sound like it has a cam! Ha HA just kidding Jay!

 

Hey RodKnock go back to the C5 forum and watch those clocks in your garage.TIME FLYS hahaha.

 

Josh. I have to give you credit. You really thought out this reply. Two things I dont like about NOS. It's actually pricey in the long run, if you like engaging it. And you can easily be caught with a tank that is empty. But, Yes. Bang for the buck, You cant beat it. My buddy down the street has a 95 T/A LT1 383, with a built forged bottom end. Car dynos 365rwhp/370rwtq. Car is so/so with the N/A power, but when he flips the switch, It turns into a totally different beast. I believe the car dynoed 545rwhp/590rwtq on the giggle gas. Night and day difference. But that motor is built for it. Wouldnt dare doing a 200 shot on my princess.

 

I would do headers with a CUSTOM dual exhaust setup. 2.5" all the way back. vortex rammer is a waste.

 

Hey Slamin, Put a 2800 RPM Stall in that thing !
If u think the trans can handle it ,,Only !
Than pull the heads and give them to me so I can make them FLOW >>>>>>> U can give ME the left over MONEY from the 2K so I can put the the Bling Bling on my rig !