A lot of people really emphasize dyno numbers. In fact some people are obsessed with dyno racing. My car has never been on a dyno and I could care less about what it makes. Timeslips are more important to me. I would rather have a 500hp car in the 10s than a 1000hp car running in the 12's. I have in fact seen a 1000hp twin turbo Vette run 14's and almost crash doing it. Pretty useless. In fact it befuddles me why some people build these crazy 1000hp monsters only for the street. How much hp can street tires hold? My 08Z fries the tires in first and second gears. That's enough for me. If I had a car that fries the tires in third, I probably wouldn't be around to type this.

 

If you don't mind my asking, what did these mods set you back?

 

Excluding the 3:73's( done already by previous owner and my time) probably $ 4,000 if I had to guess without adding up the receipts.

Still cheaper than what parts cost for my wife's 96GTS viper!

 

A 700 hp-1000 hp :comes in handy against Lambo's on a road course

 

Some so much in fact they may take a combo that works well on the street and make it worse shifting the power curve or setting the car up for something totally different than the motor........but they got that dyno #. Cant tell them nothing though

Cant race dynos
Cant race a flowbench.

 

You might want to do more reading. There are at least two people on this very thread who posted their stock or stockish L98 numbers and I didn't see over 220 whp.

<220whp=<250chp. So no...no where NEAR 300. Not even close at all. Also, you "got to 400 with only a few more things done"? Have you confirmed that?? I'm doubting that your at 400, wheel OR crank...

 

This is correct. Probably confused with torque.

 

Think Toms right
I got 224 on a stock internally at least 89
but that was with some intake base porting a catback and a few other bolt ons.Without any probably would have been low 200s at best.

 

Ok, not to beat the long dead horse any further, but if you got 220 on the wheels, isn;t that at least 250-60 on the crank? Avg loss is approx 20%...from whatever crank hp is.

I'm NOT saying that 300 IS what they have...jesus...I guess a figurative statement just won;t be understood by some that just want to attack a statement they do not agree with..
BUT, IF your semi stock engine produces 220 @ the wheels, then at the crank it IS actually closer to 300 than it is to 200 because there will be closer to 250+ on the crank..

AGAIN<-----this is a figurative statement. Not meant to be dead nuts 100% right on accurate to the 9th decimal.

And Yes Tom, I did see 400 with a few things done. 400 RWHP.
Major porting & head work. Cam. Exhaust. TB, Tune,increase in CI (bored 377?), big inj, and whatever else was available at that time around 2001. Balanced of course,
Ran out of funds at around 10K...Needed another $2000 for the remaining goodies on my wish list. oh well. I forget what the torque ended up being but it was NOT nearly as big an increase as HP was. In fact, it was about half what HP grew. Opening up the top of the power band is a recipe for relocating torque. Anytime you alter the power band up high you trade away down low.

That build did yeild 400 hp when finished. That was a great engine and I would build another just like it if I could. That particular engine is no longer together with those parts so its somewhat less powerful now, but it could be made to do that again, just as ANY engine can be built with a PLAN, some time and thought. Mostly......money.

Since the point of this thread keeps getting lost, or forgotten so some bashing can be done...


but I STILL say & believe that 300 at the wheels is easy. Too many others have got there and can confirm that its not as hard as some of you make it out to be. Maybe because some folks spent LOTS more money and didn;t get the BIG numbers they hoped for when they read the hype on the box..maybe because some still believe that EFI is the devil. Who cares....what I DO know is that 300hp ain;t a big deal. Its easy. Its where these C4 started off seems to be the area thats disputed. Thats actually pretty unimportant too...200...240...the goal is 300. Well within reach of ANY 350ci V8 sbc. EFI or carb.

 

O.K. Man...you asked for it, so here goes...It's 12%-~20% depending on drivetrain. Manual trans is on the lower side, auto, higher. Depends on car, trans model, tire size, gearing, etc. I feel that a manual trans C4 would be close to the 12%, and that is based on my own dyno runs.


You're right. You never said "300.00001 hp". Maybe your being "factual even in the figurative sense" again, and I missed it some how. But this thread was asking about what is required to get an '89, 240chp, L98 to 300 hp. 300 is the number that we're talking about here. The goal. Then, after claiming earlier in the thread that a stock L98 is 300chp (b/c it's 240 rwhp), you said (in no way indicating that this was "figurative"):
"regarding the rwhp.....I've never seen a stock or near stock C4 dyno under 200 at the wheels... so that leads me to believe that they must be closer to 300 at the crank than 200"
While 251hp (as an example) IS closer to 300 than 200....your lead-in, and statement above are misleading. It SOUNDED like you were implying that a stock L98 is close to/almost/about 300 chp and it's not. Not even close, even in it's best ('91 manual w/"perf. exhaust), iteration. But MOST stock L98's DON'T dyno 220 RWHP. MOST, dyno closer to 210, from what I've seen. And yes, plenty have put down <200. So, those engines...teh majority of stock L98's are actually closer to 200, than to 300.



Well cool then. If you saw 400 on an accurate, honest dyno, then that is fantastic. Nicely done. You DID say, however that;
"I got to 400 with only a few more things done."
I don't know what "more" means or is in reference to, but it comes across as SOUNDING LIKE, getting to 400 is no biggie. You spent 10k though. That's a lot. That doesn't really qualify as "badda bing badda boom"...400 hp! ...If that's what you were implying. Maybe you weren't implying that, but it seemed like it the way you typed it.



Ahhh, yeah....could you help me with this "bashing" thing? Not really sure where that happened. You came on here and said that an L98 is
"300 at the crank NOW....240 RWHP...maybe little less."
...which just ain't true at all. You were corrected, by multiple people and I wasn't one of them. Although, I would like to point out to you that I have corrected you on this very same topic in the past (review it HERE), so I was surprised that you were still posting that factories are rating hp at the rear wheels when they are not.

People come on the forums looking for GOOD advice -not misinformation. I used to be one of those people...and sometimes, I still am. I don't want B.S., sensationalized emotionally driven opinions and lore posted as fact. I want fact, when I am seeking advice....or at least an opinion or perspective posted as such. Giving out misinformation is a disservice to the forum and anyone looking for GOOD advice. It's not fair. Frankly, that kind of misinformation has cost me a lot of money in the past and could for others in the future. I believe that several people posted in this thread contradicting your posts (myself included) not to "bash" as you seem to have taken it, but to correct the facts...for you AND for others who are unwitting and unfortunate enough to read this stuff. You really don't need to take offense or have a hurt ego over these corrections. After all, as you said, "learning is fun!", right?



I agree. I think most on this thread would agree that 300 chp is pretty easy. I think several have even said that. *I* feel that one should be able to get 300 chp for <$1000 on a L98, and to me, that is "easy". I'm with you there! 300 at the wheels will take quite a bit more $$, I feel.

 

Pretty well said.
I was one of those trying to correct his information, and for the exact same reasons you listed.

Once information gets on the internet, it is there forever even if it is wrong.
A year (or years) from now someone might come across this information and without the "corrections" some would even believe the misinformation to be true.
You know "They can't put anything on the internet that isn't true" types.

So, no bashing was ever intended. Just trying to make sure the wrong information does not continue to taken as "fact".

 

I love these cars because they are so easy to work on but when you want serious horsepower you will have way more money in it than it's worth. Nothing wrong with that, just saying... One for sale on here for $ 15,000 that is a steal for all the upgrades!!!!

 

This is the truth and spoken like a true racer.

 

I agree completely Tom..... I am not going to beat up on anybody, but it seems everytime I glance into this forum there is some sort of performance distortion being amplified as the truth.

I value everybodys opinion, but when we state opinions as matter of fact statements, we probably need to clarify where we are coming from and how the fact has come to be. Something you don't always see here a whole lot anymore. I'm not banging on this forum.... I think its great. Its just when it comes to performance subjects, I think a different way of thinking might be needed for us as a collective group to step it up..... we need to start asking ourselves how we can compete with modified LSx generation cars instead of laying down and porting plenums and junk like that. And then have conversations that allow us to truly go in that direction.

But, its all good.

 

Beach, where have you been? How's the car?

 

That's what I need, about 300RWHP. That 4k is more than what I got the car for but that 300hp would bring a big smile to my face.

 

2 Once you surpass the mechanical grip of the tires, the extra power is useless. It applies on the drag strip, road course, and the street.

 

As a Machinist of over 30 years i absolutely DELIGHT in a good engine build.It's the "while i'm in there" that leads to exotica.

My plan is formulating.i'm THINKING of an engine module/w Speed Pro forged pistons.I'm thinking CR bump /w a set of .100 dome pistons(downside to this?).That module is $650.A FORGED crank can be had for $700.A semi conservative cam.Splayed 4 bolt caps.An intake (Holley?).and a set of long tube headers/exhaust.Everyone close to me wants to see this.I'm famous for it!

 

a CRAZY head set up/w BIG cams,porting/port matched



THis makes 138HP.But it weighs 400lbs.

Beautiful thing about those heads is they run w/o valve springs! Less parasitic drag!

 

I bought all new, some of you guys are a wiz at getting used parts cheap.