I've been reading a lot of the engine modification sections in the forum.
About changing the cam to a more aggressive one, but not to aggressive to keep the car streetable?

If I understand correctly this has a lot to do with gas mileage?

Please correct me if I'm wrong or if I need a better explanation.

Thanks!

 

There are varying degrees of streetable...Hell, even I have varying degrees. My 9.90 combination I considered VERY streetable though a lot of people wouldn't. You could drive my car anywhere, get reasonably decent gas mileage, run the A/C, and not worry about overheating. On motor it was a high 10 car, on the bottle it ran 9.91. My wife drove it quite often (though her and my definitions of streetable VETTES are pretty close).

Though it has an invasive roll cage and no longer has A/C (probably stupid for a black on black car in Arkansas) and a 12.5:1 engine; I would still consider it streetable enough to drive around town should I have the desire to do so...I may have a headache afterwards, though. Like I said, everyone has their own definitions of "streetable."
-Jeb

 

Streetable to me is anyone who can drive their car to the track as opposed to trailering it. Street legal that will pass inspection.

 

I think streetable is something that will......
1. idle at a red light
2. Run on pump gas
3. Is tolerable to ride in, in terms of creature comforts, If you go half deaf after rinding in it for half an hour what good is it.
4. Is safe for street use, 90/10 front drag shocks and skinnies don't belong on the street in my opinion.

I think thats it but i am sure others will add.

 

:iagree: with whats been said

Some cams lope too much at idle and the engine will shut off, or youll put too much of a strain on other components. (low vacuum) They cant run on 93 octane, they are TOO loud and youll get pulled over by every cop for noise violations. They suck fuel religiously, etc etc.

NASCAR engines are a big example, they are like 355ci and make power at 6-9000rpm, but they always stall out in the pits. And you will go deaf at a NASCAR track within a few minutes without headphones/plugs to cover your ears.

 

yeah.. I heard they don't even have starters.. they have to push the car to get it going.

Just curious... how much HP does one of the car make?

 

Hey Jeb can you run pump gas in that monster?

 

A NASCAR engine makes like 700-800hp.

 

It means I can drive it to work without tons of effort & giving up creature comforts. Then after work I can drive to the track, pull in, lay the smack down and drive home at the end of the night without changing anything. :)

 

Exactly. If I can drive a car to work (25 miles, 45 minutes) and not hate it when I get there, it's streetable.

There was a guy at LVD last week with a 95 mustang. He drove from Springfield MA (a couple hour drive), ran 10s, and drove home. Considering that I think his car was the only thing faster than high 12s that got driven there, I was quite impressed. The fact that he's got 17" hoops for daily use impressed me even more. He drives his 10 second car to work. :)

 

So if I understand correctly, generally speaking.. has long has the new modified CAM isn't over exaggerated for ONLY performance but is kept reasonable enough to let the car run smoothly, idle normaly then this is "streetable".

but

Will the Cam influence the "street legal" part of it, what about emissions?
and what if someone were to modify the engine flow, like better flowing intake and heads... does this affect the emissions?

 

Yes, but it depends on the part of the country you live and what emissions are required by your state. IN AZ they only do a sniff test and could care less what’s under the hood. Some like Cali and MA are very strict, so all aftermarket emissions parts have to have a C.A.R.B E.O. number and pass the sniff test. This rules out most headers and other popular parts.


[Modified by RM 4 TWO, 1:50 PM 8/20/2003]

 

Yes, all of that affects the power output of the engine, so all would affect emissions.

 

Streetable is one of those terms that means different things to different people. To me it simply means "can the car easily be driven on the street?"

A car with an aggressive cam that doesn't idle and can't run on pump gas can't easily be driven on the street. Likewise a car with a racing clutch or a 2 speed powerglide might not be very streetable either.

Can you get in the car, turn the key and go without having to worry about a bunch of other stuff? Can it sit in stop and go traffic without overheating? Do you have to fight with it just to make it idle? Does it want to stall if you try to move at anything less than wide open throttle?

What streetable does NOT mean to me is emissions. My car wouldn't pass an emissions test to save it's life yet it will idle just fine and you can drive it all day long. Now in your state streetable might dictate emissions, but in KY it sure doesn't.

My car is a good example of streetable. It makes good power and has a nasty lope for an idle, as for driveability though it still gets fairly decent gas mileage. It will idle all day long without overheating. Essentially it's street manners are exactly the same as it was when I rolled off the factory line. I just happens to make 100 more horsepower.

There are plenty of cars that make more power than me that are streetable. There are also cars that make less power than me that are not streetable. No certain part or power level determines how streetable something is.

 

Yup...I can run the new 12.5:1 motor on pump gas. It's pretty techie. EVERYTHING is thermal barrier coated; the piston crowns, combustion chambers, valves, ports, bottom of the intake manifold. Plus there's a PTFE dry-film coating on ALL of the bearings, piston skirts, valve stems, etc... And everything's been cryoed. True you can make more power with it on race gas but not a whole lot more...

As for streetable, like just about everyone has said including myself, there are varying degrees of streetability and this one pushes the envelope.
-Jeb

 

Streetable covers a wide range of opinions as mentioned. Have always asked myself would you be able to buy your car as it sits at the local Chevy dealer as a new Corvette. Would Bowling Green build your car and be able to market it with all the regulations. Keeping up with the latest new cars with a streetable car has always been my goal. Might have to add a 75 shot of Nitrous the way things are going though. :jester JMHO

 

Don't forget brakes! :eek:

A big lopey cam makes for a mean idle, but also decreases vacuum to the power brake booster. Unless you're running a vacuum reservoir or hydraulic booster, you'll find out real quick that properly operating power brakes play a big part in the "streetable" factor.

My old Camaro's brake vacuum would leak down and the car would actually pull forward with each revolution of the engine at the red lights, regardless of my riding the pedal with both feet at a stand still. :cuss

 

I've heard of cam affecting vacuum before but not to that degree :eek: . LOL inching forward with the lope of the cam must have been funny to see even if it was scary to drive.