I've been sitting on 400rwhp for a while but it's starting to feel a little pokey. Whether I go Nitrous or SC I'm looking at 500-550 rwhp, what else do I need to plan on doing to keep everything in one piece at those hp levels? Motor and drivetrain. Thanks.

 

You'll need to plan to replace your clutch when it goes out. Keep an extended warranty for the rest of the drivetrain. Aftermarket warranty ok.

I'd keep the rpm's down lower if you want it to last. Shift around 6500, rev lim at 6650. Possibly run a 40W oil. Larger radiator. Keep an eye on the tune with LS1 Scanmaster live data. Upgrade fuel pump.

 

Honestly, if you are lookin in the 480-500rwhp range, I would just do things the natural way... BORE and STROKE. Nothing beats the torque curve of a nice stroker bottom end, while still remaining very drivable. No heat problems or belt slippage problems, or even fuel system problems if you go the Naturally Aspirated direction.

If you went for a stroked/bored bottom end, you could probably even utilize your current heads, while if you got Forced Induction you would most likely be looking at different ways of lowering the compression to work with a supercharger, which is not always that easy to do.

Of course, if you only want that much power here and there, then Nitrous is the least expensive and most simple way to achieve it.

As long as you dont put real sticky tires like ET Streets on your car, and you have a healthy M6 transmission in the car, there shouldnt be any serious drivetrain problems. I have done absolutely nothing to my drivetrain and have yet to have any problems.. (knock on wood..)

I really feel an upgraded radiator and oil cooler is a good idea for any type of power past 400rwhp though. Doug Rippie Motorsports makes an excellent product which is a combined heavy duty radiator/oil cooler that comes with all the lines and fittings you will need for around $1100.

If you want any information or pricing on going this route, feel free to drop me an email.

 

IMHO no matter what you do when at 500rwhp and up you are going to be breaking stuff if you drive it hard so just expect it and make room in your budget for repairs :cheers:

Jerry

 

Thanks for the advice. I have already pretty much decided to go with nitrous, I like the idea of keeping my 20-28 mpg and 400 hp is enough for daily driving, I just need to have something up my sleeve for those special occasions that come up every once in a while. My exisiting mods are all wrong for forced induction anyway. Beefed up radiator and oil cooler sounds smart, clutch will go when it goes, if I'm only hitting the gas in higher gears maybe it'll actually last a while. Thank's again. Would be very very cool to have a legitimate 500 hp dyno chart on a daily driver that gets almost 30mpg on the fwy. :yesnod:

 

I'm with you. It's very, very hard to beat the heads&cam plus nitrous combination on a hp/dollar scale.:D I already have all the bolt-on's, Cartek clutch, cam and nitrous. Just missing a set of ported stage II heads.

:cheers:
-Tuan

 

I agree, heads/cam and Nitrous is definitely the most cost efficient way to go fast. I had a great time with that combo on my car for the past year, and highly recommend it.

As for fuel economy with superstrokers, I averaged 26mpg on a 400 mile roadtrip this week and was pretty impressed. I maybe went down 2mpg at most from my heads/cam setup. However, when you are on the throttle hard, then fuel economy is MUCH worse! :D

 

I'm considering both approaches. Not interested in Nitrous. What about California Smog Checks? ATI ProCharger apparently gets near 480rwhp while passing full smog. I know there are complications that cost $ to deal with.. i.e. belt slippage, etc. With Bore & Stroke setups that get over 450 rwhp, can the car keep the cats and pass a smog test?

Getting ready to order a second vette now, then will have some fun with the first one. 450+rwhp will be the target.

Thanks for opinions!