Southern Nationals in Commerce...
05-15-2005, 05:37 PM
#1
Southern Nationals in Commerce... Ok Im stumped! After going to this event and talking with some of the lower budget racers I am speechless. There were a few LT1 and LS1 cars running between 10.2 and 10.7 All motor, stock displacement. All the cars I saw weighed between 3100 and 3300 lbs. Nearly every single one had a traction bar style rear (deleting the rear sway bar), ALL ran 30" tall tires, and not a single one had the factory computer (some ran msd some ran some other kind) I honestly do not see how in the world these guys were running those numbers with what they had. One LT1 guy (who was running 10.6s) told me that he had 30" tires, 4.88 gears, 5000 stall. They told me that they all had stock, and untouched heads, and a small cam. I could see the ls1 running that quick MAYBE, but the fact they weighed around 3200 normally stumped me and them having stock motors. I know guys like Rodney and Keith (Magnus) run quick but this was a decent number of cars running very quick.
Any ideas on why they didnt use the factory computer or why they seemed to run such big tires, big gears, and big stalls?? Is this the way to go to have a quick NA car?
Any ideas on why they didnt use the factory computer or why they seemed to run such big tires, big gears, and big stalls?? Is this the way to go to have a quick NA car?
05-15-2005, 07:06 PM
#2
The factory computer is a joke compared to the aftermarket. There is alot of power left on the table with stock pcms. The cars themselves are taken completely apart and put back together just for Stock racing. Everything is matched from cams to gears etc. The main reason these guys are so fast is they always are testing.
05-15-2005, 08:39 PM
#3
So what makes them so fast? Cant be the weight. Are the gear/converter/tire combos getting them down low? Or are their computers so much better that they can get their cars quicker? They just talked like it was nothing to get these cars to run in the 10 second range on a stock displacement motor.
05-15-2005, 10:33 PM
#4
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It's a lot of tuning, testing and $$$$ to run fast in your class.
Believe me, stock eliminator is not as STOCK as you might think. Yes, stock untouched heads, intake, etc etc are enforced by the rules, but there is a lot of work involved, and these cars (most of them) run stuff you'd never see anywhere near the street, and some parts are limited use (they get replaced often). Still fun to watch them yank the wheels on a 9" tire!
Derek
Believe me, stock eliminator is not as STOCK as you might think. Yes, stock untouched heads, intake, etc etc are enforced by the rules, but there is a lot of work involved, and these cars (most of them) run stuff you'd never see anywhere near the street, and some parts are limited use (they get replaced often). Still fun to watch them yank the wheels on a 9" tire!
Derek
05-16-2005, 06:12 AM
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These are not street cars by a long shot....Stock eliminator can be very expensive in order to be competetive, but the B and C/EFI classes are sure fun to watch. You are limited to a 9" wide slick, most run rear axle ratios well into the 5's, and no detail is left untouched when detailing the motors. Some of the LS1 cars still are running the factory computers and are running high 9's.... WJ 
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05-16-2005, 02:51 PM
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The motors are not stock for sure!!
Cams I think are stock lift but duration is alot more.
Ring packages are crucial.
Major compression.
Lightweight where they can be in the rotation assembly. all kinds of tricks to do to a stock motor....
Not to mention all the time they have put in the suspension and getting it right to run the 60'.
And what would our cars run with HUGE gears and stall with a 8k RPM or more?!?!?
Aftermarket PCMs are wonderful!!!
But interesting the LT1s are doing all that with the opti!
Cams I think are stock lift but duration is alot more.
Ring packages are crucial.
Major compression.
Lightweight where they can be in the rotation assembly. all kinds of tricks to do to a stock motor....
Not to mention all the time they have put in the suspension and getting it right to run the 60'.
And what would our cars run with HUGE gears and stall with a 8k RPM or more?!?!?
Aftermarket PCMs are wonderful!!!
But interesting the LT1s are doing all that with the opti!
05-16-2005, 05:38 PM
#16
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The LS1's and the LT1's are very impressive.... Then there are those '64 and '65 Chevelle Malibu 283 c.i., 220 hp, SS/MA cars that are running 11.30's! Of all the cars that run at the NHRA National events, The SS and the Stock/eliminator cars are my favorites...The Pro cars, in my opinion (other than the Pro Stocks) are about as exciting as ice fishing in January... WJ 
05-16-2005, 10:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Black8Banger
if you wanted to run in an NHRA event, what class would you run in if you had ported heads, tubular kmember, etc?
05-17-2005, 10:26 PM
#18
If you think that the heads on a stock eliminator runs off the shelf heads, you'd be wrong. You can "angle port", shave here and there - not stock heads. Stock cam's - not a chance. Stock displacement, not! Look real close at the requirements. There are very tight rules, but good bet they are pushed every day. Everything can be "touched". The cams are one of the biggest factors. They are huge. Look at the gears, tranny, tires. All are calculated to get the max out of the car. A buddy of mine that runs the FIA class spent over $20,000 just on parts. They put the car together themselves -- by the way his index is 13.1 and he runs 13.2's at 104. Everyone of them run after market computers that I have seen.
David
David