Pontiac G8 2008-2010 - First track runs with new mods.

My best pass bone stock looked like this:

60'........2.040
330'......5.721
1/8.......8.761
mph......81.88
1000'....11.351
1/4.......13.529
mph......102.92

I ran that time on October 18, 2008. The temp was 52 degrees, the humidity was 52%, and the track is at about 600 feet actual elevation. Calculated DA was 35 feet above sea level.

Obviously a fantastic day weather wise.

Since that pass I installed a Vararam Intake, Solo Axleback, and dyno tune. The evolution of my car on the dyno can be seen in my sig.

I went back up to LVD on Wednesday night to see what the car would do. They didn't print the weather info on my slip, but the temp was 80+ degrees and the DA was probably in the range of 2500 feet or so.

I only got 1 pass, and then it started downpouring, ending the night. I didn't want to ruin my pass by spinning, as I had just seen a stock A4 LS2 GTO blow the tires off right before my pass, so I left a little bit easier than I wanted.

The pass looked like this:

60'........2.068
330'......5.682
1/8.......8.636
mph......83.64
1000'....11.158
1/4.......13.280
mph......106.41

For only getting one pass and taking into consideration the weather changes since my stock runs, I'm very happy with the gains. Can't wait to get back up there and give it another shot!

My buddy got the pass on video for me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coyd2ZH5JvU

Nice run! With a harder launch and cooler air you should be closer to 13 flat.

I'm hoping your right! With the gains from these minor mods there's no way I can complain, lol.

nice runs, let me know next time you go i want to run mine for the hell of it

Thanks man, will do!

You just covinced me of the Vararam and tune for my LS2. I was going to get the intake, and wait months for headers then wait again for a tune. I would be very happy with those gains from those mods, and I can hold off on headers and do suspension. I would not at all expect those gains from those mods. Awesome run man. How does the car feel? Looks like the top end is really loving the tune and intake

A performance tune is the best thing you can do to the car since the factory tune is too conservative and holding some of the power hostage. A cold air intake is really noticeable above 5000 rpm, which is where the factory intake becomes restrictive and that's where the LS motor makes the most power.

How does the car feel?

Thanks man, the car feels awesome and it's very noticeable when I get next to another car, if you catch my drift. I'm not sure how the tunes gain on the GTO's, but if it's anything like these cars then it will be well worth it.

I can honestly say that these are some of the few mods I've done that I can actually feel (when combined with each other). Too many times I see people talking about how much faster their car feels after bolting on a part that only gained them 5 hp.



After only getting one pass last week before the rain, I went up again last night to see if I could improve on my time. The DA was around 1500-1700 I believe.

I was able to drop .103 off last week's time and my best slip looks like this:

60'........2.028
330'......5.630
1/8.......8.560
mph......84.33
1000'....11.066
1/4.......13.177
mph......106.46

That was my second run of the night. The rest of my times were:

13.218 @ 106.75 with a 2.044 60'

13.325 @ 106.04 with a 2.060 60'

13.234 @ 106.25 with a 2.026 60'

13.205 @ 106.86 with a 2.018 60'

I dropped my tire pressure to 24 psi (stock tires and stock 19" wheels). Since I didn't have traction issues I might have been better leaving the pressure higher, but with such a low profile, I doubt it makes a huge difference.

I did a very short burnout (driving around the water). These tires get suprisingly sticky with a little heat (if you get out and feel the tire with your hand they are noticably sticky when hot). Doing too long of a burnout though is bad and they spin.

The best method for launching the car seemed to be stalling it to around 1100 rpm and then mashing the gas. I tried coming off idle last week and got a 2.06 60' and I tried as high as 1500 rpm last night and got a 2.06 60'. Stalling it to 1100, I was in the 2.02 range with a best of 2.018.

The car 100% hooked and went, but the stock 2.92 gears and stock converter don't let it come out too hard. The thing to do seems to be swapping in the differential from a manual 2010 Camaro SS, which is a 3.45 gear, I believe. I'll probably look into that once I get the bolt-ons finished up.

I noticed that it seemed to be in the middle of shifting into 4th as I was crossing the line. The shift point is set at 6300, but the rev limiter is 6500, so the last run I held it in 3rd gear and I came through in 3rd, without touching the limiter. As you can see, my mph went up slightly.

I haven't been to the track on a Wednesday night in a long time, and I had a blast. There were alot of nice cars there, and my best race was with a Jeep SRT8, which had an intake, exhaust, and a tune (basically my mods). He ran a 13.09 @ 103.7 mph with a 1.89 60' to my 13.234 @ 106.25 with a 2.026 60'. He was ahead by about 2 cars at the end, due to getting a better reaction time or it would have been a very close race. Fun as hell either way.

I'm hoping to get headers and an underdrive pulley on the car by the end of September and then I'll take it back and see what I can get it to do. I'm hoping for 12's in any weather conditions.

Few nice cars I saw running:

The intake/exhaust/tune SRT8 I ran. Best last night was 13.0 @ 103. He said his best ever is 12.7 @ 106

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu330/ScreaminRedZ/IntakeExhaustTuneSRT8.jpg

Real clean 3rd gen. I don't know the specifics on it, but it had an iron headed small block and he was running 13.0's on street tires. Big fan of the color.

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu330/ScreaminRedZ/Clean3rdgen1.jpg

This car is actually a friend's old car that he sold last year. It has some bolt-ons and a small cam. The owner said it was his first time out with it and he's spraying it with a 90 shot for now. I saw him running some terrible ET's at about 104 mph, but he was running street tires and looked like he had zero traction.

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu330/ScreaminRedZ/1993Notchback.jpg

This 1971 Monte Carlo was cool, as it's something you don't see everyday at the track. The owner said it has a stock 455 and an automatic and was running mid 14's at about 95 mph with drag radials.

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu330/ScreaminRedZ/1971MonteCarlowith455.jpg

ahhhhhhh Lebanon Valley - i'm going up the 30th of this month with my G8. Are you going to be their?

Unfortunately I won't be around that weekend, but I would have liked to go.

My parents had a 71 Monte that was just like that one. Maybe it's their old car, lol

Sounds great! I think the GTO's start out with more before the tune? So I may not get as much. Stock, in an 1800 DA and 2.0 60' I ran 13.5 at 103, which I was pretty disappointed in. I'd love to run 13.3 in summer and 12.8 in winter...Sounds like the mods worked for you, and I know the VR us popular so might as well try it

My parents had a 71 Monte that was just like that one. Maybe it's their old car, lol

The owner was a real nice guy and he seemed excited that I was asking him about his car. He said that he never sees other ones at the track and I got the impression that people usually overlooked it, and checked out the more flashy cars.

Sounds great! I think the GTO's start out with more before the tune? So I may not get as much.

You might be right. I know the GTO's are rated about 40 more hp stock, and dyno 30-40 more (A4 GTO's), but with all the bolt-ons on both cars, they seem to be making similar power, so somewhere the GTO's aren't gaining as much it seems.

Nice times for your mods. You should be in the 12's easily with headers.

You might be right. I know the GTO's are rated about 40 more hp stock, and dyno 30-40 more (A4 GTO's), but with all the bolt-ons on both cars, they seem to be making similar power, so somewhere the GTO's aren't gaining as much it seems.

My bolt on 2005 A4 GTO (3200 stall, Nitto 555 drag radials, tune, ARH long tube w/high flow cats, exhaust cut outs, tune) had a best of 12.12. My GXP has a best of 11.91 with almost the same mods. I also didn't use any tricks (on either car) such as major weight removal, gear changes, skinnies in the front, so I feel the GTO handled the bolt on mods and it showed on the timeslip. The RWHP for the GTO was around 375. A buddy of mine who weighed about 150 lbs got his GTO with almost the exact same mods in the 11.9 range.

Bottom line is I've always felt the GTO was right between the GT and GXP, leaning more toward the GXP side.

In cooler weather 13.0's/12.90's will be no prob...if you can hook it on a real cold day/mineshaft type -DA ur prob looking at high 12.80's

My bolt on 2005 A4 GTO (3200 stall, Nitto 555 drag radials, tune, ARH long tube w/high flow cats, exhaust cut outs, tune) had a best of 12.12. My GXP has a best of 11.91 with almost the same mods. I also didn't use any tricks (on either car) such as major weight removal, gear changes, skinnies in the front, so I feel the GTO handled the bolt on mods and it showed on the timeslip. The RWHP for the GTO was around 375. A buddy of mine who weighed about 150 lbs got his GTO with almost the exact same mods in the 11.9 range.

Bottom line is I've always felt the GTO was right between the GT and GXP, leaning more toward the GXP side.

I was talking about the power the cars make, not the ET. I would expect the GTO to run faster than a G8 if both made the same power.

The G8 GT has better heads than the GTO (LS3 vs LS2) but the DOD cam doesn't allow the motor to make as much power as the LS2 in the GTO. Swap the cam & lifters to non-DOD style parts and the G8 GT motor puts out more power than the GTO.

I was talking about the power the cars make, not the ET. I would expect the GTO to run faster than a G8 if both made the same power.

I'm not much into power, I'm more into times.

I've seen too many guys with more power than other guys, but lose in the quarter.

It's one thing to have someone strap a car on the dyno, but's another thing to prep your car, launch your car properly, and make a great run.

I'm not much into power, I'm more into times.

I've seen too many guys with more power than other guys, but lose in the quarter.

It's one thing to have someone strap a car on the dyno, but's another thing to prep your car, launch your car properly, and make a great run.

When trying to compare the cars as a whole, then I agree that ET's are the way to go.

In this case though, I was referring to where O-FiveCC stated that he might not gain as much as I did with the same mods, meaning power gains.

In this case, from what I've seen, G8 GT's seem to pick up more from bolt-ons than an LS2 GTO does. What each cars actually puts down on the dyno doesn't matter, just the gains. I'm not sure where the extra is coming into play, so he may see the same power gain as I did, or he may not if the tune is part of that extra.

Old Goat it takes power to get good times. lol

Old Goat it takes power to get good times. lol

However, having power doesn't always equate to good times.

I've been to the track too many times and have seen guys who can't launch, and make bad decisions at the track and turn in bad times, with their powerful cars.

I agree but an under powered car will NEVER get a good ET.

Yeah I'm thinking its the tune where the GTO may be stronger stock. I have a feeling I won't gain as much. However, I do remember reading a few GTO owners gaining over 20rwhp with the Vararam and tune, so we'll see. Shows how little I know about the G8, I didn't know it had the LS3 heads. Those with matching intake are on my to do list.

As I said above it's the non-DOD cam that gives the GTO more power over the G8 GT. Most factory tunes are lame, even on the Corvette and CTS-V, and the GTO isn't any different.