Chevrolet Camaro features a worked over 5.3-liter truck engine and a big-stall torque convertor.
This week’s Kill Story was originally shared to the forum in a thread by “Cwarta” from a YouTube channel with a similar name and it features a couple drag races between a Chevrolet Camaro and a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am WS6. Both of these cars are from the 4th generation of the GM F-body and they are both powered by a variation of an LS engine, but the Camaro with a truck engine is a whole lot quicker.
The Competitors
The camera car in each of these videos is a 1999 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am WS6 and the car in the other lane is a 1995 ChevroletCamaro. Under the hood of the Pontiac is the original LS1, but the owner has added a new camshaft, an LS6 intake, unspecified “bolt-ons”, a 3,000 stall convertor and a set of 3.42 gears. The Camaro has a 5.3-liter LM7 V8from an early-to-mid 2000s Chevrolet truck with eBay headers, an aftermarket camshaft, an LS6 intake, 3.73 gears and a stall convertor that the OP claims is “up around 5,000 rpm”.
The Battles
In the race above, the bright yellow, truck engine-powered Camaro lines up with the red Firebird and when the starter drops his arms, both cars tear away from the starting line. Well, the Chevy tears away while the Firebird struggles with traction. As a result of the traction issues for the Trans Am, the yellow Chevy beats the tar out of its cousin from the Pontiac brand.
In the second run (below), both cars have some traction issues on the launch, but once again, the Camaro with LM7 power beats the crap out of the LS1-powered Pontiac Firebird.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
