Turbocharged, LS-Powered Trans Am Build Churns Out a Cool 1,300 HP
This wicked Trans Am build is headed to Ultra Street competition, but in this case, the dedicated racer looks as good as it goes.
The Firebird – and Pontiac itself – are long gone at the point, and sadly, unlikely to ever make a comeback. However, the GM faithful certainly haven’t forgotten about the beloved Firebird, particularly the last-gen model, which has long been a fan favorite. There are still plenty of these cars out there sitting in storage with few miles on the clock, as well as heavily-modified examples ripping up drag strips across the nation, and that includes this amazingly beautiful Trans Am owned by Jeff Guy, which was recently featured in a video from FuelTech USA.
This rather stunning looking Yellow Green Metallic Trans Am has lived with Guy for a few years at this point, but was previously running a big block with nitrous. Guy wanted to go faster, however, which in this case meant ditching the massive mill for an interesting 340 cubic-inch LS-based V8 with lots of bore and less stroke, making it perfect for Ultra Street competition, which is precisely where it’s headed.
The new engine features a laundry list of goodies including a 76mm turbo, which enables it to churn out a solid 1,300 horsepower on the dyno. With a curb weight of around 2,900 pounds, this combination should be good for 4.40-4.50 second eighth-mile passes with no problem, making it competitive in that particular class. As Guy notes, he had some issues with the valvetrain on this particular dyno session, so the car isn’t even fully turned up yet.
Perhaps the coolest thing about this particular Trans Am build, however, is just how nice it looks. While most folks with race cars don’t bother to dress them up – these are machines that are rocketing down the track and destined to pick up some sort of damage, or at least a rock chip or two, after all – that isn’t the case here at all. Rather, the removable body panels on this Trans Am are covered in that gorgeous, dark paint job that even touts some gold flake in the sun – making it just as nice to look at as it is to hear roaring down the track.
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