best h/c combo
#1
Launching!
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New Hartford,NY
Posts: 230
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
best h/c combo
whats the best h/c combo or package u guys have seen or had..for a reliable 440whp range and low 12s? remmember reliable but with a mean idle haha...also what octane gas...mostly is 91 around me there are some 93s but id have to drive 15min to get to them..and buying octane booster every tank of gass be worth it?
#2
Tech Resident
Best H/C package for...
Low end torque?
Top end horsepower?
Midrange?
Driveability?
Economy?
Budget?
You need to give us more than a peak horsepower rating and an ET. First off, you can hit low 12's/high 11's with stock internals, so hitting low 12's does not require 440 rwhp. Besides, peak numbers are practically meaningless. A lot of high rwhp builds have no low end and the driveability therefore sucks along with horrendous fuel economy.
What do you want out of your build? You need to be more specific. Is this a weekend car? Daily driver? Track only car? Also, are you an A4 or an M6? This plays a HUGE factor in your H/C decision.
Trust me, if there was a "best H/C combo," everyone would be running the same combo. There are hundreds of combinations used on this site because "best" doesn't exist and is a relative term.
And, oh yea:
This belongs in the internals section.
Low end torque?
Top end horsepower?
Midrange?
Driveability?
Economy?
Budget?
You need to give us more than a peak horsepower rating and an ET. First off, you can hit low 12's/high 11's with stock internals, so hitting low 12's does not require 440 rwhp. Besides, peak numbers are practically meaningless. A lot of high rwhp builds have no low end and the driveability therefore sucks along with horrendous fuel economy.
What do you want out of your build? You need to be more specific. Is this a weekend car? Daily driver? Track only car? Also, are you an A4 or an M6? This plays a HUGE factor in your H/C decision.
Trust me, if there was a "best H/C combo," everyone would be running the same combo. There are hundreds of combinations used on this site because "best" doesn't exist and is a relative term.
And, oh yea:
This belongs in the internals section.
#3
TECH Fanatic
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Tuscaloosa, AL.
Posts: 1,251
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It depends on $$$$$. Budget build = TSP/patriot H/C package. BEST-money-can-buy = AFR/ETP/Trickflow H/C package. Whose is better in the respective catagories is a matter of opinion. Look for a cam with durations around 130. 112lsa will be extra lopey (or mean), while 114lsa will sound more refined (but still mean). Best thing to do is determine your budget, and call a reputable sponser and discuss your goals w/ him. You will also need headers/exhaust or the car will be choked. Not too mention, if you are going from a laredo to an SS, you will also need to learn how to drive a car w/ that much power. 450rwhp + inexperianced driver = totaled ls1! Best thing to do is go through the stages. Stock => few bolt ons => fully bolted => H/C => H/C + power adder. It gives you a better idea of what you really want out of your car, and you don't end up wasting money on modifications that you haven't considered.
#5
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
DONT BUY OCTANE BOOSTERS WITH EVERY TANK, they boost your octane up three points or whatever, yes but 3 points =91.3, not 94
and if you look in the internal section, youll find a ton of info there, ive been in there gathering info for the past 6 months and now its just an issue of getting the money before i buy my stuff.
and if you look in the internal section, youll find a ton of info there, ive been in there gathering info for the past 6 months and now its just an issue of getting the money before i buy my stuff.
#6
TECH Fanatic
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Tuscaloosa, AL.
Posts: 1,251
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Here are some things to keep in mind:
Most of the heads are competative in their respective price range (or nobody would buy them and they would go out of business). The real difference is whether or not you are going to go with a stock casting (i.e. TSP, Patriot ext.), or go with an aftermarket one such as AFR/Trick-flow/ETP. The stock castings are cheaper and normially require you to send your stock heads. Basically what they are doing (and senior members correct me if I am wrong) is porting the heads out themselves and reselling them. This is essentially the same as you taking your heads to a machine shop and having them ported, except that these guy's know what they are doing and have the experiance to get superior results. The aftermarket castings are more expensive because of the $$$ that these company's have to recover for the R&D used to develop the heads. However, they typically will flow much better than the ported stock castings and thus some (like myself) justify spending the extra coin to get that extra 20-30 rwhp. Personally, I went with AFR because they have an established reputation, but Trick-flow and ETP have good reputations as well and they are quickly establishing a following amoung ls1 fanatics.
Now to Cams. Again, this is a nuts and bolts explination, but the cams that you will be interested in (assuming stock cubes) are going to fall in between 222 and 244 durations. A popular street cam for people who don't want to go all out, is the 224/224. Some people go a bit larger to achieve a higher HP output. In doing this they sacrifice driveability, road manners, and at the upper threshholds low end torque. Driveability is affected by "big" cams because the larger the duration, the higher the propensity for stalling at low RPMs. imagine having to drive your car at 2500 RPMs just to keep it from stalling. Don't get me wrong, they are great at WOT. Manners most of us, including my self, could care less about. However, loosing low end torque is an issue because because car's that are DOGS on the low end (i.e. don't make any power below 4500RPMs) are miserable DDs. However, what is "streetable" is a matter of opinion. An 18 year old may think that his 244/248 is streetable, even though he stalls at stop lights and has to replace the springs and spark plugs every 3K miles. His father on the other hand may think that anything over a 224/224 attracts to much attention for a street driven car.
HOWEVER, before you do anything you need to "let the beast breath". Do intake/headers/exhaust before you even think about shelling out 4-8K for a h/c package. You may find that your BOLT on car is all the power you want. Also, do yourself a favor and get a good set of Sub-Frame-Connectors (SFC's) before you even buy an air freshner. IMO, they are absolutely necessary on these cars. A shop will weld them up for you cheap and they will eliminate the majority of chasis flex (at least until you get the HP #'s up their).
One final note: THIS **** IS EXPENSIVE. Don't just think that you are gonna spend 2-4K $$$ and that will be the end of it. Here is a short list (does not include everything) of my modifications to date and their costs.
Headers => 1k
exhaust => 1k
H/C/I (includes porting) => 6K
9" + clutch + t56 rebuild => 5K
Suspension => 2k
TOTAL (parts no labor) => 15K
Now, i did elect to buy some quality (read expensive) parts (i.e. kooks headers, custom TD, AFR, FAST IM, ext.), but doing it cheaper AIN't that much cheaper once you do the math. And don't forget to factor in the small things, cause they add up. [wow, I should have broken this thing up into chapters LOL]
Last edited by landonew; 01-17-2008 at 08:05 PM.