Was cruising down the main strip in the city last Sat. and came across a LS1 Z28 or SS. It was an A4, white with orange stripes, and had at least a cat-back not sure what else.

He followed me for a few blocks and once we got away from the city we caught a light. I didn't really want to run my car hard because the clutch is almost completely gone, but I rarely get anyone who wants to mess around anymore so I decided to "try" and have a little fun. We both leave normal from the light and go WOT about the same time from probably a 10mph roll. He stayed right by my door through 1st. I pull 2nd and start to pull. We shut down at the start of 4th with me out 2-3 cars. We catch another light just up the street and this time I hear him footbraking so I know we're leaving from the light this time. I bring it up to about 2,5-3k and slip the clutch on the green. I get a good leave and am out about a car from the start. I pull about a half car more through 1st, pull 2nd...griiinnd. Ram it in gear and he's back up to my quarter. I hold my car length through 2nd, go to grab 3rd...griiinnd. ****! Force it in gear and he's back at my door again. I pull 4th with no problems and proceed to pull away to about 2-3 cars again until I see him let off.

I slow down to make a u-turn and he keeps going. As I come to stop a cloud of clutch smoke follows past my car I've got a Spec 3 sitting at home thats going in this week but I sure wish I had had it this weekend.


So, guy in the Camaro, if you're on here, I'm really not usually that bad It was my clutches fault. And nice runs...







Jon

 

Are you sure that it was an LS1 car? White with orange stripes sounds like a 30th anniversary Camaro which is a 1997 and an LT1.

 

And also, the '97 Camaro's had the same taillights as the LS1's and the white with orange stripes sounds like a 30th Z28 to me, although it's not impossible to have that paint job on an LS1. Maybe he thought it was an LS1 because of the taillights???

 

No offense taken fella's, but I'm very familiar with the differences between a LT/LS1 car, I've owned both

I saw the front end so unless he did a swap, it was just painted. Also, anyone who has heard either a LT1 or LS1 car with aftermarket exhuast knows that there is a distinctive difference in sound between the 350 and the 346.


Does the story not sound believable?






Jon

 

Good kill,now fix that clutch!

Sounds like your car was running at much less that peak performance,with out a doubt.
And you were able to pull the other car by 2-3 Full car lengths. The only part that is is that your sig says you run 12.7's ,If that was a LS1 A4(which is what i drive) How did you pull it by so much, with a wounded clutch?


But ,don't get too excited.
I'm not calling B/S!
I know anything can /and does happen on the street. The only reason i brought it up was you asked if it sounded right and i have seen some A4 LS1 cars run in the 12's with a lid/freemods/cat back.

Again nice kill,get that Spec clutch in there.

Dave

 

Thanks! Yea, the 1st run before the clutch got hot and I didn't miss any gears I was able to put 2-3 cars on him. The second run I got a much better leave than him from a dead stop. By the time I had missed 2nd/3rd he was almost back up to my door. When I went to 4th is when I started to pull decent. I just figured he had stock gears and his car prolly went to 3rd, where they die off some compared to M6's. The second run we stayed in it a little longer.

And yea, there are mostly stock A4's that have run high 12's, and there are also bolt-on A4 cars that run mid/low 13's at 104-106. If the car I ran was the latter of the two, then I trap 4-6 more MPH than him, which enough enough to pull a couple of cars up top.






Jon

 

good runs

 

Was just checking to make sure that it wasnt an LT1 car, nice kill

 

Sounds like he didn't have anything more than a cat back on it and didn't know how to drive.

 

Nice kill. I'm just curious, how come you don't know if it was an SS or a Z28? I'm not bashing, I'm just curious.

 

Yeah sounded like a regular A4 LS1, just be thankful that it wasn't stalled.

 

The sound difference isn't because of a 350 compared to a 346...it's because one is iron block and one is aluminum block.

Also, I never said it didn't sound believeable, it's just you weren't sure if it was a Z28 or a SS (not that it would matter cuz they are the same car)...and you said it was white with orange stripes...which many of us Camaro fans know as a 30th anniversary Z28. I was more or less verifying that it might have been an LT1. In conclusion, nice kill.

 

get the clutch replaced and find him again and smoke him

 

Can somebody explain to me how the block being iron or aluminum has anything to do with the sound of the explosion in the cumbustion chambers?

 

Thanks fella's!

The reason I wasn't sure if it was a Z28 or SS was because it was dark. I saw the SS spoiler on the rear but couldn't read the badges on the side. Then as I got up to the front it didn't "look" as if he had an SS hood, like I said it was dark. But there was definately a SS spoiler on the rear. Who knows? As someone else already stated, it doesn't really matter.

As for the sound, I never stated that the reason the sound was different was because of the c.i. difference. I could have just as easily put LT1 and LS1 in place of 350 and 346. I was merely stating that there IS a difference in sound. I don't have any idea why the sound is different. The block theory doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Anyone who has ever heard a "old school" Chevy 302 v.s. a Ford 302 knows that they sound nothing a like, and both of those would be iron blocks.


Thanks again!




Jon

 

There are many factors that affect the sound of the exhaust, such as intake design and head port shape, valve size, cam lift duration and so on.

As for your question it's a simple matter of harmonic frquency. An aluminium block weighs less and is less dense hence it will resonate at a different frequency. Think of a guitar string, the fatter more dense string will vibrate at a different frequency and refrech rate than a narrower string tuned to the same pitch.

 

An LT1 and an LS1 sound different because they are different blocks, one being iron and one being aluminum. The heavier, being iron, will be louder. The lighter, being aluminum, will be not as loud. Think of it this way...If you took a big piece of iron and a big piece of aluminum and dropped them to the ground from 20 feet in the air, which will make the most noise once it hit the ground? Obviously the iron would because it weighs more. This is just an example. But different engine sounds come with design, cam(s) lope & duration, head design, combustion and how much air is getting into the engine. Comparing a Chevy 302 and a Ford 302 isn't even a comparison even if they are both iron block. They are both made by different manufacturers and are designed differently, hence giving them their different unique sound. I'm no expert when it comes to engines, I am still learning, so if I said anything that may come across as not true, correct me.

 

This concludes our lesson on frequencies and harmonics.

 

Opinions vary. I understand what you all are saying about harmonics, but I would think it has more to do with engine design/specs then block material. That is the reason I mentioned the Chevy 302 v.s. Ford 302. Same materials but a different design and different specs. The same could be said for comparing small blocks and big blocks. There's a distinct difference in sound there as well, regardless of iron v.s. iron or alumin. v.s. alumin.

I'm not a an engine genious either, but I do have experience and I think that the sound difference has more to do with design/specs than the science of sound.


Now lets stop whoring up my thread....ME included





Jon

 

And different firing order.