Captain C

The car weighs 3600# without the spare tire, jack, or subwoofers/amp box. I'm 6' 0" tall and 260 pounds, I can still see my belt buckle without the use of a mirror or having to move my stomach out of the way. Even after 4 hernia operations, tweaked shoulders, and having both knees worked over, I can still bench well more than my weight several times. Not too bad for an old man of 47....

I wish the car (and myself) were a lot lighter!!!!!! It made a lot of difference just taking out the spare/jack. One thing I think that weighs the car down is that it has excellent insulation. You can barely hear the subs outside the car while they are hitting hard inside. The only sound you hear outside is the rear windshield wiper rattling from the bass hitting on the hatchback glass.

PS: I truly am glad to hear some guys are running as fast as what I see here. It just irritates me to no end that my car isn't faster considering what's been done to it......

anondude13

That's really impressive. I need to learn that trick for myself

TPIMarow6.6

i think its the driver. damn rookie

TPIMarow6.6

noone here is running ET Drag radials?

TunedPort 335

Are you ok man, where in this thread did i even mention my burnout?? I have it in my sig because I figure people would like to see a 3rd gen doing a burnout, many people have vids in their sigs.

How is that bragging??

TunedPort 335

A few here run them. Actually the fastest car on drag radials right now runs them, and its a 427ci Twin Turbo thirdgen owned by Rick Head.

He runs 7.70's @ 180+mph i beleive. Its a torque arm car too

Steven89Iroc

I'm glad this thread turned civil.

I just wanted to say (along with the other 'believers') good job GTA matt. I've been waiting to hear of a freak TPI car just to compare with everyone else, that's pretty cool. I do agree that it's possible that something was changed at some point without prior knowledge, but I won't discount a very real possibility of that not being the case.

On the note of temperature, it depends on a lot (as everything pretty much does) but I can say in many different cars I've felt a lot more than 10hp for a huge temperature drop. More tangibly, on the dyno, my (now dad's) '89 in my sig made 220whp and 300wtq corrected, but 239whp and 324wtq uncorrected. The only notable difference that day from standard correction calculations was the temperature, it was in the low 50's (sea level, average barometric pressure, etc.). That's definately less than the huge drop that was mentioned to only give 10hp, and it gave the car almost 20hp at the wheels vs. the widely used standardized corrections.

That being said, don't underestimate the 'power' of low ambient temperatures. The reason most people don't run a whole lot faster in the cold is because they typically hook less in colder weather so the benefits of power aren't noticed. Look at traps for that. However, in his case, he had a very respectable 60' anyway. In addition to the car already responding well to conditions, these things should have made the near perfect setup at the time as someone already said.

I'm not re-opening an argument, just discussing further because I have more input that I think is helpful.

Part of the reason I'm so intrigued by this is that albeit on a slightly different note, I was in the same situation. A lot of people said my Talon couldn't have ran what it did with the stock untouched "T-too-small" T25 and stock engine at full 2G AWD weight. I ran a 13.1 @ 103.8 with a 1.76 60' (on 225 street tires. ). Bottom line is I did it no matter what anyone thought or thinks, and it was because the conditions were near 'perfect'. The temps were in the mid-30's BTW.

Now, I've also ran the '89 at MIR, it didn't seem to hook any better to me either, at least that day. It was in the 60's or so, and I ran a 14.1 @ 98 with a 1.99 60' on cheapo Falken 275/40/17's (more like 255's), launching right off idle. That car doesn't have many mods either, that I'm sure of being that I had the engine apart to replace worn bearings, heh.

Now here in a few when (not if, heh) everything goes right, we'll all see how fast stock TPI/heads/cam with better internals can really go. Boost is good.

TPIMarow6.6

i mean, anyone, on this post. lol but cool im thinking of buying some MT ET drag radials but not sure if i want to switch to 17in rims or not......hmm. id probably take the MT over the nitto's but thats just my opinion. does anyone know the tread wear factor on all drag radials? i dont want tires lasting half a season.

kylez28

My 1991 z28 came stock with a 305 tpi which had a few bolt-ons and ran 14's at the track, then my friend crashed his 91 vette and i got his L98 rated at 250 bhp and 350 torque stock. I had it bored .60 over, ported plenum, flowmaster no cat, bbk throttle body, synthetic oil, K&N filter w/ ram air, also some hedman headers. I went out to the track and ran low to mid 13's. my best time being a 13.242. So I believe him.

I also added a torque converter, and was on drag radials, and did a little bit of weight reduction*

CHEVY_EATER

I know some people get up to 12,000 out of Nitto Drags and I about 6000-7000 MAX with the BF T/A. I would assume that the MT are gonna be close to the BF T/A Drags. I got about 5500-6000 miles out of my Nitto Drags with about 60+ passes on them. Everyone I know with BF T/A likes them much better at the track but they are VERY dangerous in the rain and last about 1/2 as long as the Nitto. If you only drive in dry weather I'd say the MT or BF T/A, but if you want something that is good ain and wet and dry and last 2 times as long get the Nitto Drags. You have slicks for the track anyway. 4 of my friends have Nitto Drags and they hook like glue on the street most of the time and are way better than a regular street tire.

CHEVY_EATER

What size tire are you running? I have never been able to get better than a 1.90 60ft on my Nitto Drags 245/50 16. I have had about 3 years worth of driving them on the track and street and can launch them pretty well. Anything under 2500rpm and it bogs usually some, and I'm not lacking in the torque department with easily well over 400ft lbs. I just can't see getting sub 1.90 60ft's with stock converter, doesn't make any sense at all. What does it flash to? Are you sure someone has not replaced it before? Do you have the front sway bar out? What is the suspension consisted of?

GTA matt

iTrader: (1)

The tires are the stock size 245/50/16's on the stock GTA wheels. I still have the front and rear sway bars hooked up.

My suspension consists of spohn adjustable torque arm/ trans mount. -2* pinion angle and spohn LCA's. I haven't installed subframe connectors yet, though i'm getting ready to.

The torque converter is STOCK. As i have said before, the most i can stall it is 1200 rpm. any more it will spin or slide the front tires. I plan on changing the torque converter soon.

The pic from my sig is from last year with 3.23's, all stock suspenion, sway bars hooked up, nothing changed. I'm not running any special shocks- stock out back and KYB stock replacements up front.

***by the way, can anybody tell me how to post videos, I have a bunch i would like for people to be able to see. they are all in my computer but i can't figure out how to get them online.***

TPIMarow6.6

so thats why you had a hard time beating my v6 duster that day(b4 the S/C). lol then you stepped on it in front of me, you floored it first, but i knew after that i didnt have much of a chance. your just lucky i didnt step on it first, you woulda had some sundance paint on your back bumper! lol, i think the nitto's are a lil more expensive(20-30 bucks each) more a peice arent they. eh ill have to check that out. but i do have slicks for the track id try the nitto's for a few passes then run my slicks, it probably wont be much of a difference in my 60 ft. could be .1-.2 i dunno i just like the way the pattern on the MT looks, looks beefy but like you said probably not good in the rain. eh i dunno. i see that the nitto's hook good but i dont like there pattern on the tires. ill have to look at em somemore.

Marc 85Z28

iTrader: (3)

103mph?

3700lbs?

You'll need roughly 300-315 crank HP to achieve that. Low 60s and impressive torque yield good ETs, and affect trap speeds little. Full exhaust and minor bolt-ons do not equal another 60+ HP. Not no way, not no how...

There's more to this car than what the current owner knows. Attaining it from a older man with low miles doesn't mean a thing.

EDIT: Getting a video online from your computer is no different than a picture, like the one in your signature.

GTA matt

iTrader: (1)

What part of IT IS STOCK does nobody understand? I know that everybody believes that the car runs what it runs, they just think i have more mods than i do.

When I bought the car 3 years ago, the factory intake runner and base intake gaskets were still there. Now tell me, what kind of mods could the previous owner(who I know and talk to) could possibly be done without removing the intake???

I weighed it at the track, the scale is very accurate. YES 3700 with me in it.

Let me give you the rundown on the mods i have done, in order, to get where i'm at. Anybody with a SD L98 should be able to duplicate it.

1. Stock replacement K&N, hypertech chip, 160 t-stat, MSD coil- 14.02 @95

2. Removed factory air canister, added K&N off GMC Envoy on end of intake tube, MSD 6A-13.95@96

3. B&M Transpack-13.83@97

Winter went by, my MSD box quit and the tip broke off the MSD coil, so the stock one went back on.

4. Flowmaster American Thunder cat back, 1.6RR's, AFPR-13.65@100

5. March aluminum underdrive pullies-13.52@101

6. Edelbrock ceramic coated headers, gutted cats- 13.35@102

7. This past winter, i added the gears, suspension pieces, throttle body, Accel 300+ spark box, drag radials-13.15@103

I'm going to the track again tommorow to try to improve upon this time. L98's respond just as well to bolt ons as LT1's and LS1's. It just takes the right mods and somebody who knows what they are doing to pull these times off. Some of you monkeys on here don't know a drag strip from a drive thru and have no right to talk. I have 150 passes on this car and I think i know what the hell i'm doing. What are you all going to say next month when i get my torque converter installed and post that I ran a 12?????

The motor is STOCK!!! i'm not trying to bull**** anybody. don't tell me what my car has. I, more than anybody here, knows what its got!!!

CHEVY_EATER

You should get the car dynoed, it must be making a hell of alot of power to run those times at a weight that is more than anyone I knows 4th gen f-bodies are. You are basically running the same times as a lightly modded auto LS1 with a car that is heavier and makes almost 90rwhp less stock.

GTA matt

iTrader: (1)

I'm looking for a good shop in the MD, VA area that can dyno tune it. Maybe a good tune can squeak out another 10th or so... If any body knows of any GOOD shops, let me know.

TPIMarow6.6

well since you say you had not much traction with the drag radials on. and you go from street tires to drag radials and from 3.23's to 3.73's and some other nonsence parts. and you only gained 2 tenths? from a gear change and drag radials? well..... im wondering what your 60ft were before the radials. i doubt youd go from a 2.xx to a 1.8x and only gain 2 tenths on the 1/4 even tho the TPI's choke out at higher rpm......explain this one to me please.

GTA matt

iTrader: (1)

The best 60' I had with the street tires and 3.23's was a 1.85. This was on a warm day with a sticky track. I was able to stall it against the converter with no wheelspin. That was the 13.35 run. I ran a 1.83 60' last week with the drag radials, but since the track surface was cold, i didn't have much traction. the best 60' i got was from idle with minimum wheelspin. This is why I say it has more left in it when the track is warm and i can actually stall the converter.

TPIMarow6.6

ok please clarify what kind of street tires you are running they must be 315/50/16's 1.85 on street tires, wow. i think im just gonna give up trying on this topic. or i just need to run at your track. id probably run 9's on street tires in the 1/4.

GTA matt

iTrader: (1)

The tires were BF Goodrich G-force ta kdw's. 245/50/16. They were on the stock wheels, same ones in the launch pic. I've done the same thing at 2 different tracks, so its not the track like everyone is saying....

The drag radials are the same size. I'm still experimenting with air pressure and launch technique.

TPIMarow6.6

i saw a page that ran 60ft's with bfg drag radials and nitto drags, they ran alot better 60ft at 17psi than 20.......so who knows.

TunedPort 335

I saw the 13.15 vid and a bunch of other videos of Matt's car. There are no hidden mods as far as I can see. His car stalls at 1200rpm and he launches very well. It looks like the guy can drive damn well. His tranny shifts great and I think it helps out his times alot.

I don't see why some people are doubting, all those times Matt just posted are very reasonable compared to the mods he has done.

TPIMarow6.6

i honestly believe there isnt much skill in driving a 13 sec. auto car. your not being overpowered by torque. the only part you really need to be "good" at is within your 60ft. the rest is basically free sailing.

Marc 85Z28

iTrader: (3)

That's the problem. No one else has been able to! If it were that easy to duplicate/accomplish, you'd see it much more often. Especially here...

1989GTATransAm

iTrader: (3)

Hi GTAMatt

As probably has been said I believe you can get into the 12's with a higher stall torque converter. For an automatic transmission that is one of the best mods you can do. I bought the Yank SS3600 for my car and expect it to knock off another 3 tenths from my current SLP 2400 converter. I have not installed the Yank yet.

I want to see if I can get into the high 12's with my current mods. Then slap on the Yank and see if I can get into the mid 12's. By the way the current Yank torque converters are the state of the art and a lot better than just a few of years ago and with good street manners. The Vigilante 3200 is another good one. Allen

TPIMarow6.6

Amen!

MdFormula350

i'll try and go for it and i wont even touch under the valve covers or tpi intake.

i have a decent time already , but i need a better tranny and my posi has crapped out.

Floor guy

Matt,
You bring up 2 good points. I think everyone who read this post knows what stock is. If they choose to believe it or not is beyond your control. 2) You say any s/d car can duplicate what you have done. Most people cannot. This is the issue that is debated. I was running a modded 350 in my vette about 1993 or so. 2 guys at Island dragway accused me of running a serious stroker motor. I was running 13.10-13.20 at that time. They could only muster 13.80's. To this day they probably still think I fibbed. My point is, you cannot change peoples minds. The once that think you are less than truthful have there minds made up. The guys that believe you continue to do so.

TPIMarow6.6

Did you have your motor all apart? or was it just bolt ons?

Floor guy

At that time I had a stock bottom end, zz3 cam mild port work on the heads(gasket match and bowl blend) some bolt ons, 3.07 gears and stock trans andconverter. Race weight was 3550 with me in it.

TPIMarow6.6

hmm, so you know what you had since you had the heads off and you actually changed the cam yourself. see matt hasnt had his motor apart and no matter what he think or what we think he cant prove what it has for a bottom end , if it has had any work done, or if the cam has been changed already. so matts car that weighs 150lbs more than yours and has "less" mods done to the motor itself, he'd give you a hard time down the track with or without the gear change and drag radials. hmm odd.

Floor guy

I do not quite understand your reply. If it is a dig towards me I do not get it. If it is to dig Matt I do not get it either. My post was not meant to accuse or question Matts integrity. My recent post was made to explain that I too was accused of "cheating, or exageratting the truth" I am certainly not implying this. I did not like the accusation when it went my way back at Island dragway. I am sure that Matt likely resents it as well if he speaks the truth. This was my point earlier. Over 1500 people have read this post and all likely have an opinion. Some believe it and some do not. I will keep my opinion to myself.
Regarding giving me a hrd time down the track: yes, with my old set up he would have likely beat me every time. My car is currently much quicker now. Change everything but the drivers seat though

TPIMarow6.6

it wasnt a dig tward either of you, i stated that you have had your engine apart, you know what you have, he hasnt had his engine apart so therefor he cant keep claiming his car is stock unless he checked it out himself. and he probably is running faster than you used to with a heavier car with less mods. even when he had 3.23's and regular radials he still ran 13.3. does this make sence to you? that he ran that good with less mods and a heavier car. maybe im just not getting my point across.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

i found this hard to believe at first and had to sit back and think about it and re read the posts. LOL

now i realize that it is possible cuz your trap speed isnt that fast so you must be launching great which you are. ET is most dependent on your 60foot time and launch.

with your trap speed, it seems possible that your going as fast as your possibly can on that motor.

with my mods, i should be able to go low 13's but only have ran it 2 times so far, which i only pulled off a best of 14.02 but there was more left in it, it felt like. LOL i should have high 13's now and hope to hit mid 13's once the other stuff gets done. i just need to cut some low 1.8's 60foot times on the street tires

Floor guy

I didn't understand but now I do. With or without mods, Matts car runs extremely well. I said earlier, hats off to him.

TPIMarow6.6

also iv been in this same situation, i ran 14.9 with my 93 plymouth duster 3.0 v6 5-speed but at least you got less abuse, i actually got banned off for claiming that all it had was the intake off and maybe a bigger TB(which is stated that you only gain mpg) but the car smoked pretty good from bad valve guides but in 92 they fixed the valve guide problem in the 3.0's with clips for the guides. so i figured the motor must have been changed and the heads looked like they had a valve job done on them(by looking in the ports) when i took the motor out, i wasnt able to get the heads off because the tool(craftsman) kept breaking for the head bolts so i just gave up. i know they sell 10:1 CR pistons for the 3.0's i doubt someone would go that far into it, but theres always that possibility. once i changed motors to another fresh one with a valve job done, i could only get 15.3's out of the car.......so i know that motor must have had something done to it. plus my brother was driving it the first time(weighs 280lbs) and i was driving it with the other motor(165lbs) so you tell me. id say you have some numbers stamped on the end of your cam and possibly .030 on the top of your pistons....maybe more.....who knows.

VincentZ28

iTrader: (2)

If you have the TPIS catalog, it will tell you what to do step by step to achive your gold. They will show you in the book that you can run in the low 13's without pulling the valve covers nor the intake. So yes! I believe you Matt. It is all about covering the right varibles out of what you have. Anything is possible. Some of the tracks where run at throughout the country has different altitudes to make various E.T's and MPH.



Something to think about. Some of the stock L98 had flat top pistions an others has dished pistions. Some of the compressions were 9.2, 9.3, 9.5. So this can make a difference in the way some cars run and also too, most of you bought your cars used with alot of miles on them an or have rebuilt engines with thick or not factory head gaskets in them that are not rated at 230-245hp. The performance head gasket is .028 thickness. Standard is .038 thick.

CHEVY_EATER

Yea, no 2 cars are alike..that is true. The thing that is also true is that MIR is a VERY fast track and people run quicker than average times with better 60ft's than most any tracks I've seen. I am in here, Corral, LS1.com, LS1tech, Stangnet, and other sites and have been in alot of them since 1999-2000 and alot of guys have gotten faster than normal times at MIR. Not just any old L98 is going to run those times and is definitely not going to get 1.8 60ft times with average radial tires and a 100% stock suspension. At the track I run at , and also TPIMarow6.6, there is not way you are going to get those kinds of 60ft's on regular radials. The ONLY car I have heard of getting sub 2.0 60ft's on stock type tires was a 98 Viper GTS, and those have steam roller tires and tons of lowend torque. It just seems that if it was possible to run that fast with those few mods..someone else would have done it by now. Alot of people don't think that a all stock motor 5.0 Mustang can run 12's but ALOT of people have done it. Maybe if more people have done this or close at least, it would make more sense. Just seems strange that in all the years these cars have been out...nobody has done this. Got me...

CHEVY_EATER

Theoretically, there is no way the car can weigh 3700lbs.

WEIGHT 3700 pounds
TRAP SPEED 102.78 mph
E/T 13.15 seconds

Dyno Readings
READING OUTPUT UNITS
Total Horsepower 320 bhp
Horsepower Used 321 bhp
Best E/T 13.16 seconds

TPIMarow6.6

correct, every car up there running street tires runs 2.1-2.4 or even 2.5's it just doesnt make sence my brothers v6 bird, with a 406 stock 350 heads 10.5:1 RPM cam RPM intake 750 Double pumper carb. 5-speed 4.10 gears and 28inch slicks runnin only 13.3 at 103-106, it just...doesnt make sence that you can walk on him and he was launching hard 4k+ rpm. eh maybe our track up north is crap. it just doesnt add up.

Floor guy

[QUOTE]Originally posted by TPIMarow6.6
correct, every car up there running street tires runs 2.1-2.4 or even 2.5's it just doesnt make sence my brothers v6 bird, with a 406 stock 350 heads 10.5:1 RPM cam RPM intake 750 Double pumper carb. 5-speed 4.10 gears and 28inch slicks runnin only 13.3 at 103-106, it just...doesnt make sence that you can walk on him and he was launching hard 4k+ rpm. eh maybe our track up north is crap. it just doesnt add up. [/QUOTE

True. Your results sound much more typical than Matts. Hopefully he can teach us some of his skills.

TPIMarow6.6

Floor guy

Again, true.

GTA matt

iTrader: (1)

O.K., I went to the track today.....The weather and the track weren't with me today. It was slightly warmer and for whatever reason, it wouldn't hook up. the best 60' today were 3- 1.844's in a row. This was launching at idle and slowing going to the floor. The other runs were throwaways because of wheelspin and wheel hop. The motor has a 1.7x in it. I'm calling Spohn tommorow to see if they can offer any advice. I'm afraid that 3.73's may have been too much for 245/50/16's. I may have to switch to full slicks, which i really don't want to because I like the stock appearance of the car. I'm holding up on the torque converter install until I can get it to hook. I'm a bracket racer so its not really about the fastest the car can go, just consistency. Spinning tires is not consistent, its costing me wins. Getting the car to run 12's is just a side project I have had, and is now a goal I am hell bent on because of all the naysayers. Don't tell me I can't do something, I will prove you wrong.

***AND FOR THE FINAL TIME, THE MOTOR IS STOCK!!! IT IS NOT .030 OVER, IT HAS THE STOCK CAM IN IT. IF I HAVE TO PUT A DIAL INDICATOR ON THE VALVESPRINGS TO PROVE IT, I WILL. I WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO EVER REMOVE THE VALVECOVERS OR THE INTAKE RUNNERS. I'VE HAD THE HEADS TORN DOWN, I KNOW WHAT'S INSIDE THE MOTOR.***

GTA matt

iTrader: (1)

Weight of Unoptioned 1987 F-Body Combinations
Model Base Weight
IROC-Z 305 5.0 5-Speed 3250
Formula 305 5.0 5-Speed 3383
IROC-Z 350 5.7 Automatic Overdrive 3341
GTA 350 5.7 Automatic Overdrive 3476

My car is fully optioned, throw in a half tank of gas and me, damn close to 3700 which is what the scale said.

I got these directly off the tech board.

TPIMarow6.6

For 1. why didnt you say that in the first place jacka$s you could have saved about 20 posts from me, and i hope your not saying that just to get people off your back. but.....i dont care if you are BSing anyone. its not like im saying "WOW HOW DID HE DO IT?!?!?!?!" just your mods are more likely to get you 13.5-13.8's but what do i know im a couple months younger than you.


and 2. noone here said you wernt gonna get into the 12's. so that was just a blind comment to nobody.

GTA matt

iTrader: (1)

The reply about running 12's wasn't aimed at anybody replying to this post specificly, just the general attitudes that alot of people have about L98's. I read on another thread about a guy saying L98's suck, you can't do anything with TPI, etc. Alot of LS1 guys give me attitudes as well, because they think they are all high and mighty compared to us 3rd gen guys. Could i go out tomorow and buy a LS1 car, throw a few bolt ons at it and run 12.30's? Hell yeah. But I like a challenge and this is just a goal I set for myself....besides, I kinda like the way TPI looks when you open the hood

TPIMarow6.6

Well, ls1 owners think there "all that" because well, some can throw a set of drag radials on and run 12's, who wouldnt be happy with that? well anyways i read the post your talking about the guy putting down L98's, he's just a pissed boy cause he got beat by some ls1's. its a basic 350, its common sence you can get any 350 into the 12's-11's or faster, depends on how much money you want to spend. iv raced some ls1's and beat them, its nothing special but they get a lil hot headed and well. they shouldnt be. you can take any car and make it go fast
some hondas and such might rub it in that they can beat your car but then again there camshafts probably cost $1,000 alone. so if someone beats you it shouldnt be a shame at all. iv raced a 03 SVT cobra on the road when i had one wheel peel and my car was running stock intake and carb, and stock manifolds, but i was able to give him a little bit of a run. at the time i had like 6k into my car and well he paid close to 40k for his. so he should be able to beat my car. then again, if he raced me now, it would be a different story. anyways like i was saying its hard to beleive your putting out more HP than an LS1 and weigh more than an LS1 car as well.

CHEVY_EATER

So..some how..you are making 300+hp then I guess. You would have to in order to do what you are...and weigh that much.