Hey guys, like I am sure many of you have experienced, I am suffering from a lack of power with my thirdgen. I have an 88 camaro rs with a 305 tbi (5-speed), and.. well.. its slow. I hate to see all the cars around me that can beat me, and I constantly have to conceal the fact that my car is gutless. Its pains me that as soon as everyone hears its a V8, they freak out and think its crazy-fast.

I really like speed, and I really like power, so what can I do to make this car faster? I have stock exhaust, with a single flowmaster, and most everything is stock. We replaced the engine over the summer, so I can do most any work on this car myself.

I am willing to spend between $1000 and $1500 on this car, if I can make it significantly faster. I love speed, and I'd LOVE to be able to race it at a track. Do I need to throw in a 350? New exhaust? Anything else?

 

What engine did you put in?

There isn't much you can do for that budget. A proper exhaust (emissions legal) will run you about $650-$800. If you don't do that, nothing else makes any difference.

Higher number ratio rear gears helps most anything, I suppose. You probably have 2.73:1, 3.42:1 would make a real off-the-line difference, but you'll sacrifice a little fuel economy and the engine will turn faster while going down the road. Figure on about $400 at least to have the gears changed, add another $350 if you want posi as well (good idea).

There goes your budget.

 

if you threw a 350 in there, it'll have more potential in terms of power... even if you keep it tbi, the 350 mod-for-mod will respond better than the 305.