I went to track today with my 1992 T/A just for fun to get a base line before I start my LS swap. In May I bought what I believe to be an LB9 305 Trans Am with a T5 5 speed trans. I was told the car is stock except for a K&N filter mounted to the TB and Flowmaster 80 series muffler. Car has 106,000 miles, stock shifter on BFG radial TA's. I'm a decent enough driver but I was floored when I got my first time slip of the night and it was a 14.8 @ 92 mph with a 2.1 60'. I was expecting to run mid-low 15's with a goal of 15.3 for the day. At days end I had gotten the 60' down to a 2.0 and ran a 14.5 @ 95 mph. I am still amazed. In 2003 it took 1.6 rockers, U/D pulley, home made CAI and a shift kit to get my 92 350 TPI to run a 14.5

Is this normal or does this car more than likely have work done I don't know about?

 

hey buddy,
nice to know your local, where did you do your drag runs?
I'll have to say those 305s with 5 speed actually are pretty good runners. Back in 05 i drove with several other members on this board for a track date at Rt41. It was the first time i actually did some drag racing in my life. At one point i did raced against someone who had a 5spd car and actually kept up with me till the end, which i barely beat him! My GTA had the 350/auto combo and 3.27 stock gears. So i'm not surprised to hear what your car ran, because i can justify that they are pretty decent in stock trim. My car, when i took it to the track was mostly stock and had only about 70k on it. The only add ons i did to the car was a external trans cooler and installed kyb agx adjustable struts and shocks. I still had the stock N10 dual cat. set up with the original GM exhaust system! The timing was left at stock setting which was 6 degrees (i believe). The tires themselves were pretty much worn as they were goodyear eagle GT IIs...which of course you can't get these tires anymore. My best 1/4 mile drag run surprised me as well as i have to say i was pretty happy.
i can barely read my time slip, but out of the ten runs i pulled, my 5th run was the best even though i wasn't (as a driver) good at it, here was the result of my best run...
5th run attempt, temp at 80 degrees around 11:30am, rear tires set at 28psi, fronts at 35psi...
reaction time-.720 secs.
60ft-2.072 secs.
330ft-5.967 secs.
1/8et-9.195 secs.
1/8mph-76.02 mph
1000'-11.990 secs.
1/4et-14.342 secs
1/4mph-95.93mph

Since the day ended up being in the 90s, my times end up being in the mids to upper 14s. So it was a rather consistant.
Image how much quicker if your car had the full SLP hook-up! The parts would of been: a cam, lower intake, intake runners, prom chip, stainless steel tri-y headers, slp exhaust system, and cold air induction system! I'm sure they would of been dipping into the high 13s...on just bolt on parts!
Anywho good luck on the LS swap, hope to see ya around the area or at a few car shows around here!

 

Everytime time I hear of a stock TPI turning mid 14's or lower (L98). I think of a thread in the street racing section, where somebody would not believe any TPI Thirdgen can do better than a low 15 or high 14.

 

If yours is a true 92 GTA PLEASE DO NOT UPGRADE IT!
yours is one of 29 GTAs with 5 speed!!!!
very very rare car!
http://gtasourcepage.com/92RPOFigures.html
I think I am gonna be sick...
You say IT but your avatar says 92 GTA.. so just putting that out there...

even if its a TA it would be one of 969 made!!

 

One thing that I'm convinced of, is that TPI motors were never consistent from one car to the next. I've seen numerous examples of LB9 5 speed cars running mid 14s, but that's completely inconsistent with my own (admittedly limited) personal experience. I've driven a number of TPI 305 cars, and my GTA was as strong or stronger than any of them, and ran a blistering best of 16.1 at the strip. None of them could hold a candle to any L98 that I've driven.

 

I agree with you on this.

I've seen sleds and freaky fast TPI cars over the years - all of them dead stock. You can have a 14.9 1985 LB9 IROC or a 15.4 1987 L98 GTA or even a 14.2 1990 L98 IROC.

Obviously your car runs very well for a 305 TPI and it may have all the right things to make it run like a factory freak.

 

i too have seen the inconsisteny. granted, the one we played with was an auto/2.73, but it had full bolt-ons and free mods, to include afpr and timing tweaks and the best we could muster was like a 15.2

on the flip side, i have a buddy in savannah that has ran botton 14's with the same setup, but t5 and 3.27's.

 

I agree that these car are very inconsistent. Mod for mod, it is faster than my L98 car by half a second. I'm impressed.

GTA was my old car. This is just a T/A. I bought it specifically to swap. I was specifically looking for a manual, 91-92 with gfx and T-tops. Being a 92 is a bonus for sure.

 

Mine feels bloody fast but never taken to track. How is what you say even possible? how can, mechanically, all parts being the same, can one be so much faster than another. I keep thinking I would love to go against one of these super fast 5.7's and put the rubber to the road!
But when I see test numbers from the 80s magazines the 5.0 5 speeds and within a fraction of a second with its 5.7 brothers.
the later 5speed in 91 and 92 were also much higher in HP/tq than mine

 

Man all of you are lucky playing in that fat air! You want your feelings hurt come up for 5300'ft, where a TPI is doing good breaking 16's in stock form.

 

LOL. yeah. sorry about that!
we just like detroit so designed for us! j/k

 

Lol, and this was in +2000 DA. I was wondering how deep in the 14's I could get the car on a nice fall evening with some - DA. Chances are the drive train will be out by then.

 

Maybe one reason TPI times are all over the place is that they came in so many combinations.

Obviously, an L98 cammed, duat cat, 3.42/3.45 geared, T5 is faster than an LG4/L03 cammed, single cat, (or in the case of the '91-'91, 2" L03 exhaust), 2.73 geared LB9.

I mean, think about all of the different gear ratios TPIs came with. 2.73, 2.77, 3.08. 3.23/3.27, 3.42/3.45. Add to that the two different cams and three different possible exhausts and you're all over the map, time-wise.

 

No 2 cars are the same. There is inconsistencies with the sand castings and other parts. About 7 years ago me and a friend ordered the exact same camshaft. Mine had 1 more degree of advertised intake duration and his had 2 thousands more exhaust lift according to the cam card. Add that to the fact that all these cars running in different altitudes. It explains the numbers being all over the place.

 

Just out of curiosity wouldn't a stock formula that had the LB9 305/T5 combo would be able do low to mid 14s? I mean, look at all the weight saving it would have. I would believe a T5 is lighter then a 700R4. I wouldn't know exactly how much of a difference. Then you can add in the factor of one that is a hard top and not a ttop with no power windows, no power antenna, no power lumbar seats, etc (you know factory options) It already has no ground effects so that would help as well. With all that subtraction in weight, i'm sure those could of done easily mid 14s if not low 14s. I always wanted to weigh my GTA, but never got a chance to do so, and those GTAs are fully loaded and probably the heaviest firebird of all 3 models.

 

YEA THOSE IDIOTS....LOL I felts as if I was bashing my head against the wall in that one. I know for a 100% fact that the G92 1LE LB9/T5/3.45 geared car I watched run down the track in 100% stock form, in good DA, with iced down runners ran a 13.9.

 

i can't take anything said on the theoretical and street racing board seriously

 

Not to mention the 1LE package that had the factory A/C delete, no radio, aluminum driveshaft, and more.

 

I don't look there much any longer. Reminds me of the Titan boards I frequent for my Titan. They have a hard time believing I run into the 13s without headers, locking differential or slicks.

 

LMAO..

 

I agree with you guys, my L98 car ran 14.9 out of the box with A4/2.73's and 90k miles. I was convinced it was going to run low 14's/high 13's. With headers, cat back, K&N, weight reduction, under drive pulleys and drag radials it bested 14.19 @ 96 mph. Then you go read another post and someone runs a 13 nearly stock.

 

My friend used to have a bone stock, '92 B4C with a 5.7. Unless you noticed the 1LE calipers peeking through the front wheel spokes or the authoritative burble of the N10 exhaust, you would think it was just another L03 RS.

He took it to the track one time. He drove past some 4th gen guys who were pointing, laughing, and muttering something about 17 second times.

His very first run, bone stock, was a 13.6.

 

If iced down runners is code for 75 shot of nitrous then yes, I can believe that a stock LB9 ran a 13.9.

 

yeah, i'd take a b4c any day of the week.

 

And people wonder why this site doesnt have an offtopic section lol

 

Nope ziplock bags of ice drapped over the plenum and runners.

 

The OP's car would be a great bolt on project IMO.
Id also love a B4C. Or even a LB9/T5 formula to play with.

 

Agreed....Hell I would just like to see it with a straight through muffler, free mods (moded airbox, adjustable fpr, advanced timing) and maybe some chip tuning work on the dyno. Might also see how much quicker it could be with suspension and tire upgrades.

 

Iced plenum and runners has always been 1 tenth for me

 

A friend of mine did a 13.6 with is old '92 1LE, stock except for a Borla exhaust. It had the Z28 badges and the goofy wing, though, so probably nobody pointed and laughed.

Pat

 

I have to say, that my friend's former B4C was the fastest stock 3rd gen, I've ever ridden in. Last I heard, that car is up in Canada now.

 

My G92 91 Z28 LB9/T5 did a 15.393 @91.7mph with SLP LM2 catback, under drive pulles, AFPR set to 50psi, 3.73 gears. I added Dyno Don headers and a dual 2.5-3" Y-pipe with no cats and it ran a 14.214 @ 98.76mph. I think 13's would be easily attainable.

 

there are always factory freaks that seem to run better than the car before or after them on the line.

seems like you put up some good numbers. you should be able to shave about 2 seconds off that time with an ls swap.....