First of all I'm sorry if I put this thread in the wrong firms, but anyhow, I have a 89 camaro rs that came with a 305 but the engine is different than a 305 in my friend's identical car, the dipstick curves, why?

Now for my big question, I drove it down the 1/4 mile and I really pushed it and it got a 16.8 1/4 time and a 9.45 0-60 time. These numbers a re crappy considering the engine seems to have been rebuilt. It also has a t5 tranny and good rubber.<O</O

Why do you think I got such slow numbers, what could be wrong with it, or is this normal?



well I guess I should have been more clear. The stock 305 isn't all that stock. I have a knn filter, flowmaster exaust, race shocks, 255 bfgs in the rear and my driving is good enough, yet this thing gets suck ****ty sumbers. I have a friend with a stock 89 firebird with no mods at all and he gets better times.
Is it possible that my car feels slow just cause something like a bad fuel filter or something.

I know this thing should get better numbers and from what I read, other stock 305's are much faster.
<O</O
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Thanks for your input.<O

 

I don't know. I think maybe it's because it is a completely stock L03 motor. They weren't designed really for speed they were meant for improved fuel mileage when gas was a whopping $1/gal back then. Trust me, in stock form it will be slow, but when you put some mods on it it will really wake it up.

 

like he said minus all the smilies..... they werent really ment for speed. Reliability and fuel economy were the key factors.

Headers, catback, open element, free tbi mods, higher rear gears, little suspension, and a cam swap will put much happier numbers on the boards at the track.

Plus it has a lot to do with your driving abilites also ... like your launching and shifting

 

The smilies were sort of a sarcastic statement. I apologize to anyone whom I offended..........

Anyways... something very easy you could do if you don't care about it being street legal is do some massive weight reduction. I'm talking massive.... carpet, all seats but yours, headliner, panels, dash. Hey, when civics have 170 HP they run 14's all day. If you can get your car below 2500 lbs, you would have a field day with that thing.

But if you want to be smart and logical, just put an open element on it for now. That should please you until you want to put a cam in, and some gears, which takes alot of work with chip burning and all (not the gears part). I think that the TBI is an enormously good engine that with proper maintenance can last years. It gets me back and forth to work every day while getting about 24 MPG... not bad!

 

That is slow for a 5 speed LO3.

Don't take this the wrong way but it might be your driving and it might be the "Rebuild" or the ar might just need a tune up, if it still has a stock 20 year old cat on it might be part of the problem too. MOST LO3 T-5 cars if running right and driven right will be in the mid to high 15's. Big clutch dumps and spinning tires don't make for fast times, but sure are tire smoking fun. If you want more power start with the exhaust. Save up some money because it not going to be cheap like older cars will be and do the WHOLE exhaust system headers, cat, and catback. Look for some good header like the Hooker 2055 or the SLP headers 3inch cat and catback. Buy exhaust parts for a TPI car and do not get a 2 1/2 system. That will wake up the car! Even more so with some tuning.

 

Thats what i have on my 305TBI

 

me too and im happy.

 

STOCK 305 trucks got 3" exhaust. You need atleast a 3" exhaust to MATCH a trucks factory exhaust. Stock 305 TBI Vans in later years were rated 185HP/275TQ in factory trim. ANYTHING built to replace LO3 stuff is still junk. Go with L98 spec stuff and you will be much happier. I had 1 7/8"-3" headers and 3" duals on a 305 and it made a better powerband than the 1 5/8-3" headers and 2 1/4" duals that were on it. 305s like to breathe!

 

If you are serious get into chip burning. But if I were you I wouldn't spend a dime on anything related to TBI, just save your pennies and do your research. You'll find there are better options.

 

Will the l98 headers fit on a l03? Are they interchangeable?

 

Most should fit.

 

well I guess I should have been more clear. The stock 305 isn't all that stock. I have a knn filter, flowmaster exaust, race shocks, 255 bfgs in the rear and my driving is good enough, yet this thing gets suck ****ty sumbers. I have a friend with a stock 89 firebird with no mods at all and he gets better times.
Is it possible that my car feels slow just cause something like a bad fuel filter or something.

I know this thing should get better numbers and from what I read, other stock 305's are much faster.

 

maybe you're losing acceleration/speed because its a manual. In between shifts i would think the car would slow down a bit. Have you changed all the filters and are all the sensors good? Plugs, wires & rotor? check your timing?

 

It sounds like the car needs a good tune up. Check and replace all ignition components. Replace all filters. Check feed line fuel pressure and base timing (with EST unplugged).

 

What is est and does it need to be unplugged to time properly?

 

check the casting number on the engine.. they may not be an L03.. if your dipstick is angled it might very well be a 140hp Lg4 with the L03 top end.

Just my 2 cents..


edit... pull your casting number.. check it here... http://www.mortec.com/

 

Don't feel bad, my 305 tbi isnt all that fast either. I have done a few mods, ex tbi mods, open ele, new chip, flowmasters, race plug wires, and little things here and there. I am just now getting the car down to 0-60=8.4ish 1/4 mi=low 17s

 

The EST is located behind the passenger side strut mount and must be unplugged when you set your base timing. Refer to the stickies above for more info and pics.

 

With a T5 trans, stock rear gears, engine/ignition in good tune, and the limited mods you've got, you should expect times in the high 15's or low/mid 16's. That's assuming good launches, shifts above 5000 rpm, and you don't live in Denver! Headers and rear gears will give you the biggest timeslip improvements without getting into the motor.

 

yea try being us colorado folk and running our cars at 5800 feet

In reality your combo is stock, get a lil serious, headers, cat, 3", open element, port teh tbi and maybe look into getting into the internals of her

 

I got a 91 lo3 bird with a t5 and 3.08 gears in back. I took it to my local track after i bought it and the best i could get out of it was a 16.7 I could not get traction, and with my bald 1 tire fire i was spinning just about all the way into second. I would start with the basics. Check the Timing, mine was at 0 and then i advanced it to about 4 degrees, that helped wake it up a bit. Make sure your plug wires, plugs cap and rotor are in good shape, mine all needed to be replaced. Im hoping to break into the 15s lol but ill have to wait till i find a new t-5.

 

I have a friend here in town with a 89 l03 t5.With an open element and 3.73 posi the best he could pull was a 16.00 flat.

 

damn man, i just sold a stockish 91 honda prelude si because i thought it was too slow, i couldnt get better than 17 flat at 82mph..... i was lookin at gettin a 3rd gen camaro 305 5 speed but apparently it wont necassarily be any faster than a freakin 4 cylinder?!?!?!

 

It will feel alot faster though.

 

well I believe that isn't the "standard" time for a car like his.His car is pretty tired and he's got full interior with a crap load of speakers to boot.I know one of the mods here ran a 15.3 with the same upgrades.

 

My 88 305 "feels" fast, but i'm sure it's just the torque. Hell my saturn ran 14.9-15.2 consistently with just bolt ons and a mild head porting. Tires will make a big difference. Now that the turbo setup is almost finished on the saturn I am starting a build for the camaro.

 

When I first got my car in 97 it was a Lo3 5-speed it ran some thing like a 16.8 or so with 87k on the speedo and a cheapo 2 1/2 single pipe back wood exhaust with 2 glasspacks on it. A tune up a new cat from crap-o-zone and a new fuel pump and a mr gasket open air filter put me at around 15.8

 

That sounds about right, anybody with a 5-speed car that's running over 16 seconds, either the car is out of tune, something is wrong mechanically, or your 60' times are horrendous from not being able to launch the manual trans car, or you're not shifting as well as you could. A lot lies in the driver. A good condition LO3 5-speed combo should run high 15's I would say. My convertible (heavier) ran a 15.7 with only open element and flowmaster. That was with track temps in the 115* range.

 

The L69 in my 84 MSE ran a 14.96 bone stock with 113,000 miles on it. I wonder what shell run with the headers and full exhaust, and 2200 converter. The L69 is the ONLY 305 I would ever own.

 

L98 Cammed 305, I like the torque

 

LO3 TBI, L98 cam, intake manifold, open element, cat, dynomax cat-back, 3.42 open t-5spd, rear seats out, 15.2@89mph, with a 2.1 60', ur 60 is freakin junk. 9 seconds to go 60'(im assuming u think the 60 on hte slip is 60mph but its a foot mark)

 

try addin some nitrous....small shot like a 50 shot and alot of bolt ons

 

Im in Bristol, notorious for slow times, and bone stock my L03 bird ran a 16.8. Its also an auto. It was in good tune, and completley stock. I was hoping for a high 15 this year, but it isnt looking good.

 

Are you sure you wouldn't take my old 305! 15.17 @ 96.32 MPH with a 2.23s 60' time through open cut-outs was the best time it ever turned. (In a 5,300 lbs van)

 

well i just ran 16.9@81 2.5 60foot
305 tbi auto with 89k miles
this is why tbi is getting junked for tpi

 

Just putting onTPI won't make your car faster at all.

 

If you're running a 16.9@81 it sure aint your TBI that's slowing you down, I guarantee that.

 

well looking at motor trends old test the best they got out of a 5speed tbi was 16.1 my reaction time sucked .6 but still i see why everone says these cars are slow my 3.1 v6 kills this car
i just wanted a baseline to see how slow .
every 305 tpi ive drive blows the doors off this car so thats why im putting the tpi on better heads better cam better injection system as this is just depressing

 

That's what I'm tellin ya though, better heads, better cam. That's your power difference, not the TPI/TBI. Your reaction time has nothing to do with the 1/4 trap time, and if your 3.1 v6 car kills it, there's something wrong. Do a tuneup and make sure its running good, believe me there's something wrong.

 

I dont like to admit this... But when I first got my car 4 years ago... The best i could get out of it was a 17.1! That was a bone stock convertible w/ an auto & 2.73 gears.

 

Tbi is not the best flowing setup out there....some people just switch over to carb since there's plenty of good inexpensive intakes and such. And my bone stock tpi went 15.4 but with headers and free mods went 14.9 so tpi does have pretty good power. And i have seen some v-6 camaros beat a couple of 305 tbi, hell even one with a 3rd gen 2.8 stick almost got me in a race...i was pretty suprised how quick they are, but i was still able to beat him.

 

Thanks alot for your input. Now that I see that I am not the only slow camaro here, I'm feeling a little better. I will get a few other mods done and get a different driver, just in case and check if things got faster.

thanks all