I would have gone to the Drag forum, but you TBI guys are the best on the topic....what would be a good estimate (assuming good driver at sea level) for a quarter mile be? 1990 Formula L03 with the 5-speed, only mod...K&N open element and stripped interior...no spare, jack, rear seats, passenger seat, stereo or speakers, carpet, headliner, rear carpet....EMPTY. thanks for the help.

 

mid to high 15's? Somewhere in there.

 

I'd say low 16's. My car runs a 16.6 with full interior.

 

Mutiny, where are you running at? I run at Atco NJ, which is very close to sea level.

 

while im here, would a 5 speed be better or worse for performance in this car/setup? (as opposed to auto)

 

depend on the driver. i would say 16s

 

As of right now, better because of have more gears to work with and deeper rear gears. You can really get the most out of the L03's short powerband with a 5-speed.

 

As described, low 16's. Best mod's you could do, headers (roughly .5 second improvment) and LT1 cam (roughly .3 second improvment). Of course a 3" catback and low restriction cat will help with the other mods. I didn't see much of an improvment in swapping the T5 for the 700R4, but it's a LOT more fun to drive now. My best e/t is 15.26 @ 91 mph. Lon

 

I think you could get 15's without a problem if you drive it good, you have cut a lot of weight. The gears you have out back will decide how far into the 15's you should get. My near stock Formula ran a 15.89 @ 86.71 MPH. I've got 3.08's, and a spent posi (traction was a problem). I've also got a flowmaster catback, K&N, functional formula cowl induction, and a JET II chip. That should help you get an idea of what you'll run...sL03w.

Eric

 

I have a full weight 91 Firebird with an auto, 3" cat-back, shift kit, K&N, and a couple of little things and it ran 16.75 last summer. I would think with the 5 spd and gutted interior you'd be low 16's.

 

thanks for the help guys. The general opinion seems to be low 16's or maybe high 15's. I always thought high 15's if i can figure the shift point out. Thanks again.

 

most stock or close to stock cars will run in the 15.9-16.2 range. the new jersey air will be a big help to ya, we are pretty close to sea level so the air is more dense. expect to be between 84 and 86 mph in your trap speeds.
stick vs. auto is a great debate. auto's get away from a line a lot easier but sticks can run more mph. a good stick driver can shift almost as fast as a stock auto tranny but i have never missed a shift in my auto
for the pure fun of driving i would take a stick car anyday. for drag/bracket racing i would take the auto.

later
tim

 

I have a '92 Formula, with the 305TBI, 5-speed, 3.08 rear gears, non-posi.

The car does have AC, power windows and locks, and probably a hundred pounds worth of stereo equipment.

It's 100% stock, with the timing set to factory spec, and regular 87 octane gas. And at the times it was at the track, it hadn't had a tuneup in quite some time.

I let some other guy at the track drive the car; he got a 16.8. My best was 17.0. This was on "Akuret GT" tires that came with the car. After switching to Pep Boys' Futura Z tires, I went back to the track, and was in the HIGH 17s each time; I guess I need to get used to the new tires.

These cars are torquey and fun to drive, but they sure aren't terribly fast.

 

holy ****... if my car runs 17 in the quarter i will probally shoot myself... but i live on almost sea level so that could be a factor also.... aww man i always figured my car would hit high 15's..

 

sig, fairly stock

 

I'm in Kansas City, about 1500 feet I think.

 

If you had lower gears with a posi, you might get high 15's.

 

with all that weight loss you may have a traction problem, I'd leave the back seats in.

with gears and exhaust you'd hit very low 15s you can hit mid 15s pretty easy, I should be there now.

 

Man.. it really burns me up that i can jump in my old (new) 98 acord w/ a vtec four banger w/ a fart pipe and run a better quarter mile than my present rs...

 

ohhh... the irony...

 

i hear that...my Jeep will SMOKE my firebird. But then all i have to do is think hey, it cost me 800. No big deal. Yea, and my GTO would eat both of them alive.

 

LO3 manual..should run like 16.1's or maybe even 15's if your lucky. My car stock ran 16.3's. Now it runs 14.9s w/o even pounding it fully. Should be able to run atleast 14.6's

 

cool....what mods do u have?

 

I ran a 17.1

Oh well though, I'm at about 1,500 ft elevation, not to mention at the time it was hot as hell, plus the only mods I had were the shift kit and K&N (woo-freaking-hoo) I just can't wait to get back out next weekend. I've gotta get my LT1 cam problem fixed first (it will also be nice to have the car running at 180* instead of 220

Nate