i don't know if this is the right thread, but is there anyway to have a chip made, or buy one that LESSENs the hp??? my dad wants me to find a way to lessen the hp, but i still want a v8 so i will have that when i get out of the house in a couple years.

 

what a load of crap...lol
my old man had a sixty something 'Cuda and told me my first car needed HP to get on freeways. So I bought an 86 Z28 (not much, I know, but it was fun with the T-5). Anyway I don't know if there is a way to do that without adverse affects. I am still a relatively new guy, but I'm sure some salty dudes will chime in.

Mike

 

your lucky, i was about to look at an 87 iroc this last weekend, but he changed his mind at the last minute.

 

I didn't know jack about camaros back then, so I saw the hood louvers and got a hard-on...little did I know that under those louvers sat a carbureted 305. 87 IROC...that's the L98 TPI. Cool.

yeah, it was awesome. sun faded yellow. it was in good condition, though

Mike

 

Id tell him not to sweat the power too much. Most of the base thirdgens are slooowww (no offense to those who have the stock trim models) in stock form. My 88 SC with a bone stock TBI 305 in it felt like it was made out of lead when I hit the gas. I think I had that engine for about a week.

The fastest mainstream produciton model was the TPI L98. I had one, and it was good for doing burnouts and fast as far as your every day car is concerned. In this day and age, though, some of the more mundane cars equal it in performance.

As far as detuning goes, there are some things you can do to lessen the power, but if you go too far, its detrimental to the engine. You could pull a degree or two of timing, but that would be the limit of it. The other thing would be to enable the speed limiter to some low value like 75 MPH, if the car is equipped with it from the factory.

 

LOL, my dad put me into a 1994 Dodge Ram 2500 with the 325 HP 8.0 V10 when I was 16. 500 ft/lbs + 3.92 gears = I wiped the smile off of more of the guys that I went to school with, than I care to admit. Ran a 14.6 @ 93 mph in the 1/4 mile, bone stock.

I've still got the truck, mine is a regular cab, long bed, 2 wheel drive, automatic.

This one has the same engine.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EvgoCpLLr8A

That said, all the factory V8 thirdgens, minus the L98 are gutless from the factory.

 

40,000 miles of tread up in smoke. love it

 

how would you go to setting the speed limiter to that? would it be hard, or can a shop do it pretty easily?

 

Honestly - look for a 305 TBI Camaro/Firebird that is stock. You'll find more HP in most grocery getters nowdays.

 

Pull a couple of plug wires and you are set. However, this post is not really DIY Prom.

I'll move it to Tech/General where you may get more ideas on how to "de-tune" your car.

 

well, i checked with tpichips.com and he said he could make one that has a speed limiter of 80, so a few more days of begging and hopefully.

 

yeah or you could always run a flat tire... that steals gobs of HP

 

Tell your dad that you dont have to have a fast car to do something stupid. Stock civics get in accidents all the time.

 

I'm afraid the statistics are on the side of his dad, not you guys.

The '82-'87 LG4 V8's were about as lo-po as they came. That's a start.

Your insurance agent will be able to provide the best recommendation of all.

 

oh yeah the statistics are bad for camaro christ i pay as much in insurance as my G/F does for a fully insured 05 toyota camry and i have state minimums....


but i know if i was gonna die i would rather be in the camaro than a camry...

 

i already checked a quote with insurance and it will be 300 more a year than my mitsubishi mirage, so not that bad- just liability.

 

Putting a speed (or rev) limiter in the eprom on "most" F-bodies is possible, but until you get the particular F-body, you can't buy a particular eprom as there are a great variation and many are NOT compatible. So you really need to get the car first before you can consider that option.

But, even if you do that, what is to stop you from replacing the eprom/chip once your dad isn't looking? If I was a teenager who had a "detuned" eprom installed, I would immediately replace it with a good eprom once my dad's back was turned...and if your dad doesn't know that...he will.

For all the effort, your dad may as well turn the distributor and retard the timing...that will reduce it's power. The reason he doesn't is because he knows you just turn it back when he's not looking. Ditto on the eprom.

Your best bet, is to get a V6 model. Cheaper insurance, same great looks, decent gas mileage (which is quite expensive these days) and they can be made to perform quite nicely as well.

 

That's probably the best idea I've heard. You can yank the 6er out when you move out and go for a v8.
But, yea, 3rd gens aren't that fast stock. They only have 200 to 260ish hp stock, and they aren't that light.
My stock 99 Prizm is quick as hell and it only has 120 hp, but has kept up with my truck, that's pretty quick with 300 hp. Sad thing is the truck's kept up with a 2001 Cobra.
You can get hurt in anything. Engine size isn't that huge of a factor until you talk insurance lol

 

Question is how sneaky you want to be. Do you want to have a detuned car or one that your dad thinks is detuned? If it was me, I'd fab up some sort of throttle stop to keep the throttle from opening past 80%. Take it off when youre out with the guys, then put it back on before you get home. Kind of a hassle but for me it would be worth it to not have a slower than stock car. Just how I'd handle it.

 

his father could take and hide the "good" eprom.

you could get a v6, like others have said, and put some suspension goodies on it and have a fun to drive and fuel efficient car.
and it'd be an f-body.

 

Id just get a bone stock LG4 or LO3. Ive had or driven both, and its hard to say which one is more excruciatingly slow, expecially after they accumulate alot of miles and fall out of tune. Later on down the road, you can swap the boat anchor out for something better.