Hello again,

Friend just landed himself a big fish. He bought a very low miles (34000 miles) and very clean 96 impala ss with a bone stock LT1 in it. He wants to race me in my 87 IROC Z.

For those of you that don't know: I'm running a pretty much stock 305 TPI but I do have 3" cat back flowmaster and an airfoil. No other mods to the car. My motor is very healthy (78000 miles on it).

I am curious about this. His motor is supposed to turn 260 hp but that car is huuuuuge (and heavy).

Any thoughts?

Wariat

 

You should beat him...they run around mid 15's stock....ive seen a low 15 out of one before buts according to conditions. You will win but not by much. tell him congrats on the ride.

 

It should be a close race. You should have the edge but if your car isn't running 100% or your driving skills are margonal he could beat you.

 

I raced my friends impala SS once and I won by less than a foot or two, but I think he would have won if he was a better driver. I thought that I would just smoke him because the impala is so big but I was wrong. Those things move especially ones with some mods.

Good Luck

 

they have about 260 hp at the crank.. nothing to write home about, and it's an honest 40 hp less than the Fbody version.

Plus they weigh a SH*TLOAD.

Although with the mods you have, I'd have to give the race to him. About 45-50 MPH he'll start to pull.

 

I think he'll take a basically stock peanut cammed 305 TPI car pretty easily unless he really blows it with the launch. I'd bet on him anyway...

 

Actually the Impala SS's came with a cast iron LT1 that made like 285 at the crank I believe...their weight is their hold back...they have a good head design too. (vortec)

 

No they were definitely rated at 260hp, now whether their output was actually that low I'm not sure. (Going off memory but I believe I recall seeing some 210-220 rwhp stock dynos for them which would roughly coincide with 260, don't quote me though). The iron heads (basis of the Vortec heads) supposedly flowed slightly better than the AL LT1s but I believe the cam was a decent bit smaller and accounted for the lesser hp vs the Fbody LT1...

 

if you were an 88 five speed i would say you but its the friggin peanut cam, it will be a tight race though

 

Yeah i'm gonna have to go with the impala on this one. If you had the 5 speed i would say you. but with the auto and peanut cam i think you're going to loose.

 

well guys,

I ran him.....

and I lost... by almost 2 car lengths (bad launch on my part). It should be noted that neither of us manual shifted. Good learning experience though. I had a feeling that he might have me. We ran up to about 80 and shut down. I was hoping that I would have launched a little better... then maybe my loss wouldn't have be so big. I am gonna cam the car and do some port work... I want to keep the 305 for a little while, at least until my budget will let me get started on my real project.

Thanks again for all the input guys... I hope to do better next time, and bring back honor to the third gens.

Till then... see ya.
Wariat

 

For the record I was cheering for you to win, I though the Impalas weight would hender it. But you might also look at your tranny, gears, and suspension. If those are still stock no wonder you lost. The impalas are geared at 3.23 and yours about 2.73 and the stock 700r4s don't shift as good as newer ones so get a shift kit.

Before you spend money on a new cam you might want to consider a 350 short block brand new they range from $750 to $950 on ebay. Even though they are earlier stlye blocks those hyd flat tappet cams work fine with your computer and cost pennies. Do the port work on your 305 heads they will raise your compression up to 10 or so. With your stock TPI this combo will give you some amazing torque down low and you should be able to hang with just about any LT1 in the 1/8 mile.

The engine swap is easy and it will be fun to do it yourself.

 

SS impys and 9C1 caprices came with 3.08's...the other gears were a 2.50 gear in the L99 caprice...ALL imps had 3.08s
also if you would of run a car like mine..even though its still the same car, the 9C1 caprices weigh about 150-200 pounds less then an Impala, and a 9C1 caprice with the LT1 and 3.08 gears would of walked you bad...ive beaten a few SS's..by a good margin

 

Work on your launch and race him again. Tell him best two out of three.

 

I'd certainly hope he didn't. He'd gain no benefit from shifting that auto himself.