Who would win?

My car:
1989 Pontiac Firebird Formula
305 TPI
700r4
stock 273's out back, becides that car is bone stock.

My friends car
199x Pontiac Firebird
3.8L V6
Auto
Not sure on rear end ratio.
Cat Back Exhaust and CAI, becides that stock, except for heavy looking shiney 18" rims.

Im not sure on the outcome of this one, i know those 3.8's can be pretty quick. if he is indeed faster what bolt on type stuff can i get to keep him off my back? thanks!

 

i dunno, close race tho

 

I think the LB9 would win beacuse since he has the 89 hes got the higher output motor with the better cam.

 

The Formy should win, if it doesn't it's a sad,sad day for formula owners.

 

From a dig you should edge him out. From a roll I would not count on winning. Your car makes 195hp and he is probably around 210 to 215 with his mods. I would not take this one too lightly. Should be a good race.

 

awesome i cant wait to race him, i just gave my car a tune up too, and new icm. i think im gonna do it from a dig. dam modern technology and its advantages! lol

 

For my .02 cents I put the LB9 as the winner. I have sat shotgun in a modded LO3 auto that has taken out an auto six of that year. But hey, he has modded it, for whatever reason. (18's kind of cancel out most of those mods) But my money is on the Lb9, torque wins!

 

Go race the kid and let us know what happens.

 

id go from a dig. from a roll the lb9 will choke and lose

 

If you do run from a roll, I would run from about 55 or up. 2nd gear in the 700r4 + 305 =

 

why is second gear bad? wouldnt 3rd-4th be even worse cause the engine has more to work against? if im mixing something up forgive me, im still new to this stuff. i hope to race him soon, ill try to find him oneday in school.

 

TPI systems make their best power at low engine RPM's (0 t0 4500 rpm). They have a low powerband. Racing from a dead stop gives your car its best chance because you will stay more in the meat of your powerband. From a high speed roll your engine will be at high RPM's and will be out of the range where it makes peak power.

 

exactly. a dig is where a TPI (or any long tube runner setup) will make it's best power.

Why do you say run from 55 or up 87TPI350KID? He'll be at more of a disadvantage the faster he goes.

 

well i was shooting to race him next weekend but , i think its called murphy's law, anything that can go wrong will, as i was driving home from work i noticed this nice flame shoot out of the area between the windsheild and the hood.

after putting the fire out i discovered my engine harness was burnt rather bad, right near the air conditioning box, and the wires to the pass side injectors were fried!!! well i placed an order with summit for a new one, hopefully i can get back on the road soon enough! my poor car!

 

2nd gear is prettty good in my TPI, can spin threw second like nothing at least.

 

You got him, no problem. I tied a 5 speed 3.8 Camaro with about identical mods (right down to the 18 inch wheels, lol) with an auto L03 with bolt-ons and chip work.


If I had an LB9 and a posi with bolt-ons and chip work, he'd been toast. Even stock you should be fine. Even with those mods, I don't think he's matching your power output (not even close on torque), and you've still got the lighter car.

Even so, I'd get a tpichips.com chip unless you know how to burn, as that will be an inexpensive moderate gain that won't take you weeks of learning how to do chips and is leagues better than a Hypertech. Couple that with an adjustable fuel regulator set at maybe 48 psi, full exhaust, the free TPI mods (airbox delete, throttle body coolant bypass, etc.), sticky tires, and some time spent doing careful distributer timing (a little advance will help a lot, but too much will bother your knock sensor) and you'll smoke him.

Head over to the TPI forum to get more info on the free/cheap TPI airflow mods.

 

Ya you got this one. Time to hunt for bigger game

 

All I know is if I dont rev my 1st gear to about 5300 or so, it will shift at around 4800 and by the time i get to 3rd, im already reading a book.