So last night i went out to dinner and met my friend kim at a restaurant. I noticed as i came in there was a vr4 i had seen around town in the parking lot. He had gone to the local car shows and what not but i didnt know much about it. I was hoping while i was eating that id catch a glimpse of the person who drove it. Well anyway i met kim in the restaurant and she had a friend with her named zac. So anyway we all ate and talked and stuff and then decided it was time to leave. Well wouldnt you know it...i walk outside and sure enough kim and zac walk over to the vr4. I was amazed that i ate dinner with the kid who drove it. Well anyway we both left and we basically had to go the same route. So we are both in the turning lane to get on the on ramp to I95. So the light gos green and he was ahead of me..we get on the on ramp and he suddenly guns it. So immediately i gun it as well. By the time we hit the end of the on ramp i had to let off because i almost hit his rear bumper while he continued under full throttle. I was so impressed with my car for the first time since i got it on the road. I didnt even look at my speedo but we go up next to eachother on another road and kim told me his was reading 135 before he let off. I was kind of excited to see my car be able to do that. I asked my friend today and apparently the car is supposed to be "f'in quick". So i guess that means in a real race, i probably could have had him. We are going to go to the track sometime soon and settle it for real

 

Good.. stalemate!

They can be made fast surely, but like most AWD cars they have a somewhat undesirable trap speed. Course, an LTR setup isn't much better.

What all is done to your car?

 

Engine
-350 bored .30 over to a 355
-K&B Claimer Domed(popup)hypereutectic pistons
-Comp Cams Roller Cam - 224I,230E @.50/
.513"I,.520"E
-Comp Cams roller tipped rockers (1.52:1)
-Comp Cams 1.437 dia duel valve springs
-Comp Cams locks, retainers and 11/32 teflon seals
-Heads resurfaced and machined to accept cam hardware
-Ported stock cast iron heads
-Heavy duty push rods

Intake and fuel
-Ported stock TPI upper and lower intake
-K&N filters
-BBK adjustable fuel pressure regulator (35-70 PSI)

Exhaust
-Heddman 1 5/8" shorty headers
-Heddman 2 1/2 inch Y pipe
-3 inch custom catback with a flowmaster muffler

Ignition and computer
-Taylor 8mm wires
-Accel 300+ digital ignition
-Accel performance cap and rotor
-MSD Blaster coil
-Mallory coil wire
-160* thermostat
-Custom engine matched prom from pcmforless.com

Transmission and Rearend
-Corvette Servo
-3.73 gears
-3 inch aluminum driveshaft

Suspension and Tires
245/R50 16 Nitto drag radials

 

sounds like a good setup and also sounds like you should be trappin better than 100mph. lol stock Vr4's are about 100mph or so. you should be more like 104mph. that ported stock TPI is holding you back. big gains from aftermarket stuff definately

 

yea but the car needs a really good dyno tune at this point...running off a pcmforless mail order tune as of right now. It does a good job but i think shes got a more in her with better tuning. Im going to upgrade the intake and heads someday. Theres a guy i know sellin an accel intake...lower and runners and a distributor to go along with it for 300$...im thinking i might pick that up

I heard about vinci performance..im gunna give them a call and see what i can do about a tune for my car.

 

Sounds like you have a good combo there! Should be 12s for sure once you dial her in!

 

yea thats what everyone keeps telling me lol

thanks for the compliments guys

It's nice to see a years worth of work pay off

 

12's shouldnt be a problem with that combo.

 

lol vr4s are slow azz pigs, i murdered a modded one the other day.

 

only cause of that LT1 and NOS on top of that

 

VR-4s run anywhere from high to low 13s depending on the year. How'd you know it was modded? Big exhaust tips and a loud blow off valve? I'd hardly call them slow pigs. An LT1 in a thirdgen is just about 12s, dead stock, but who swaps in a stock LT1?

 

I also just realized that the original poster seems to be running 3.73 gears and stock runners together...which amazes me as to how he stuck with the VR-4 on the highway so well. You should have been running out of steam long before 135. Granted, his car might not be much better up there.

 

i kinda always wondered that myself acutally. All this talk of running out of steam up top?...i don't seem to experience that problem honestly. I always think my car pulls hard up top?...granted ive never ridden in say an lt1 or ls1 pulling from highway speeds...so maybe i just THINK i pull hard....<shrug>. I just wish i had gotten it on video or something...could have used the damn cell phone video feature thing on the new cell i bought

 

sounds like a very well match drivetrain and buildup. I'd pick up that accel stuff if you can get it for that price for sure.

Yah though a vr4 isn't no slow pig..... Should see some of the modded 1s out there. About enough to make any stock v8 cry.....

 

ah...i wouldnt say the engine is matched very well...the previous owner did most of the "matching"..cams got a high lift for a tpi, without that chip in there..it can barely run. I cant wait for a dyno tune.

yea im gunna try to pick up the accel stuff...hopefully he's still got it.

 

well if you got rid of the tpi that would be real close to how i'd build it. I suppose you are right though that is to big for a tpi setup.

 

i have a similar setup, with 3.73's, and my car is usually done by 130, but it gets there quick. im running high 12's on the motor now, trying to decide between a stealth ram and dyno tuning, or a carb setup.

kind of leaning towards the carb, for simplicity and cost.

 

I also just realized that the original poster seems to be running 3.73 gears and stock runners together...which amazes me as to how he stuck with the VR-4 on the highway so well. You should have been running out of steam long before 135. Granted, his car might not be much better up there.

I ran just over a 120 mph in a stock 305 tpi setup a 355 can run 135 easy. The 350 tpi's were rated to run 145mph top speed an his setup is way better than stock.



well if you got rid of the tpi that would be real close to how i'd build it. I suppose you are right though that is to big for a tpi setup.

That cam isn't too big thats a good street cam especailly if he get the accel intake and a really good tune. I've seen people run bigger cams in tpi intakes and make over 350hp.

 

yea well sometimes, as wierd as it sounds..the car wont downshift into drive..and pull from od all the way to the end under full throttle..im sure that just means my trans is shot, but hell..it gets me a higher speed lol

 

yes but most tpi 350s came with 3.23's or 3.42's stock. only a handful shipped with 3.73's, and those were not doing 145. even with 3.42's, i dont know about 145.

 

No 350 ever came from the factory in a third gen with 3.73 gears. I know he has the power to do 145...I was saying he doesn't have the gear to do 145 in a TPI setup. However, if his trans allows WOT in 4th gear without downshifting to 3rd, I can see 145. That'd be 5000RPM in 4th gear with stock tires. Most 700R4's weren't able to stay in 4th gear under WOT and thus the cars lost top speed because of the transmission.

 

No 350 car ever left the factory with 3.73s. The only thirdgens to get 3.73s were 305 L69 "High Output" cars with a T-5 and G92.

 

i wish i just had looked at my speedo lol

b/c i have topped it out in drive but the motor had just hit 6K and i wasnt gunna push it to see if it would shift it OD at WOT...and it wasnt anywhere near 135.

b/c we had started from a stop..so i dont think it ever went into od...however...i have no rev limiter either..the car spins to 6K before it shifts and i think ive got alittle her then that when i ran outta gear in D. I dont remember how fast i was going though (by the way i did this on a two lane road called 520 with no one else around...for all the safety guys out there)

because my trans shouldnt allow that without a shift kit right?...to shift into OD at WOT

 

6000RPM in 3rd puts you at just under 125mph, again, assuming you're on stock size tires.

I believe some thirdgen transmissions shifted into 4th at WOT. Most didn't because the 3-4 clutch pack isn't strong enough (in stock form) to handle the power TPI motors make. My 305TPI car didn't shift into 4th at WOT. My new trans should though

 

ok that makes sense then...maybe kim just didnt look right and thought it said 135...it was late at night and she was panicing anyway telling him to slow down lol, so she probably just didnt read it right