what kind of 1/4 mile times can i expect from a 1986 Firebird M5 with the 3.4 and some good driving, i have these mods in race trim
-k&n
-de screened MAF
-TB coolant bypass
-Advanced timing up to Sunoco 94 limit+ octane booster
-Iced intake
-AIR delete
-A/C delete
-unhooked EGR
-vapor canister in trash
-Dynomax cat/open side pipe
-Poly. Trans and Trq. arm mount
-DIY short throw
-Trans Vibration Damper Thing on tail shaft in trash
-No rear/passenger seats
-No sway bars
- No subwoofer box(its small anyway)
-Maybe remove power steering belt
- All synthetic fluids
Thats all i can think of for now, im hoping for low 15's, but i saw a fourth gen 3.4 M5 run a 15.042 with less wieght reduction and performance mods(wait....no, he has a cam/full exhaust a droped suspention) Any projections on my times would be appreciated, i cant wait to sort out this retarded ignition/ wiring problem and hit the track

 

High 15s..

You don't really have any mods...

 

yea, after i posted, i figured low 15's was pretty unlikley in addition to i've never raced at a track, but hey, im pretty sure that ill be running faster than the high 16's low 17's a stock 2.8 is expected to run, but shh, its still a 2.8

 

You will be very lucky to hit high 15s , more than likely you will be in the 16s. A buddy of mine had a camaro with a 3.4 and his brother had a camaro with a 2.8, the 2.8 would beat the 3.4 everytime!

 

Agreed.

 

high 15s, low 16s.

My friend blew the motor in his 92 RS and we put a 3.4 in it for him. Didn't really want any performance boost, just wanted a new motor.

Well it stayed around for awhile and didn't get driven much. After he got his 350 IROC and I got my old Trans Am we were forced to drive it one day because it had gas and nothing else did. Dear lord.. it was the slowest thing I've ridden in in a long long time He floorboarded the gas and I asked him "dude are you even stepping on it" and he said "yeah it's floored!"

I don't understand why people hotrod V6s when they could just save all the money they spent and buy a V8 car.

 

THis is why click here 3.4 that can eat ur car for breakfast.

 

That is not a 3.4 and the 4.3 is far from weak when built. In the end, I have to agree with Urban on this one.

 

My thirdegn Camaro had a 3.4L swap. Ran MID 15's while relatively stock, low 15's with the mild cam I put in later. Ran 14's on dope. It was an automatic as well.

 

Yeah that's definetly a 4.3. Like shifty said, they can be built tough. IIRC one of the things that makes them a good motor to build (if your vehicle came with it) is that they're a 4" bore block. Can stick the big valves in there.

 

well, if i had a bit more money and time, i would have put a small block in it, but im 18, still in h.s., and its my only car, so taking the bus to school for a month and only making about 140$ a week sucks. and pay for insureance with 2 points on my licence. after i graduate UTI next year, ill plan on having some nasty turbo s.b. or somethin with a stalled auto witha man. valve body, and now that i remember, i had for sale signs in it 2 months ago and was about to buy a 91 formula A4 with 350tpi , but a rod bearing moved into my oil pan, this was the most cost effective thing to do for me so i can sell it and get my money back out of it.

 

turbo that 3.4...they handle boost quite well from what ive seen...400 rwhp on stock internals. A guy named tiago at force fed fabrications made a kit for his...pretty sweet


http://www.force-fed-fabrications.com/

though still expensive...might be a cool project

 

Right, because that will be cheap for a young person . Modding the 3.4 is not very smart. Even if you get 300 hp out of it for the same money you could have a 350 making far more power. I respect anyone who wants to mod the car/motor that they have but I don't understand why people want to spend more to get less. Spending money on wierd combos is not unique unless you run 10's with it.

 

as you can see if you read the bottom of my post i said "STILL EXPENSIVE"

might wanna read next time before you roll your eyes at me

 

eh im only 19 (20 in two months), still in college, and have more points than you can count on 1 hand. I just bought and paid for my '97 Z28 in one payment

Course I also make $500-$800 every weekend, plus work during the week while going to school.

 

well im 17 and had to pay 1300$ for the car, then 1500$ for the rebuild...that sucked heh, but i knew what i was getting into when i bought the car.

Plus as far as turboing goes..its very possible now a days...half the kids in my highschool turbo w/e they have...they all build custom kits.

 

'97 Z28 in one payment

What happen to the Trans AM? That was a classic well it was going to be and it was killer looking. Why would you give that up?

Oh yeah 3.4 suck ***!

 

I sold her because she was very high mileage at 172k. I got a good price for her as well. I'm more interested in a car that I can mod and be beastly, with this one I don't even need to rebuild the engine first, it only has 50,000 miles. Plus it's a 6-speed and it's a Camaro, 'Maros are my true love

I'm about to order a few things that will make this maro turn as many heads as my old TA did though, and I'm getting a magnaflow muffler for free. Then the real engine mods start

 

You know what I think that really looks good on those cars is the RS spoiler kit. They should have came stock on the Z28s.

 

it does. but im going with silver reflective z28 overlays, red reflective for the two bow ties, silver reflective for GS stripes, then getting a cowl hood and the SS spoiler. should look good.

 

Hey where do you order those emblems from?

 

A guy named brent franker. He can make pretty much anything. I got alot of stuff for my old TA from him, very high quality and excellent prices.

http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/vinyl/vinyl.htm

 

i guess all the GN guys are retards then

J/K Urban... its just i see that statement on this site alot and it seems as though everyone has forgotten about the legendary Turbo V6

 

no one has forgotten about the Buick 3.8, however exactly how many cars came with that? 3 I think? TTA, GN and T-Type? And even so you'll go faster with a boosted V8 than you will with the 3.8. No replacement for displacement.

I meant the stock base model fbody V6s.

 

will a boosted V8 go faster than a boosted V6? in theory yes... however, the GNs have been in the 7s for years now, with the "almighty" LS series motors just recently getting there

and besides... how many people actually boost their V8s? 95% of the people on this site havent progressed past minor boltons. youre more likely to see a good running GN than a boosted GM V8

BTW - i know you meant the Fbody V6... its just that statement about V6 performance (or the lack of) was too generic to let go

 

GNs have been around since the mid 80s.. people are just getting started with LSxs. LT1s actually got to the 7s before LS1s did (iirc LT1s are at 7.9, LS1s are at 7.8). It's all just a matter of time.

I would expect about 0.5% of the people here to actually get a forced induction system - similar to the same number that own 3.8 Turbo motors, it was merely a comparative analysis.

 

wow! the fastest LT1 is in the 7s now? last i heard it was still 8s. thats incredible (ive always liked the old LT1 more than the LS1... just my personal preference)

whats the setup/car/owner of this monster LT1?

 

if i could get on ls1tech.com i'd tell you. it's big rick's car im pretty sure.

 

That's a little low. There's quite a few guys on here with centrifugal supercharged L98s (usually Vortech or Paxton). Seems to be the most common forced induction setup on here. And a lot of people are jumping into the turbo scene with 3rd gens as well. I think you'll see more and more people going to turbo setups on these cars, similar to the growing number of turbo Foxbody Stangs.


But nonetheless, I agree that a V6 in a 3rd gen is a poor option for performance. 89JYTurbo DID get 12s out of a turbo 3.4 swapped into a early 90s Cavalier, but that's a car that's about 1000 pounds lighter.

 

Maybe I missed it....but what type of 3.4 are you guys talking about? I know that the mid 90's DOHC 3.4 (the LQ1 I think?) was pretty quick for a V6 (210 hp stock). It was a real pain to work on, but it was no slouch.

 

The base engine in the 1993-1995 4th gens. It is also used as a FWD engine in alot of sedans and minivans.

I have one with a GN turbo (friend decided to upgrade) and MPFI intake, run by a Mass Air ECM from a 2.8, in my 1987 GMC Jimmy.

The 3.4 DOHC has some power, but I would take a SC 3.8 over that crammed in 3.4 DOHC anyday. The 3.8 supercharged is alot easier to work on.

 

OK, thanks for clearing that up. I too would take a SC 3800, even a regular NA 3800 series II, over a DOHC 3.4 anyday. Yes, they are very difficult to work on. Ever try and change the alternator on one of those?

Fast355, have you ever taken your Jimmy to the strip? Sounds like you have a nice little setup in that thing.

 

The mid 90s 3.4 had something like 140 hp, base motor for the 4th gen V6 cars until '96 IIRC. The 200 hp motor was the 3800 series 3.8 V6 that came optional in 95.

 

160hp 200 tq for the RWD 3.4's
As far as why boosting V8's is becoming more common...they need SOMTHING to keep up with the 4 banger guys (If you live in Houston, you know what I mean...)

 

I'm not even going to comment...

 

Please, just put the crack pipe down already.

 

honestly though guys... really fast 4 bangers are becoming more commonplace in my area as well. its almost as if the fart can/intake as their only mods crowd has disappeared and the slowest imports now are in the 14s. ive been seeing soooo many more 12/11 sec imports with 120+mph trap speeds its not funny. try to remember that single digit E/T V8s arent exactly the norm or as cheap to build as a boosted Honda

in fact there are several Kseries motor swap Hondas with 60 trim turbos running around my area trapping well over 130. its freakin scary

 

The tuner crowd is getting better, but even with 1955 Gen. I tech, if you play your cards right, it's really not that hard to work over the best and newest of Japan (and domestic 4 bangers). A mild 350 with boost will go quite a ways.

Consider that a BONE STOCK L98 IROC with a T-56 and 6 psi through a junkyard TT setup has gone 12.4s with enough trap speed to hit 11s. Search 89JYTurbo if you don't know what I'm talking about.

It's not as if you have to boost the old measly V8 to keep up with these new fangled 4 bangers. It's just that most V8 guys don't have to use forced induction to embarass 80% of the tuner crowd, and most don't.

 

I wouldn't agree with that at all. Single digit V8s (N/A or FI) are much more common place than single digit boosted hondas, not to mention much cheaper. Give me an L98 car and I'll have it trapping 120 with a new motor for about $15-$2k.

 

120mph isnt nearly enough to take out one of those boosted Kseries Hondas i was talking about, especially from a roll. and if you use nitrous, then yes, a SBC would be cheaper to build. but if you want to go turbo, id say 99% of fbody owners arent skilled enough to fabricate their own turbo setup from scratch and will have to buy a "kit" from a vendor... and they arent cheap. factor in the forged motor setup to handle the kit, a stronger rear, etc, and the cost will exceed what it takes to screw together a 130mph capable Honda

im not trying to champion the imports or anything, but my eyes are opened enough to realize that they have gotten ALOT faster in recent years. simple boltons or even heads/cam cars arent enough anymore to beat the top street "tuners"

 

If these are K-series swapped Honda cars, it's not like they are cheap either. Swap in a LSx series motor, buy a centrifugal S/C, get sticky tires, beef the drivetrain. With streetability being damned (which is IS on a high-boost turbo Honda), the Chevy still wins this one. Either the Honda is running some sort of Methanol injection, or he's not running pump gas, that simple. Those are 10.5ish - 1 motors from the factory, with usually 15 psi or more on top of it. That alone makes them more expensive than you might imagine. It's not like they lope around and stall out like a built N/A V8, but they're using one of two costly methods to deal with detonation and the lovely MPG of a 4 cyl gets flushed down the toilet.

A 5.3 litre Vortec with a 6 psi centrifugal bolted via adapter plate to a TH-350 and a solid posi 3.73 axle with good tires will get the job done in a thirdgen, if 11s are your goal. Rather easily, I might add. Trap 130? I dunno about that, but it will be pretty fast.

There's a true similar comparison to a K series swap, and the 5.3 pulls well to 6k (unlike a boosted L98) so you can run steep gears, and is cheaper from a salvage yard than any K series Honda motor.

As stated, if you play your cards right, the Chevy SBC will win a HP to $$$ comparison every single time, regardless.

 

Very very true. Any import running that much boost on a swapped motor like that is usually on race gas or running methanol.

No replacement for displacement, especially true where dollars are concerned.

It's true that these "tuners" are finally learning to tune some speed from their rides, but the fact remains that the prices aren't coming down, and it's cheaper with a V8.