has anyone thought about this question??? would a thirdgen camaro do well in a downhill/uphill drift race? ive been thinking about this for awhile.. i know the car handles real well doing the uphill run.. not much of the rear end coming out or problems with holding the line.. but its the downhill im worried about. ( i was driving the car with bad shocks and the rear lower control arms and panhard bar was bent.. i know stupid but i wanted to test it) i just think it would be something for a third gen musclecar to show up the tuners that dominate that world. for something we drive on the street to beat those wound out weedeaters (lmao) that a musclecar can do it better.
any thoughts?

yes, your thirdgen is a drifting machine, take it to japan and beat all the "tuners" in their downhill street drifting get togethers.

I think the thirdgens biggest problem is its size. Its nowhere near as small as those Japanese cars. They usually have around 500hp IIRC so we would need even more than that with how much our cars weigh.

Not saying its impossible but its a hell of a lot easier when your car weighs a good 1k pounds less.

Something with the steering ratio makes the 3rd gens drift failures.Zack Catlin? drifts and IROC or Z28 on youtube.

ive had a bit of accidental practice drifting.. though i did notice i lost control more than i had control, i think it has to do with the fact that it doesnt want to understeer like it would need to

Well I've seen videos of a "Zack Caitlin" on youtube and that camaro is gorgeous, I dont know how he made that Daytona hood look good on that car, but it's pretty slick looking.

Anyway, I was googling for a writeup about his car with pictures... all I found was the writeup with a picture of him on it...

http://1kdrifters.blogspot.com/2010/...ch-catlin.html

welded 10-bolt, custom "dual ram air" intake... that sounds interesting. Probably just a dual snorkel or something. He can barely spell so Im guessing the terminology isn't going to be dead on.

Anyway, looking for more on it, I found this article about a burglary online:

http://www.theweeklyvice.com/2009/07...d-in-buff.html

I checked and that burglary happened in Manassas, Virginia. His location in his writeup on his car is "NoVa", Northern Virginia. He talks about drifting at Virginia International Raceway (VIR, where some of his drift youtube videos are)... And then you see the pictures... definitely the same guy:

From writeup:


From burglary article:


Now the really funny part is this:

That burglary write up is hilarious. Still a fan of his drifting though.

That is a shame is going to be gone for a while... He was creating a good image for the 3rd gen name... His car is sick!

"Drift race" is an oxymoron. Two separate concepts...

Maybe I'm just getting old, drifting a car can be fun for a little while, but to watch it on the tube? or think its serious racing your still watching cartoons. Don't get me wrong, it does take skill at the speeds they run but when the judges score you on style you might as well be brake dancing.

Just an opinion, take it for what it's worth.

im not talking about style point drifting.. im talking about a time attack race down a mountainside.

Racing downhill can kick even good drivers in the ***, braking zones are tougher to hit & the brakes take a beating. Doesn't mater what type of car your driving, no reason a 3RD Gen or any other brand can't do it well with proper preparation.

I've always liked light cars, I used to do some work for the largest Abarth collector on the west coast, small high output engines (600-2000cc mostly) that put out up to 290 HP in the 50s through 72 when they sold out to Fiat. On short tracks & on rallies they were very impressive & extremely expensive.

To be honest the only reason I am using a 3RD Gen for the 24 HRS of Lemons is that I already have a lot of old Chevy parts laying around & have had 5 Camaros given to me, and as most people here know these cars are fairly easy to make into good performers, I just wish they were about 800lbs. lighter. My first Lemons car was a 78 Buick Nighthawk (Chevy Monza) I really enjoyed that car but one of my drivers mangled her up a bit- starting to ramble again, better quit before I put someone to sleep. Sorry if I misunderstood your original question, now I'm getting sleepy.

its ok..i confuse myself alot lol. well i have been looking around at weight reduction pieces for our 3rd gens.. all ive found is fiberglass doors, front clip assembly (its all one piece) and the lightweight suspension parts. i just got done replacing the rear suspension in mine.. the stock control arm on the drivers side was bent and knocked the alignment of the axle off. i had to push the axle back about an inch and half to get it bolted back in. been looking for a 5 or 4 speed transmission but cant find them. i hate the TH350 trans in it now.. it doesnt act like it wants to handle the power coming from the motor.

all i have left to do now is stiffen the front end up.. put polyurethane bushings on the sway bars and replace the stock torque arm. that should help with the front end wandering on me in a corner. took the corner by my house yesterday doing 65 and it handled very well except for the front end wandering