doin a little dreamin today. i get a lot of crap for modding my 305 but what the hell i love it and its definitly not a slouch. but i am not ignorant to the fact that the smaller displacement and bore stroke configuration wont create as much power. so i was thinkin hmm what engine could i put in the roc that would do low 11s, be just as driveable, reliable, have EFI, and get 16mpg atleast. i put hundreds of miles on this car per week. it has 74k just bout to turn 75K its been extremly reliable and the gas mileage is accepted for waht it is and what i do with it. i was thinkin of a 396 sb or 406 sb. is this possible? this thread is just for kicks, no flaming please.

 

When I'm done I'm aiming at 11's and atleast 16mpg at highway with my setup. I'll post result here when I'm done.......

/N.

 

With an OD trans, decent cam and very good heads, with a 383 or 406 along with a good converter you could do that assuming you hook well. Not low elevens, but mid to high 11's in decent air.

 

It all comes down to tuning and compromise.

Having owned / built a couple of 10 / 11 second cars, there are things you have to decide up front.

My advice is to START with the suspension. If you want to run 11's without the engine being too radical, you NEED to beef the rear suspension and let it HOOK.

Friend of mine started with a bone stock F Body years ago, and spend alot of time and $$$ on the rear suspension first. SFC's, adjustable panhard bar, beefed LCA's, better rear end, lower gears, etc etc.

In the end, that car would actually almost BOG off the line with a stock 305 TPI / 5 speed....and that was leaving at 4000 RPM with a line lock!!!!

Optimizing traction will ALWAYS lower your ET's, but on the other side, it will almost always make the weak link in the chain pop up....


Next...

Go as BIG As you can with the engine. More cubes = less work / wear for the same amount of power produced compared to a smaller engine.

Don't skimp on the bottom end or the machine work. Always buy the best heads you can get... you can NEVER put too big of a head on an engine...only too big of a cam


Cheapest / easiest route would be using the Stealth Ram or something like it...

ALTHOUGH... my planned combo will hopefully be something DIFFERENT. I'm looking at building a 426 stroker small block, the Pro Action version of the Vortec heads, the SD Vortec TPI intake, good runners, good exhaust, and with the right parts selection and plenty of tuning, I wouldn't think the 11's would be far away at all once I can get it to hook up.


16mpg is a VERY Attainable goal. A little LOW In my opinion. If I can get a 408 powered G-Body w/ a computer controlled Q-Jet to run deep into the 12's and pull down 18 mph combined and 23 mpg on the highway, there's no reason a TUNED ( read custom PROM ) EFI setup can't pull down BETTER numbers.


FWIW, the warmed up 350 TPI in my IROC, still using the STOCK '870 ECM w/ 305 PROM, gets 20mpg COMBINED driving with the T-5. So your numbers aren't out of reach.



HTH