quenda-xr

Your R33 sounds like a real weapon . GM crate motors are pretty good value. Holmart sells LS2s for 4.5K!

Yeah, most 2.0-2.5L turbos are peaky and none of them are rockets off boost. But from what I've heard, the RB25DET is fairly tractable at low revs especially when you compare it to the RB20 and the WRX's EJ20. Short gearing would also help the engine get on boost quicker. The thing with drags and turbos is that you have to launch in the power band which is usually higher up in the rev range. If your car is RWD you will need good rubber to keep traction. The WRX is the perfect example of the potential of a 2.0L turbo and short gearing at the drags. The 2.0L versions are very weak off boost (especially the Sti). However, if they are launched properly (in the power band) they are extremely quick off the mark. I've seen timeslips of modded Foresters/WRXs running high 12s with 104mph and ultra low 60ft times. Turbos can be very quick if launched right.

Yeah, an LS2TT would be a weapon with awesome driveability. Nah, I haven't owned an import before. I'm seriously thinking about getting an R33 series 2 GTST or an S15 though. Then I can have the best of both worlds even though my Boss 260 has nowhere near the aftermarket potential of an LSX V8. Just out of interest, what mods does your 33 have?

I highly doubt that. Even off boost the RB25DET is tractable thanks to its high static compression ratio and 2.5L displacement. At the end of the day it is a 2.5L 6cyl pulling a 1360kg car. Even without the turbo the RB25 is a very good engine with 147kw and 255nm of torque. Which is impressive even by today's standards. The idle will remain civilised and you will still retain good fuel economy off boost. In comparision, a LSX V8 with a huge cam will be a dog to drive in stop start traffic and fuel consumption will be crap even if you are trying to granny it. The whole car will be shaking and rocking like there's an earthquake. You would be idling at 2000rpm. There would be absolutely no grunt at low revs. Yes, the L98 and LS2 have an extra 300cc over the LS1. However, this is only a 5% increase in capacity and don't forget the VEs weigh 7.5% more than the VT-VZ. This is only a small increase in displacement in a car that weighs 150kg heavier. A VE SS with a huge cam would have terrible manners on the street and would be a pig to drive. Perhaps you should ask GM motorsport if they would recommend their '10 second 1/4 mile cam' for street driven daily drivers. I'd bet my left nut that they wouldn't. In comparision, the RB25DET is a whopping 25% bigger than the RB20DET. Now that's a significant increase in displacement. An aftermarket cam will never offer the manners of the stock one. However, a baby cam will still offer decent manners, good driveability, and mid 12 second 1/4 mile times (with supporting mods).

I agree, the 6L has more torque than the 5.7L so driveability should be improved. But it makes you wonder why so many people are still opting for baby cams for their street machines rather than more aggressive cams. It's all about day to day driveability at the end of the day. Most people want their cars to idle smoothly, maintain good fuel consumption, and have a linear spread of torque. That's what makes baby cams the choice for street driven cars. For V8 exhausts the price varies depending on brand/quality and whether you fit it yourself. Generally a difillipo system (stainless) costs over 3K fitted for headers, cats, and exhaust. This is probably the most highly regarded system on the market but you pay the price. Xforce also make good value for money systems which are really popular. Fitted you're looking at around 2.8K. With V8s, exhausts are very expensive. R33s should be able to quite easily get into the 12s with 110mph with a decent 60ft. It all depends on traction, driver skill etc. I was just wondering if it is okay for an R33 to run a turbo back, cold air intake, FMIC, and boost controller without getting an ECU tune? Also, does the R33 really need slicks/MT drag radials to run a flat 13? I would have thought that they could manage that on good road rubber.

Of course you can do things for really cheap if you know how to do things yourself etc. The prices I quote are what people who don't have much mechanical knowledge have to pay. So 3.3K for a cam (including tune), full difillipo exhaust will cost at least 3K, OTR $600, diff ratio change 1K (which is necessary when you get a cam to improve driveability), tex clutch will be around 1K, M/T street radials are about $700, and rip shift about $400? So in total a cam with all the supporting mods will cost around 10K and get the average owner into the high 11s. Every man and his dog knows that if you throw in a huge CAM driveability will be severely affected and fuel consumption would be woeful. Driveability would be somewhat like the bug eye sti's - nothing, nothing, nothing but once you hit a certain high rpm all the grunt comes at once. That's why many opt for 'baby cams' which are quite okay to drive on a daily basis (assuming that the diff ratio has been changed to 3.9) but you won't trap anywhere near 128mph with a baby cam. Like I said before I don't know much about imports as I've been into V8s for a long time. I'm not very familiar with what skylines run with 200rwkw, 225rwkw, or 250rwkw. But I can tell you that if an R32 with 240rwkw is trapping 105-110mph it is simply not producing 240rwkw despite what the dyno tells you (or there is something wrong with the driver or the setup). Don't forget that it's not all about power, the correct setup is essential when you are chasing low times not to mention the driver. My 200rwkw XR8 traps 104mph in full weight and that thing weighs 1800kg without me in it. Could you get into the 11s in an R33 with a 10K budget assuming that the driver is competent and setup is right? If so, what would driveability be like? Could you run a flat 13 in an R33 with a budget of 4K? That's what VE SSs are running.

Forgot to mention that you'll also have to upgrade the clutch so the total cost will be around 10K plus.

Let's face it the vast majority of people only do mild mods to their cars if any. They also want to maintain good driveability and fuel consumption as most use their cars as daily drivers. It would be interesting to compare the new VE SS to an R33 GTS-T if both had about 4K to spend on go fast mods. These cars are to be used as daily drivers and not as purpose built drag cars. Most V8 drivers (ford and holden) who mod their cars usually don't go beyond fitting a full exhaust, cold air intake, and tune. This gives them a nice power increase while maintaining good driveability and fuel consumption. A full stainless exhaust (headers, cats, cats-back) will cost about 2.8K, an OTRCAI will cost $600 and tune will be about $600-1000 depending on whether it is mail order or custom. Total = roughly 4K. An LS1 SS with these mods will run the 1/4 mile in around 13.4-13.5 seconds @ 105 mph. The VE with the L98 will be a bit faster and will probably run a flat 13 at around 107mph. This is in full street trim (street tyre pressures and full weight - yes that means the spare and jack in the boot). How would an R32 or R33 compare?

It's common for tuning houses to run great times that aren't backed up by the people who actually buy their kits. Still, in order to run a high ten, GM motorsport would have used a massive stall converter and lumpy cam which would have made the car virtually impossible to drive on the street. They probably would have stripped the interior out and run on slicks. Total cost would be closer to 7K (cam = 3K, tune 1K, stall 1.5K, slicks 1K). Yeah, awesome at the track but anywhere else it would be a dog.

The LS2 VE HSVs are so overrated. I'm not saying that they're bad cars; I'm just saying that they not the supercar people make them out to be. I raced a stock VE HSV at the plex in cool 16C weather. He ran 13.9 @ 103 mph both times. He didn't stuff up the launch although he could have done slightly better imo. Still, the 103mph trap speed speaks for itself. My 4spd BA XR8 consistently hits 103-104mph with just headers and K&N filter (stock everything else - tune, cat-back, final drive ratio, torque converter and so on). The 'super car HSV' starts to look very silly compared to my 4spd XR8 which is widely regarded as a slug. So to beat/match a stock VE HSV your R32 will need to trap around 104mph at the end of the quarter. It should be noted that the VZ HSVs are significantly faster because they are 150kg lighter. It's funny how HSV claim the VE is the fastest yet but in the real world (at the track) the VZ eats it. I guess their lack of credibility was exposed when they made their famous 0-100 in 4.9 seconds claim which if true would put the LS2 HSV neck and neck with an RS4, M3 and ISF. Onto other 'new' V8s... A stock LS1 SS will trap around 100mph and a stock L98 VE SS will trap around 102mph. A stock 307kw HSV puts out about 230rwkw and they weigh about 1840kg. That's comparable to an R33 GTS-T with 170-180 genuine kw at the wheels. That being said, the LS motors have great potential when you start to put aftermaket cams into them. Stock they are very ordinary but once modded they hammer. To make a manual LS1 commodore really fast you need full exhaust, OTRCAI, tune, diff ratio change, and cam. This will net around 270rwkw and it will cost over 7K. To get 300rwkw you'll need to get the cylinder heads done too. All up, the average person will pay about 9K to get 300rwkw. 300rwkw in a VT-VZ is about 250rwkw in an R33 GTS-T - based on power to weight ratio. Just as a comparision, how much will it cost to get an R33 to 250rwkw? I don't know much about imports.

Best I could manage was a 14.04 @ 102.62mph not bad for a 4spd auto. It was a little humid so I couldn't beat my pb of 13.98. I'm now officially addicted to drag racing

Are we allowed to have passengers in the car when we race? If so, do they need to wear the same things as the driver such as helmet and long sleeves?

Seeing that the plex been closed and unused for the past 3 months, I'm wondering how sticky the track will be... I'm going to need a clean launch to run a new PB.

Thanks for the replies. It looks like I'll be going to the motorplex then.

Lol, I heard someone mention barbagallo before but I guess they were mistaken. Ah well.