It'll do 130 mph in third gear

[Tman220]

Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
He made it home. What is the Optispark? Camaro going back in garage for another year. 41 Chevy i6 OHV will be back in driveway. Nice to hear an old Blue Flame six rattling again.




This is what the Optispark looks like. It was very accurate as far as distributors go and they got a bad reputation for a few reasons.
1) The early ones were not vented and not sealed well. A leaking water pump or replacing the thermostat could drench it and we can all imagine how well that works out.
2) Heat!! its sandwiched between the water pump and the front timing cover.
3) Bearing and seal issues not only with the distributor but on the timing cover, a bad seal in both places will leak engine oil inside the dizzy fouling the optical high resolution pickup, and rotors coming loose on the early ones.

The later ones are sealed much better and vented, they last longer than an average distributor. The one pictured in the above photo has been on the engine since 2005 and has about 100,000 miles and its still going. It went back on my engine during the upgrading and runs solid with nearly 500 crank horsepower and I turn it to 6800 RPM

Pictured here is the distributor installed on the engine you can see it poking out below the water pump

 

[eljefino]

I know this guy. Also claims year 2000 Crown Vic P71s have a "400 ci Police Interceptor Motor".

Well not the same guy, but the same guy.

 

[cashmoney]

100+ ? I would not go 60 mph on 20 year old car tires.

 

[04SE]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
I know this guy. Also claims year 2000 Crown Vic P71s have a "400 ci Police Interceptor Motor".

Well not the same guy, but the same guy.


Don't forget the special police chip in the computer! They forgot to take it out before the auction.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: 69GTX
I find the 130 mph claim in 3rd gear to be hard to believe. My 1999 Camaro SS M6 maxes out at 103 mph in 3rd gear with a 3.42 ratio. If the guy owns an A4 then the lower 3.23 factory gear ratio would boost that up to around 109 mph. Not sure how 3rd in the automatic vs 3rd in the manual compare, but they shouldn't be 20% different. And if this guy really has a built car, he more than likely has a stiffer rear ratio than 3.42. If for some reason he has a built engine with a "Bonneville Salt Flats" rear end ratio (3.00 or lower) then he is certainly one of very few who would go in that direction. How long can you drive steadily at 130 mph before it gets "old" or you run out of room, or run into a Trooper?

1999 Camaro data

Original tires? If they are, then they are very close to being totally tread-free. I ditched my original factory tires 2 years ago with 15K miles and they had about 30-40% tread life left...on a car that has been driven very easily with essentially no burnouts or races. Most original tires on these cars wear out in the 15K-25K range depending on driving style. Driving 130 mph on 20 year old factory tires with 28K miles....now that's insane.

The only optioned "factory" engine above a V6 in 1997 was the regular old 5.7L V8 LT1 with a rated 275 hp. I'm not aware of any factory engine you could get over that in an ordered Camaro. Any thing stronger had to come from SLP in an SS alteration package....which was just intake/exhaust mods. I think the Firehawks of that year could have been as high as 300-330 hp.


I recall 6-speeds got LT4 engines. (SS and Firehawk engines were identical.)

I thought the automatics got 2.73 gears standard...if so, yeah, I could see 130MPH in 3rd gear.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
1997 LT4 SS Camaro

OK. You could have been of 106 people in the world to order the 1997 SS LT4 Camaro rated at 330 hp....that engine went into the Grand Sport Vette. That was a $17,000 option on top of the regular $22K Z28 price...around $50K all in. The regular LT1 SS option was rated at 300-310 hp with upgraded intake/exhaust. That rating on the LT4 is not that impressive considering my '99 LS1 with some SLP options came rated at 327 hp...at around $30K.


And it still will chuck the Optispark and leave you stranded on the side of the road just like the regular POS LT1s.


Original Optispark in my Caprices both went over 100K. One was failing; the other was replaced purely as a precaution when I did the water pump. MSD has a drop-in replacement that is a lifetime fix...bonus, it's half the cost of a part-store replacement.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: 69GTX
Originally Posted By: stevo585
V8 cars with V6 power.

Engines have came along way.


But they don't have the V8 torque (ie kick in the pants)...nor the top end breathing ability. The LS1 V8's are easily modded up to 380-400 hp...and higher if you want.


...at which point, the Vega-refugee toothpick axle explodes.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: 04SE
Originally Posted By: eljefino
I know this guy. Also claims year 2000 Crown Vic P71s have a "400 ci Police Interceptor Motor".

Well not the same guy, but the same guy.


Don't forget the special police chip in the computer! They forgot to take it out before the auction.


Actually, there IS some truth to that. Police cars had a higher idle, different cooling fan programming, DRLs disabled, snf frequently dome light courtesy switches also disabled. But mostly: regular Vics were governed to, IIRC, 115MPH due to driveshaft limitations. P71s had a different driveshaft (actually stamped "POLICE") and no speed limiter.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle

I recall 6-speeds got LT4 engines. (SS and Firehawk engines were identical.)

I thought the automatics got 2.73 gears standard...if so, yeah, I could see 130MPH in 3rd gear.


Maybe I am misunderstanding you, but normal run of the mill LT1 cars got the 6 speed as well, if they were not equipped with the 4 speed auto.

 

[69GTX]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
I recall 6-speeds got LT4 engines. (SS and Firehawk engines were identical.)

I thought the automatics got 2.73 gears standard...if so, yeah, I could see 130MPH in 3rd gear.



If an automatic LT1 came with a 2.73 axle it certainly wasn't the "biggest/most powerful engine" you could order in 1997. All 6 speeds came with 3.42's from the factory. ALL LT-4's are described below.

...it is actually very hard to tell a LT4 from a LT1 30th Anniversary car. The ONLY exterior difference to 100% make it a LT4 car, is the "330 HP" decal on the tail. All LT4's were hard tops, 6 speed trans, and had the dual dual performance exhaust.

So if this guy really ordered the biggest and baddest Camaro for 1997, it has to be a white hardtop with orange hood stripes and white painted wheels. Those are very hard to miss. So does this guy have a white/orange striped Camaro. And they were all 6 speeds too....3.42 gears.

To sum it all up. If this guy ordered the biggest possible HP F body engined car in 1997 it's an M6 LT4. That means like my 1999 M6, it would be limited to approx 103 mph in 3rd gear at 6,000 rpm. Even with a higher rpm limit than stock (say 6800)...that's 116 mph. So basically, no, the guy can't do 130 mph in 3rd gear in an LT4 UNLESS it was modded. I suspect the guy has a plain old LT1 A4, probably modified...which would be capable of 130 mph in 3rd gear.

 

[69GTX]

I suspect the OP's neighbor's car is probably an A4 Z28, and possibly a 2.73 car. I think all SS's/WS6's came with 3.23/3.42 gears.

As far as the axles or rear ends blowing up on these, I've had 2 LT-1's and 2 LS-1's, 2 of them M6's, all 4 stock....and never blew anything up. And the people I've corresponded with didn't blow things up either. It would be hard to blow up on A4 axle/rear end unless you modded up more than 400 hp. Now the M6 is a different story. Grippy drag style tires and max rpm too soon from a start and you could break things. Anything pure factory stock, if abused enough, can certainly fail.

 

[stevo585]

Originally Posted By: 69GTX
Originally Posted By: stevo585
V8 cars with V6 power.

Engines have came along way.


But they don't have the V8 torque (ie kick in the pants)...nor the top end breathing ability. The LS1 V8's are easily modded up to 380-400 hp...and higher if you want.

Today's V6 Camaro at approx 320-335 hp is not quite the same experience as the 1998-2002 V8 with the same 330 hp.
The V6 has 284 ft-lb of torque vs 345 for the V8...not even close. And that V8 torque is maxed by 4000 rpm...plenty of low end.
The 284 ft-lbs of new Camaro V6 torque is reached by the LS1 V8 at 2,000 rpm.

And the V6 needs 6800 rpm to get that hp....the old V8 only 5200. Very different cars from that respect.


Of course they have more torque they have more displacement and sure that will make them "feel" faster. That said a 100hp 200tq car will (same weight) always be slower than a 200hp 100tq car. I have raced diesels trucks with 1k ft-lbs and yes they're fast off the line but past the 1/8 mile I usually get them.

 

[69GTX]

Originally Posted By: stevo585
Of course they have more torque they have more displacement and sure that will make them "feel" faster. That said a 100hp 200tq car will (same weight) always be slower than a 200hp 100tq car. I have raced diesels trucks with 1k ft-lbs and yes they're fast off the line but past the 1/8 mile I usually get them.


The comparison was between the 1993-2002 Camaro's (LT1/LS1) and the current 2009+ Camaro's with a V6. When these first came out 2009 they were 500+ lbs heavier than the old version...virtual bricks. Even with the weight reduction from 2016 on in the 6th gen, and beefing the HP up 335, the recent V6's are still around 300 lbs. heavier than the old LT1/LS1 V8's. Win-win for the old V8's. The older cars also have a lower drag coefficient (.34 to .35).

Now if you want to drop down to the new Turbo V4 (275 hp + 295 ft lbs torque) those cars are as light (within 100 lbs) of the old V8's. No matter how you slice it, the 4th gen V8 takes out anything factory stock V6 or V4 that has followed. This discussion wasn't about 2500-2800 lb turbo econo boxes or Vettes, which both have a lot more power/weight ratio than a later gen Camaro.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: 69GTX
Originally Posted By: stevo585
Of course they have more torque they have more displacement and sure that will make them "feel" faster. That said a 100hp 200tq car will (same weight) always be slower than a 200hp 100tq car. I have raced diesels trucks with 1k ft-lbs and yes they're fast off the line but past the 1/8 mile I usually get them.


The comparison was between the 1993-2002 Camaro's (LT1/LS1) and the current 2009+ Camaro's with a V6. When these first came out 2009 they were 500+ lbs heavier than the old version...virtual bricks. Even with the weight reduction from 2016 on in the 6th gen, and beefing the HP up 335, the recent V6's are still around 300 lbs. heavier than the old LT1/LS1 V8's. Win-win for the old V8's. The older cars also have a lower drag coefficient (.34 to .35).

Now if you want to drop down to the new Turbo V4 (275 hp + 295 ft lbs torque) those cars are as light (within 100 lbs) of the old V8's. No matter how you slice it, the 4th gen V8 takes out anything factory stock V6 or V4 that has followed. This discussion wasn't about 2500-2800 lb turbo econo boxes or Vettes, which both have a lot more power/weight ratio than a later gen Camaro.


And even then there plenty of documented cased of 01 and up LS1 F-bodies hitting 12's stock. My 2001 6 speed Z28 went 12.95 at 110.02 mph show room stock with 840 miles on it.
My 1998 went 13.29 at 107.05 mph bone stock
My current WS6 turned out 3 back to back 13.20s at Bremerton Raceway. Not sure what his point is.

 

[69GTX]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
My 2001 6 speed Z28 went 12.95 at 110.02 mph show room stock with 840 miles on it.


That's some fancy driving Mike. I couldn't come close to being able to shift a 6 speed like that. I'm just a cruiser.

You really need to daily drive a manual to make it second nature. I've only had them as 2nd cars or weekend toys. Had my SS now for 5 years and still haven't chirped the tires or put down rubber....maybe someday....lol. I got all that stuff out of my system with all my previous performance cars.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: 69GTX
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
My 2001 6 speed Z28 went 12.95 at 110.02 mph show room stock with 840 miles on it.


That's some fancy driving Mike. I couldn't come close to being able to shift a 6 speed like that. I'm just a cruiser.

You really need to daily drive a manual to make it second nature. I've only had them as 2nd cars or weekend toys. Had my SS now for 5 years and still haven't chirped the tires or put down rubber....maybe someday....lol. I got all that stuff out of my system with all my previous performance cars.


Well it was a good air day in May of 2001. Good track prep, but tons of guys even Muscle Mustang and Fast Fords got 2 separate LS1 Camaros to run 12's stock.




I will admit that was my 3rd 6 speed car and prior to that I probably had 700 6 speed 1/4 miles passes...so that helps

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Originally Posted By: 69GTX
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
My 2001 6 speed Z28 went 12.95 at 110.02 mph show room stock with 840 miles on it.


That's some fancy driving Mike. I couldn't come close to being able to shift a 6 speed like that. I'm just a cruiser.

You really need to daily drive a manual to make it second nature. I've only had them as 2nd cars or weekend toys. Had my SS now for 5 years and still haven't chirped the tires or put down rubber....maybe someday....lol. I got all that stuff out of my system with all my previous performance cars.


Those GM cars with the early LS1s did have quite a few tricks under their belt from the factory. My brother had a 1999 6-spd TA that my very first pass in it I went 13.09@107 and change.

My 2009 G8 GT (L76, the crippled LS3) with the 6L80 and stock everything except a SCT canned tune went [email protected] with a 1.67 60' on factory Goodyears with a DA of 1120' and weighed 4240 with me in it. It ran 13.30s@104 bone stock. Bought it with 9900 miles. I miss that car

It did 110 at the 3-4 shift, and shifted into 5th at 140...