Used to have the same mentality. Then i got older.

Honest to god, 500hp in a 1st gen wouldnt be much fun. it would be a brutal car that was really only good for going straight. If thats what you want then go buy a third gen camaro, get a pontiac 400, build it up and spray the hell out of the engine. Or spend 6k and get an LT1 Fbody and spray it. If you really have the scratch go LS1 and a 150hp shot and you have a 500hp car. Its not all its cracked up to be.

Further there will be two places you can use that power. The highway and the dragstrip. The highway will either get you arrested, or eventually killed. the drag strip is only fun for 11 seconds, then you are done. Its really somehting youhave to be commited to in order to enjoy it. Get a college education and a job, then worry about 500hp. Int he meantime a 200hp FB will be more than enough for your experience driving.



BC

 

Well said.

 

I fundamently disagree that a 500hp[say 400rwhp] would be a brutal car. I know of several with that power which are set-up to be streetable daily drivers. For example, AJC13B which looked stock but in race set-up performed in the mid 10s. Another is 'Freknu', a little more powerful at 518rwhp @26psi, to achieve 10.48 at 132mph. This is also used without difficulty on the street. All you need is money and common sense driving to have a two purpose Gen 1.

I agree that 200hp is a good starting point for a 16 year old. With no desire for drag performance, I find that 224rwhp is more than adequate for daily driving and still get good fuel economy.

Cody says 500hp is his long term target. While its easy to knock this youthful desire, I suggest there is merit in providing advice both on technically how to achieve this target, and the need to build up knowledge and driving skills to handle a high performance car. Last week's thread on the death of a 17 year old driving a gen 1 clearly indicates the need to balance performance and driving skills.Too much knocking by the less than youthful can be counter productive so let's encourage 16 year olds to take the right route with sound advice.

Age does not necessarily bring wisdom or caution. My scary memories are of being driven by my 80 year old mother at 100mph plus in her Jaguar V12 while ernestly discussing the failings of modern youth.

 

Well said,and I agree that while it may not be easy,500 street HP is obtainable...... regardless if age.
However,youth/inexperience and wild ambition/desire tend to go hand in hand, and for simple safety concerns I expressed my opinion on the matter with more "grounded" advice.Not that I intended to talk Cody out of his goals,but I know for a fact that if I had got my hands on my current car,at the age of 16......I would be dead.
Building my car up from stock,over nearly ten years gave me the time and miles needed to learn self control and vehicle control.Some are blessed with these traits at a young and inexperienced age,but for most of us,the only way to learn is over time.

 

You're going to be in this for a shitload of money, just so you know...

Might as well buy a fully built car and save yourself the trouble. It's a lot more fun (and easy) to work on a car that runs than to work on something that is being built, unless you know very well what you're doing.

 

i did remember you saying you wanting to make it up to 500hp but i didnt think you were being serious. 500hp would be a real engineering feat, and i dont think its going to be that easy. But im not saying dont try.

But you could also get closer to your 500hp goal by shedding some weight off the car. Some ideas are:

ditching the passenger seat
tossing the ac
Using Carbon Fiber like in:
hood
doors
sunroof
quarter panels
Lexan rear hatch
Magnesium wheels
removing jack and spare tire

 

No doubt it can be done. Nonetheless a 2400lb car with 500hp is going to be brutal. Sure it can be street driven. Turnt he boost down, but then you dont have a 500hp car... Anyway, I agree with what you are saying in principle. But the key to this paragraph was the last sentance. Money and common sense are rarely two words that can be used together to describe a 16-25 yr old male. They are usually mutually exclusive. Not always, but usually.... this coming from a 25 yr old male.

I would say that 100hp is a good starting point for a 16 yr old driver. A turbo charged car in the hands of a new driver is like putting a 600cc bike in the hands of a new rider. Can you learn on it? Sure. Will it be as dangerous as a 1000cc bike? Possibly. Is it the best tool to learn good technique and instincts? Cetainly not. A 16 yr old has enough ahead of him learning RWD and manual transmission to be tempted into pushing the car in a race. At least with 100hp it will be more forgiving. It will also take time and discipline to inprove on that base via mods without messing up your car.

There is definitely merit in giving advise to him as well. However the knocking on the dreams comes from the fact that he has chosen a number for the sake of the number without an appreciation of a) how fast a 10 sec car really is from behind the wheel, and b) what it takes to make a 10 sec car safe and drivable. Like I said, if he just wants 500hp there are easier, cheaper ways to achieve that number. If he wants a fun, functioning car then he either needs deep pockets, or more realistic expectations as to what is fun and functional. Supporting a dream is fine, but some level of sense has to be added as well.




BC

 

i am goind to take some of everyones advice here. i am only going to have a 250hp 12at or 13bt after i get my full lisenses then just save and build the motor and the car at the same time

 

umm...that is not going to get him any closer to 500hp

 

Shedding weight off the car will make it slightly faster, but it will NOT increase
horsepower.

As usual - I couldn't have said it better myself.
I am going to recommend to Cody666, that he learn how to drive his car well, and to maximize it's potential through better driving. On top of that, Bolt-Ons can make any 12a powered car - to be very quick. There's always more options later.

Learn to walk before you boost..

 

quoted in sig.

 

There is no such thing as a perfect circle, it is a mathematical tautology. Fortunately to compensate I have a circle of perfect friends.

But beware, following the philosophy of Carmina Burina, fate will always take you full circle wiser perhaps but back to where you started.True rotary motion.

 

good thinking.


BC

 

You have made a good decision. Congratulations.

Remember to take photos and post progress while you are building your 250 hp engine. Just make certain brakes and suspension are modified to match the engine performance.

 

The stock brakes aren't that bad with 500rwhp. Just dont jump on them too many times from high speeds, lol.