Little street fun with an LS3 TA and a Roush stage 3

[Amelio]

My brother just bought a 2002 Trans Am, the previous guy put in a built LS3, we went to Tennessee to pick it up. I drove it Saturday and it is really stout!

My brother and I and 2 other buddies all went out to dinner last night and of course on the way to dinner they had to come pick on me.

My brother was first as I figured he wanted to see how his car does......my car is the barometer for most all of our car buddies because I am pretty much the only guy that goes to the track and actually lays down 1/4 mile time. Plus everyone knows what my car runs so we kinda use it as a gauge.

with that being said I run my car at 17-18psi all the time.....as it sits with 93 oct and no alky she runs mid 11's....

My brother pulled next to me from a 30mph roll...as soon as I heard him clutch in and gear down I stabbed it....by the time I spooled was right when he hit it....I jumped a car or so but he was spinning bad......he hit 3rd and hooked and started charging hard! we ran out of space and I lifted....however if we both stayed in it he would have went by. I am really impressed with his car its a screamer!

right after that my buddy with a Roush stage 3 pulls up to me at the next light....he just had his car tuned...it put down 480rwhp and 456 rwtq....its stout...

He looked at me and I just smiled ( he called me out last week...jokingly but it was on FB ...lol)

Anyway I am running regular radials so I did not want to stall cause I would just spin bad.....the light turned green and he hit....I just floor paned it and I rolled the length of my car and the tires went up...he is spinning and so am I all the while I am a full car length ahead.....we got into second and I hooked and he did too....pretty much stayed there...bumped 3rd and lifted....

I like little street pulls like that is a ton of fun......I'm gonna have to do some tuning and bump up the boost to handle my brothers LS LOL!

 

[scojack_2001]

Alcohol and DRs and let it eat brother.

 

[Nascar83Fan]

Pretty good though on just pump 93 octane and 17-18 psi boost pulling mid 11's.
Doing something right there, nice man.


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[Amelio]

Alcohol and DRs and let it eat brother.

Yeah I know....some of the other Turbo club guys give a hard time cause I don't run any real boost LOL.....

The way I look at it is a have a decent running car on just 93 oct and its a pretty safe tune....I figure if I aint squeezing it then it should not break and I don't have to work on it LMAO!!!

 

[Amelio]

Pretty good though on just pump 93 octane and 17-18 psi boost pulling mid 11's.
Doing something right there, nice man.


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Thank you sir.....its been a long time of messing with this car....we all know how that is.

I battled miss matched combo for years and the lack of tuning knowledge.....I am no pro but the car runs out pretty good and a solid 11 sec street car is fun.

I plan to get to the track in the fall when it cools......put some fuel in it and turn up the wick....I would really like to see a 10sec pass out it!

 

[Bescurred]

You know how I feel about low boost Joey, might as well be no boost lol!!! Hopefully I can wrap up the brakes on my car and I can try to go to the next meeting.

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[Amelio]

You know how I feel about low boost Joey, might as well be no boost lol!!! Hopefully I can wrap up the brakes on my car and I can try to go to the next meeting.

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Haha I know but hey if I can lay the smack down on low boost then that's just better for me and worse for the other guy....I got room to go faster!

Who is this....Larry???

 

[Nascar83Fan]

There's probably a few different ways on just pump gas to reach 11's with our cars, just a matter of getting everything working together to get there. That's bragging rights to say i'm only running 2 to 3 psi more than stock turning those times vs someone running alot more boost. It also means there's alot of room to grow if you can manage to do that on lower boost and not broke something.
Nicely done.
Go get you a set of DR's for on the street and you'll probably pickup alittle bit by being able to launch alittle harder the next time you guys do group test hits. Get your brother to from a dead stop to try you and not from a 30 mph roll, then you'll truely see where you stand against him.
You beat your friends roush stage3 freshly tuned car by at least a car length the whole time from a dig.
After you see what you got from a dig vs your brothers ls3 car, then you can see what you're working with on beating him if you don't already.


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[Amelio]

There's probably a few different ways on just pump gas to reach 11's with our cars, just a matter of getting everything working together to get there. That's bragging rights to say i'm only running 2 to 3 psi more than stock turning those times vs someone running alot more boost. It also means there's alot of room to grow if you can manage to do that on lower boost and not broke something.
Nicely done.
Go get you a set of DR's for on the street and you'll probably pickup alittle bit by being able to launch alittle harder the next time you guys do group test hits. Get your brother to from a dead stop to try you and not from a 30 mph roll, then you'll truely see where you stand against him.
You beat your friends roush stage3 freshly tuned car by at least a car length the whole time from a dig.
After you see what you got from a dig vs your brothers ls3 car, then you can see what you're working with on beating him if you don't already.


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Thank you for the compliment......I am not one for bragging about my car or how I have tuned it but I appreciate someone realizing a solid 11sec car on pump gas and no alky.

To be clear it went 11's with Mickey T DR's.......I have been running those on the streets.....I currently have standard BFG radials on the car because they were free and I needed tires.....I have a brand new set of Mickey T's in the garage for the track!

Oh and I am well aware of where we stand from a dig....my brother is also aware that I will hand him his ass from a dig lol!!!!

I have tuned my car to be safe and for the most part reliable....I found the successful combo and boost levels under 20psi......I know a lot of guys are running 25psi with zero problems and very reliable.........I am just at a happy spot with the car....its for the most part simple and problem free and runs good.

Thank again for the compliment!

 

[Nascar83Fan]

Your build proves you don't have to run alky or e-85 or race gas to make 11's on pump 93 and with DR's.
You'd put alot more than a car length on your friends roush stage 3 car if you'd had the New sticky DR's on. But good kill on street radials.
I'd like to one day eventually get my TR hitting High 11's or low 12's without going above the 17 to 18 psi boost and on just solely pump gas.
I'm not sure it's possible on 91 octane though, hate that there isnt 93 or 94 available around my area as 91 is as good as they have. Just need to have some money fall into my lap and could get things rolling on getting her to get into mid high 12's, just can't seem to stick enough money aside to cover getting her some goodies to make her alittle quicker than she currently is.

Thanks for sharing the kill.


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[tlturbo]

Would love to see the combo you are running that gives you mid 11's at that boost level with no alky and pump gas.

 

[Fast4Ward]

Would love to see the combo you are running that gives you mid 11's at that boost level with no alky and pump gas.

X2

 

[86BuickGN]

Amelio, Nice kills!! Can you please give me a run down on your set up? I am also running about 17-18 PSI on 93 octane. I need a boost controller, then its going to the dyno. I would love to know your setup. I'm looking to run 11's also, will just be on the street 95% of the time. Thanks in advance for your time.

 

[Amelio]

Thanks for the compliments guys......

My combo is pretty simple and nothing real fancy.

Stock 109 with a Girdle all ARP hardware.
Stock size forged aluminum pistons
stock heads ported and polished by Champion, bigger valves of course / studded
210/215 roller
stock intake ported by champion
62mmTB
#55 injectors
twin 340's in the tank (only use one at this boost level)
Old ass dinosaur TE-66
TH down pipe
ATR stainless steel headers
1 1/2 SLIC
TT chip
other small items scan master , PL , I have changed out my fuel lines....mostly due to rust problem

Trans is still the 200R4
all worked inside heavy clutches, bigger pump, bigger servo.etc....
3300 stall PTC

The car has some minor suspension work nothing big....that's about it.

The car is full weight working A/C all power....the only light weight item are the wheel which probably drop close to 200 pounds.

 

[Nascar83Fan]

Think it's safe to say, whoever put it all together did it right. What is a 1 1/2 SLIC, is that your way of saying a stretched stock location intercooler? What advantages did you see having a 210/215 cam over other options?

 

[Amelio]

Think it's safe to say, whoever put it all together did it right. What is a 1 1/2 SLIC, is that your way of saying a stretched stock location intercooler? What advantages did you see having a 210/215 cam over other options?

Thanks it was built and tuned by me.....Im still learning I don't think that ever stops!

Yes SLIC = 1 1/2 stock location intercooler

Prior to this roller cam I had a Reed 223/223 .504/.504 it was a straight pattern hydraulic flat tappet cam...it sounded freaking awesome! a lot of people swore it was a small block chevy...it had a very lopy idle and it made real good power. I never really got to make any good passes with that cam but I did have it on a dyno ( MD dyno )for some tuning. It made 430hp and 475tq @19psi and we never ran it over that since at the time my bottom end was stock. I had heard stories of stock bottom ends being done at 500FWHP.....

I did my calculations and figured if it was at 430rwhp then I was real close or at 500 at the flywheel so we stopped....

The next day it spun a bearing!

I pulled the engine apart and found it stretched a rod bolt.

I rebuilt the engine and the fresh build ate the cam during the break in period.......

rebuilt the engine again and the trans went.......I then went through many transmissions until I ended up swapping the case and it was good.....Got the car painted.....two weeks later the car got totaled.

I bought another car with no drive train...I bought my salvage back and swapped over the power train...several weeks after I swapped everything over it wiped a cam lobe.

I finally said Fu*k it and saved up for a roller which I have now.

With this engine build its basically the same engine just added the girdle and studs and changed the cam.....

I noticed a smoother power band and much harder pull up top over the flat tappet cam.

Sorry about the long rambling......I just started typing and couldn't stop lol!

Needless to say I have been to hell an back with Turbo Regals......oh and my first GN was all stock and lost it in a bad crash........both wrecks were complete destruction of the cars and due to people crossing line / falling asleep at the wheel.

 

[Nascar83Fan]

Those are some pretty good numbers you had on the stock bottom end. Any idea what you're making currently with your pump gas only setup? Seems like there'd been some type of HP and Torque gains with the cam you have in there now.

 

[Amelio]

Those are some pretty good numbers you had on the stock bottom end. Any idea what you're making currently with your pump gas only setup? Seems like there'd been some type of HP and Torque gains with the cam you have in there now.

I have not had the car back on the dyno with the new cam but going off the E.T and weight and the MPH and weight I get anywhere from 485-495hp

 

[Nascar83Fan]

It's a good thing you have the necessary items beefed up to handle it without breaking things for awhile, can only imagine the enjoyment you get out of the build and the safe tune. Hope it doesn't decide to break on you and you can just with normal upkeep get to continue to enjoy your TR.


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[Amelio]

It's a good thing you have the necessary items beefed up to handle it without breaking things for awhile, can only imagine the enjoyment you get out of the build and the safe tune. Hope it doesn't decide to break on you and you can just with normal upkeep get to continue to enjoy your TR.


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Thanks...its been good for a while.....3 years ago I popped a head gasket and that was an error on my part. I was having a fuel/supply and return problem causing weird symptoms and went lean.

After the head gasket I pulled the engine and cleaned it real good and tossed in fresh bearing and rings for good measure.....that's when I put the head studs in.

I have not had any may issue with it since...the meat and potatoes of the car has been rock solid!

I do have the occasional gremlin and I just fought one a few weeks ago...it threw me for a loop........the waste gate rod was moving within itself causing some really weirs problems. It took me a few months to find it.