Infiniti wants to race me...what do you think?

[sellersrodshop@]

the one thing that kind of makes this an apples vs. oranges comparison is gearing. the newer cars make thier speed not so much thru raw horsepower, but thru optimum trans & rear diff. gearing. personal opinion here, but i would look at doing a t-5 conversion first, then add some horsepower mods to the engine that will work well with the gearing change. the t-5 conversion alone will make the car faster, just by altering the gear ratios that the car travels thru during a run.

i also highly agree with rusty67, learn to drive the car properly. back 20 yrs ago when i was street racing & we all had fox bodies, i beat more people with faster cars in the first 60 ft. they would dump the clutch & smoke the tires, while i feathered out to about 2500 rpm & would be 5-6 carlengths ahead before they hooked up. practice makes perfect!!

 

[Vinyl66]

here is what he said his car cam do.
0 to 100 in 9.2 seconds.
100 to o in 6.3 seconds.
0 to 60 time 5.1 seconds.
280 HP at the wheels.

If these are the car's true numbers then it is not close to stock and you will lose the race.

But, I have seen some early Mustangs with similar builds as yours: stock heads, mild cam (maybe but do not know the specs) etc... run 15's at the track.
While others (my friend ga289stocker on here) has run 13.8's with a 289 with stock heads, 15 year old unknown cam, and 3.80 gears.

Driver makes a huge difference. As do tires. If I were you I would try to get some drag radials at a minimum and take it to the track to see what it does and go from there.

 

[Rusty67]

what's the trick for these small engines being able to rev that high? old 302 is dying at 5500 when nissan just wakes up. And nissan has also good low end power. Why it is difficult to make 302 rev that high (even late roller cam engines) and at the same time not sacrifice low end power? Another nice example - new M6 and GT500. Nearly same weight and engines (M6 has even smaller and not supercharged) but still leaves ford miles behind.

You can get 7200 rpm out of a 302 reliably. Its all about how it is built. Overhead cam motors just seems to be able to rev higher, I think its got something to do with less stress on the valve train. My friends Honda 2.0 motor revs to what.... I think 9500rpm ? Another reason is the lack of displacement. The smaller motors have less rotating mass to push around.

Who cares about RPM tho ? Those motors don't have any torque ! Torque is the real deal, not HP.

 

[Jimmys66]

What school are you and the teacher from? Northern or Central?

If you lose, and the teacher gives you crap......tell him you have a friend that will race him. I'll come over there and put some whoop ass on his ricer.


US131 doesn't open 'till May anyway. Practice your launches when the roads are dry and smoke that teacher on race day.

I've got a set of drag shocks here at the house I'll let you have cheap if you want them.

 

[Dugan]

What school are you and the teacher from? Northern or Central?

If you lose, and the teacher gives you crap......tell him you have a friend that will race him. I'll come over there and put some whoop ass on his ricer.


US131 doesn. Practice your laun't open 'till May anywayches when the roads are dry and smoke that teacher on race day.

I've got a set of drag shocks here at the house I'll let you have cheap if you want them.

I go to Central.
You're from pawpaw?
damn i guess this must be a small world.
and i'll have to think about that..drag shocks would be nice

 

[z28forlife]

The g35 coupes stock only put out around 240ish to the wheels and if he is totally stock then he should only be running the 1/4 from 13.8-14.5 depending on how good of a driver he is. If you get just some head work sticky tires and some gears you should be right there with him. Oh yeh, just learn how to drive your car and have fun because there will always be someone out there thats faster.

 

[Jimmys66]

I go to Central.
You're from pawpaw?
damn i guess this must be a small world.
and i'll have to think about that..drag shocks would be nice

I used to live off Sprinkle Rd but I moved back here 10 years ago. I graduated from Mattawan 20 years ago........

I used to have a "test and tune" area out by the plastic factorys.

When spring comes I'll have to come check out your ride. Do you know of any places out by you that do "cruise-ins"? I know Cruisers Pub used to have something going on on Fridays during the summer.

Anybody still cruise Westnedge?

 

[Hack]

Who cares about RPM tho ? Those motors don't have any torque ! Torque is the real deal, not HP.

Umm, sorry, but no. HP is the best measure of how fast a car will accelerate. Look at any quarter mile calculator. What does it ask for? It wants HP and weight of the car. That's because you can't calculate how fast a car will accelerate using torque.

The modern OHC engines have all sorts of tricks to function well at both low and high rpm, while an older pushrod engine (especially a carbureted one) typically loses some of the low end if you pump up the top.

To the original poster: if you want to win you should figure out how fast you can get your car to run first. Otherwise, just run him and find out. He may be bluffing, and it would be fun to beat him and say, "wow, I've never raced before and I haven't done anything to my 40 year old car! How much did you pay for that car?"

 

[Z06killinSBF]

My car with a 289, mild cam, semi-stock heads, C4, 2.80 gears would run 13.90's all day long. Figure that one out....

 

[57fairlane]

280 HP at the wheels.

I think its already been stated, but thats very likely at the flywheel . . . still 240 or so at the tires will probably get you.

I have a 67 mustang coupe, 4bbl 302 (from a 68) slightly built C4 tranny with shift kit, and B & M quick silver shifter, holley 600 cfm carb. Edelbrock performer rpm intake, 1 inch carb spacer, and the guy i bought it from says it has a mild cam in it..i don't know for sure though. and the gears in the rearend (9 in) are low. (i dont know how low, i suspect 4.11s or lower)

You have a great platform to start off with, however if the stock converter is still in there that would be what I change first.

I picked .3 in the 1/8 by going to a custom Edge converter over a TCI breakaway. The difference was night and day, especially on the street.

To add . . . The first time I went to the track, I ran a 9.40 at like 70 something. Over the course of two years, I eventually went 7.70s with the same carb, shortblock, headers, and intake.

in my opinion that is pushing the limits of a 302 if you want to to be easily streetable

I have the same size displacement, same intake, same trans and less gear and I went 7.7(5-8)s at 88mph.

I had windsor jr aluminum heads for $800 off ebay that I ported behind my friend's hummer shop. Camshaft Innovations hydraulic roller (218/231 @ .050") and a 670 street avenger.

It made right at 270rwhp with that setup.

So it can be done . . .

what's the trick for these small engines being able to rev that high?

Solid lifters, either ft or roller. Light valvetrain.

Why it is difficult to make 302 rev that high (even late roller cam engines)

Its not, its just expensive and takes time to setup.

If you have the money for solid lifters/titanium retainers and locks, the time to check installed height/seat and open pressure, pushrod length/geometry, break-in with inner spring removed, set lash etc . . . then go for it.

If you are running more than .750" lift or so and NOT running beehives, you have to stay on top of the spring rates periodically as well as set lash once a month depending on how often you drive it.

\and at the same time not sacrifice low end power?

technology.

windsors never came with variable valve camshafts.

 

[Dugan]

I used to live off Sprinkle Rd but I moved back here 10 years ago. I graduated from Mattawan 20 years ago........

I used to have a "test and tune" area out by the plastic factorys.

When spring comes I'll have to come check out your ride. Do you know of any places out by you that do "cruise-ins"? I know Cruisers Pub used to have something going on on Fridays during the summer.

Anybody still cruise Westnedge?

Yeah I don't know of any places that do cruise-ins. And from what I hear Cruisers isn't going to be doing that this summer but I don't know for sure.
As far as if anyone still "cruises" Westnedge yes and no. It is more or less people with tuners that think they are cool, and more times than not they will all just pull into an empty parking lot, pop there hoods and stand there.

I just want to see the look on his face IF I somehow beat him.
I'm thinking it will be something like this.

 

[66forfun]

I would say give it a go! try to find some DR's to even the score (his new susp/tires) and maybe try him in the 1/8th. I think he would run you down in the 1/4.

if he was around here he could get a good run out of me with the pocket rocket (04' srt-4) imagine that, another car over $30g getting beat up on by "the neon" sorry but that thing is just a blast as a daily driver.

or the 347/aod 66' could wax him easily if he is stock...

 

[Dugan]

I think I should learn how to launch correctly, in the past I have always either gone to soft, or to hard and spun the tires.

 

[golf4283]

My suggestion to you is that if someone wants to race you just laugh at him and tell him to grow up. You might call me a wuss but give me a break, just enjoy your own car and if you're lined up next to him on the strip then by all means take him out.

 

[Dugan]

My suggestion to you is that if someone wants to race you just laugh at him and tell him to grow up. You might call me a wuss but give me a break, just enjoy your own car and if you're lined up next to him on the strip then by all means take him out.

that is usually my approach.. there is a kid at my school with a 02 toyota cellica and he wanted to race me, and said that my car didn't stand a chance against him. I laughed and that was the end of it.
but I don't know there is just something about this guy, I need to race him.

 

[Dugan]

The g35 coupes stock only put out around 240ish to the wheels and if he is totally stock then he should only be running the 1/4 from 13.8-14.5 depending on how good of a driver he is. If you get just some head work sticky tires and some gears you should be right there with him. Oh yeh, just learn how to drive your car and have fun because there will always be someone out there thats faster.

He still claims that it is 280RWHP

Do you have any suggestions on tires?
I am in need of new ones anyway mine are completley bald
I want something that will give me good traction at the track, but also be able to drive in normal street conditions-including rain.

 

[jabb]

Not tryin to hijack just had a little though/question regarding the discussions of reving small blocks up high. Does anybody know of a good 302 intake that keeps a nice bottom end (eps torque, mmmm torque) but still breathes and makes power up to 7k or so? My engine won't go near those revs now, but I'm hoping to get there in a year or so and would rather not buy 2 intakes.

As for impressions of the matchup you mentioned, I've driven a 350z which from what I understand is very similar to the G35 performance wise and that thing did haul some balls but needed to get the revs up before it really got going. My 67 V8 on the other hand hits you like a hammer from right off idle

 

[mrmustangman357]

nitto 555r drag radials are the best for street and strip, and handle the rain fairly well too

 

[myitalian]

thats was really awesome . . . well guys if they wanna race then just give them a chance . . .

 

[Hack]

Not tryin to hijack just had a little though/question regarding the discussions of reving small blocks up high. Does anybody know of a good 302 intake that keeps a nice bottom end (eps torque, mmmm torque) but still breathes and makes power up to 7k or so? My engine won't go near those revs now, but I'm hoping to get there in a year or so and would rather not buy 2 intakes.

Anything that works great at 7k rpm is going to be a little compromised right off idle. Ideally you want nice long runners at lower rpm to get that "ram air" effect from the resonant frequency of the air in the intake. Then you want short runners at higher rpms... and you need port fuel injection so that the fuel/air mix doesn't become separated in the runners.

But for a carb you have to settle for keeping the size of the ports as small as possible while flowing what you need at max rpm. And the intake won't do much for you if your heads won't support it. The best thing you can do is get a nice set of aluminum heads and stroke the engine to 347 if you want great torque and strong power at higher rpms. Then rather than going to 7k, go to 6k rpms. Aluminum will support higher compression on pump gas, which helps to not losing the low end when pumping up the top.