A sure sign your car's got too much HP on the take-off

[Swagerman]

Doggone it, get me out of here.

Jim

[Explorer1]

Comical, but that is NO such thing as TOO MUCH HP! Hard to drive on the street, maybe. Driver can't handle it, common. But bigger is better, just like cast bullets!

[redneckdan]

i 2nd that. 300hp is where life just starts to get fun. Speaking of which, anyone ever see a LT1 in a mazda RX-7?

[Old Ironsights]

No. But how about a 1350hp turbine in a street-legal VW?





http://www.ronpatrickstuff.com/

http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/06/j...to-the-street/

http://www.ourlighterside.com/stuff/engineer/

[Boz330]

Use to think that way myself!!!!!!!! Right up to when an Ohio state Trooper caught me doing 150MPH down I-71. Took him 13 miles to catch me, but in my defence I didn't know he was back there since I couldn't see his lights that far back. Can we say do not pass go, do not collect $200, go straight to jail. The judge didn't see the humor in it either and took my license for 6 months. But as it turned out I didn't need it anyway since Uncle Sugar sent me one of those "Your friends and neighbors have selected you for Military service" letters. That was back in the days of real muscle cars. Got a little smarter with old age, a blown tire at that speed could have been kind of ugly.

Bob

[redneckdan]

Right up to when an Ohio state Trooper caught me doing 150MPH down I-71.

Bob

okay, ya gotta spill it, what were ya driving?

No. But how about a 1350hp turbine in a street-legal VW?

ya, that slurp sound was the turbine sucking yer big gulp right out of the cup holder.

[felix]

Dan, keep in mind some of us on this board are torque freaks, as opposed to horsepower wimps. ... felix

[Boz330]

1965 Plymouth Satelite 383 CI. Back in those days the engines were underated and the HP on this was listed at 330. It would smoke the tires going into 4th gear at a 105 Mph. Would have gotten the 426 but I couln't convince the old man to co-sign on that one. He thought that the modest HP of the 383 was a better compromise.

Bob

[redneckdan]

Dan, keep in mind some of us on this board are torque freaks, as opposed to horsepower wimps. ... felix

true, horsepower is a measure of the rate at which the torque is produced. The best engine tunability and performance is attained when the horsepower and torque curves are closely matched, other wise the engine is too "peaky".

[redneckdan]

1965 Plymouth Satelite 383 CI. Back in those days the engines were underated and the HP on this was listed at 330. It would smoke the tires going into 4th gear at a 105 Mph. Would have gotten the 426 but I couln't convince the old man to co-sign on that one. He thought that the modest HP of the 383 was a better compromise.

Bob

nice. If I had asked my dad to sign on a car like that with me he would have just laughed. He also gave me a stern warning when I got my licence that his 1978 f-250 was not to mysteriously show up at the old airstrip on a saturday drag. Seeing how it has a 351W. 6.05:1 first gear, 5.13 gears and 33" tires and weights about 6000lbs, I might have beat somebody for the first 10" or so....maybe....

[Pilgrim]

I put an oversized exhaust system (5"), chip, & chip controller in my '02 Chev Turbo diesel (6 speed stick). I don't have a wide enough rpm range between idle & redline to actually use it, but it shore is fun. Kinda like a passing gear w/o shifting at 70 mph or so. Supposedly the hp/torque was boosted from 300/525 (factory) to 425/900 +. It didn't affect the mileage (23 mpg @~65 mph cruise, 20-21mpg @ 70 mph, town sucks @~13 mpg or so). I don't think I'm gonna get rid of this truck any time soon. Pilgrim

[35remington]

My brother has the resized exhaust all the way back, low stall speed torque converter, injectors, chip and adjustable controller that goes from "1" to "9" on his automatic Cummins 24V turbo diesel Dodge. Also had the automatic transmission beefed up and went with a bigger turbo.

I asked him what "9" was good for on the controller. He said 640 HP and 1350 lb/ft. Of course, even his rebuilt tranny can't hold up to that level. No available transmission on any of the various brands of diesel pickups will, though, either. On the highway, at 55 mph, when you nail the throttle it will NOT downshift. No need to. Goes like hell.

Launches from a dead stop like you repealed the laws of inertia.

Diesels in pickups are a lot better than they used to be. Even the stock ones are impressive.

[Boz330]

Dan,
If my dad had known just how awsum that thing was he would never have
co-signed either. The funny thing was the day I picked it up, he pulled out of the subdivision into pretty heavy traffic and stomped on the gas. That positraction rearend got to breaking loose one tire and then the other. Damned near swapped ends. He had never driven anything with that much power before. Of course at that point it was to late to take it back.
We used to go to a closed up dragstrip to race, most of the time.

Bob

[Trapshooter]

If you want lots of horsepower and torque, how about ....

http://www.blastolene.com/Blastolene_Cars.htm

Dave

[C1PNR]

Interesting timing on this thread. My Brother and I were talking over the weekend about what items I "need" and what "would be neat to get" to put on my 2004 Dodge PU with the Cummins engine.

Man, a guy can get into a LOT of money pumping up the HP and Torque of them things! We're not sure what yet, but I'm guessing by Summer I'll have a little better performance.

Unfortunately my dead Hard Drive recovery process is eating up the discretionary funds, so the PU will have to wait.

[Boz330]

That brings up a point that I was considering. I have an F-250 with the 7.3L. Has anyone ever tried the LP kits for more power and mileage? I work with LP powerd equipment and have access to somewhat cheaper LP and the kit looks like a pretty easy installation. I'm really interested in the mileage more than power since this thing already has plenty of power for what I use it for. I don't want to do any damage to the engine which I think is a problem with nitrous in gas engines.

Bob

[KYCaster]

Bob, My former BIL was an LP distributor. He ran all his company vehicles on LP. The only issue he ever mentioned was cold weather starting. IIRC, below ~35F you have to start with gas then switch to LP then remember to switch back to gas before shutting down so the system is purged of LP for the next start.

You also have to consider the location of the tank. If you don't mind losing cargo space....no problem, otherwise I think fuel tanks are required to be inside the frame rails. I'm sure the cos. that supply the kits have worked out all the details.

Seems like the cost per mile at retail prices was about the same as gas.

Jerry

BTW....What's the status of Christa and Frank's biodiesel project? I haven't heard anything about that lately.

[Boz330]

[

BTW....What's the status of Christa and Frank's biodiesel project? I haven't heard anything about that lately.[/QUOTE]

Jerry, haven't heard anything on that either.
I wouldn't mind springing for a couple 100 or 200 gal tanks to do the process at the farm if I could get Frank to show me the process and of course supply the used cooking oil. I could deal with 70 cent per gallon diesil for the tractor as well as the truck. Nothing better than beating the guvment out of there cut. And it is enviromentally friendly. Don't want to upset the ecomaniacs.

The LP kit doesn't replace diesil, it is like a nitro kit on a gas engine. It injects LP into the intake and is supposed to improve the mileage and power.

Bob

[carpetman]

I had one vehicle that would run on propane. Big drop in performance. Propane doesnt produce the BTU's of gasoline. Big drop in mileage. Using the propane was an expensive joke. Cost a lot more and you got less.