Curious---What is adequate Daily Driver RWHP

[45thCAMARO 2SS/RS]

Originally Posted by fldrummer

What I did was take my tax return, paid off the remaining balance on the car loan (saving a little interest), paid for the supercharger kit and necessary installation and tuning with a credit card, transfer the balance to another card with 18 months/0 interest, and pay it down with what was my monthly car loan payment amount. 'Should be paid off (again) before next tax season. ... Then I can turn around and buy a new clutch (assuming mine lasts until then )

Sounds like a good idea but my tax return is no where near enough to pay off my car loan lol it will take at least 3-4 tax returns for me, but u did bring up a good point n use that money to lower my payments to have more money available

[Mike@RMCR]

I like cars in the 800 RWHP range. Makes for a very fun ride and I dont get bored with it.

[MikeOD]

My car has 500RWHP...and it's NOT enough for me...it hooks up surprisingly well...which takes away from some of the fun for me as it's actually still very easy to drive (if that makes sense)...that's also why the heads/cam LS3 is coming out this winter and going in a plastic bag in favor of the built engine and a LOT of boost...and hopefully a LOT more power.

Don't get me wrong...the car is quick (enough to impress most people that aren't car people)...but while it was fun a year and a half ago...I'm bored with it now.

[CamaroI]

Originally Posted by MikeOD

My car has 500RWHP...and it's NOT enough for me...it hooks up surprisingly well...which takes away from some of the fun for me as it's actually still very easy to drive (if that makes sense)...that's also why the heads/cam LS3 is coming out this winter and going in a plastic bag in favor of the built engine and a LOT of boost...and hopefully a LOT more power.

Don't get me wrong...the car is quick (enough to impress most people that aren't car people)...but while it was fun a year and a half ago...I'm bored with it now.

Wow 500 is good amount of power. I am sitting at 372 right now so 600 should keep me satisfied I would think. . I have been told anything over 700 have to start thinking other mods.

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[HarryNW]

but while it was fun a year and a half ago...I'm bored with it now

Age old story it seems. I am sure within 24 months I will be complaining that my new 650 is getting boring...

[CamaroI]

Originally Posted by HarryNW

Age old story it seems. I am sure within 24 months I will be complaining that my new 650 is getting boring...

I have never driven a car with 600 rwhp so hopefully keep me for awhile.

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[MikeOD]

Originally Posted by CamaroI

I have never driven a car with 600 rwhp so hopefully keep me for awhile.

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You've gotta remember these cars are heavy...and the OEM tires really sucked. Put a decent set of street tires on the car, and do some rear suspension work (solid subframe bushings, real control arms and bushings and whatnot) with a good alignment in it, and they hook up a surprising amount of power...I know a lot of people complain about IRS cars and big power over solid axle cars...and I've owned a lot of solid axle cars (heavier and lighter than this car) with less power that couldn't hook up the way this car does on the street...

To be honest, I don't think I'll even be happy with 750, but that's why I'm targeting 4 digits. I've got a bottom end that I hope is built to take it (my engine builder and I put a TON of effort/money into it) I just hope I can get there without making a mistake in the tune and blowing it up.

[Kelly@PCMofNC]

Originally Posted by CamaroI

My only holding point is thinking $12,000 to go from 380 hp to little over 600 hp. Arrrr decisions decisions...I get right there ready to pull the trigger, but then think I could out in new double din radio, carbon fiber some stuff and go that route.

What worries me if waiting on Super charging is putting more miles on the vehicle. I will never sell it but have been told not good to add on with higher mileage. What does higher mileage mean?? Is 18,000 to much or 30,000 to much to start thinking about conversion and SC

Is that true?

No absolutely not - that mileage is nothing to be worried about!! Only time I am worried about a car's mileage is if we baseline it on the dyno and it appears to be tired, and has low compression, etc...I'd think nothing about modding a car in the 18k-30k mileage range, that's just nicely broken in at that point.

My own car makes 700rwhp, I think it's great. Is it more power than I can really use on the street? Oh yeah, you have to be careful with it otherwise you'll get yourself hurt. But it's fun, and the car feels like a monster. I'd rather have more power than I can use than be bored with what it came with.

[simon.w]

Originally Posted by Ron_Robinson1

My wife practicaly cried once she saw the first 10k paypal exchange. Then two cam swaps, 3 sets of wheels, and a crap load of other wasted funds she got over it.

The guilt trips come and go

Hmmmm ... that sound familiar!

Trouble is ... they're OK with the first little things like the intake or shifter, because they go and buy themselves some shoes and justify it with "but you bought things for your car." It's too late now ... you've had your first hit and you're addicted.

Then comes the blower ... they grin and bare it ... a bit. Then you don't get the power you want ... so you get the tune ... then the full exhaust.

Then come the problems. Oil leak ... so you add catch cans. First the cheap ones you sneak through eBay ... but they don't work. So then you bite the bullet and go for a good one. Oh ... and a breather cap.

Then the surging starts ... so you try and resolve it yourself. Plugs, leads, more plugs, O2 sensors, MAF. Still not fixed.

So you throw more at a better tune with someone who knows what they're doing this time ... you find out you need injectors, then the fuel pump.

Then you think ... I'd better get a leak down test ... broken ringlands. Crap!

So you break the bad news to the wife. You can't tell her what it's REALLY going to be ... so you pluck a number out of thin air "$5k ... 7 tops".

Then the rebuild starts ... pistons, rings, rods, bolts + studs, cam, lifters, valve springs, push rods, timing set, heads, gaskets, plugs, labor. Better put in an HV oil pump for insurance. May as well pulley down ... so you'll need a 8 rib pulley kit. Will need a bigger fuel pump then ... may as well do the rear bushes while the subframe is out .. oh and you'll need a better clutch.

So the bills start rolling in ... $8k here, $7.5k there, another $1k over there, then another $1400 there ... and so on.

NOW you here the words "If you spend another cent on that F***** car, I'm divorcing you".

At which point you should be thinking ... No ... I can't lose my wife and kids" ... but instead the delusional voice in your head says "Don't let her do that ... she'll make you sell the car so she can get half."

We really are a sick bunch of a-holes aren't we

But it is SOOOO worth it man! DO IT ... One day you'll thank me from your bachelor pad with its impressive man cave!

[Boost6924]

Mine is at 1040RWHP with pump gas. My wife drives it to grocery store.

[Dave Coyle]

Looks like you said in the beginning.....you got many different opinions. I drive mine 50/50....50% easy driving and 50% of the time out is hard driving and track time. I am having traction issues at my RWHP so if I add more it would be usless unless I start dumping $$$ into the rear end set-up.

[E.T.]

I always knew I wanted a supercharger on this car. I didn't get too caught up with HP numbers. The blower went on and I'm at about 500 rwhp. It sees the track occasionally, but it's mainly just a street car. With drag radials, it'll run 11's. My best on the stock tires was 12.06. To be honest, even when it was stock, it really couldn't be driven to it's full potential on the streets. It was adequate then. It's more than adequate now, and the only time I can really get on it is freeway on-ramps and long stretches of road when no one is around. At this point, even with new, fatter tires, the car is still traction limited. There's really no point in more power that I can't put to the ground without more upgrades.

I'm sure 700 or 800 HP would be fun, but that's just absolutely ridiculous for the streets. I think it's more about bragging rights than anything else.

[Unreal]

I disagree. When I go out to play on the street the other cars are pushing 900-1100rwhp. A 500-700rwhp isn't even in the ballpark unless it weighs 2200lbs or less.

750rwhp is a good place for a 5th gen.

[E.T.]

Originally Posted by Unreal

I disagree. When I go out to play on the street the other cars are pushing 900-1100rwhp. A 500-700rwhp isn't even in the ballpark unless it weighs 2200lbs or less.

750rwhp is a good place for a 5th gen.

I don't see how you can legally play on the streets with 1000 HP. Are all these cars driving around on drag radials or slicks? I'd imagine getting all that power to the ground would be quite a challenge.

Speed limits aside, I imagine it would make for some fun times