Eagle85C4 said:
I am surprised at some of the reply's here. For me, I would rather find things that would make my car run better and go farther on a tank of gas, then to waste it in a testosterone shootout with a "ricer". ? I prefer the old adage...better to keep your mouth shut and let folks think you are a fool then open it and remove all doubt.
Street racing is dangerous and illegal. It is like gambling. Everybody gambles in one form or another, but not everybody will actually hit the slots at Las Vegas as they have some degree of moral or ethical issues with a casino. That same person may play the lottery, or take a chance on not buying life insurance which is also a form of gambling, just not illegal. Heck, you might have even exceeded the speed limit once or twice over the years.
No doubt I have turned down way more street races than I have ever taken on. I have to tell you though, some of the best times I have had behind the wheel have been those unplanned, unpredictable moments of pulling up to a redlight wheel to wheel with some other performance car, or better yet, a driver that thinks he has a performance car and squaring off when the light goes green. It is like the old west days with a shoot out at high noon, and baby, there is a new sheriff in town! (at least when I get the big block 69 on the road!)
To be 100% honest with you, I will not challenge a car that I know has the capacity to rub my nose in the dirt. Who wants to do that? In fact, I rarely challenge anybody, trouble usually follows me, and I can't resist a good race when all the other elements are in line.
Now, we have a group of hot rodders here with some seriously cool old detroit muscle. On Saturday nights they meet at the Steak & Shake and wait till midnight. Then they cruise to a specific spot and illegal street race as long as they can until the police show up. I do not participate in this, and we clear out and go home when this crowd shows up. They square off, ricer vs. camaro and go at it all night long. Come Monday, the local speed shops and economy get the benefit of these challenges as everybody goes looking for that extra edge, more NOS, or whatever they need to be the fastest the following Saturday.
I will share something very interesting with you. I have been handling automobile accidents in my professional career for almost ten years now. In those ten years I have seen thousands of car crashes, and cleaned up the mess they leave behind. Of the thousands I have handled, not ONE has been the result of street racing. I handle fatalities, serious injury, and law suits, and or any situation where somebody complains of injury. That is of course what concerns you...right? I would say based upon my personal statistics that this is not as serious an issue as the many a moment you have each time you are on the highway and glance down to dial your radio station, talk on the cell phone, or pick something up off the floor and BAM, you just crashed into somebody.
I realize many folks own vettes simply because they like the way they look, sound, and feel. Eagle84C4, you are not the first person like that I have met. That is cool. I would love to be the second owner of a car you have owned, because you are the kind of fellow that won't squeeze all the life out of it first. We all have different interest in the hobby, I would just appreciate you not calling me a fool on this open forum because we don't see eye to eye on all issues of our sport. You are more than welcome to think it all you want, but I suggest you follow you own advice and keep those things to yourself so that others don't form the same opinions about you.
Now, back on topic! I agree TPIS has some great mods, but I don't see a consistant use of those in the masses. The G.M. crate motors are great, but won't run worth poop unless they have the correct fuel/spark delivery. That is where people mess up and end up with a ZZ crate motor that does not put 200 hsp on the ground.
For me, the miniram is the best thing I have seen available to do to the L98. On LT1 engines, better gears and reprogramed E-prom seem to do the trick. However, these are not extreme mods, and don't see extreme results. There has to be a better way/combo with less guess work. The imports are only going to get faster as we see here from some of the replys. That more or less means that our cars are basically getting slower without even trying (except the ZR1 and Callaway).
you have to admit, it is a good car movie that gets your adrenaline pumping.
