302army187

Merry x-mas ya jerks!


So talking to a new friend I met at work. Just picked up a pretty cherry 2002 T/A WS6. 6 speed, 50k miles for $14,000

Talking to him, he wants full exhaust, with a cut out, intake, tune, and a cam.


what do you think this thing can run in the 1/4? trap?

He was not dead set on a agressive cam, even though I tried talking him into it. He plans on using me to install most of the mods, so I will be able to drive the car, but I more then likly will set up a race between us, just for giggles.

he asked me what do I think it could run (at sea level) and I said mid/low 12's with ok driving, and 11's if he can drive the wheels off.

thoughts?

I'll try to get pictures next time I see him. Its bright red, with only 2-3 door dings, and some light damage on the bumper that was patched up half decent. looks fine from 20ft away, but the paint over-all is pretty mint condition.

tspence45

A cam, bolt-ons, and tune should get him into the low 12's pretty easily, high 11's if he's a pretty good driver. Should be able to trap in the mid-high teens. Kind of depends on what cam he goes with, and how good the tune is.

Mishri

sounds nice.. those trans ams seem to be getting collectible with pontiac being gone..

89LX Coupe

I can see it going 11.8-11.9's at around 116-119 on a tire and a good driver being full weight being close to sea level.

Morbid Intentions

"a cam" is a great big wide open white lie that the GM boys like to make a blanket statement with


depends on the grind, he could go all out and spend money on a super aggressive grind that stalls out at idle and make well over 400WHP with full bolt on's... or he could have a torque rich low-mid RPM grind designed for the hole shot and only end up making 380ish WHP

it all depends on what he wants in a setup, not that I'm not telling you anything you don't know 302... I'm kind of ranting to be honest... all the GM boys use that "cam only" crap when it could be anywhere from low-mid 12's to mid 10's depending on the setup lol

302army187

haha, yea, I was joking around with him about that. he told me how a "full bolt on" car went in the deep 11's and a "cam only" can went high 11's.

I told him that "cam only" is a bull**** statement. cam only can mean full bolt ons, big stall, heads, intake, ETC ETC ETC and bitch runs high 10s so I told him not to be a douche can start that ****, or even listen to sand baggin' asshats that use that term, lol.

I figured I was right with my guess.

JT76

"Cam only" refers to the cam being the only internal modification, its an easy way to describe one's mods without making a list 2 miles long. It is a given that a "cam only" car is also going to have the supporting bolt ons.

With that being said, your friend sounds wishy washy about what kind of cam he wants and will no doubt listen to ls1tech forum propaganda. People equate drivibility to the size of the cam, this is simply not the case. It comes down to the TUNE and proper gearing. I have a couple friends with T-Rex and Vindicator cams and their cars are a joy to drive around town. On the flip side, a big cam is not needed to go fast either. It is all about the combo. I have beat heads/cam cars, big cam cars, bolt on- nitrous cars etc with my "mid range" side cam and the proper combination of bolt on parts.

Your friend should get a 23x/23x cam, supporting bolt ons (headers, y pipe, catback, lid, 3.73 or more pref 4.10 gear) He doesnt NEED an intake since 2002's come stock with an LS6 intake manifold.

Cutting anything respectable (with the right combo) in the 60 foot department will get him an 11 sec time slip. I have cut 2.0 60's and still run 12.0 @ 119ish with a full weight car on street wheels.

In my area out of the people i know, the slowest "cam only" car is a big cam car with stock gearing and a ***** behind the wheel that runs 12.5's. The fastest cam only car ran a best of 10.6 @128 (that was with a 3030 race weight, launching off the 2 step. But it has stock heads, stock internals, stock intake manifold, 238/242 cam, headers dumped, 4.56 gears) So cam only is a HUGE gray area. Avg is 11.5 - 12.2 i would say!

302army187

thanks for stepping in JT. I was looking for your mod list to tell him about, as your combo seems just right, as you walk a lot of cars that on paper you probably shouldn't.

I knew about the '02's have the LS6 intake, so i told him he shouldn't look past mods like the throttle body and a bigger maf, since he has the intake for it.

JT76

Here is my mods list for my old setup:

231/237 112lsa cam (got as a pkg from thunder racing came with hardened pushrods, comp valve springs etc)
pacesetter LT headers, catless Y pipe, borla catback
FAST 90/90 intake manifold
SLP lid
SLP ported oil pump
Spec stage 3 clutch
3.73 gears
Harris Speed Works 90mm nitrous kit

I only ran it at the 1/4th a few times and had a hard time getting it off the line, it would bog badly and i think some 4.10 gears would have helped immensely. Best N/A run was a 12.0 @ 120 with a 2.0 60 foot and best spray run was an 11.56 @ 128 on a 100 shot with a 1.9 60 foot. Done on 17inch vette wheels with BFG drag radials, full weight car ... as some of you know this car REALLY shined on the highway and took down some proven fast cars. I cant wait for my new setup

302army187

haha, yea, im itching to see where your car goes.


Im getting tighter on money, so im probably just going to build up a junkyard motor for now with my heads/cam and just use a bigger shot of nitrous.