Nova Vs Ws6 Trans Am

Hi guys. For any of you that might not know, I own both the 71 Nova and the 00 Ws6 trans am in my signature, and I race them with one another with me driving the Nova and usually my father driving the Ws6. I usually dont post the stories becuase we race so often, but I decided to post this one because It goes back to one of the other threads. I believe it was on this forum that the information was posted about deciding the correct gear for your car, how not wanting it to high or too low. Well as of about a week ago I ran 4.56 gears in my Nova and I wasnt able to take advantage of alot of the things the car possessed. I use to always beat the Trans AM to about 115-120 MPH, but after that the TA would always catch up and fly past, naturally. Well last week I switched to 3.55 gears and it was a huge change for the better. The first race with the new gears had me running about a carlength infront of the TA, and it stayed that way until we both shut off at around 125 MPH, but the second race was a different story. With the 4.56 gears I had never really been able to take advantage of the 3500 stall. I would only be able to stall it up to around 1200, which isnt really much more then idle, and anything more then that would spin the tires off off the line. With the 355 gears I was able to stall the car up to around 28-3100 and was able to keep decent traction. With that being said, this is how the race went.

Where I live there is a bridge that is perfect for racing. It has stoplights at each end, is excatly 2 miles long, and is 4 lanes with a center divider (two lanes one direction, 2 lanes in the other direction) with no emergency lanes. This is great because there physically can not be cops on the bridge without seriously halting the traffic flow. So I, wanting to try my new gears out, had my father follow me to the bridge in the Ws6. We lined up at the light to get onto the bridge. Me, being use to the other gear, only stalled it up to around 1200. When the light went green we both left out, and the TA jumped out to around a 3/4 length car lead. After we both hit second gear (both autos) the Nova started pulling really hard up to about a car length lead. Thats where it stayed when the race was over (to my huge surprise). At the halfway point of the bridge we both shut it off and gave ourselves plenty of time to slow down. I was pretty happy with my Novas new found top end speed, as I coulda tached the motor another 1500 or so safely. Well we went to the end and turned around and caught the light on the other side. We lined them up again, but this time I stalled the car up to around 3k. When the light went green, my Nova didnt spin at all but hooked from hell. When we were both through our 1st gears my nova had around a 2 car length lead, and as the race progressed the lead stretched to a little more the 3 carlengths. We both shut off at around the midway point on the bridge once again, but with the new gears the car hadn't tached out by that midpoint as it had done in previous races.
I realize that was a long story just to make a short point, but I hope some of you enjoy it. As for the cars in my Sig. The 69 Vette is the fastest with a 454 bored to a 461 and a small shot or spray, The 71 Nova is a close second with a 385 stroker motor, and the 00 WS6 is 3rd.
Welp I guess thats all.

Rob

more specs on the nova?
i'm curious as to what you've got done to the trans, suspension, etc...
what kind of stall convertor is it?
(not doubt, but curious, my best friend has a 73 running 11's and lower...)

Na man. I welcome questions. As far as suspension I use qa1 products on the front. I chose them because they are the best for the money, and you can use them in your stock coil/shock locations without making any modifications to accomodate. On the back I use lakewood 50/50 drag shocks along with a set of lakewood traction bars, and eompetetion engineering frame connectors. As far as the transmission, it is a lockup turbo 350 with a hayden trans cooler. It also has a b&m transpak shift improver kit(only kit fitting lock up turbo 350s i found)It was recently rebuilt by a local transmission shop, but I honestly dont know what all went into the rebuild.. I look it up if your seriously that interested in it.. The torque/stall is b&m hole shot converter. Its near impossible to find a converter for a Lock UP turbo 350, so when I did I scopped it up quickly.
Rob

nice...
stock leaf springs in the rear? (my friend replaced his, and it made a HUGE difference in the handling of the car down the track, straight as an arrow...)

I will seriously have to take that into consideration. Before I got very big into the go fast stuff (about 2 years ago) I had replaced the leaf springs with brand new ones. I didnt want to replace them again so quickly, but you are not the first person that has made this point to me, I will have to more carefully take it into consideration. Thanks again.

Rob

yeah, he had stock (?) springs in it, they were older, and he'd squat hard to the right when he got on it.
he'd have to work the wheel alot to keep it straight down the line...

his car has a built 350 in it, edelbrock heads/IM/carb, long tube headers, turbo 350, ati 3400 stall, and i think it's got 390's in the rear, not 100%
it's got drag shocks in it, with lakewood bars...
with 8.5:1 compression, it ran 11.8's
that's with new shocks, new springs in the rear, and new set of slicks and skinnies...
without the nitrous, he hit 12.3
(motor makes approx 400hp, w/o nitrous)

so i think the springs would help if you're getting any sort of squat...

Good runs. I wish my pops was into racing. He's more into style then performance, so he bought a Lexus. I doubt my EVO would have trouble with it (it's an RX300).

dang, sounds sweet. i want a sound clip!

The 69 Vette is the fastest with a 454 bored to a 461 and a small shot or spray, The 71 Nova is a close second with a 385 stroker motor, and the 00 WS6 is 3rd.

Nice little fleet! :naughty:

You know you have cool cars when your slowest is a WS6 :smokin:

You know you have cool cars when your slowest is a WS6 :smokin:
:werd:

i almost beat a 00 trans am ram air. those things are real fast though

in what car?

in the 96 kia sephia he claims to own... ;)

i almost beat a 00 trans am ram air. those things are real fast thoughWell you were in a kia, A geo metro is fast compared to your car :grinno: :lol: j/k

i almost beat a 00 trans am ram air. those things are real fast though


Out of the parking lot dosnt count :slap: