bang for the buck

just wondering, im an aspiring camaro owner, long story but hopefully ill get it soon.

ok so i was just wondering what some peoples opinon was on how to get the best bang for the buck in performance on a camaro, specifically a 3rd gen or just over all. what specifcally can give the biggest jump in hp from a stock camaro. and how affordable are they?

ok, nitrous oxide is the best bang for the buck, strictly from a monetary stand point. you get the largest horsepower gain for the least amount of money. however, not only do a lot of respectable people on this forum, and on the street, look down on nitrous, it can tear up your engine if you arent careful. i think that if you are looking for performance, save your money and do some good performance tuning and you will prolly get more out of it in the end...

o i agree i wanst even thinking about nitrous. i mean somthing like extra or modifyed hardware, things in that area, staying away from the whole ricer thing as much as possible. or maybe a computer, i dont know a whole lot about car computers or chips n all that stuff. i see people usin em on 4x4 trucks alot.

i wana learn about the good mechanic stuff. how to make a hp mosnter that is more reliable than a 3 year import.

get a first gen ;)

why?

Get a first gen and put new guts in it. I'm putting LT1 in a 69 but i'd suggest LS1 if finances allow. LS1/T56 + Light 69 camaro (lighter than 4th gen anyway) + Minor mods = bad ass fast car that is reliable and gets awesome gas mileage.

Guy i've been talking to built a 69 with a LS1magna charged and hes run in the 11s so far with problems with 3rd gear (and at 122mph!!) Doesn't get too much better than that.

William

get one cause i have one and im cool..ask anyone here :) then you would be cool too! lol nah..get what you want. its all about your certain preference. take it from me tho. first gens are not cheap to work on.

just wondering, im an aspiring camaro owner, long story but hopefully ill get it soon.

ok so i was just wondering what some peoples opinon was on how to get the best bang for the buck in performance on a camaro, specifically a 3rd gen or just over all. what specifcally can give the biggest jump in hp from a stock camaro. and how affordable are they?

I'd say the biggest bang for ya buck would be rear-end gears. Price+Install=~What a good nitrous kit costs.
Gears don't and HP but they drop ET's and doesn't have the added cost of filling up a 10lb bottle= $40 a whack.

get one cause i have one and im cool..ask anyone here :) then you would be cool too! lol nah..get what you want. its all about your certain preference. take it from me tho. first gens are not cheap to work on.

who are you again?

get one cause i have one and im cool..ask anyone here :) then you would be cool too! lol nah..get what you want. its all about your certain preference. take it from me tho. first gens are not cheap to work on.

lol although im tempted to go get one just to be in the cool crowd but uh lol
im not bashing your opinon but what are some REASONS that i should get a first gen.

Get a first gen and put new guts in it. I'm putting LT1 in a 69 but i'd suggest LS1 if finances allow. LS1/T56 + Light 69 camaro (lighter than 4th gen anyway) + Minor mods = bad ass fast car that is reliable and gets awesome gas mileage.

Guy i've been talking to built a 69 with a LS1magna charged and hes run in the 11s so far with problems with 3rd gear (and at 122mph!!) Doesn't get too much better than that.

William


do you know any price estimates? im not worried about a budget just wondering what good quality would cost, besides alot lol

third gen camaros right now are the best price for the bargan they provide. thats just my opinion. when talking about performance mods you have to decide where youre starting from. If you buy a V6 the best mod would be to put a V8 in it :) if you start with a 305 or a 350 then probly your biggest improovement is going to be an aftermarket cam. If you have a 350, then a pair of vortec heads (062 castings) and a SDPC vortec/tpi base plate. if you get the heads at the junkyard, and the baseplate from SDPC, youll spend less than 400 bucks and get 45hp (est) and thats on the stock cam, exhaust, and PROM programming. If you were to get the cam, exhaust system, and reprogram your computer your gains would increase substantially. of course suspesion upgrades also improove ET's and end MPH speeds as well as increasing handling. and the drivetrain would also need to be addressed. build the engine up, match the trans to the engine, and get gears to compliment the engine and trans combo.

the answer is there is no magic bolt on, and if you really want results you have to do some planning, decide what you want in the end, and make your modifications to attain that end. thats where your biggest gains will show.

wow thank you that was the best answer i could have asked for. something i get really confused on tho is suspension, just because its somrthing that i cant see, im a very visual person. how is a stock suspension setup, and what changes when you upgrade it, say to handle more hp and speed.

the stock suspention is setup as such..

front suspention - macpherson strut setup. with a lower A arm, shock absorber, and spring, with the A arms joined by a anti-roll bar.

Rear suspention - Live axle, with torque arm, panhard bar, spring and shock absorber setup.

The typical mods to camaros regard the weak unibody design of the cars (which will be gone in the next gen camaro YAY!!!!) this is basicly described as a body divided into two parts, cut in half at the firewall. this design makes a car made of two parts that bend and flex, especially with T-tops. one of the best things you can do, especially if you are building a big power engine, is to put in subframe connectors, and even a four or six point rollcage. the subframe connectors tie the two parts of the car together, and the roll cage, aside from making the car safer, also make it more ridged. in addition to that there are steering braces, strut tower braces, larger anti roll bars, and tubular front suspention components, such as the K member, and A arms. all these increase the ridgidy of the car making it more effective in planting power to the rear wheels rather than twisting the car in half, and they increase handling responce.

in the rear, they sell tubular torque arms, adjustable panhard bars, lower control arms, and polyurithane bushings. all these make more power go from the rear wheels to the pavement more effectively limiting wheel spin and wheel hop that cost money (in tires) and loose time on the clock.

last but not least that i can think of, is shocks and springs, as far as breaking those down, there are wayyyyyy to many options to list here, but suffice it to say that they can improove ride, or handling, some can do both, some are adjustable, some lower ride height, some dont, but they are supposed to make the car do something better than stock.

they are supposed to make the car do something better than stock.

lol i would hope so. what are your prefences on supension setup? not brands but actual materials, and what benifits do they give?

i too know little about performance and used to not even know how all parts of an engine works togather but just do what i did and do all the research u can although nothin can substitute for hands on i learned alot from hangin around this forum and just askin questions if i didnt know everyone here is real helpful and most remember they too had to start somewhere. i also bought two books from summit one was i think called how to build a max performance small block chevy on a budget and the other was how to rebuild a small block chevy these two books also helped tremendosly in understanding how all the pieces work togather and how improving just one thing effects others

by materials what do you mean? like aluminum vs steel?

I think he means like... alum vs steel also liek polyurethane vs standard bushing, etc

i just want to know what the majorty preference is for camaro owners in suspenion parts. including the materials, but what are the pros and cons of diff materials and parts

steel is cheaper, but chrome moly is a lot stronger...

Why the hell would you need chrome moly for something beside a race car. Unless your pushing insane amounts of power I dont see the need to spend all that extra cash on it.

Suspension doesn't give you more HP though , just better handling and stability. It may free up some Hp that is being eaten up by stock suspension weight but it won't increase it's load.

Get some drop springs , a aluminum autozone spoiler that looks like a mach 3 razor and put some stickers all over it. That will give you shit loads of power..Just ask all those who drive inparts. ( imports.)

Depending on what year of car your thinking of getting, for the most part the irocs came with a very good for stock suspension. Theres a few things that help like lowering and bushings but if it has a good suspension on it already I would probably hit the drivetrain up for some work.