Hey everyone, I have a l-98 car with a t-56 backing it up. Its mostly stock, headers 3" exhaust, K&N clamp on, digital ignition,3.42's etc. My tpi runs out of breath right about 5,000 and I am thinking about the LT-1 swap but worried about the loss of torque and shifting my powerband up too high.
Right now my car runs 14.0-13.9 without much traction and i feel the intake is holding me back. Also am looking for a zz-4 cam to go with it. Ideas? personal experiences?

 

Just one thing, I run 12.7@104 with my fast MPH being 107 through a stock intake. I know I'm not the only one going this fast or faster with the stock LTR TPI set up. Spend your cash on the cam and a good set of tires for the track, if you have the $$$$ left after that go for the swap.

 

ditto. the ltr gets alot of crap for running out of breath, but massive amounts of power can be created withing the ltr's band!

 

You're running 12s because you have a 100 shot of nitrous. Nitrous fits through the runners just fine, so they don't pose a restriction like they do on a n/a car. I'm certainly not trying to be critical of your times, because they are impressive no matter what... I just want to point out that when you get Nitrous involved, the runners/intake aren't as important, especially on a motor that isn't restricted by them without the nitrous. If he decides to stay naturally aspirated, he is going to find that the stock intake is much more of a restriction than in your situation.

 

It's true if you keep your cars power within the TPI's rpm range then it will be fed enough. But at some point you have to rev the engine past the TPI's maximum comfort zone and you will lose power. So it is important to remove that restriction.

I agree though that cam and tires should be first. ET's can be reduced by a fair amount off traction mods alone.

 

It is not a matter of revs it is a matter of air flow. A 427 small block will top out much lower in the RPM range than a 327 sb with the same set up just because it is sucking more air in each revolution.

 

A well ported siamesed runner TPI setup will flow upto 5,500 rpms before it starts to fall on it's face. I pull mine to 6 with ease without feeling a drop, but I usually shift at 5,500. I'm figuring my intake flows max 245 cfm or so.

An LT-1 intake and a Holley Stealth-ram both flow even more than that!

 

Haven't heard me complain about a loss of torque with my lt1

 

Ditto