a properly designed and built performance engine thats used as transportation occasionally and occasionally street driven, is,
going to be assembled from a slightly different set of components than a true race engine , that will be normally disassembled,
and carefully re-assembled after a race or at least every few months.
this does non necessitate a huge reduction in over all power, but it will generally result in,
an engine built with DURABILITY taking a higher priority, over getting the last potentially available peak rpm horse power ,
and the difference in performance potential is generally minimal if both engines are properly designed.
with current tech, and suspension and tires, performance can be significantly enhanced, without a huge power penalty , especially with added nitrous
example, my 1968 corvette, with a 13.7:1 compression 496 BBC,
ran a 10.25 second 1/4 mile time at 135 mph, but I drove it on the street regularly.
back in the mid 1970s that was respectable performance, but keep in mind Sunoco 260 was available as pump gas,
and the corvette tended to draw un-wanted attention with the way it looked.
my 1968 corvette with a big block 496, running SUNOCO 260 and crower injection, it looked vaguely like this picture,when I even tried alcohol for a short time,
mine was Burgundy and a chrome bumper corvette of course
that required a quick disconnect fuel cell, so I could quickly swap fuel tanks,
I had a 15 gallon fuel cell in the corvette, filed with METHANOL, and a quart of MMO, and a jury rigged 5 gallon fuel can, filled with 115 octane gas and a pint of MMO, we carried separately , too the track,
with the proper quick connect connectors to run the car from for a few minutes ,
before we parked it for any length of time to reduce the chances of corrosion.
no mater how fast your corvette, or any muscle car, may be,
if you can,t drive and enjoy it or use it occasionally,
you've lost a good deal of the cars potential and in my opinion value.
thats one reason I've stated several times,
that its generally more fun to run a 11-12 second street car,
you can drive daily, than a 9-10 second car you can,t drive except at the track.
Ive owned two cars that I could rather easily clock low eleven second ,
and for one, high ten second 1/4 mile time slips driving
I miss them a bit more than the low 10 second corvette , I built,
simply because I had far more pleasant memories , WHY, ... simple!
I spent far more time on both the street and track with the more street friendly cars.
both my 1965 tempest and 1969 camaro would run low 11 second times rather easily
my 1968 corvette was extensively modified, full roll cage, modified rear dana 60 differential
injectors sticking through the hood, (and more attention than I wanted)
here,s a picture of me in 1970 (49 years ago) with a 1969 camaro I installed a BBC-496 with a tunnel ram into, then later CROWER FUEL INJECTION
I found this picture on line,
its almost a clone too what my GTO/TEMPEST clone, I built with a killer BIG BLOCK CHEVY/MUNCIE 4 speed, dana 60 rear differential, drive train, looked like,
its the one car I REALLY MISS that I wish ID never sold
I had built a 1968 vette, in the mid/late 1970s with a full roll cage, a dana 60 rear and 4.11 rear gears and a m21, and a 13.7:1 cpr 496 bbc engine with crower injectors at the time.
MY 1968 corvette was dark maroon
and a chrome bumper 1968 corvette,
but it looked similar to this corvette with the crower injection sticking through the hood
I've built SBC,BBC,PONTIAC and DODGE/MOPAR, and even a few FORD engine engines for dozens of cars,
the guys that are happiest are , generally the guys that can jump in the cars they own and drive them on the street without any reliability issues
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...you-regret-selling-the-most.13116/#post-68384
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...-resulting-from-an-engine-swap.898/#post-1450
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...best-musclecar-related-memory.2075/#post-5545
http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/build-a-496-stroker-bbc.101/#post-15067
