Hey i was kinda curious about something a friend of mine bought a Honda Del Sol few months ago gutted it out and pulled everything out (including engine compartment.) I am not sure if he is doing an engine swap on it but he did mention he is gonna turbo charge it. I know even with a turbo its a longshot to beat my car especially by the time next year when his car is finished I will have full headers and new full exhaust along with 4:10 gears and a CAI. He keeps saying there is no way his car is gonna lose and i wll be trying to catch him. He isnt rich what the heck will he have to do to that thing to beat my ls1? assume he is pushin the most "powerful engine" that a del sol has. Oh and all he says is "The replacement for displacement is power:weight" which pisses me off so any good come backs besides the usual ricer burn?

 

Update I just found out he is putting in JDM B16a block with B16a2 head along with a gsr transmission.

 

Well, stock for stock you've got more than twice as much horsepower, and he weighs about a thousand pounds less.

With the mods you're planning, all I've got to say is power to weight only goes so far; he'd better have something big planned.

Edit: Still, why take chances. Get an LS9

 

he uh, could put and LS1 in the del sol?

 

Haha dont get me wrong Im not to worried about his Del Sol. I know that Weight to Power ratio is important but heck do u not need power in the first place? what do i need to worry bout nitrous?

 

Given time, and money, the Del Sol could be a pretty quick little car -- low thirteens maybe unless he spends real $$$ and makes it pretty extreme, in which case enough $$ would make it seriously fast (money can do anything). But you say he does not have lots of money, and he certainly has not had the time to completely sort out his car -- in my experience it takes about 8 months to fully sort out each 1x of power increase -- double the HP with a turbo and it will be eight months before you get it set up and all working coherently.

I'd be confident enough to bet serious money on his not being able to break into the 13s initially - the car won't be tuned perfectly and set up well nor will he have had practice with it. To make sure, I'd rag him constantly about "when are you going to run me?" etc., and push him to complete it and race as soon as possible -- he'll cut corners and push to get it running, just to race you, and you can kill him then.

Apologies if this seems cold , but 45 years of street and challenge racing has taught me you need a fast car, but you stack the deck, so to speak, with psychology.

 

I know that any of those civic type cars can be fast if your pour enough money into it. Im kinda insulted now though he said that with 4:10 gears i will beat him to 35 mph and then my car will be as fast as a diesel school bus. haha what a crazy thought huh? is there anything else i should be worried about when we get down to the race? i mean off the top of my head turbo and nitrous are the only chances he has.

 

I'd make sure I knew how to launch well - practiced alot. You have gobs of torque stock, and with your gears and mods, even with really good tires, you could just burn for a second before you hook - probably still catch him before the end of a quarter mile, but you'd have to work at it and it is embarrassing. He's got about the best combination in the world for traction, so the launch won't be his problem. I think you'll kill him pretty convincingly. Would not be surprised if he starts having excuses not to race you for a will -- his left thropet value is misbehaving, etc., seen that before, too.

 

if he turbos b16..if its a mild build prolly around 350-400whp..but yeah..a gutted del sol is gonna weigh like 1800lbs compared to the camaros 3000+lb

 

If anything, he might pull out a little bit on the launch because you may struggle for traction, just depends how you launch. But up top, as his car sits now you will walk him no problem. The LS1 pulls hard the 2nd half of the 1/4 mile, regardless of your 4.10 gears.