Yeah, he runs 11.0's.... Naturally Aspirated!

[Fox Body]

Just wondering.

Why is it that a friend of mine comes up to me and tells, me, "I know a guy with a Mustang that runs 11.0, [and here's the supposedly amazing part] naturally aspirated" and then shakes his head "yes" and looks at me in a way as if to say "not blown, not bottled, but "N/A" as if that is such an amazing feat whereas bottled or blown is just cheating or worthless. Any car that runs an 11 1/4 ET to me is impressive, but to think that it is more impressive to run 11s N/A, than blown, or bottled just doesn't make sense and irritates me. Show me a N/A car that runs 7s at 180 mph and I'll be "impressed"...

[GhOsT6_9]

Well to run an 11 sec small block N/A is impressive, but so is a small block with a s/c (or N2O), the s/c just makes it easier to accomplish.

Let me watch some Hot street racers with small block N/A motors running low 9's now I'm damn impressed.

[Jeff Chambers]

Show me a N/A car that runs 7s at 180 mph and I'll be "impressed"...

Just go watch the Pro5.0 class at any FFW event and you'll see cars run in the 6's at 200 mph normally aspirated. Turn on NHRA on ESPN and look at the Pro Stock cars running 7.0's at 200 mph normally aspirated. It is a challenge and a feat to put together a solid combination running good numbers but do it with all motor. I can slap an S-trim blower on a stock Mustang and put it in the 12's right away. Take that same car and put it into the 12's on all motor and you've done some work. IMHO doing it on all motor deserves a certain amount of respect, maybe no more respect than somebody who's put togeter a solid blower combination, but a different type of respect.

Just sign me 10.5's on 308ci of SBF motor.....no blower, hair dryer or bottle.

[Coupe50h]

well me being at the track like every week, i see all kinds of combos, one n/a combo in the mid 10's with a 331 c.i., 86 coupe.. it's a solid roller motor, open headered car, with a carbueretor, c4, big slicks, 4.56 grs, it is an impressive car none the less.
10.50's @ 128+

[QuantumMotorsports]

Just think about it this way man. Any time he wants, the guys with the N/A 11.0 second car can throw down a few grand and go even faster blown. In my opinion, a car that is blown and goes 9's is equally impressive as a N/A car that goes 11's. Also, a lot of it is weight saving. There was a site posted by somebody on here a while back that was a LS1 Camaro with stock motor (heads, cam, short block) I think it may have had an intake, but other than that, exhaust, suspension, and stripped down to like 2200 pounds or something outrageously low, going like 11.0 Just goes to show you that with a light *** car, you can lower your times by a bang load.

[HotRoddin]

Originally posted by Fox Body
Any car that runs an 11 1/4 ET to me is impressive, but to think that it is more impressive to run 11s N/A, than blown, or bottled just doesn't make sense and irritates me.

That statement makes no sense to me ?? Of course its more impressive to do it N/A ... it takes more thought, more planning, more care, more money, more talent, more experience and its far more challenging.
If some guy takes a Briggs and Strattin out of his lawnmower and somehow through incredible ability and insight, and 1000's of hours of his time, finagles enough horsepower out of it to put it in his car and make it go 11.00's thats far more impressive to me than somebody going 11.00's with a greasy old 5.0 that they snatched out of a junk yard, and spent one afternoon stuffing on a monster supercharger and a huge nitrous shot. The first way takes incredible talent and knowledge, the second way takes a little basic knowledge and a fat checkbook. Thats my $.02 worth on that subject

[rwhite65]

speed is speed.......however u get there...it is impressive to me.

[Fox Body]

Jeff, I guess I can understand "a different kind of respect" . But for me, not more or less. Any 10.5 to me is impressive and respect goes out for anyone who had the foursight in planning such a beast.

(I'm not saying anyone is, but...) I don't want anyone to get offended b/c maybe they've put in a lot of hard work to get a N/A mustang running 9s or whatever, I want everyone to understand that I'm not belittling their hard work, but still it all comes down to 1) Preferences, and 2) Money. I will respect anyone who puts tons of hard work into their car (except ricers... ), just don't expect me to give a N/A car owner more respect than a supercharged car owner...........

HotRoddin, Heh, heh....in your illustration, you put a N/A car running 11s with a lawnmower motor against a blown car running 11s with a V8. Of course "finagling" enough horses out of a lawnmower motor would be beyond impressive. . But seriously, you can't just bolt up a blower with 30 lbs of boost (or 350 shot nitrous) to a bone stock 5.0 without blowing up the motor, tranny and drivetrain (and possibly the driver). Moreover, a TON of engineering goes into constructing a well-mad supercharger or unnatural aspiration system, but in most cases, the consumer gets the advantage of bypassing some of that--- yet, that still doesn't reduce the amount of work that went into making and adapting the system. If we're talking about comparing 12 sec N/A car to a 12 sec blown car, yeah, you DO have a point there, but a LOT of planning has to go into building any low 11 or especially faster car and both take a lot of money.

And I totally don't agree that a car that goes 9s blown is equally as impressive as a car that goes 11s N/A But I do agree, yes, it's that element of weight saving that makes the big diff as well.

For me, it's more like what rwhite65 said.

Look at this as well, you get a car running mid 10s N/A with comp of 15:1. Well, compare it to a car running mid 10s blown with a comp of 8.5:1 and 15lbs of boost, which is more "impressive"???

[bottlebaby91]

I give great respect to to n/a cars that run good numbers. Yes, times are times, but it is easier to spray a car into the 10's than to have an all motor car run in the 10's. That is why I would give more respect to the person who built the all motor car becasue it takes more time a thnking. But what I like to see even better is a 10 second n/a car and than see what they run with a power adder. I am currently shooting for high 10's with my little 306 on all motor. But compression is up there and the cam is f***ing huge for on the street. And than when that goal is accomlished I can say I ran 10's on motor, and than it will get sprayed into the mid to high 9's.

[rwhite65]

too me...the difference is not sprayed vs. supercharger vs all motor. It is the car that is fast as @(*# and does not over heat, or need every interior item ripped out of it......the car that can kick butt and also go get the grocery's...that is what I like.
Ryan

[jonnyk]

I don't find it ANY more impressive to run times N/A versus power adder. I think it's just a preference thing. To me a bone stock 5.0L running 11's on a huge nitrous hit is equally as impressive as a built motor turning the same numbers, so long as both are equally reliable and driveable. Once you start talking 10 seconds and faster, I don't care what you say, it takes knowledge, skill, and money to get there, and I respect that in any way, shape or form. Anybody who thinks they can "throw" together a 10 second combination is going to learn a lot of things the hard way.
7 seconds or less is still way beyond my realm of imagination (as far as driving the car), I have huge respect for anyone running these times, all motor, turbo, nitrous, or blown. They are definitely putting in a lot more effort than your average or even involved enthusiast.

[HotRoddin]

Originally posted by jonnyk
I don't find it ANY more impressive to run times N/A versus power adder. I think it's just a preference thing. To me a bone stock 5.0L running 11's on a huge nitrous hit is equally as impressive as a built motor turning the same numbers, so long as both are equally reliable and driveable.

If just getting there is all thats important to you, and not how you get there, then the whole point of hot rodding went right over your head

[rwhite65]

it is a matter of Preferance. Some like to plan their combo's out, some just add nitrous......who is to say they r not a hott rodder for adding the nitrous?

Ryan

[HotRoddin]

Originally posted by rwhite65
it is a matter of Preferance. Some like to plan their combo's out, some just add nitrous......who is to say they r not a hott rodder for adding the nitrous?

Ryan

I'm not saying they aren't Hot Rodders ... I'm not saying there is anything wrong with power adders ... what i am saying is, if to you or anybody else, an 11.00 is an 11.00 reguardless of how you get there, then in my humble opinion you are missing the point to hot rodding.
If all you care about is how fast you go and not how you do it ... then just strap a JATO rocket pak to your trunk and have a field day.

[blue oval 50h]

10.6 compression here, pump gas

[jonnyk]

Originally posted by HotRoddin
I'm not saying they aren't Hot Rodders ... I'm not saying there is anything wrong with power adders ... what i am saying is, if to you or anybody else, an 11.00 is an 11.00 reguardless of how you get there, then in my humble opinion you are missing the point to hot rodding.
If all you care about is how fast you go and not how you do it ... then just strap a JATO rocket pak to your trunk and have a field day.

See my exact point is it ISN'T about what takes you there, it's about how your car performs. I don't find 13 second cars to be all that exciting...even though a large majority of street cars won't even run 13's. The same effect can be applied for any car...I don't anyone's car is "better" if they run 11.0's all motor versus with a power adder. They just simply chose a different path. If I had put all of my money into just the engine instead of trying to add a supercharger I could be running close to the same times, but that's not what I wanted to do. People using innovative new ideas and turning the times is what the sport is about. Innovative failures are opportunities to learn and improve. You wouldn't be the least bit curious if you saw a car with a JATO rocket pack strapped to the trunk?

[rwhite65]

if I knew where to find the rocket pack and thought I could get it to look half way decent mounted on my trunk, I would put one on.

I think everyone defines what hot rodding is all about and I think it means different things for different people. If a car beats u, cry all u want cause he has a blower, but he did. Either put one on your car, or think of a better combination. I have already stated this and still mean it. I don't care how you get there, it is the realiability factor to me. A trailer queen is not my thing.
Ryan

[Fox Body]

HotRoddin, I do respect your opinion and I see where you are coming from. But, we just have a slight diff of opinion and that's okay....

The way I think about it has to do mostly with preference and money, and as rwhite65 stated, reliability (cause if one type of method only allows the street motor to run in the 10s for, say, a week of street driving b4 it blows up, then whoever came up with that idea may need to rethink that method ). Also, people speak about the time and effort that goes into building a super quick N/A motor compared to a power-added motor. I can understand the point about the sport, but you gotta think, okay, a while back b4 any supercharger or nitrous kit was sold and people were running on just motor alone, there were groups of people who said, "hey, let's see if we can find a different way to go quick with least amount of engine tampering, and keep the compression low." They got together and through much labor and rethinking and planning came up with a fully bolt on system that could just be bought and bolted on with few (depending on how quick you want to go--- b/c going really fast still requires tearing apart the stock block and even more planning...) mods to the engine and perhaps drivetrain. While the N/A guys were trying to run 10s N/A, the power adder guys found a diff method that had it's advantages. Now, isn't that what hotrodding's all about??? It's about innovative ideas and methods getting us quicker and quicker. Some choose one path, others choose a diff path.

Plus, what about the guy who simply purchase an already built (DSS, Crate, etc) motor spec'd out at 550 hp compared to the guy who moderately modded his stock 5.0 and bolted on a blower and ends up running the same 1/4 ET? Then all the crowds and masses go "Ooooooh, they both ran 10.3s at 135 mph, but the guy with the blown motor doesn't deserve the same respect as the guy with the N/A motor. Yeah, anyone can do a 10.3 with a blown motor.... that's easy and lacks skill/innovation/creative thinking." Whatever happened to the "creative thinking, innovation and skill" (and money) that goes into the engineers planning and creating the supercharger system that is a full bolt on and then the planning and skill (and money) that goes into the consumer modding a 5.0 (and tranny and drivetrain) and bolting it on the engine to go 10.3s...???

[andy669]

I dont care whether its N/A or with a power adder, its all about making the most of what you have.

If someone tells you they run 11ohs naturally aspirated, yeah that sounds pretty good. But then if they tell you thats with a 400 inch stroker motor with huge heads, cam and intake, thats not so good. I wouldnt be impressed.

Look up the rules for some of the heads-up class racing sometime, then look at the times the guys are running. Look at Jeff Chambers in Fun Ford Weekend Street Warrior, his car makes insane amounts of power with the rules that his engine is built to. To me, thats what is impressive.

Andy

[blue oval 50h]

Dont hate trailer cars becuz you cant afford one