I remember the first time I drove a SVO and first drive of a '99 Trans Am LS1

140cilx

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Sep 7, 2001
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-Just shooting the breeze here, swap a story if ya want:

In '99 (I think) my brother in law, who had already had 3 5.0's, called me all excited he'd found a SVO at a local car dealer. It was overpriced at $6k or so. We went to drive it, it was a beater, really worn out, suspension/steering shot, interior worn out and faded. Paint shot, body beat up, 15 years of dirt on it. Had a K&N cone, nice wheels and 20 lbs of boost.

It was exhilarating to drive, he and I were shocked and he said he didn't know if his 5.0's could beat it. The acceleration was amazing!

Then I blew something and filled the interior w/ smoke pouring through the vents, tons of smoke behind us, smoke pouring from under the hood. We pulled off on a side road, popped the hood, rolled down the window's, let the smoke clear, limped it back, parked it, thanked them for the test drive and got out of there. To this day I still don't know what it was even though I've had an SVO a couple years and tried to figure out what broke.

That began my hunt for an SVO and lamentable 2.3T addiction. My SVO is faster than that one and doesn't break! :nice: My LX is even faster.

THEN I DROVE AN LS1 (see pic). Now it's a nice car, no doubt, and it is a bit faster bottom line. But the whole time I was driving, nailing it off idle and winding it out, stomping it while at speed, accelerating out of corners, it was just to sedate. It was boring. It was like being in the right place w/ the wrong equipment. Powerband was smooth from idle to redline w/ no freak you out yanking power turbo owners love.

There's just no comparison to the rip the tires up, head yanking pull of a turbo spooling around 3k and an immediate 100-200 more hp than you had a second prior. It is a wild and awesome feeling. It is slower than the LS1 I drove, but if you could harness every bit of traction and tweak it for a bit more power, hmmm...

best 1/8th ET in the LS1 mentioned: 8.3
best 1/8th ET in the SVO 9.6

-slower but sure doesn't feel like it! And lemme tell you, the LS1 owner swore my car would spank his after a ride in it. He was all smiles.

3 cars I'd like to drive to see if my 2.3T's are still "the stuff" for me, '05 GT Stang, Sub WRXTi, *Dodge Neon Turbo (just curious 'bout em).
 
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when i busted an oil line and it caught fire on the manifold, that's exactly what happened...smoke through the vents, fuggin huge cloud of smoke behind me, smoke everywhere. no damage, just bought a new fitting and filled it with oil and it was fine. not sure if that's what happened to you, but it sounded like when that happened to me.

edit: never mind, i really really think you woulda noticed the oil everywhere when you popped the hood...didnt see that part.
 
Fastest car I've ever driven was a non-turbo Mitsu 3000GT. Looks awesome, and was fairly quick, but then I was comparing it to my then-automatic Stang, so anything felt fast. The "Bad Girls Rule" sticker on the back glass didn't make me feel too good, especially when I killed it at a light in front of a Jeep full of teenage guys. :doh: It was my mom's friend's car, hence the sticker. :rolleyes:

Fastest car I've ever been in is a tossup between my buddy Kyle's '86 LX with a DSS 306, ported E7's, small cam, Edelbrock intake, and full Flowmaster exhaust, and my buddy Rich's '85 SVO with a T3/T4, 15 lbs, and 3" exhaust with Magnaflow. Both were pretty damn quick, but I have to say I liked the SVO more....when full boost came on, it was just awesome, even though the '86 was torquier throughout. That's what I want my car to be like someday. :D

[/random storytelling]

Ash
 
That blow modular was pretty badass. it had to be over 400hp too, because it was a 4valve with a procharger, and lots of parts to beat the crap out of the 03 cobra.
The fastest car I have ridden in was a T-bucket with a 350 cheby. I beleive it was pushing nearly 1hp/ci, and being an ultra light weight car, it has a pretty insance power to weigh ratio. The huge tires on the back combined with the short wheelbase really made it feel like a wheelie wouldn't take much more power. :D
 
The fastest car i've ever driven was a 2002 GT. Very nice. I would run it up to 5000rpm, then granny shift into second, and floor it again, and the tires would bark. I got on the highway, noticed how I was blowing by everyone, and looked at the speedo. 90mph! I didn't even realize it.

The fastest car i've ever ridden in was a 2002 Roush Stage 2. Damn fast, and sounds great too. Another fasty that i've been in was a 98 Cobra.
 
fastest car i have ever been in was probably my dads old 63 stingray with a built 327. It was quick. or at least it seemed to be when i was younger. recently thought it would probably be my friends Supra Turbo. Fastest car i have driven... 3000GT VR4 But hopefully my turbo mustang will be the fastest car i have driven once its completed.

Dr.
 
The fastest car I've been in was my dad's ChevyII station wagon. It had a built 350, and I mean built. This thing was a ****ing race car that he drove to work and back (two hours each way). This thing would leave 40 ft of rubber in all four of it's manualy shifted gears with street tires. With slicks, mid to low 11s here at the Gainesville track. I remember sitting in the back where there was supposed to be a rear seat and him hammering it, sending me rolling into the back. The fastest car I've driven would be my camaro. It's no rocket, maybe 13s if I knew how to drive it. But it's fast to me. I got it loose once in a ~75-80* righthander in 3rd gear, that was exciting. Probably the fastest that poor old beast has been around a corner ever.
 
I have a Dodge SRT-4 and I love it to death, even though my blood is ford blue. Originally I was planning on getting an SVT Focus, but I decided to check out its commpetitors too. (Civic Si, Dodge SRT-4, Sentra SE-R, ect.) The Dodge was by far the most fun to drive. And the feel and sound of a turbo is like no other. It has virtually no turbo lag, and when you step on the gas, acceleration is pretty violent. (Especially considering it's front wheel drive) If you drop the clutch at anything higher than 1,500, the tires just spin. They only do 13.8-14.0 in the 1/4, but the FWD makes it feel alot faster than it actually is. The FWD kinda pissed me off at first, but you get used to it. And I like the idea of being able to modify it with the Mopar performance parts and not void your warrenty. The SRT really is sort of a modern day SVO, and they have alot of similaritys.

You should test drive one, even if it's just for fun. I remember seeing them in magazines and what not and I thought they were crap. But when I saw one in real life and test drove it, I was hooked. The stock exhaust doesn't have mufflers and it sounds incredible. I'm having second thoughts about changing it, hell, the stock exhaust sounds better than all the aftermarket ones! (which is I think a first in automotive history)

But the fastest car I've ever driven is my dad's '67 Mustang fastback with a big block 390. That thing is just scary.
 
140cilx said:
There's just no comparison to the rip the tires up, head yanking pull of a turbo spooling around 3k and an immediate 100-200 more hp than you had a second prior.

thats when you get a an LS1 with a 125shot of nitrous, now thats some wicked pull :), i've ridden in my buddies t/a with the shot, and that is crazy 300hp to 400+ hp is cool :)

I personally just like how my car is now, wicked pull when the turbo comes on, then it just KEEPS PULLING all the way till I shift.
 
Asha'man said:
Fastest car I've ever driven was a non-turbo Mitsu 3000GT. Looks awesome, and was fairly quick, but then I was comparing it to my then-automatic Stang, so anything felt fast. The "Bad Girls Rule" sticker on the back glass didn't make me feel too good, especially when I killed it at a light in front of a Jeep full of teenage guys. :doh: It was my mom's friend's car, hence the sticker. :rolleyes:

Fastest car I've ever been in is a tossup between my buddy Kyle's '86 LX with a DSS 306, ported E7's, small cam, Edelbrock intake, and full Flowmaster exhaust, and my buddy Rich's '85 SVO with a T3/T4, 15 lbs, and 3" exhaust with Magnaflow. Both were pretty damn quick, but I have to say I liked the SVO more....when full boost came on, it was just awesome, even though the '86 was torquier throughout. That's what I want my car to be like someday. :D

[/random storytelling]

Ash

Hey thats my car :D .

Just wait untill i finish the turbo on the lx :eek: .

rhs car runs pretty darn good. now if he would just buy one of stingers header's and a good intercooler then she would really rock.

kyle