would cars with ls1 engines, firebird, transam, camero, be good to drift in?

the engine itself is quite possibly the perfect drift engine. beautiful torque curve, power on tap, pretty damn reliable.

but the cars the engine comes in are NOT good drift cars and would require a ton of money.

thanks. what is it about the cars thats bad for drifting? i know there heavy but what else is wrong with them?

crap suspension design.

LS1 in 240sx... it's been done.

same as the sr but with out the turbo lag

dsc4130 wrote:same as the sr but with out the turbo lag

um its about 1100 times better than a sr

double the power, cheaper to mod, cheaper to get parts for, easier to get info for, LIGHTER.

totally different classes.

I still cant get over the fact that the SR is heavier than the LS1. It's really a testament to the design of that engine.

AmoebAssassin wrote:I still cant get over the fact that the SR is heavier than the LS1. It's really a testament to the design of that engine.

ls1's are greatid love to put one in my car.

wow thanks for all the advice. ive been saving up all my paychecks to buy another car, but just to fix up, while i use the other to get around. im wanting to build it into a good drift car so ive been looking for one that ill be happy with so i dont regret it later. i was originally looking for just an old 240sx but the problem is around here they have 150k+ miles on them.

http://www.driftlive.com/

Hrrrmmmm... I don't see the LS1 powered 240 on the top 16 list...

I'll believe it when I see an LS1 240 do good at anything. every LS car I've seen has been high 11s or 12 or some unbalanced torque monster. Until one does as good as people say it should its just an E-Circle jerk.

McRussellPants wrote:http://www.driftlive.com/

Hrrrmmmm... I don't see the LS1 powered 240 on the top 16 list...

I'll believe it when I see an LS1 240 do good at anything. every LS car I've seen has been high 11s or 12 or some unbalanced torque monster. Until one does as good as people say it should its just an E-Circle jerk.

im pretty sure mike (ls1 s13) wasnt even at atlanta.

Mike was there, it broke, the alternator went out and the clutch master ripped out of the firewall so it was stuck in second.

I know he has yet to get that car 100%. But I don't see the LS1 as the ZOMG wonder motor everyone else does.


Modified by McRussellPants at 12:20 PM 5/14/2006

AmoebAssassin wrote:I still cant get over the fact that the SR is heavier than the LS1. It's really a testament to the design of that engine.

It's not.

The LS1 weighs about 460 lbs. with complete running trim, that is a solid 70 lbs. higher than an equal SR motor. Then you have to factor the additional oil, coolant, and gearbox weight associated with the engine.

McRussellPants wrote:http://www.driftlive.com/

Hrrrmmmm... I don't see the LS1 powered 240 on the top 16 list...

I'll believe it when I see an LS1 240 do good at anything. every LS car I've seen has been high 11s or 12 or some unbalanced torque monster. Until one does as good as people say it should its just an E-Circle jerk.

so you're saying the ls1 el camino is a better platform than the ls13?

LS1

just cause his motor craped out on him and his car has issues doesnt mean its a bad swap

crzycav86 wrote:so you're saying the ls1 el camino is a better platform than the ls13?

LOL -- indeed the LS1 has gotten to the top-16 many times, and won outright multiple times as well (GTO). Hmmm, now what I think of it, an SR has not won an FD event yet. . . .

There's still a lot of speculation as to whether the LS1 is or is not lighter than the SR - I have both stitting in the shop right now - all stock with iron manifolds, etc. and I'd be inclined to to give the SR a 50lb. advantage, +/- 25lb. Swap the heavy-*** iron exhaust manifolds off in place for tubular headers (+hp, too), then add an FMIC and upgraded (larger) turbo to the SR, and then where we at? 25lb, maybe?

The 6-speed transmission is nearly twice the weight of the Nissan trans (+75lb), but then again, transmissions can be changed out for much lighter units, so it doesn't really have anything to do with the engine itself if you were really serious about saving weight. Heck, swap the Nissan trans onto the LS1 if you really want to -- "But the LS1 will break the Nissan trans" you say! Probably, but then an SR built to produce similar power as a bolt-ons LS1 (400+hp) would likely stress the the Nissan trans to the breaking point just as readily as the LS1 would, and the trans would need to be upgraded to a stronger (heavier) transmission anyways.

An important point here is that the LS1 is nearly 3 times the displacement of the SR in trade for an additional 50lb of weight. Sounds like a reasonable trade to me! Anybody that points to a 50lb weight difference as a major detractor in this argument is absolutely nuts - heck, some of us could go on a DIET and cut 50lb back off the car's curb weight.

exactally

weight balance is so overrated.

Kamin wrote:exactally

weight balance is so overrated.

well said

...

Kamin wrote:exactallyweight balance is so overrated.

Uhm, is that supposed to be sarcastic or something? 50lb in a 2500lb car makes almost exactly a 1 percent difference in distribution. Take hypothetical 50/50 car of 2500lb, add 50lb to the front axle -- distribution comes to almost exactly 51/49. I cannot agree that a 1% change in weight distribution will have a conspicuously consequential affect on handling, especially where the "optimum" balance is STILL a subject of considerable debate. Some will argue that some front bias is needed for optimum drift performance anyways.

And BTW, according to one of Rhys Millen's mechanics whom I spoke with late last season, the GTO weighs in at about 2600lb with a 60/40 weight distribution. Seems he didn't need a "perfect" balance, or even a balance even CLOSE to a theoretical "optimum" or 50/50 to take the series last year. So yeah, maybe balance IS overrated - or at least fixation to +/- a few points.

zguy wrote:Uhm, is that supposed to be sarcastic or something? 50lb in a 2500lb car makes almost exactly a 1 percent difference in distribution. Take hypothetical 50/50 car of 2500lb, add 50lb to the front axle -- distribution comes to almost exactly 51/49. I cannot agree that a 1% change in weight distribution will have a conspicuously consequential affect on handling, especially where the "optimum" balance is STILL a subject of considerable debate. Some will argue that some front bias is needed for optimum drift performance anyways.

And BTW, according to one of Rhys Millen's mechanics whom I spoke with late last season, the GTO weighs in at about 2600lb with a 60/40 weight distribution. Seems he didn't need a "perfect" balance, or even a balance even CLOSE to a theoretical "optimum" or 50/50 to take the series last year. So yeah, maybe balance IS overrated - or at least fixation to +/- a few points.

you missed the point. no i wasnt being sarcastic. weight balance is the biggest bull**** term thrown around in the 240 world where 99% of the drivers:1) dont drive their cars hard enough for it to make a difference2) wouldnt notice a 10+% shift in balance anyway

"overrated" means it dosent make a difference. basically i said what you said without trying to sound smart.

theories and books dont mean jack ****. its all driver prefrence.

Ah, my appologies, I thought you were being sarcastic. We are on the same page after all, I agree with everything just said.

Kamin wrote:theories and books dont mean jack ****. its all driver prefrence.

can you elaborate on this and make it a less general statement? i think i can agree in certain cases, but in general, this is not true

otherwise i think i'll laugh at you.

crzycav86 wrote:can you elaborate on this and make it a less general statement? i think i can agree in certain cases, but in general, this is not true

otherwise i think i'll laugh at you.

you have to remember, we are talking about drifting in here. NOT racing.

all those books and theories out there are not about drifting. 50/50 being a "perfect" weight balance might be "perfect" on paper but what if the driver likes more weight up front all that "perfrect" talk goes out the window. drifting is ALL about driver prefrence. more so than road racing by a large margin. i like toe out in the rear, most people think im crazy. guess what? works for me.

but, a book on how to set up a racecar is a good tuning aid and learning tool and it will help you understand what is going on with your car and alingment. you just cant expect the book to give you all the answers. whats important is a good baseline. make some adjustments, see if you like it, if you dont, go back to the baseline.

perhaps calling them bull**** was wrong, but they just arent as concrete in drifting as they are in racing. "oversteer on corner entry" dosent really apply, now does it?

Seems like this would be funhttp://hinsonsupercars.com/LS1Nissan1stDrive.wmv

^^^^ Freakn Sweet. best of both worlds

McRussellPants wrote:http://www.driftlive.com/

Hrrrmmmm... I don't see the LS1 powered 240 on the top 16 list...

I'll believe it when I see an LS1 240 do good at anything. every LS car I've seen has been high 11s or 12 or some unbalanced torque monster. Until one does as good as people say it should its just an E-Circle jerk.

Randomly stumbled across this post from our former resident douchecanoe...

I'm sure he's pulling his scraggly hipster beard out hair-by-hair seeing all the LSx cars rocking the track.

I started reading through this thread thinking "do these people live under a rock?" ...then realized its from 2006 haha.