WRX vs. Firebird TA?

[cb259]

Well I have an 03 MT WRX sedan and my friend's got this nice, but auto '95 Firebird Trans Am with a tranny starting to go. What do you all think my chances are of beating him? I know from a roll I'd probably get smoked, but from a light? Thanks.

[StoplightWarrior]

the auto lt1s were good for very high 13s at best, so he could surprise you...but out launch him and shut it down early.

[cb259]

Don't know if it makes that much of a difference but he's also got a torque converter and exhaust.

[Dan00Hawk]

An LT1 with a higher stall torque converter (3000 rpm or so) can cut 1.7 60' times at the track on heated up drag radials or ET streets. However, if you run on the street, he's not likely gonna be able to launch as hard as at the track, and you can jump out with an aggressive WRX type of launch.

Tell him to at least change his trans fluid first to see if that helps. If he's been running a torque converter without a trans cooler for too long, that'll cause an early death for an auto trans.

Since it's impossible to tell how bad his tranny is, I'd guess that his times could range from very low 13's at around 100 mph at best if his trans doesn't slip (LT1 with basic boltons), or up to a full second slower at around 90 mph. All depends...

At least run him in a safe place. Track is best, of course, since you can compare ET's and mph with actual #'s.

[DTR rex]

Originally posted by cb259
Well I have an 03 MT WRX sedan and my friend's got this nice, but auto '95 Firebird Trans Am with a tranny starting to go. What do you all think my chances are of beating him? I know from a roll I'd probably get smoked, but from a light? Thanks.

i wouldnt be too worried. not saying you will win, but you def. wont get smoked.

those are high 13sec cars NEW. chances are that the engine is not making the same compression, and since his trans is slipping he wont get much out of that high stall converter as he would like.

I would guess his car is good for mid 14's (14.2-14.6) which is right around wrx territory... the Lt1 is a very capapble engine, but its rare to find one in good condition. I have beaten 2 of them from high rolls in my mid 14sec GSR. its all about how they are taken care of.
his car is capable of mid 13's, but is more than likely running low to mid 14's

although you have the AWD advantage, he also has torque and high stall converter... your chances might even be better from a lower roll. the LT1 is not very quick uptop, especially when almost 10 years old.

[flyingace]

All I can say is, you better get your launch right. A stock wrx not launched to perfection is a low 14 second vehicle.

[SGOSWRX]

Originally posted by cb259
Well I have an 03 MT WRX sedan and my friend's got this nice, but auto '95 Firebird Trans Am with a tranny starting to go. What do you all think my chances are of beating him? I know from a roll I'd probably get smoked, but from a light? Thanks.

Maybe you will get lucky because many of the LT1s on the street have seen better days. Even if they look nice on the outside the engine may have 100k miles or more.

I had a 1994 z28, A4, 3:23 gears- when I sold it back in 1999 it already had 94,000 miles on it and wasn't all that fast. In stock form it ran low 14s when it was new, but when I sold it it could barely run high 14s. I knew it was getting slow when I would almost get beat by my friends brand new stock Dodge 5.9 R/T pickup truck.

But on the other side of the coin. An older gentleman at the track a few weeks ago had a very plain jane stock looking LT1 Camaro. The car was running 12.5s with basic bolt ons, cam, stall converter, gears, and drag radials.

[DTR rex]

Originally posted by flyingace
All I can say is, you better get your launch right. A stock wrx not launched to perfection is a low 14 second vehicle.

the wrx is a low 14sec car when launched to perfection.

if launched pretty well its a mid 14sec car.

launched kinda crappily its a high 14 low 15sec car...

even when getting a perfect launch with a huge rpm slip you will only get low low 14's

[ilivas]

launched to perfection it's a high 13 sec car.
launched really really good it's a low 14 sec car.

The WRX is a REALLY hard car to drive correctly, but high 13's have happened to a select few.

My first time at the track I got a 15.5 then as the night went on I cut it down to a 13.4. My rex was stage 2 at the time.