When your old Mopar shames a new Camaro

"Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness" (long-voyager-2nd-edition)
03/23/2019 at 12:10 • Filed to: Street Racing, Mopar

A week or so back cruising down the interstate ( which is completely empty at 5:15 am ) in the car, this brand new V6 Camaro comes up next to me and drops it. I ignored him the first time, then he lagged back and did a fly-by. I ignored him again. Then he drops back next to me and drops it again, tired of his shit, I dropped it as well. By 100 mph he was all the way at my back bumper. I let out and coasted back to 70, going back to cruising. He dropped behind me and just stayed there until I exited.

Fast forward to this morning: Coming up behind the same Camaro, as I start passing he decides to drop it again, until he looked over and saw it was the car that smoked him last week, he immediately lets out and goes back to cruising.

Not condoning street racing, but a little shaming is always funny, especially when it sticks. Even funnier when your “performance” car gets smoked by a 90s econobox.

DISCUSSION (41)

vondon302 > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 10:24

Lmao

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 10:27

My dad got a ticket for racing, it was a chevy beretta that was bothering him. I laughed hard and had no sympathy.

Your boy, BJR > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 10:30

Kinja'd!!!

WilliamsSW > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 11:24

Lol at the type of clown that decides to do highway pulls in a Camero against 20+ year old minivans.

He got what he deserved, I just wish you had a photo of his face after getting smoked.

Gerry197 > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 11:29

Are you sure it’s a V6 Camaro? Unlike Ford, their V6 is not the base model, it’s the middle model with 335 hp 3.6L motor commonly found in Cadillacs.

Its capable of 0-60 in 5.2 seconds and 13.7 quarter mile times.

Even their base model 4-cylinder turbo was recently tested at 5.4 second 0-60.

What 90's econobox are you driving that is this fast? Even the great Type-Rs of the 90s were in the mid-6 second mark. Which today is slower than an fullsize truck.

DipodomysDeserti > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 11:38

Weird, because the 3.8L in my Wrangler is an absolute turd. Decent low end torque, but I don’t think it can even push the truck to 100 mph.

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > Your boy, BJR
03/23/2019 at 11:51

Gotta SR20 that.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > DipodomysDeserti
03/23/2019 at 12:02

This was in the car. Mildly hopped 3.0 V6.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > Gerry197
03/23/2019 at 12:06

I’m guessing V6 based on the tone it had, the 3.6L has a distinct tone with exhaust.

My 95 Acclaim with a “ mild” 3.0 V6/4-speed combo. I’ve cracked off 6.5 secs 0-60 with no traction in first gear and spinning 1/2 way through 2nd.

Gerry197 > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 12:07

The Camaro should still have been faster those times. But so many variables besides outright speed, like driver.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > WilliamsSW
03/23/2019 at 12:08

I was in the car, so I can kind of understand, but even then, you’re going to peg you’re Camaro against a 95 Acclaim why?

I wish I could have seen his face.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > Your boy, BJR
03/23/2019 at 12:09

I wouldn’t have either had I not been there.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > Gerry197
03/23/2019 at 12:12

It was an auto so I’m not sure how much driver skill is required.....

Idk though, my old Acclaim with the 3.0/5-speed would crack 13s in the quarter, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this one is close to that, it feels stronger in the low end.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > DipodomysDeserti
03/23/2019 at 12:14

I think a lot of the Wrangler’s issue is gearing. My van with the 3.8/4-speed pulled a 15.263 in the quarter on my ATs?

Gerry197 > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 12:16

You would be surprised, I’ve seen many drivers get beat on Legal Race nights in San Diego driving clearly superior cars.

Usually its a mistake off the line that cannot be made up during the race.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > Gerry197
03/23/2019 at 12:17

How much is there really to mess up from a 70 mph roll though?

Honestly I think it’s just a matter of that speed landing perfectly in my power curve.

FSI > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 12:17

Lol. I loved smoking impatient drivers with the Transit at my last job.

Gerry197 > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 12:20

Sure, technically driven exactly the same, there is no way you should have won that race against a new Camaro V6 or I4T. However, you did, so there is another variable in play that allowed that to happen, almost always the driver.

WilliamsSW > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 12:24

Yeah, I guess it makes * slightly* more sense. But still, not a great car to pick on.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > WilliamsSW
03/23/2019 at 12:27

The number of people who try to race me when I’m in the car is mind-blowing. Idk if it’s the SRT wheels, the louder than stock exhaust, or the paint, but I’ve yet to be able to drive it without someone wanting a go. I usually just ignore them, but once in a while they just need to be shut up.

Just Jeepin' > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 12:28

I had someone try to pull that shit with me when I briefly owned a Civic Si. Didn’t even look to see what they were driving, I had no interest in playing their game.

No one has tried to do it to me in the Wrangler. Don’t miss it a bit.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
03/23/2019 at 12:29

That reminds me of my dad. He had a Beretta GTZ roll up next to him in his Camaro (79 RS, bone stock auto), he thought he’d be smart and show the guy what was up, he found out he was wrong.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > Just Jeepin'
03/23/2019 at 12:32

The new van flies under the radar, so it’s really nice.

My van however every kid thinks they should race me, I usually just laugh and go about my day.

The car is everyone! IDK if it’s the wheels, the louder exhaust, the paint, or some combo of all, but everyone wants a go at it. It’s really annoying.

DipodomysDeserti > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 12:32

The Mitsubishi one? Doesn’t that thing only make like 140 hp?

2Fast2Furious: Rotary Powered > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 12:42

Yeah. No.

WilliamsSW > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 13:23

Probably all of the above, but especially the exhaust, I’m guessing.

SHARPSPEED > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/23/2019 at 13:25

What kind of incomprehensible fuckface tries to streetrace in their Enterprise-edition Camaro with a 90s shitbox? (no disrespect).

LongbowMkII > Just Jeepin'
03/23/2019 at 14:01

I thought a wrangler was trying to race me in the lotus, but apparently it was just downshifting to maintain traffic (~70mph)

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > DipodomysDeserti
03/25/2019 at 07:10

Stock is 141 hp /173 ft-lbs. That’s enough for them to lay down high 14 s in the quarter with nothing outside a 5-speed swap.

After milled/ported/polished heads, cams, ported/polished intake manifold, gutted/ported/polished intake plenum, plenum/TB spacers, ported 58 mm TB, better flowing fuel rail, intake, exhaust , etc.

I have no idea how much power it’s making, but it’s plenty to shame a lot of performance cars ( FoST, WRX, EB Mustang to name a few ).

DipodomysDeserti > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/25/2019 at 08:22

Must be some Chrysler witchcraft at work, because the early ‘90s 3000GT, which weighs about the same and uses the 24 valve, 220 hp version of the same engine, does the quarter in 16 seconds. You’re almost as quick as the later VR4s which were making more than twice the power.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > DipodomysDeserti
03/25/2019 at 10:06

The base 3000GT weighs about 800lbs more than my car, the VR4 is almost 1200lbs heavier . The 24v also lacks the huge torque curve of the 12v in NA form .

Bone stock these cars do 16 second quarters with the 3 speed auto. Swap it to a stick and they crack high 14s. My old car with roughly the same engine mods and a 5-speed manual ran a 13.7 with no traction in 1st/2nd.

DipodomysDeserti > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/25/2019 at 11:07

Don’t you have a Dodge Dynasty? Curb weight right around 3k lbs whereas a base ‘91 3000GT is at around 3,300. The VR4 is at 3700. Some real Mopar Magic being able to pull off 13s with no traction.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > DipodomysDeserti
03/25/2019 at 11:58

No, Acclaim. L ists at 2750 lbs according to wiki , but weighs 2,508 lbs on the scale.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > DipodomysDeserti
03/25/2019 at 12:09

The biggest advantages of the Mopars: Lack of weight, huge torque curve.

Comparing my car to the 3000GT:

Acclaim 2500 lbs, 141 hp (stock) 17.7 lbs/hp , 175 ft-lbs (stock) 14.2 lbs/ft-lb .

3000GT 3300 lbs, 220 hp 15 lbs/hp , 201 ft-lbs 16.4lbs/ft-lb.

What the Acclaim lacks in HP it more than makes up for in torque, which leads to a quicker car.

My old car was somewhere in the 220-250 hp/250-270ft-lbs range. Never had it dyno’d but judging by what it could outrun/run with, that’s about where the p/w would put it.

DipodomysDeserti > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/25/2019 at 17:38

Ahhhhhh. Makes sense.

factoryhack > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/25/2019 at 18:13

So, what did you do to your 3.0 Acclaim to make it faster than a new Camaro? I’m genuinely curious, not trolling you.

Even the Spirit R/T of that era, as remarkable as they were, was a mid-14 car in stock form which wouldn’t be quite as fast as a 6th gen Camaro with either the V-6 or 4 banger.

Note, I drove a Spirit R/T for my company car back in the day. 224 HP really moved that car, ( es pecially if you turned the A/C off.) I surprised more than a few 5.0 Mustangs and various Camaros of the era.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > factoryhack
03/26/2019 at 07:08

M illed/ported/polished heads, cams, ported/polished intake manifold, gutted/ported/polished intake plenum, plenum/TB spacers, ported 58 mm TB, better flowing fuel rail, intake, exhaust, close geared 4-speed swap, etc.

Judging by what it can easily outrun/run with, I’m guessing it’s around 200-205 hp/225-230 ft-lbs. Which given it’s 2500lbs curb weight actually makes it pretty evenly matched with the Camaro. The RTs were fun, but they were pretty peaky, which IMO led them to be slower than they could have been.

The Camaro is roughly 3500 lbs, running 10 lbs/hp, 12 lbs/ft-lb in V6 trim . All the Camaro’s power comes in above 5000 rpms and tops at 6800 rpms.

My car is 2500 lbs, running 12.2 lbs/hp, 10.8 lbs/ft-lb. My car’s power comes in around 1800 rpms and carries til around 5500 rpms.

When you really break down the numbers and look at where the power comes in, it really becomes less surprising. This wasn’t a “drag race”, it was a highway roll, which means my traction disadvantage didn’t come into play, but my huge power band did.

factoryhack > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/26/2019 at 11:12

That is really cool. Honestly the first I’ve heard of a build on the MMC 3.0. You might even be underestimating the power a bit.

I would also add that more than a few younger enthusiasts have no clue how a light car like yours with modest power can be really quick . At 2,500 lbs. you are only 150 lbs. heavier than an Alfa 4C which does 0-60 in 4.1 with 227 HP. Glad to see someone representing old school FWD Mopars!

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > factoryhack
03/26/2019 at 12:02

Light car, tons of low-end torque. It’s a recipe for surprising a lot of people. Younger enthusiasts ( although I’m only 33 ) seem to only care about HP numbers from what I’ve seen. I care more about weight, torque, and where the power comes in.

There are plenty of builds on the SOHC 3.0s, check out Turbo-Mopar and Turbo-Dodge forums.

I would love to dyno it just to see what it’s actually putting down, but in all honesty I don’t care. It’s a riot to drive while still being reliable and fuel efficient.

factoryhack > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
03/26/2019 at 12:40

I would bet very very few enthusiasts under the age of 50 would have any clue that your Acclaim is only 120 lbs. heavier than a new Miata. Sounds like you are having a lot of fun with it. Kudos to you.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > factoryhack
03/26/2019 at 12:46

Only 120lbs heavier, only short 40 hp, but making 25ft-lbs more torque ;)