December '01 feature car

[Rowdy Rat]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="">quote:</font><HR>The Corvette incidently came with a 355hp factored from the NHRA (370hp from the factory) and an 8.89 pounds per horsepower factor. But, they also listed a 350 Corvette with a factory 350hp rating that carried an NHRA factored 370hp, and an 8.65 pounds per horsepower.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There was a post on the CorvetteForum board recently where someone found an NHRA rulebook from 1972 and posted the factored horsepower for Corvette engines. The 1970 LT-1 Corvette engine (350/370) was factored to 400 horsepower (for the 1972 racing season at least).

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=194037

The 355 horsepower figure seems awfully low for a 1970 LT-1... Misprint maybe?

Regards,

Stan Falenski

[Edited by Rowdy Rat (12-08-2001 at 09:39 AM).]

[Chevy454]

Stan:

This is the current NHRA rating of the LT-1. It lists the 355hp rating for the Corvette and the Camaro, in more than 1 place, so it doesn't look to be a misprint.

Now, as it turns out, I was over at the Super Stock site in the chat room, and was asking about what class the Nova might have been in. A couple of them mentioned that they new of a Camaro or 2, running the LT-1s, and they weren't too impressed with the combo. Said that it wasn't under the index, so they were curious about the Nova as well.

As best as I can tell, the NHRA ratings have fallen over the years. Remember, it was NHRA who rated the L-72 at 450hp for a while, but now it's down to 425hp. We've got several old NHRA rule books somewhere, so I will see if I can dig them out and see what's in them.

The NHRA site has some really interesting stuff on it, and is worth the time to dig for the info.

[Note: when looking for info, make sure which specs you are getting. The NHRA posts both "Stock" and "SuperStock" ratings/factors, and they are VERY different!]


[Edited by Chevy454 (12-08-2001 at 10:08 AM).]

[Rowdy Rat]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="">quote:</font><HR>This is the current NHRA rating of the LT-1. It lists the 355hp rating for the Corvette and the Camaro, in more than 1 place, so it doesn't look to be a misprint.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I believe you... It's just very surprising. I've owned a 1970 L-46 Corvette as well as several 1970 LT-1 Corvettes and in truly stock form, the LT-1 definitely has the advantage (especially above 3500 rpm). The NHRA factored horsepower ratings certainly have changed over time... Heck, look at the L-88s rating from the 1972 source; it's less than the L-71/L-89. You can't even run an L-88 in stock eliminator anymore... It's super stock only now. Of course, NHRA's goal is to make the racing competitive... Not have the "fast" cars win all the time.

I'm really anxious to see how Pete does with his COPO 9010 Nova when he decides to get serious with it. Should be a real runner!

Regards,

Stan