http://www.turbosystem.com/ProjectVehicles/Sunfire_Rendering_web.jpg

We've been working on this Ecotec-powered Street Sunfire for a few seasons now...it's a cooperative project between my son Adam and I. He drives it and works on it, I write the checks! :lol:

Seriously, though...it's been our objective as of late to get it into the 10-second range, where no Ecotec manual-trans street car has ever gone before. This last Tuesday evening, we hit paydirt...BIG TIME!

Video of 10-second pass (http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Hahn-RaceCraft-Sunfire-14_188286.htm)

Video of 606 WHP dyno run (http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Hahn-RaceCraft-Sunfire_182220.htm)

The car has been an ongoing testbed of high-performance Ecotec development for us, and actually is still powered by a 2.2L L61 engine, albeit destroked to 2.0L now.

Adam has recently joined the Air Force, so I dedicated myself to working with him to achieve our dream for this unique 'father-son' Eco-car before he begins his journey to serve our nation. Time has been short, so we've been working hard on it for the last few weeks. We are now very proud of the car...and the best part is, there's way more left on the table!

We're going to do a full feature on our website soon on this fascinating car. Originally prepared as a SEMA show car back in 2002 (hence the flamboyant paint!), this current iteration was conceived to show that Ecotec power can result in impressive times while staying within the budget constraints of the average enthusiast. GM Racing has built 'street' cars of considerably more performance than this, but they've always featured megabuck engines and very altered drivelines built around a conversion to the 4T65 automatic transaxle.

We set out to prove that a stock transmission and engine location can also get the job done nicely, and with a fraction of the budget GM Racing lavished on their cars. I must emphasize that this is not meant to take anything away from what GM Racing has accomplished, for they've done an outstanding job of showing the Ecotec engine's capabilities. This car is instead a 'bridge' from those well-financed efforts to the average Joe!

Overall, the car weighs 2475 pounds, and still sports a complete interior, stock window glass, stock body panels, and is street legal and plated (well, we DO put different wheels on for the street!).

I must take a moment to thank the companies who have helped out with this effort. They all support the Ecotec mission faithfully, and are worthy of your patronage!

ClutchMasters
The DriveShaft Shop
ACCEL-DFI
Random Technologies
Keizer Wheels
Competition Cams
Wiseco Pistons
AllEcotec.com

thats amazing man!!!

wow good job

Here's the timeslip numbers:

60': 1.712
330': 4.665
1/8 ET: 6.982
1/8 MPH: 109.39
1000': 8.954
1/4 ET: 10.583
1/4 MPH: 139.23

hey man that is crazy!

you guys want to bring your stuff to a big cobalt meet in Racine on OCT 25?

hey man that is crazy!

you guys want to bring your stuff to a big cobalt meet in Racine on OCT 25?

That sounds awesome! And close to home too :)

Please PM me with details. :twothumbs

:guns:

http://img2.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/confused/confused0052.gif (http://www.mysmiley.net)

Pmed ya

Congrats on your Son joining the AF...i just got out a few months back and it was a great opportunity that i had.

And damn i must say seeing those L61 Vids is simply jaw dropping and very exciting. Hopefully soon i can have my build back rolling!

Very impressive, nice work.

niCe

whats the scoop on the car in the other lane? :eek:

nice work though

whats the scoop on the car in the other lane? :eek:

nice work though
That was a tube-chassis big-block V8 drag car...it went 9.62 @ 138.24. We meet up with all kinds of stuff in the Test and Tune sessions at Rt. 66 Raceway :)

Thanks!

whats the scoop on the car in the other lane? :eek:

nice work though

you've never seen fast cars before?? lol

WOW congrats on that.

Congrats man, I knew that thing would be hitting 10's soon. 11.04 before wasn't very far off, but almost a 1/2 second pickup.... that's awesome.

Congrats man, I knew that thing would be hitting 10's soon. 11.04 before wasn't very far off, but almost a 1/2 second pickup.... that's awesome.
Thanks! Yeah, when we spoke last, the 11.0 was the best so far. Adam and I had been working on so many aspects simultaneously that I suspected the first 10 would be deep in like this...if it all came together on one pass. And it did! On the vid, you can see the car get small...FAST...once he hits 2nd gear. I knew he was on a boomer then!

can't wait to check out the vid when I get home from this hell hole lol.
btw hitting the track again myself on the 17th.... aiming for low 12's this time now that everything actually works

nice

gotta love the ecotec!

just nasty....

what is you so doing in the AF? congrats on the gnarly fast pass.

what is your son doing in the Air Force? congrats on the gnarly fast pass.
Thanks! He tested well, so they want him in Engineering. It will suit him :usa:

Congrats!

Badass car.....hideous paintjob though, lol.

Congrats!

Badass car.....hideous paintjob though, lol.
Thanks! Oh man, I get that all the time, :lol:

When it was originally conceived for the SEMA show some 6 years ago, the designer was going for a 'domestic sport-compact' thang, kind of playing off the Asian cars which can be so...well, hideous too! It's a bit dated now, and since we incurred a bit of body damage this year when the right front control arm failed at 130 MPH (yes, Adam wrestled it to the curb without crashin!), it may be up for a respray in solid red next. At least we took the wing off...(here's an old photo of the car from 2002, :lol:)

http://www.turbosystem.com/ProjectVehicles/sunfire_rear_quarter.jpg

good god man

good god man
:lol::lol::lol::lol:

Nice Autozone wing! :twothumbs

Hey, it was state-of-the-art in 2002 :p:

1902 maybe lol.
and damnit bill stop making want to drop more money into this damn car

wow that's awsome, i can't wait to see how far you get with the cobalt ss/tc zomg 606whp in the sunfire........can't wait to see how much more u can get from the cobalt:D

wow very nice

so this thing still has stock rear suspension?

so this thing still has stock rear suspension?
Stock except for Eibach lowering springs...and $3.99 spring spacers to stiffen them up and stop rear end sag during launch.

stock except....lol

Thanks! He tested well, so they want him in Engineering. It will suit him :usa:

awesome. you should try to convince him to try to get staioned at littlerock. haha. he will enjoy it, i love the military i just dislike being a jet engine mechanic. that where retraining comes in though.

Thanks! Oh man, I get that all the time, :lol:

When it was originally conceived for the SEMA show some 6 years ago, the designer was going for a 'domestic sport-compact' thang, kind of playing off the Asian cars which can be so...well, hideous too! It's a bit dated now, and since we incurred a bit of body damage this year when the right front control arm failed at 130 MPH (yes, Adam wrestled it to the curb without crashin!), it may be up for a respray in solid red next. At least we took the wing off...(here's an old photo of the car from 2002, :lol:)

God, I remember when you first posted pictures on JBO of that thing. It was freakin' ugly then!

But the performance at the time was better than anything anyone had ever accomplished in a street car...

stock except....lol
Heh, well...the overall intention is to indicate that it is still stock trailing arm/twist beam rear suspension, as compared to non-stock alternatives such as coilovers, control arms, straight axles...just to name a few ways cars of this type will deviate from the stock suspension to save weight and add $$$.

Fact is, with just lowering springs, it's more 'stock' than many street cars in this regard! ;)

Heh, well...the overall intention is to indicate that it is still stock trailing arm/twist beam rear suspension, as compared to non-stock alternatives such as coilovers, control arms, straight axles...just to name a few ways cars of this type will deviate from the stock suspension to save weight and add $$$.

Fact is, with just lowering springs, it's more 'stock' than many street cars in this regard! ;)

yeah I would have been amazed if you turned a 10.58 with no mods to the rear.

yeah I would have been amazed if you turned a 10.58 with no mods to the rear.
Well, believe it or not...had we left the stock springs on the rear, we'd likely be doing just fine, as they are better suited to controlling squat than the Eibachs. We may put them back on for this very purpose!

Click!

I'm willing to bet with a softer rear end you'll run at least one tenth less than befor.... but we've got a long time to figure that out. suspension plays a bigger role in drag racing than most people think.

I'm willing to bet with a softer rear end you'll run at least one tenth less than before.... but we've got a long time to figure that out. suspension plays a bigger role in drag racing than most people think.
Quite so! We've been very busy just getting the engine systems to play well with each other, and admittedly, we've spent little time on the finer points of chassis development. The car is solid and safe, with a full chrome-moly roll cage, so it's a great starting point. We developed our own lower control arms using components from existing RWD drag technology. It goes straight now, with no drama...so more power could be used :)

One of the next areas of concern would be employing struts and shocks more geared for this kind of use...the stock pieces on the car currently have performed well, but there's room for improvement.

We also need to get some power out of 1st gear, and a larger wastegate may be the best way to tame that big turbo for this...we can't control the boost pressure low enough in 1st.

And a point of contention...wheelie bars to help it 'plant and launch' better. Since it's a car basically for our own enjoyment, and not designed to run any particular racing class, we could play this card...but wheelie bars are typically associated only with pure-race drag FWD's, and our street cred takes a hit if we use them. Plus, should we ever decide to take them off later to actually race at an event, the car's setup will be all wrong.

wow! amazing Bill! :bow:
I'll drop of my LSJ at your place if I can pick it up as a 10 sec car ;)

Great times bill for sure!!!!!

Waiting for your ss/tc parts you have been working on to be available.

My question I have to ask is why it takes 606 wheel hp to go 139mph in a 2400 lb car when this car goes the same mph at 538 wheel hp and goes a heck of alot more on the scales, like 3200+, as per the pics, the stock center console with radio and hvac knobs is still intact. I know et is representative of traction, but mph is for the most part strictly HP.

http://www.rapidmotorsports.com/Hot_Rod.jpg

Just a thought?

Great times bill for sure!!!!!

Waiting for your ss/tc parts you have been working on to be available.

My question I have to ask is why it takes 606 wheel hp to go 139mph in a 2400 lb car when this car goes the same mph at 538 wheel hp and goes a heck of alot more on the scales, like 3200+, as per the pics, the stock center console with radio and hvac knobs is still intact. I know et is representative of traction, but mph is for the most part strictly HP.

http://www.rapidmotorsports.com/Hot_Rod.jpg

Just a thought?

Traction also plays a big factor in MPH.. look at Ralliartist.. he lost something like 2mphs when he went to slicks and had traction on the line, but dropped a couple tenths in the end..

a 1.7 sec 60 ft, while quite impressive, could still be a lot better especially with there power levels, traction is still an issue thus increasing MPH..

Why did you destroke it from a 2.2 to 2.0?

Great times bill for sure!!!!!

Waiting for your ss/tc parts you have been working on to be available.

My question I have to ask is why it takes 606 wheel hp to go 139mph in a 2400 lb car when this car goes the same mph at 538 wheel hp and goes a heck of alot more on the scales, like 3200+, as per the pics, the stock center console with radio and hvac knobs is still intact. I know et is representative of traction, but mph is for the most part strictly HP.

http://www.rapidmotorsports.com/Hot_Rod.jpg

Just a thought?
High powered FWD cars can be a bit deceptive in this area, as their MPH can be affected by a host of factors including 60 foot, efficiency of shifting (time spent with throttle closed), and general ET effectiveness (whcih this car is really just starting to achieve). As a further point, the RPM it's seeing at the finish line in 4th gear is well short of the RPM at which the max of 606 WHP was realized on the dyno.

For comparison purposes, the car with driver weight is 2670 lbs, so for a 139 MPH pass, that calculates to roughly 562 WHP at the finish line...less than 8% off the 606 dyno mark taken at higher RPM. So, when all factors are considered, it begins to make sense! Ryze makes some good points too.

Ideally, we'd have gear ratio selections that would allow us to overcome this RPM-at-the-finish-line limitation. Alas, no such luck...about all we can do is pour more power into it to force it to higher RPM at the finish line!

Why did you destroke it from a 2.2 to 2.0?
This is a common formula applied by GM Racing (as well as GM's OEM forced induction engines). A shorter stroke pays dividends at high power by stiffening the crankshaft (as compared to a longer stroke crank) and also reducing centrigifugal stresses at high RPM. We are essentially exchanging engine displacement for more power via more cycles per minute @ higher RPM. It's a worthy tradeoff for power and durability.

If you want to see this concept pushed to its highest, check out Formula One engines that buzz 18,000 - 19,000 RPM. They have almost no stroke at all!

Congrats on the car and great passes! Also, tell your son welcome to the Air Force!

where;s your 4th gear end? this was mine the other night lol
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/black06g85/IMG_0309.jpg

Fred @ SMG just hit 11.6 @ 124 on his automatic bracket car. He's going back soon for 10s!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPTE3F7pIHo

Good run nonetheless man!

Fred @ SMG just hit 11.6 @ 124 on his automatic bracket car. He's going back soon for 10s!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPTE3F7pIHo

Good run nonetheless man!
Thanks!

Check this run out...this was several years ago with this same car, and our off-the-shelf 20G TurboSystem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3z-dvsBvsw

11.4's @ 125 with our standard production TurboSystem, nothing custom, easy bolt-in, still a full (and heavy!) street car :)

Glad to see Fred making headway with the automatic in his drag car!

where;s your 4th gear end? this was mine the other night lol
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/black06g85/IMG_0309.jpg
I'd bet it's somewhwere in that range...:cssNET:

Bump for an awesome Ecotec Street Car!

Bump 'cuz it's fun!

and bump cause it's a rediculously fast fugly car lol.