1987 Grand National Stocker?

[Jared Jordan]

'89 I/SA Firebird. Turbo car. Ran D or E/FIA when they had those classes. Was always stupid fast. I think it went 11.2's in I/SA way back in the early 2000's. Was never a threat in eliminations because she had to wait an hour for the turbo to spool up.

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by Jared Jordan

'89 I/SA Firebird. Turbo car. Ran D or E/FIA when they had those classes. Was always stupid fast. I think it went 11.2's in I/SA way back in the early 2000's. Was never a threat in eliminations because she had to wait an hour for the turbo to spool up.

Yes..Forgot about that combo..That was after the Regal ,I believe.
Fred Vetter had one too. GN drivetrain in a 'Bird. Those things were a handful.

[stage1scott]

Originally Posted by Jared Jordan

'89 I/SA Firebird. Turbo car. Ran D or E/FIA when they had those classes. Was always stupid fast. I think it went 11.2's in I/SA way back in the early 2000's.

Was never a threat in eliminations because she had to wait an hour for the turbo to spool up.

this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^- at every Buick club race I attended over 25 years of GS ownership and drag racing, NO NA 455 guy ever worried about facing any of the turbos in eliminations. The lag/spool thing, no matter how fast they were, made them a lame cripple at the line. I am certain modern electronics would help, hard to say how much.

[GTX JOHN]

Mark is correct on 1984 Buick N/SA.
I bought the car and raced it a few times.
Sold it to a Arizona buyer and have not seen it for a while.

If you lifted and got back on it near the finish......It would not
boost up until you were at the time slip booth.

To stage it you would have to keep spooling it right thru leaving water box
to get boost up. You would have to press the brake petal like King
Kong.......I knew when to stage it....My socks were WET ( I will not tell
you why )!

It was great for setting Records......Not much good in Eliminations!

[Rory McNeil]

I stand corrected, I just remember that the Gallinas had both cars at Mission years ago, when his turbo V6 became the first S/Stocker to record a 7 second ET.
As for the Turbo Buicks being slow to spool up, in the early-mid 90s, we had a group of about 10 Grand Nationals that always raced and pitted together at Mission, they called their group "The Black Plague". They would start loading the engine against the brakes before the first stage light, and often spent a minute or so slowly creeping in to light the bottom bulb, at WOT. I could only imagine how hot their ATF got during that! I have not seen any of them since NHRA implemented the 7 second staging program.

[bigshow2966]

I had a buddy that raced a GN in Super Pro. When Autostart came around they used to kill him at the tree. Everybody learned to go in first and he couldn't get it on boost in time to leave.

[ALMACK]

When those Turbo Regals were running, were 2 steps allowed in Stock ?

[Chad Rhodes]

considering the current crop of stand alone fuel systems (computers), getting one to build boost and cut a light would not be an issue. The hp factor is a bit high now, needs a few off. However considering turbo technology and NHRA's ability to tech a turbo beyond inlet housing size and general appearance, it may not matter.

[GTX JOHN]

This was long before I started running a two step!

[JRyan]

Chad I think you nailed it right on the head there. Both with the newer stand alone fuel systems and with NHRA's ability to check and enforce the car. It would probably still be a pretty good combo.

Rick