LS1 V8 in 951 Racecar - pics, video and impressions
03-08-2005, 12:33 AM
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LS1 V8 in 951 Racecar - pics, video and impressions
After racing a spec-944 and feeling how great the handling was, I was just dying to put some more NA power under the hood, without hurting the sweet 944 balance. Since the LS1 is an all aluminum block and weighs at about the same as the 951 engine/turbo/intercooler etc., it looked like it would be a killer race car.
We just recently had our first street test drives then track weekend out at the Las Vegas Motorspeedway with the POC. Here's a video that my friend Jeff (future street LS1 951 owner) took and editted of the street drives, while he's also working on editting the in-car track video:
http://www.renegadehybrids.com/LS-1/...ersionkit.html
(click on the "video" link)
Below I'm attaching some cool before and after pics, which show its transformation from a fire damaged 951 to a helluva fun V8 951.
One of the coolest things was when we corner weighed the car at the track, and with a half tank of gas, it weighed in at 2563lbs.. With a half tank being about 70lbs. of gas, that would bring our dry weight to 2463lbs, plus the front/rear balance was awesome. With the half tank, it was:
49.5% front / 50.5% rear
The car still has all glass windows and stock body panels, so there's a good bit more weight that can be shed.
With this balance, the car maintained the very forgiving and predictable 944 handling characteristics, just with a few hundred extra ft./lbs. of torque at my disposal, at any time. I wrote a bit more in the "testimonial" section of the above link.
Our next step will be to set up the suspension with the Moton double adjustable, remote resevoir coilovers...stay tuned...good fun to come...
Steve
ps - thanks Renegade for building me such a sweet racecar!
We just recently had our first street test drives then track weekend out at the Las Vegas Motorspeedway with the POC. Here's a video that my friend Jeff (future street LS1 951 owner) took and editted of the street drives, while he's also working on editting the in-car track video:
http://www.renegadehybrids.com/LS-1/...ersionkit.html
(click on the "video" link)
Below I'm attaching some cool before and after pics, which show its transformation from a fire damaged 951 to a helluva fun V8 951.
One of the coolest things was when we corner weighed the car at the track, and with a half tank of gas, it weighed in at 2563lbs.. With a half tank being about 70lbs. of gas, that would bring our dry weight to 2463lbs, plus the front/rear balance was awesome. With the half tank, it was:
49.5% front / 50.5% rear
The car still has all glass windows and stock body panels, so there's a good bit more weight that can be shed.
With this balance, the car maintained the very forgiving and predictable 944 handling characteristics, just with a few hundred extra ft./lbs. of torque at my disposal, at any time. I wrote a bit more in the "testimonial" section of the above link.
Our next step will be to set up the suspension with the Moton double adjustable, remote resevoir coilovers...stay tuned...good fun to come...
Steve
ps - thanks Renegade for building me such a sweet racecar!
03-08-2005, 02:10 AM
#5
Burning Brakes
The article says something to the effect of "the horsepower that you 944 and 944 turbo owners need." I wouldn't, as a 951 owner, say that I really desire more power than the 2.5L in my car provides...plus its a unique, cool motor that uses technology instead of brute force to accomplish its goals.
03-08-2005, 02:24 AM
#6
Nordschleife Master
Originally Posted by porschefig
what are you plans for a transmission?
03-08-2005, 02:26 AM
#7
Race Director
I cant stand this conversion, manily because the angry V8 944 guys in the other forum (whatever its name is) are mostly knuckle draggers. They seem to think the 2.5 will only ever make 250HP with 15K worth of mods. Well, many guys have over 400RWHP with less than 10K in the engine. The torque on the V8 will rip the tranny part in quick time.
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03-08-2005, 02:28 AM
#8
Race Director
Originally Posted by Lemming
I was under the impression that a 951 tranny could handle LS1 power? I just hope he has an LSD in that car.
03-08-2005, 02:50 AM
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Please understand from the beginning, that I have owned and love both NA and turbo 944s. I have great respect for what the turbos can do, in street trim or on the track and they certainly can put down some very impressive power.
---
We're going to run the stock 951 tranny and see how it holds up. If something breaks, then, I'll see what needs to be done to strengthen that specific area. I expect that the LS1 torque will put more stress on the tranny than the turbo 951 engine, but I also know of at least a couple track-raced 944 turbos running over 400rwhp with no problems on the stock tranny. That's a lot more power and probably more torque too, than a stock LS1.
I'm not into drag launches, so I think the 951 tranny will be good for this conversion.
From my research talking to guys actually running these 400+rwhp cars (Duane Dement at Vision (482rwhp) and others), the CV joints are the major weeklink when big power is added. These can be upgraded with the GKN units, which I plan on doing.
Steve
---
We're going to run the stock 951 tranny and see how it holds up. If something breaks, then, I'll see what needs to be done to strengthen that specific area. I expect that the LS1 torque will put more stress on the tranny than the turbo 951 engine, but I also know of at least a couple track-raced 944 turbos running over 400rwhp with no problems on the stock tranny. That's a lot more power and probably more torque too, than a stock LS1.
I'm not into drag launches, so I think the 951 tranny will be good for this conversion.
From my research talking to guys actually running these 400+rwhp cars (Duane Dement at Vision (482rwhp) and others), the CV joints are the major weeklink when big power is added. These can be upgraded with the GKN units, which I plan on doing.
Steve
03-08-2005, 03:15 AM
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Originally Posted by NZ951
Its the torque that kills it. Especially in the NA's.
Who cares what motor is in a car when it catches 3rd and lights up the rears?? Personally, I like too much torque for most gears; I also like the burble from the tailpipes!
Good job, guys... keep it up!
03-08-2005, 05:13 AM
#12
Race Director
"Who cares what motor is in a car when it catches 3rd and lights up the rears?? Personally, I like too much torque for most gears; I also like the burble from the tailpipes!"
Remember also that the stress on the tranny is related to the weight of the car. This determines how much resistance the tyres face when trying to spin and accelerate the car. A 2500lb car like Steve's will place less load on the tranny compared to a 3000lb 951 with the same torque (because the car will accelerate faster).
Remember also that the stress on the tranny is related to the weight of the car. This determines how much resistance the tyres face when trying to spin and accelerate the car. A 2500lb car like Steve's will place less load on the tranny compared to a 3000lb 951 with the same torque (because the car will accelerate faster).
03-08-2005, 12:36 PM
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Originally Posted by NZ951
I cant stand this conversion, manily because the angry V8 944 guys in the other forum (whatever its name is) are mostly knuckle draggers. They seem to think the 2.5 will only ever make 250HP with 15K worth of mods. Well, many guys have over 400RWHP with less than 10K in the engine. The torque on the V8 will rip the tranny part in quick time.
I personally prefer being referred to as a mullet, but knuckle dragger is fine too. When I'm not driving my S2, I like the looks of the front end of a S2/951, especially in the rear view mirror of my mullet, errr i mean goat from Oz. 
Knuckle dragger. what a chuckle. You can call me ray... you can call me mullet, you can call me knuckle dragger, just dont call me.
If I had the patience, putting a V8 in a 944 would be my pet project. I love the sound and feel of a nice V8, combined with the 944s handling. What an awesome car. Congrats.
03-08-2005, 12:44 PM
#15
Hitsquad Ninja
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not to hijack the thread or anything, but speaking of car weight, how much does my n/a weigh? under the hood it says 3500 lbs...but that can't be right can it? i always thought 944's weighed much less than that.