Hey guys,

Need some help here

Me and my friend are getting ready for a rematch race. He has an '03 Impala Ls and I have an 03 Monte SS. On paper I should win, but last time we raced he kept pulling real close to me. The only mod I have on my car is a set of flowmasters that were there when I purchased it. Should I be winning, or does he have the advantage?

P.S. I don't think he has any mods on his car, but he picked it up at an auction so anything is possible. ( I don't think it was a retired cruiser)

Thanks in advance!

 

If I recall, the Impala LS has the same drive train as the Monte SS. Only differences might be the gearing on the trans, weight of the vehicles and skill of the drivers. That being said, it should be a pretty even match.

If you want to secure a win, get more seat time and experience and/or begin modding

 

Without more modding, your best bet is to try to shed weight. Take out floor mats, spare tire, maybe back seat, extra stereo equip? The cars are essentially the same, so the little things probably matter. Even those stainless Flowmasters probably add weight and hurt performance more than help it. Pulling the driver side headlight out is easy on these cars and should create a bit of an air ram. Minor things like a new fuel filter, fuel system flush, possibly plugs might help too.

Are you racing at the track? (the only place its safe)

 

I also agree that cars are evenly matched. The mufflers will give you zero performance gain. If you wanna win be the better driver, if you can't do that then time for a intake, downpipe, tune for starters to get a little advantage.... or top swap it or turbo it to leave him with nothing but your exhaust fumes to smell!

 

If you wanted to find out what each car really had you would need to research the VIN number at the Chevy Dealer.
I have driven the Impala SS and the LS, sometimes a giveaway is if the Impala has a Factory rear deck Spoiler I think these are a Wing style, Buckets and console and leather interior are an indicator also. The LS I drove got very good gas mileage, indicator of Tach RPM's were under 2k at 75 mph.
Back in my day I had a manual 4 speed with a posi rear axel. I always redlined it when I did the shift. You may want to manual shift this race as well, practice, practice.
All the advice, the other fellows have given is great. Best to go to the Track and race.
Have fun and stay safe.

 

Never try to manually upshift the car when racing.... you will never "out shift" the computer! Doing this will most likely cause you to hit Rev limiter and be slower....

 

x2, throw it in 3 when you want to "drive aggressively". Leave it in D for all other normal driving.

 

When roll racing you can shift it to 2nd for like a 40mph roll race that way when you punch it you don't have the delay waiting for the trans to shift and it's also easier on the trans to do this vs having a wot downshift. But if you do this as soon as you punch the gas shift it to 3rd don't wait and try to time the shift.