Any Motorheads besides me?

[AcadieLibre]

Well I am now on my second Dodge Ram and I had done a lot of upgrades but only had the 4.7 L since it would be a year before they came out with the HEMI'S. Now I have one, done some work, dynoed it at 403 HP. I decided today that isn't enough.

So I went shopping (ONLINE OF COURSE), decided to put headers on, two catalytic convertors with a new real dual exhaust. Then I found a Cold Air Intake that boost me 30 HP. And I am buying a new tuner so I tweak my truck hoping when all is said and done I am pushing close if not over 500hp. Its AWD /4x4 so I should be able to take it to the track and see what the beast can do. It is my winter project once I can work on it, but I Have a great friend who would love to help me with it.

THe CAI is first on my list, but I think I may have to go to the states to get it. THe exhaust is a bit of an issue, not sure how aggressive I want it to sound, probably a lot And it all depends on the weather I have a place to work just no heating. And with the Programmer I can tone down the performance anytime I want, won't always have it full blown out. SO if I am not better and I need I will just do it in the spring and start paying for parts now.

So any other oil leaching evil motorheads out there?

[Fortytwo]

I'd consider myself to be quite the petrolhead. But since I'm european, I don't get overly excited over bhp's. Although an American V8 does sound really sweet I must admit...

But I'm assuming your Ram is optimised for the road and not offroad. Cause a CAI doesn't really work well with lot's of dust and dirt. But on the road they can do really sweet things for your performance...

btw: I'm a landrover guy myself...

[AcadieLibre]

I go off roading but mostly gravel types, back rural dirt roads. Mostly I like to drive fast and smoooth paved roads, I had the speed limiter off my last truck and I hit 207 k's an hour and I am hoping to beat that speed next summer.

This time is will be on a track not the east side of Montreal, which is like the wild west of speed demons. Me and Jetta VRI blew by some cop at 180 and he didn't even turn his engine. I am an American V8 Muscle car person. What I grew up with, hot rods, race cars, and all that other fun stuff. I love Land Rovers, just not tall enough inside I found, and it doesn't have a HEMI.

Last summer was the first I didn't drag race, I usually try to get in a few runs but the insurance companies are cracking down on using our street insurance for drag racing. So I will look into it, but i can get use of a track and insurance is not a problem as I am alone on the track.

I always wanted a HEMI and always liked pick up trucks, only in my wildest dreams would they merge the two, just like being in heaven. And HP and Torque matter a lot for me. Just what I like and we don't use BHP anymore, not accurate enough. The motor I have is 5.7 L or for others 345 CI. I like the AWD/4x4 I go out of the city a lot and many tmes tons of snow, and me and my wife do Blizzard Runs, we see a Blizzard, find out where it is the worse and go for a drive there.

[Barefoot]

Racing is still one of my passions even though I’ve not put hard earned money into a project like that for nearly twenty-five years. I still make any event at the local tracks when the Pro-Mods are there just because they are so damn fast (3.90’s in an eighth mile).
Had the chance to attend the inaugural running at Z-Max in Charlotte last year and it was the first time I had ever seen the “big boys” of drag racing. Unbelievable. When those cars leave the line, it’s like you’ve reached down and grabbed 110v current. Every organ in your body feels the vibration that those massive amounts of hp create. I went back again this year and they had cars running on all four lanes at the same time. Damnit, boy!

Oh, and I have an ’05 Ram with the 5.7L Hemi.

[Michaelaw]

Well one thing I'm noticing AL is that the need for speed must be well in your blood. I mean here you are still not set right from your last waltz with death and you've got the toolbox out already to construct your next four wheeled F-18 I loved cars up until I was probably 25 or so, they were my passion! Now I just sort of see then as a necessary evil and a really silly, uneconomical way to get around. I now find myself wishing the "Star Trek" transporter were a reality. Still...I understand your drive and passion because I had the fever too moons ago

[AcadieLibre]

Oh, and I have an ’05 Ram with the 5.7L Hemi.

I see a man with fabulous taste.

[Xenos]

I'm a gear head as well. I have turned my ways to making big power out of small motors as of late though. I have naturally aspirated Ford Focus that is putting out 173hp at the front wheels.

I've been part of a few projects on the Focus' with 3 of them being over 300 hp and one killer that dyno'd 506hp at the wheels. That one is turboed and is a daily driver, just downtuned for the most part.

I do miss my V8's though. I've been mainly a Ford guy all my life, owning 3 Chev's in between the various others.

My favourite though was my 90 5.0 Mustang LX. Bought it for $3800 off a guy who said he couldn't be othered fixing it. It needed a tuneup... I strapped a Whipple SC on her and turned her loose. Never dynoed it but I consistently walked all over my buddies 84 IROC that was dynoed at 410whp.

I'm sorry to hear that own a Dodge my man...

[AcadieLibre]

So men who enjoy women are girlie men? Wow have bouts of cognitive dissonance much. That is 10 years old and some homophobe decided to spice it up I guess since then. I am starting to doubt evolution, everywhere I turn lately the simpletons are multiplying.

[Xenos]

I just had to get in a little bit of Mopar ribbing. I actually can't fault the Dodge trucks at all, other than I find the seats very uncomfortable, personally. My bro in law has a loaded 3/4 ton Cummins and even with the best seating package in leather that you can get in the Dodge trucks I'm severely uncomfortable within about an hour and a half. Yet either Ford or GM seating I'm good with.

Good luck with your project over the winter. One thing about CAI's though, the gains they advertise, such as 30hp in your case) are total gains with cai, header, high flow cats, cat back exhaust plus tuning. Since you're doing the cat back and doing extensive tuning you should see pretty good numbers.

Have you done a baseline on a dyno at stock or just going off the dealer spec sheet for numbers. I find it's always a really good idea to have a baseline to work off. Spec sheet numbers are at the crank, as I'm sure you know, and WHP is usally 15-20% less than that. If you're looking for good speed for a quarter mile, another way to really improve power to the wheels is to convert to an aluminum drive shaft depending on your power. Also if you have a 2 piece shaft as well, if you are able to change to a 1 piece you'll see good gains. We had a guy at my former workplace who put an aluminum shaft in and shaved 4/10ths of a second off his 1/4mile. Once he got over 800whp though he had to swap back to steel. The aluminum shaft looked like a twisted up McDonalds straw after about 3 runs.

Have fun.

[Bambi]

I used to own a Dodge Ram 2500-king cab and a 8 foot box. Loved it. Broke my heart when I had to sell it.

Now I own a Nissan Xterra and it pulls my european style horse trailer very nicely. I quite love the features on my Nissan.