If doing the Stryker heads, might as well put in a cam...including headers, catback and probably a cat delete. I'm not against the idea...I'd love to see it done and documented here. Then again, it's easy for me to spend other people's money. 
Add labor to the mods and you're in the $70K range...and what's the point of doing all of that work without adding some form of substantial HP increase?
Try the exposed chord slicks - they are my personal favorite & worked well for me
Try the exposed chord slicks - they are my personal favorite & worked well for me
. They think you're going to just try to drag race them on every straight and can't turn or stop. They'll be shocked!
Hi NI-KA,
Welcome to the track addiction! I think I'm still a bit confused over the fundamental question first: Why this exercise? What do you really want to do? Are you just trying to have the zippiest, coolest track car, or do you ultimately want to compete with them? The ACRX is a spec car, so you'll not be classed with them anywhere. Where do you think you may want to run? NARRA (Viper Days), SCCA, NASA. Look at the rules for where you want to run, then build the car to that standard as best you can. SC or TC for the track is almost never the answer. If you want a track car alone: all the Vipers really have great power, I'd leave the engine alone save for the breathing on both ends. The most improvement can be made in the Gen II's stopping ability. That would be the best investment , also the suspension is a tad soft and takes a while to set before turn in.
Everyone always wants more motor and thinks that it is the answer to going faster. It rarely is. A Gen II with brakes and suspension, is a great car that will really surprise the other marques,
Cheers,
Jim
There are alot of things that can be done but is there any hope that a modded GEN II can keep up with the GEN IV ACR?
QUOTE]
I've been where you're at. Got your PM. There is a lot of great advice already in this thread from people I would assume are more experienced than myself. I got my GTS and myself to the point where I was respectably fast and then promptly bought an ACR after getting to drive one.
A lot of the answer depends on the type of track and habits of the driver.
It goes without saying that you should invest in the slowest thing in the car if you haven't already: the software between the seat and the steering wheel. I ran with a few ACR's at the track where the driver experience alone made up the difference.
You need an upgraded oil pan with swing arm for sure if you are taking any sweeping turns to protect the motor. Before buying my ACR I was running my GTS very regularly and pretty quickly with no problems. The mistake I made from a tracking point of view was putting the Roe on it. Plenty of guys will tell you they run a Roe with no heat problems.......sure. Not in the Texas heat and not going all out for 20 to 30 minutes.
I still have the stock suspension on mine, no aero. She became fussy as I pushed the limits to keep up. I didn't mind because the threshold is predictable and easily corrected. Your comfort level would probably be much higher changing up the suspension and then looking at the aero. Depending on the track gearing can make a huge difference. I run 3.55 gears, big brake kit, aggressive alignment, 305 and 335 18 inch kuhmos with necessary safety equipment. I had the car conservatively tuned to 550 RWHP for the track. I would think this is the RWHP you will need for a larger track if you hope to keep up. I would save any additional HP for last though!
On my home track I have run even with new ACRs with reasonably experienced drivers but one very good driver here in Houston just ran away from me....come to think of it he still does just not as quickly! I will say that 2 weekends into my ACR I was running 7 seconds faster than I ever did in my GTS at Texas World with a lot less effort. Once I drove an ACR I was hooked.
Running with an ACR with your current setup can be done at many tracks if you are a better driver. Be prepared to work on the car more than the gen 4 guys between sessions as well as between weekends if you are going to go the HP route to make up the difference in times. My 2 cents: DO NOT GO FORCED INDUCTION and concentrate on:
1)Good breaking, looks like you covered it.
2)Good rubber/wheels with decreased unsprung weight...the biggest jump in performance for me occurred with this step!
3)Suspension: A good alignment and changing your compression and rebound go a long way.
I WOULD THINK THE AVERAGE FELLA WOULD STOP HERE UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY ********.
4)Think aero at this point if you are really still needing a bump up in performance. You may find if you get more seat time that the average ACR is running the same lap times as you.
5)Get some more ponies NA if you are trying to keep up with experienced driver's in their ACRs.
If you want nitty gritty details just ask. Most of what I did was following the advice of Jon and Russ at Archer. They never steered me wrong. Good luck. Trust me, the only thing better that making an ACR driver sweat by keeping up with them in a gen 2 is passing them!
There are alot of things that can be done but is there any hope that a modded GEN II can keep up with the GEN IV ACR?
QUOTE]
I've been where you're at. Got your PM. There is a lot of great advice already in this thread from people I would assume are more experienced than myself. I got my GTS and myself to the point where I was respectably fast and then promptly bought an ACR after getting to drive one.
A lot of the answer depends on the type of track and habits of the driver.
It goes without saying that you should invest in the slowest thing in the car if you haven't already: the software between the seat and the steering wheel. I ran with a few ACR's at the track where the driver experience alone made up the difference.
You need an upgraded oil pan with swing arm for sure if you are taking any sweeping turns to protect the motor. Before buying my ACR I was running my GTS very regularly and pretty quickly with no problems. The mistake I made from a tracking point of view was putting the Roe on it. Plenty of guys will tell you they run a Roe with no heat problems.......sure. Not in the Texas heat and not going all out for 20 to 30 minutes.
I still have the stock suspension on mine, no aero. She became fussy as I pushed the limits to keep up. I didn't mind because the threshold is predictable and easily corrected. Your comfort level would probably be much higher changing up the suspension and then looking at the aero. Depending on the track gearing can make a huge difference. I run 3.55 gears, big brake kit, aggressive alignment, 305 and 335 18 inch kuhmos with necessary safety equipment. I had the car conservatively tuned to 550 RWHP for the track. I would think this is the RWHP you will need for a larger track if you hope to keep up. I would save any additional HP for last though!
On my home track I have run even with new ACRs with reasonably experienced drivers but one very good driver here in Houston just ran away from me....come to think of it he still does just not as quickly! I will say that 2 weekends into my ACR I was running 7 seconds faster than I ever did in my GTS at Texas World with a lot less effort. Once I drove an ACR I was hooked.
Running with an ACR with your current setup can be done at many tracks if you are a better driver. Be prepared to work on the car more than the gen 4 guys between sessions as well as between weekends if you are going to go the HP route to make up the difference in times. My 2 cents: DO NOT GO FORCED INDUCTION and concentrate on:
1)Good breaking, looks like you covered it.
2)Good rubber/wheels with decreased unsprung weight...the biggest jump in performance for me occurred with this step!
3)Suspension: A good alignment and changing your compression and rebound go a long way.
I WOULD THINK THE AVERAGE FELLA WOULD STOP HERE UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY ********.
4)Think aero at this point if you are really still needing a bump up in performance. You may find if you get more seat time that the average ACR is running the same lap times as you.
5)Get some more ponies NA if you are trying to keep up with experienced driver's in their ACRs.
If you want nitty gritty details just ask. Most of what I did was following the advice of Jon and Russ at Archer. They never steered me wrong. Good luck. Trust me, the only thing better that making an ACR driver sweat by keeping up with them in a gen 2 is passing them!
You are a class act Mike
