Playing in the Streets, what's it take these days?

[99StockGT]

So I've got a question, and I mean this in all seriousness. What does it take to play on the streets these days? Back when CR was first rocking and rolling a 400whp car was haulin' and could put away pretty much anything from a roll or a stoplight ... now'a'days not so much. We see, work on, build all sorts of rides but how many of them really go out and do what we all USED to do? Do people really smash on these 1,000+ HP cars on the street or are they mostly just trophy cars and bragging rights? Or ways to hide your ill-gotten lootz?

 

Full disclosure I have a old school project I'm building this winter with the intent to make an old school muscle car with some newschool pieces for power adders/control and it gets me thinking, will there be people to play with? There are a Facebook group or two designed for "meets" but how/where do the big dogs communicate and play?

[Not Brian]

Rule #1 of Race Club

Don't talk about Race Club

[zeitgeist57]

Whatever you want to run, you won't keep up with JP.

 

Thank Cthulhu that he's all the way up in Cleveland.

 

#literbike

[SpaceGhost]

I can vouch that a 435 HP Mustang is the new Yaris....

[Cordell]

There's an "in" crowd and they have cars that'll run single digit times, I don't stay in touch with those guys because I don't have anything to play on that level. The rest of the people around Columbus are hit or miss. I'd go out more if there was a good chance at finding a decent race but that doesn't work out well for me so it's easy for me to just not street race anymore.

[EssFo]

If you're not running mid 9's you won't even be in the same ballpark as the "real" street cars. 1000+HP cars everywhere it seems, and that's around Dayton/Cinci. I'm sure Cbus/Cleaveland has just as many if not more.

 

We were just having that conversation the other day. Myself and a few others that have mid 700HP+ cars aren't competitive whatsoever on the street compared to others around. That's sad.

 

Times have changed that's for sure.

[Red Beard]

Well you know my ride, it may not be all that fast in today's standards

but it is still plenty of fun to play around with highway pulls and enough to get in trouble lol. Seems like if its a spur of the moment, spirited jaunt with the guy next to you at the light then 300-450hp is plenty to play. But for those who are really setting up races for money 600-700+hp seems like the minimum bid anymore.

[vonrottes]

I don't get the whole street racing thing... I follow the dudes on the fb groups and joke around that I'm going to call the cops on them in mexico.

 

Sure giving a guy a run on the highway just for fun because they think you don't have shit. but actually going out to "mexico" and racing guys on the street... nah fam.

I've been arrested, not fun.... plus a reckless ops would kill my chances of going driver at work.

[10phone2]

I don't get the whole street racing thing... I follow the dudes on the fb groups and joke around that I'm going to call the cops on them in mexico.

 

Sure giving a guy a run on the highway just for fun because they think you don't have shit. but actually going out to "mexico" and racing guys on the street... nah fam.

I've been arrested, not fun.... plus a reckless ops would kill my chances of going driver at work.

 

I'm on the same boat. I got tired of getting hauled to jail, impounded cars, etc. I do miss the midnight runs and sliding around corners, but I also now enjoy being able to drive without worry of your car being marked for trouble. Also, losing an 5k+ engine (and thats nothing compared to the heavy hitters) for a freeway pull just isn't worth it when the money isn't there.

[Not Brian]

I don't get the whole street racing thing...

Why are you here? Keep your 90 horsepower shitbucket in the laughable "614 car scene" facebook group then.

[vonrottes]

Why are you here? Keep your 90 horsepower shitbucket in the laughable "614 car scene" facebook group then.

 

 

Lol that was a quick edit 😂

The 614 group is a fucking joke, every Honda owner sucking each other's dick Because Honda life bro no homo.

 

Get a little loud and papa Danny gets all mad and calls you out in a live stream :gabe:

[BStowers023]

If it takes 1000+hp to be competitive these days, that doesn't even sound fun. It sounds extremely expensive. I'm glad I'm out of that life now but i will admit, it was a lot of fun.

[Mojoe]

500+ whp has never been more usable on the street than it is today. Suspension and drive train, with engine management options simply create the ability for usable power when you want it. Your options are to pay big numbers, make it yourself, and hope you have the skill to control it all.

 

Street racing; meeting up and running other people for $ or fun, might be what you mean when asking what it takes to play in the streets. I'm more a fan of a capable car with a reasonable amount of power that can fair well in the random highway encounter. Now, if you take your beast of a car out and troll for kills, of course that would work. A run in with someone on a daily drive is just more fun for me, so long as there is no traffic issue.

 

800+ whp and light weight, or 4 digits with most cars just seems to be the normal. 300-500hp is off the showroom floor, and just the platform for people to start their builds now. 400-800 gets respect at C&C or other meets. But, I think to be in the game is far more $ than I care to part with to get a power level that is reliant.

[TurboRust]

"its above my paygrade pal"

 

 

in all seriousness i've said for a couple years now my next nice car will be an automatic vett. maybe i'm just getting old, but drop the bitch in drive still make 400ish whp with minor bolt ons and enjoy it.

[Geeto67]

we live in an era where street legal pro-mod cars are a thing. Let that sink in a second....this is now a "street" car:

 

http://www.speednik.com/files/2015/12/2015-12-02_21-11-26.jpg

 

It's not just about HP anymore, it's chassis and being able to put it down. If you want to be serious you are looking at a pro-stock/pro-street level equipment at a minimum. There are some small tire single digit cars but they aren't big fat Pontiacs, they are 2800lb fox mustang notchbacks or Sn95s making 4 digit hp and already bumping against the limits of the platform. With a backhalved or a tube chassis big tire car you could start out in the 600hp-800hp neighborhood and keep bumping up from there.

 

now...if your goal is just to go out and scare mustang GTs with a full size, full bodied, full interior musclecar, depending on weight I would say you need to be in the 500hp neighborhood.

[Miller]

I see two schools of thought here: those that drive casually and don't back down from a friendly challenge along the way and those that go out of their way to find organized street racing like the OP was asking.

 

For the later, it takes 700+ or an absurdly light platform with similar power to weight.

 

Former, I drive A LOT between NE cbus to Downtown and I rarely encounter anything worth a damn. And nothing has stepped to my 500ish hp to date.

 

 

Columbus lol.

[Geeesammy]

700+ minimum

[wagner]

It's all about putting the power down to the ground. If you can get 500-700 to hook and book you will be in the game if your combo is right.

 

There are some guys out there with the big lumber, but like Scott said, you have to be in that group to run with them.

 

The Cash Days deal at Pacemakers might be something you want to look at. Depending on when things kick off we might grudge my car up there a bit until we have to test for the magazine and light the boards.

 

If you're looking for races this site isn't it anymore, most of those who actually race set stuff up on Facebook in private groups or chats. Too many fucktards and trolls here to get anything real setup.

[The Other Nick]

It is crazy how fast a street car has become. I’ve been 5.90s in the 1/8 spraying. That was barely enough to be competitive this year. We had a guy come out with a pro mod s10 and was trying to street race it this year. Even ran the local cash days.

[BStowers023]

When I lived in MS, I felt like I would encounter a random race at least once a week on the street running errands. In Columbus, I literally have never had someone try to race me. Not once. I think it's because of two things. Mississippi isn't real strict on street racing like Columbus and being warm all year around with no salt on the road makes it more practical to own a 500+whp "fun" car.

 

You have to really love street racing or have a lot of expendable income to be willing to put $100k+ into a car that you trailer to a race spot. I'll take a 400-600hp car that I can drive everyday, sounds good and throws me back in my seat when I want it to.

[Geeesammy]

Gto will need 1200 to play lol

[99StockGT]

Man I need to start paying attention here when I'm not randomly at my desk in the shop! Lots to read and respond to!

 

So, yes my original comment was about where the big dogs actually communicate/play now since clearly CR has moved on from that era. Which is fine, just curious.

 

614 Car Scene is... yeah... trash talking kids with cars stuck together with bubblegum for the most part. I made one post in there last year with my RT/TT fueling up at the pump wanting to see who would be out to play that night and got a "Nice 4x4" comment, followed by a "That's some sexy wheel gap" comment, then a whole lot of noise. Granted its not the fastest thing out there in a 1/4 but in an 1/8 or stoplight to stoplight it'll hold its own against damn near anything.

 

Freeway fun is 80% of what I get involved in these days, but even that has dropped down a ton in the last decade. Fewer and fewer cars/drivers are interested anymore, too busy checking their Facebook feed or Tindr matches while driving. Working in the Dublin/Plain City area there are more than a few chances to make a little pull against some nice stuff but the typical "loop battles" that were common in the past seem to be very much IN the past.

 

One of the reasons I left CR years ago was the whole marked car/jail/tickets/ass fucking situation I was trying to avoid. Hence my several year disappearance from CR and the stealth going into storage. In that time, the east side Hoosters meets where we would all be able to hang out talk shit then go play have obviously died, replaced with... late night shady parking lot get together with people who don't have cars/money? Yuck.

 

On the Pro-Mod/"Street Car" subject, anything I can't get in, run over to Wendys, and roll through the drive through is completely uninteresting to me. Tube chassis, fiberglass/carbon bodies, plastic "windows" or nets... that's not something street driven and not at all fun to me.

 

Now, I will fully admit the cost of entry is almost insane these days to get to where you will be competitive on the track but is it REALLY that bad on the street? Are those 1000+ HP TT LSwhatevers actually being street driven and hooking up? I've seen story after story of the Hellcat twins barely running low 10s or scratching into the 9s and that's on spray/pulley/tune on a prepped track. Surely they aren't doing better than high 10s low 11s on the street?

 

550-600 all motor HP and somewhere north of 650tq is easily attainable and going into a 3300lb chassis. With a good suspension setup a whole lot of barely street legal tire, and a rather decent driver I have to believe that would still be competitive on the street. Or am I completely out in left field and shoveling money into a campfire?

[wagner]

Any form of racing is shoveling money into a campfire, it's just a matter of how big do you want the fire to be and how long do you want it to burn.

[99StockGT]

Any form of racing is shoveling money into a campfire, it's just a matter of how big do you want the fire to be and how long do you want it to burn.

 

Well yes I get that, and I don't expect to get anything more than 10 cents on every dollar I spend on the build back if/when I sell it. Question is will such a thing be competitive in the racing world we see now, or am I spending 5 digits on a motor build to finish in 9th out of 10?

[Red Beard]

I think you would be a bit higher than 9th out of 10. The bigger issue would be finding the other 9 contenders lol.