Just finished an interesting read in the latest SCC (or maybe last months). They were talking about Saturn ION that smashed the G/Blown class for the land speed record. It was previous owned by a Vortech equipped Civic and was set in '01. The ION destroyed the old record by about 30 MPH.

What was interesting is that (besides the GM backed program) they used a beefed up version of the run of the mill 4T65E transaxle. For those who are not aware, this is the same transmission used in most of the FWD V6 engined GM vehicles including the GTP. I knew it was already stout but this goes beyond what I expected.

They also went on to say that it was being used in their drag cars. This makes sense as an automatic, when properly set up, can be better for drag racing. Particularly when getting into the professional series.

Then the last part struck me as truly interesting. There is currently an adapter plate being made up specifically for the Honda K-Series motor for use in competition. Since these transaxles are so widely available and inexpensive I wouldn't be too surprised to see them campaigned in a Honda soon.

 

RSX-S with a GM tranny used for drag duties. ummmmm.... interesting

 

that civic did like, what, 201? the funny thing is, 201mph is faster than a Civic would fall from a plane hahahaha

 

Nope, it ran 184. The ION's top was in the 214 range.

 

Also of note was the approaching GM Performance has taken with the Sport Compact market. They are essentially testing everything and coming up with stronger parts and adding them to their catalog. So someone could build their own competitive sport compact drag car from a GM catalog.

They took the stock Ecotec 2.0 engine and dumped nitrous in it in increasing quantities, while on the dyno, until it broke. They found that the engine could make up to 375 HP (didn't say if crank or wheel, I suspect crank as it probably was an engine dyno) all day long. But after this is when the rods started giving.

I know the success of Honda in the drag world of the mid to late 90's was due to individual engineering. The racers and supporting teams tested and came up with their own recipe with little to no support from Honda NA. Now the tides are turning with GM or DC factory sponsored teams; this leaves Honda falling behind or being left. I suspect this will continue as I do not see Honda ever jumping in with full sponsorship although it would be nice to see. Particularly with GM Performance and the Mopar groups making such great strides.

 

one of my close friends is an engineer at GM and he works on all this special project stuff...he's got lots of neat little stories to share...

A lot moreso than when he was engineering the presidential limosines anyways...

I'll see what he knows about this

 

i love that gm 4 speed, my buddy has a camaro with the 4 speed and he runs the shit out of the 6 speed guys all day long when he was stock. Also those trannies can take tons of power and not fail.

 

The Camaro would be running the 4L60E. The 4T65E is for FWD vehicles; T for transverse, L for longitudinal. But both are still stout transmissions.