Barely lost to an Olds Alero

wonderl33t · March 24, 2003

My buddy's aunt died a while back an he inherited her 2000 Alero sedan with like 12k on it, a good deal for him. It has a pretty good V-6 engine, so we decided to race. The first race I burned out and he beat me, the second race was a lot closer but he beat me on the high-end, pulling away at 65mph, and almost a full length ahead of me at near 90mph.

This was a while back, I since added a K&N FIPK II to my truck (4.8L reg cab sierra). We raced again, and instead of being perfectly tied until around 65 or 70mph, my truck would lunge out ahead of his car right before each shift (I have auto trans) but again around 65 to 70mph he started accelerating faster and ended up ahead of me. I thought I would beat him with my K&N but go figure!

The moral is, don't underestimate those GM granny cars with V-6's! A granny car owns braggin rights over my GMC!

BlueRado · March 25, 2003

Interesting. I have a similar combo, except for the '03 5.3L. I always figured the 5.3 would stomp the Alero V-6, especially on the low-end. Sounds true, even w/ the 4.8, which is no slouch. I never thought of the Alero as being that quick, but it does have a pretty good mid-range kick starting around 3200 rpms that I've used successfully against some smarta$$es w/ their ricer poser cars.

I'd love to do a 1/4 mile w/ my 5.3L and 4.10 rearend against the Alero, but will need to get someone else to do it as the wifey will just look at me like I just shot her mother, or something.

wonderl33t · March 25, 2003

Oh I'm sure your 5.3 with 4.10 gears would take him, but I just have the stock gears with nothing but an FIPK. The Alero is 100% stock, it just has a good engine... Also it is a car and cars are typically much quicker than trucks. He takes me off the line, then I catch up after a few seconds, then we're dead even to around 70, then he pulls away... same deal every time.

The SPEEDY · March 26, 2003

Him leaving you around 65 has a lot to do with what I like to call the brick wall affect. Its like pushing a peace of plywood the the air, gets harder and harder the faster you get.

toddoughty · March 26, 2003

Big weight difference in the two vehicles guys. Not to mention the aerodynamics at higher speeds.

wonderl33t · March 26, 2003

Yeah so basically if my truck was lowered, I would have a little better chance, but having Denali rims and SUV tires on stock ride height kills my chances of a decent high-end.