E30 vs. The World

[Meta]

I tried finding the info elsewhere but had no luck.

Forgoing what would be required to produce the target power figures, I want to hear from people about what output an E30 would require to, as closely as possible, match other cars. I am thinking of it as a little hit list. I know there are a wild number of factors that go into this and it will make the results somewhat subjective, but based on personal experience what does one of our ol' girls need under the hood to put a bumper in front of:

E36, E46, E9X, F3X M3's for internal reference..
plus whatever else you've given a good run. All in the spirit of curious fun, please don't take it too seriously!

PS: I'm building a (estimated) 300hp supercharged M20B28, and am looking ahead to finding some well matched competition. Whaddya think I'll be okay poking at?

[stonea]

Your post is kind of hard to read, but are you wondering what cars you could beat with a 300hp e30? Are you looking at drag races, autox times, track days? What suspension are you running? Any weight reduction? A lot also depends on driving, I've seen stock M20 e30s beat e36 M3s in autox because of the driver.

[agent]

Do you live your life a quarter mile at a time?

[Ether-D]

Do you live your life a quarter mile at a time?

I need that tshirt...

[2mAn]

Power /weight ratio will tell you a lot

[ST1G]

power /weight ratio will tell you a lot

f=ma

[b*saint]

e=mc^2

[Meta]

lets figure a roughly stock weight but not necessarily drag times, if i found a e46 m3 on the highway, do i need 250hp or 300 to take him? does weight even matter once up to speed or at that point is hp just hp? like i said theres lots of variables but I was just looking to get ballpark figures of what an e30 needs for power to keep up with other cars.

example:
e30 @ 300hp > e46m3
or
e30 @ 300hp = boosted enzo :P

[Meta]

as it stands, in my stock eta I kept up with a 4.6l mustang. he had the legs on me for sure but not so much as would stop me from catching up in the bends and through mild traffic.

So like I said, not so serious, just whatever experience you have.. I dont think I'd ever be able to lay it out on completely scientific, apples-to-apples terms. Not that I'm looking for exaggerations but these conversations are usually aided with beer if that helps you come down to my level here.

Ether-D i know you said your supercharged build was roughly on par with a S50, right?

None of you have some good stories to relate here?

Like...
"My 325is with XXXhp runs really close to a corvette z06 on track but gets edged out on the strip"

Anywho just thought it would be a fun and mildly informative thread for people trying to decide on power goals.

[agent]

I pass 997s, GTRs and Z06s on the track, and it has almost nothing to do with horsepower.

[DesertBMW]

lets figure a roughly stock weight but not necessarily drag times, if i found a e46 m3 on the highway, do i need 250hp or 300 to take him? does weight even matter once up to speed or at that point is hp just hp? like i said theres lots of variables but I was just looking to get ballpark figures of what an e30 needs for power to keep up with other cars.

Regardless of how much power you can make under the hood E30 is inferior when compared to newer cars. E30 has inferior rear suspension for any type of racing, you have no room for wide tires, it is a boxy non aerodynamic car, has poor weight distribution especially if you add more junk on top of that M20. E30 is more of a fun to drive car. If you want to race go with E36/E46

[estoguy]

What Meta and Agent say are totally true. HP isn't everything.

Jim Levie has the best quote on his sig: The car makes it possible, but the driver makes it happen.

[Meta]

I do not mean to sound ungrateful for the input but I feel like I'm not getting my point/question across at all. I know there are better cars for racing and that the driver can completely change the outcome, as well as weight, suspension, etc.

This was intended to be a source for people deciding how much power they desired from a prospective build. In my case, I'm thinking about shooting for 300hp as I mentioned in the OP. I'm trying to find comparable performance references so I can decide if I will be happy with this target or if I'll wish I had sprung for 400 or 500. Having an idea of what an otherwise stock e30 (strictly for the sake of simplicity in this discussion) performs similarly to, would allow myself and hopefully others to save some cash by not over or underbuilding.

I'm really hoping this doesn't continue to get butchered too badly, I thought it would yield some more relevant information.

[digger]

if you want to take on modern stuff then id aim for 400 flywheel in a 2900-3000lb stock e30 with driver, full fuel, some shit in the trunk etc thats enough to trap 115-118mph

[whitebulat22]

Also a general 1/4 mile conversion factor is 8-10 lbs = 1 hp, same traction, total drag and all that. So the 50/50 weighted 3000 lb 300 hp e30 should run with 3400 lb 340 hp ish e46. 550 hp 2500 lb e30 vs 3500 lb 650 hp zo6 will be a race but it needs to be prepped to put the power down and they would need to start at highway speeds. There's tons of boosted e30s with more power than the zo6 on youtube and most of them are slower 0-60 than stock because that whole run is just a burnout.