Caliber vs Regal

[iTurbo]

So I've decide out of fun, I want to mod the Regal GS some. It is a '98 Regal GS with the 3800 Supercharged motor. It was my brother Josh's (TurboSedan) car and I still think of it as his car although I suppose I legally own it now.

So anyway, I bought some parts for the Regal a while back and have been slowly installing them. Here's a run down:

3" ZZP cat-less downpipe (installed)
Racetronix fuel pump harness (Josh bought but I finally installed it)
ZZP 1.0 PCM (waiting here, not installed yet)
JMB Performance 4" fender well intake (on the way)
ZZP 3.4" S/C pulley w/modular pulley hub (waiting here, not installed yet)

And my older brother Ben bought a GoPro camera so I want to get the Regal vs Caliber on video. I have a local friend Dan (sl3196) that I want to have drive the Regal. He owns a S/C Grand Prix so he should be a good driver for it. I'm going to drive the CSRT of course. The ONLY mod on the Caliber is Mopar Stage I. I think the Caliber will still walk the Regal but it will be fun anyway.

I wonder what else would have to do to hang with the Caliber? I have considered 1.9 ratio rockers, possible intercooler, maybe some headers. I happen to have a T67/P-trim turbo as well which would go perfect with the ZZP turbo kit. Then it would really be game over for the Caliber!

[black86glhs]

Forget the Turbo unless you like chunks of the trans going past you. Go with the headers. I think you will find the regal very close to the caliber, even before the headers.
Also, if you go with the rockers, change the springs. You'll thank me at about 5500 rpm.:thumbup:

[iTurbo]

Yeah I agree, looks like 90# LS6 spring would be best.

A lot of the guys over on RegalGS.org are recommending 'SpeedDaddy' headers on eBay. They are only $210 shipped and have a V-band downpipe connection. Very tempting! With the ZZP turbo kit I would have to go with their "Power Log" exhaust manifolds. Nice stuff, but you might be right about trans debris....looks like that setup is capable of 10 second 1/4 mile times. Not sure if I want to go gonzo... I just want to show the Caliber who is boss!

[sl3196]

I've been running stock springs for 100k with 1.9 roller rockers and no issues yet. Not saying you shouldn't change them but I have had very good luck with mine holding out. Guess when you get the mods on we'll have to see if that regal can hang with the GTP haha.

[Keito]

A bud here at work had Regal, he added a cutout to the exhaust, pulley, and K&N filter. I know he was going 13.80's.
He said on launch, the only way to do it without spinning was to slowly roll onto the throttle.
We were looking at making an anti squat device, but he traded it.

[RoadWarrior222]

Tip in has been a bit harsh on the N/A 3800s I've driven, so yah, imagine it takes a delicate foot with the blower. One I was borrowing for an afternoon last year, I got a stiff leg trying to press my heel down hard to keep very very light tiptoe control on the gas, driving in traffic, honestly it was like if you sneezed you'd end up 3 blocks away.

[black86glhs]

Tip in has been a bit harsh on the N/A 3800s I've driven, so yah, imagine it takes a delicate foot with the blower. One I was borrowing for an afternoon last year, I got a stiff leg trying to press my heel down hard to keep very very light tiptoe control on the gas, driving in traffic, honestly it was like if you sneezed you'd end up 3 blocks away.

It all takes getting used to. But some of them can be a bit twitchy at first.

[Ondonti]

Whats so bad about the trans? Seen turbo ones at the track. They ran okay on the top end but the bottom was all blah.

[black86glhs]

The stock ones like to come apart. The input shaft is known to break in higher mileage ones or ones that see high boost levels, compared to stock.
Once they have been rebuilt with all the go fast parts, they are pretty reliable.

[shadow88]

... I just want to show the Caliber who is boss!

Just wondering what exactly you're "showing" to a caliber?

[iTurbo]

Uh..Regal tailights...hopefully :shrug:

[RoadWarrior222]

Showing, as in, "Here's how to be an overweight POS and STILL haul arse" ;-)

[iTurbo]

Heheh yup!

Here is a picture of the Regal GS a few years ago. In this pic it's lowered on Intrax springs with KYB AGX struts, but it is back to stock springs and Monroe Sensatracks now. The entire chassis/suspension/brakes systems were rebuilt by my brother and I back in late '08 and the car has hardly been driven since. Only upgrades it has now are a set of larger front brakes from a later model Impala SS.

Attachment 37907

[black86glhs]

Showing, as in, "Here's how to be an overweight POS and STILL haul arse" ;-)

God knows an LH sedan is soooooo much better.....LOL.

[iTurbo]

Well I had hoped to have an update by now. I finally got the CSRT back from the dealership today for recent warranty work () and today I also got the new 4" fender-well intake from JMB Performance in the mail for the Regal GS. They forgot to include the KN air filter and PCM tray that is supposed to come with it though! To their credit they responded to my email almost immediately and it should be on the way tomorrow. The 4" intake is powder coated metallic bronze with clear top coat and looks awesome. Even better than the metallic bronze/clear valve cover I did myself for my CSRT.

I plan to install the intake and PCM as soon as the filter shows up from JMB Performance. I plan to take a few test runs to check for knock retard and depending on how that goes I will install the 3.4" S/C pulley. If I get knock retard after that, I will probably end up getting the 1.9 ratio rockers as I have seen myself that these help with regards to KR. What can I say, I have the mod bug for this Regal GS

[Young Gun]

so much aftermarket for the 3800SC's its hard not to mod them

[wowzer]

i have a 02 black gs regal also with similar mods. make sure you get rid of the squished part of the exhaust right after the cat/downpipe. headers will help a bunch also as mentioned earlier. i use hptuners to tune mine, knock is VERY common and hard to control. never logged a zzp tune so not sure how good they are. if you plan to do much more with it i would recommend getting hptuners and a wideband so you can tweak the knock spots. the stock tune was VERY conservative, yet still gave me alot of knock in places. with what you've already got plus a couple more items already mentioned you will be pleasantly surprised at how quick it is. i still can get 30 mpg with mine on the interstate if i stay around 75 or below. forget the turbo idea!

[iTurbo]

Hey thanks for the reply. I was just over in Spearfish a couple weeks ago buying Powerball tickets with my mom lol.

I'm hoping the air filter and PCM tray from JMB Performance will show up tomorrow. I have a local friend (sl3196) that is probably coming over on Saturday and helping me with installing the JMB intake and ZZP PCM. I think he has a Palm Pilot with LS1M (??IIRC?) that we can use to look at the knock retard going on. I would like to get the car running 100% with the stock S/C pulley first before installing the 3.4" pulley.

I will have to look into the HPTuners stuff. The ZZP downpipe I got will make it very easy to install a wideband sensor since I will likely be putting an O2 emulator in anyway.

Oh, yeah on the turbo idea, I've kinda decided that is beyond what I want to do. I had considered it briefly because I have a T67/P-trim already, but yeah....I think I will be pretty happy with the car with bolt-on mods. I will be VERY happy with the car if it will hang with my Caliber, but we'll see.

[iTurbo]

My friend Dan (sl3196) came over today and helped me install the JMB fender-well intake and also the ZZP PCM. Made a great improvement as far as seat-of-the-pants improvement and you can hear the S/C very much now.

Here are some pics.

Attachment 38083Attachment 38084Attachment 38085Attachment 38086Attachment 38087Attachment 38088Attachment 38089Attachment 38090

[sl3196]

Looking good man! Need to get that smaller pulley on soon.