Quote: to run mid 9's in a street car.. (I'm guessing not a tube chasis light weght car) you are going to need a ton of motor. You sound like it's easy as cake and cheap to build a 9 second car. It will take almost 700hp to make a 3000lb car run 9.50's. It will need big cubic inches, expensive heads, big solid roller cam (and everything that goes w/ one), 4500+ stall, tall gears, overdrive trans and so on. That equals big money and will be hard on parts. So I guess it depends on what you mean by driver. A boosted car will drive much better and have a longer/stronger power band. I guess it's just where you want to spend the cash. Neither will be cheap.
I agree. To run NA well into the 9s (not just good air, down hill, with a tail wind 9s) it is both challenging and expensive - otherwise everyone would be doing it. And what I mean by that is everyone with a timeslip - not a guy sitting in a parking lot at a cruise night saying he runs 9s.
To run 9s NA you are going to need hp, efficient converter, and compression - none of those like the street as they all build heat. Additionally, the only way to know if you are running 9s is to take it to a track, which means you have to pass tech for sub 9.99 - which means cage, license, and all of the other safety equipment that goes along with it.
My experience - street parts don't like the track, and track parts don't like the street. If you are trying to do both - then all you have is a series of compromises across the board.
Sixpackgut has done it with his Cuda, but I think Ray'd agree it wasn't cheap or easy - and has been a long time coming.
