PERFORMANCE LEVELS

PERFORMANCE LEVELS

The STREETWIZE PERFORMANCE Manual is tailored to your specific needs.  We recognize that every vehicle combination will be different just as every individual driver's vehicle usage is very different; therefore we've made sure that, by following these tips,  and through the careful selection interrelated components, you can build a vehicle that is quick, responsive, reliable as well as a blast to drive, whatever your budget, ability or inclination may be.

Also, we would like to mention that this is not intended to be an 'assembly' manual, with
torque and clearance specs, etc.  It is more a collective series of tips and recommendations that aim toward helping you to attain your performance goals.

We would suggest that you carefully select the level that best matches your performance requirements as well as your acceptable degree of modification and, of course, your allowable budget. As we have tried to consider all of the related systems in our recommendations, and it may be best to resist a "mix-and-match" (Example: Level 3 motor in Level 2 car) approach; we don't think you would be as happy with the result. That being said, here we go:

• LEVEL ONE
  Level one is designed for the person who would like to achieve an overall performance gain in his/her daily driven vehicle. They like the idea of having a 'Sleeper,' a car that is noticeably quicker than one might assume it to be. They wish to maintain the good reliability as well as the overall economy they presently enjoy. They also expect a good degree of performance for each dollar spent and they don't wish to spend too much to get there. They would typically like to stay with 'bolt-on' type improvements, but should be willing to pull the heads if significant performance gains can be achieved. So far as the rest of the drivetrain, they would prefer to keep and make the best of what they have to work with, and they're not looking to swap in lower gears. A typical example of this type vehicle may be a 1972 Dart, with a 318, automatic and a 2.94 rear-end gear ratio. We expect approximately 35% of you will be looking for something in this performance level.


• LEVEL TWO
  Level II is for the 'Muscle Car' enthusiast who is looking to step-up the performance of their 'Play Toy'.  They want to keep the basic drivability, but they are seeking more 'punch' than the factory setup. They may have experimented with various bolt-on combinations that traded off (i.e. lost) more performance than they gained. Perhaps they saw some of the 'Hot-combos' at The Nationals that actually ran slower than some well tuned 'stockers,' and now they're hesitant to try to 'improve' anything. Or maybe they just bought a factory muscle car or are building a car with a muscle car type drivetrain. They want a combination that they can build once and be happy with. They don't want to go through the whole mix-and-match scene to find out what works and what doesn't. They have better things to do with their time and money They want their muscle car to both look great and run strong; and their car should run the kind of numbers on the strip that they can be proud of putting on the Top-End display board. A typical example of this type may be a '69 Road-Runner with a 383, automatic and 3.55 gears. We would suspect that about half of you will be looking for something in this level.


• LEVEL THREE
  Level three is definitely for the Street/Strip crowd; the type who wants to spend every clear Sunday at the Strip. This is the type that goes straight for the HIGH-HIGH button on the blender none of that 'grind/chop' stuff for this guy! He wants a solid, reliable combination that he can still drive to the track. He knows he's going to have to give away some bottom end, but no more than he has to. He is willing to swap the 318 for a 340/360, or the 383 for a 440 in order to have more cubes (read: cheap torque) to start with. The smallest recommended Level 3 power plant is a 340. He is also willing to swap in the necessary springs, tires and 3.91- 4.30 gears its going to take to put that power to the ground. (NOTE: If he's not willing to do the suspension work, he is probably going to spin his wheels while the Level 2 guy flies by him!) He is willing to spend some money, but he doesn't want to spend mega- bucks to go quick, and he still wants the most bang for his buck. A Level 3 vehicle, for reasons that should be fairly obvious, would not make for a practical 'Daily-Driver.' After having read this summary, we'd guess that about 15% of you will want to go for this level.