ok so my dad has a 2003 745i BMW which i believe has around 330HP.
my cobalt lt has 148 i think....?

anyway im thinking i need around 300hp to beat him, i need to modify my car to beat his (he talks a lot of crap)

He says if i beat him in time on a 1/8 track that he will pay half of what i paid to beat him... so give me some ideas KEEP IN MIND I HAVE AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION.

i cant wait to see what you all have in mind!!!!

Trade in your car for a 2008 or 2009 Cobalt SS, or before the race cripple his vehicle so that it will die before he hits the finish line.

Even with 300hp in an 1/8th mile i don't know if you'd beat him. I don't do a lot of 1/8 mile racing, only 1/4. It just seems like thats not enough time. But, if you were perfect off the line then who knows.

Well to run 300 hp you'll need to boost and build the engine and tune it so I would say around 6K to beat him, also if your trans can even handle that, I would do what Mike2200 said and trade it in for a used 05 to 06 ss with 40k miles on it, you'll prolly come out ahead on cash so you can mod your new ss and then beat him.

Mr.Choo wrote:Even with 300hp in an 1/8th mile i don't know if you'd beat him. I don't do a lot of 1/8 mile racing, only 1/4. It just seems like thats not enough time. But, if you were perfect off the line then who knows.

my car is about 1,000+ lbs lighter therefore my HP to weight ratio would be a lot better than my dad's, but im wondering not if i can beat him with 300hp i know i can if i do have that much but; what kind of parts do i need? i know i know i am very bad at cars thats why i am on this forum im just starting to get into cars and i have been learning a lot.

SO! what parts should i get!?

Look into getting a turbo kit. Hahn makes a kit for cobalts. http://www.turbosystem.com/ProjectVehicles/New_Folder/Cobalt/Cobalt%2024L%20Page.htm

The turbo for cobalts is only for manual transmissions. I know your car is lighter and that does help alot but it will take alot of work and $$$ to make it faster. Especially a four door. I would trade it in for a two door 5 speed base model. Way lighter and alot quicker. I don't think there is much you can do except maybe supercharge your car. Rob a setup from an ss. 300hp and you will need to build the motor up. I think with 230 to 240 you should be able to beat him if your not dang close.

Taken straight from thier site: "Coupled with an ECM re-flash (included) and a TCM re-flash (for A/T vehicle)". Now, that is from the 2.4 cobalt kit. The 2.2 kit will not work with auto trans.

Well thats what I meant. His is a 2.2 cause its the LT thats why I didn't even worry bout the 2.4 kit. But either way I would still go supercharger. You got the power when you want it. I think it would be best to get a supercharger and some drag radials. And then practice, ALOT.

Well, i have the charger on my 2.2, and if i could do it all again, i would go turbo. I second the drag radials, and practice.

Well turbo can make way more power of course but in an 1/8th mile I just see it with the charger because the power is there right away and every shift. I would definantly go turbo myself and recommend it for him, but he's got an auto.

well is there anything else i can do besides the tc/sc mods???

im not very knowledgeable about car parts im just a damn good driver.

ok my car is in the shop i just got some new rims for her... im actually using my laptop across the street at a wifi deli :-p
ill upload pics of it when i get home :-) i also got some slicks and 7.5lbs white drag rims for it too.... it was a lot of money too but its all good.

btw thanks guys for all the replies but any engine parts that i could upgrade would be fine too :-)

The only way for you to get enough power to beat him you would have to boost or use nitrous. Which without knowlege about it can be dangerous to your car.

If you went with a N/A build it can get expensive but could do the trick. If you got some big cams with a patriot head and some other goodies and a really good tune. and then throw in a little 55shot of nitrous on top of that you may beat him. Just wanna be careful. I am not to knowledgeable about nitrous but I know it can mess alot of stuff up if not used properly.

well im not going straight NA im going to get some boost but thats the only suggestion people have been giving me lol

Personally I wouldn't do it to your car but thats just me. I would trade it in for a two door. but again its me not you. But I would go with a s/c setup from an ss. you can find some maybe on cobaltss.net and then I would get hptuners and some comp cams blower cams with a whole new head from patriot performance. Then see where your at with hp. Its gonna take alot of $$$ and I was reading your above post and you say you are a good driver, did you go to a school or something because you could only have a max of 3 years track expierience and it don't take much to drive a 4 door balt thats an auto.

i do not have a four door i have a 2dr and i learned at qualcom stadium stunt driving school i also have been racing illegaly for a while now ever since i was 14 i have been street racing but i got out of that crowd

Ok, well street racing means you know how to hit a gas pedal, not a good driver. also, sorry I thought you had a 4 door for some reason.

His car will run mid 14's so now we know the ballpark to get too. Im sure a good N/A build with some nitrous would definantly do the trick but I would just go supercharged and with some drag radials and a good tune you could run lower 14's if not better. If you had a jbody it wouldn't take as mush because we're so much lighter.

well i do a lot of dragging with cars at race legal in souther california with my buddies every time they have races that and barona :-) but yeah i just figure i wouldnt need that much more HP bout 60+ more to really get an advantage because of that big *** beamer weighing so much :-p but yeah ill def look for a SC from an SS :-) if i could i would defintely get a SS but dunno im buying a nissan 240 sx and racing that instead of my balt but thats 2-3 years down the road :-p

Well it would make my day to beat that beamer down the track but my plans got slowed for the summer today by the cops. But his v8 has alot of torque and that makes up for alot of the weight. His beamer can haul ass yet. Just keep that in mind. And extra 60 to 70 horse might get you where you want to be but you never know until you do it.