I would say to push a 3500 pound street car into the 12s you will need close to 400hp. My friends Duster made 380hp on the dyno and with 3.55 gears on drag radials it has never made it into the 12s, very close but not there yet.
Your garden verity A body needs about 290 HONEST hp to go 100-101 MPH which is 12.90's.
My car has been almost 110 MPH and it is 340 HP.
It's simple math.
Simple math makes the 500 HP small block Chevy the lie that it is.
In your buddy's example, if he actually has 380 HP, in a 3400 pound car he should be running 11.7X or so at about 111-112 MPH. Unless the HP is down or the car is heavier, that's what it should run.
