streetable or not streetable?

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DRENO

DRENO

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I was having a conversation with a friend the ohter day and i told him i was looking to juice up my engine some.We talked about cams and of course the word streetable came up,and I see it here again in a thread title.what is streetable and what is not,where does the difference lie?Is it the difference between what we feel is a manageble ampunt of horsepower as opposed to an amount that is too hard to control? A 450HP 340.is it streetable? Just my uneducated thoughts.
 
I'm approaching 500HP with the BB Dave and it's tons of fun on the street, especially when ya get 2 gear rubber at about 3/4 throttle.:burnout::burnout::burnout::evil4::evil4::evil4:
 
Our roadrunner is going to be pushing almost 600 horse after we rebuild the hemi (at the fly wheel)... but we also have a street friendly gear in the rear end.... but it'll be streetable... and fast, lol.
 
I guess your right rumble.I had in mind around 400 hp,maybeas much as 450 but was told it would not be streetable.I suuppose if I had 6-700 HP but drove it but was careful how I drove it,it would be streetable.I don't think I go much for that term.:angry7:
 
pettybludart said:
Dave,my 340 is stroked to a 372(360 crank)dynoed at 452HP@5700rpm [email protected] is a 4 speed,so makes it fun for ON/OFF.:burnout:
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I'm glad you answered Scott.I often thought about that little bullet of yours and wondered why you couldn't drive it on the street if you were sensible enuff.i think it would be a blast,and open some eyes ,too!:cheers::burnout:
 
I drive all 3 of my cars on the street Dave,the 66 Dart with the 410 is mostly just testing stuff though after installation.Like a trans. or carb,tune-up..
 
"streetable" or not has nothing to do with a HP number? there are thousand horse, twin turbo'd cars that run 200 degrees all day while idling in traffic....the term comes from multiple variables that take away from regular drivability....for instance...a 300 horse 360 engine, mated to a set of 5.XX gears for 8th mile racing...would not be very streetable since it would be cranking 4500 RPM @ only 40 MPH....maybe a drag car with only 3.91's...(like most dragsters) has a very radical 800 lift cam that will only idle at 2000 RPM and heats up quickly....a high stall converter in a car that heats up the tranny quickly.....the list goes on...IMO "streetable" has to do with parts that are geared more toward racing that take away from everyday driving....has nothing to do with horsepower number...yes big cams and converters translate to bigger HP....but any viper or late model challenger out there can dispell the argument that high HP= unstreetable
 
Hello Dave,

had a great time at our meet.

As someone who also is looking at the same way of thinking and looking for more horsepower, I know gears, compression, ect are a factor .
But really for me is with an automatic, how rough an idle are you willing to endure?
I think that is the largest factor in your decision
 
:burnout:Any trips on a road that are longer than either 1/8th or 1/4 mile at a time is streetable.

When you pull up to a stoplight and it goes from red to green then yellow and red, that is streetable:iconbigg:
 
I always kind of looked at it this way. If you don't have to run race gas and you enjoy the ride, "It's Streetable".
Case in point, my 360. 425hp, 412tq, 3500 stall, manual reverse 727, 4:10's out back. It runs on 89 or 91 octane and is a blast to drive. Next year it will have a 340 with a blower sticking out of the hood and will still be streetable.

Jack
 
Coyote Jack said:
I always kind of looked at it this way. If you don't have to run race gas and you enjoy the ride, "It's Streetable".
Case in point, my 360. 425hp, 412tq, 3500 stall, manual reverse 727, 4:10's out back. It runs on 89 or 91 octane and is a blast to drive. Next year it will have a 340 with a blower sticking out of the hood and will still be streetable.

Jack
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Can't wait to see that beast Jack.Have you got a thread going for it?Seems to me streetable means is it reasonable to drive.I hear and read about all sorts of 9- 10 sec cars that guys say run on pump gas.The rest of it is just how you drive it and can you afford to drive it,when you're getting 6-8 miles /gallon.Like Mike says, "neat on the street" and I guess you can drive anything.
 
its all personal preference.

for me my car with the good motor was definatley streetable. hell it was great around town. ran low 12's with a 3:91 gear. very driveable. well until you wanted to jump on the highway and cruise 3 hours or so. it would do it but was annoying as hell.


so after i spun a bearing in the good 360 i stuck a stock 50,000 mile 74 360 in the car with a 4bbl and headers then put a set of 2:94 gears in the car. man the car is more fun (for me) then it has been since the 318 was in it 15 years ago. i love it. i can run regular gas, cruise the highway at 80+ mph and not feel like the motor is coming through the hood at any moment. and the car has gotten 17 mpg without even trying to tune it for mpg. thats way better then the 8mpg it used to get.

so really its all about what you want from the car and what does and does not annoy you.
 
DRENO said:
Can't wait to see that beast Jack.Have you got a thread going for it?Seems to me streetable means is it reasonable to drive.I hear and read about all sorts of 9- 10 sec cars that guys say run on pump gas.The rest of it is just how you drive it and can you afford to drive it,when you're getting 6-8 miles /gallon.Like Mike says, "neat on the street" and I guess you can drive anything.
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No thread yet. I just picked up a block and heads a couple of weeks ago, along with some other parts. I will be getting a crank, rods, pistons and cam this summer. Then it's off to the machine shop in the fall and build it myself during next winter. The plan is to have it on the road next spring.

Jack
 
"streetable" is as hard a term to define as "cool" is, everyone has there own idea
in my opinion it is a car that is still practical to use as basic transportation
 
Does it overheat?

can it hold an idle?

Does it have exhaust?

Does it start and run every time you turn the key?

Is the engine holding up?

Does all the safety equipment work?


If this all looks good, then it's streetable.
 
I live up in the hills 20 mins from town. So to me it needs to be able to at least make it there and back and handle a ruff and curvy road while doing the speed limit. Also needs to be able to go down the freeway at or near the speed limit for no less than 50 miles. Thats just the kind of driving I do and what streetable is to me.

If I lived in the city then I could put a set of DOT tires on my drag car and limp it 4 blocks away to Dairy Queen for some ice cream and back and call it streetable. But I don't so that aint going to cut it for me.
 
its all about what you can tolerate.
my 340 will probably make around 600honest hp at the crank and i will drive it on the street as much as i can afford filling the tank;)

around here there is 1000+hp streetcars with 7.50cert chassies and barely muffled they are only out on certain nights but they rack up alot of miles during a night without much trouble as long as they dont run into those cars with extraflashing lights on there roofs.
 
Does it use gasoline available at the pumps in your state?
Is it DOT compliant for your state?
If so, and its something you want to drive on the street, then its streetable
my .02
Andrew
 
DRENO said:
I guess your right rumble.I had in mind around 400 hp,maybeas much as 450 but was told it would not be streetable.I suuppose if I had 6-700 HP but drove it but was careful how I drove it,it would be streetable.I don't think I go much for that term.:angry7:
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400 HP via a small block, 340/360 is not only easy, but the amount of cam needed is not alot. It is possible to use a cam under 230 duration @ 050. Less with a roller cam.

The key to making use of a small cam and getting more power than the cam itself would seem to suggest would be the air flow in and out of the engine. High flowing ports would be the start and if you can get the ports to really move some air, you'll not need to widen the port, which would slow down the air flow making low RPM driving crappy by compare to a skinny port.

Use enuff carb and intake to allow the air to flow!

Ever notice that MoPar suggests a larger tube than the standard 1-5/8 for the create engines. Try a 1-3/4 primary tube header and an "X'd" 2-1/2 exhaust pipe.
 
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