smokey and the bandit

hytorksc

Registered User
i was watching this classic muscle car movie, and i watched how that '77 trans am performed. i know it's just "hollywood" on alot of those scenes, but that car seemed to make more noise than actual performance. it behaved like it only had 250 rwhp or something like that. but it sounded like 400. i know you really can't measure the power of a car by the way it sounds, but if you hear the way a typical nascar sounds, you would think that it's got sick power.

Anyone here care to speculate how much power that trans am really had based on how it performed in the movie?
 
I'm quite sure the motor was modified for the movie, but my first car had a 400 Pontiac engine and it made gobs of torque but of course it was lacking in the horsepower(only 180). Just keep in mind, that was 1977 and technology has progressed so far. I'm guessing those cars had maybe 250 at the most but thats a very wild guess.
 
I doubt it was as high as 250hp, for comparision, my 1st car was a 1975 Carmaro Type LT, 350ci 4bbl, posi. It was rated at 160hp. Starting in 1974 the HP numbers were a lot lower than 73 and previous years.

As far as the sound, I know some movies, such as ones with Mazda RX-7 have obvious soundtracks, not the actual engine noise. As the stock rotary sounds nothing like a V8, yet in the movies they sound like V8's. If they did, I might still have my 93 RX-7 TT! :)
 
89FORCEFED95 said:
I'm quite sure the motor was modified for the movie, but my first car had a 400 Pontiac engine and it made gobs of torque but of course it was lacking in the horsepower(only 180). Just keep in mind, that was 1977 and technology has progressed so far. I'm guessing those cars had maybe 250 at the most but thats a very wild guess.

that was a brand new untouched car for the movie. I watched a special on the making of Smokey & the Bandit... it was mostly sped up to make the car look faster. That car was actually a joke when it came to power.
 
the-big-e said:
I saw it last night and some of the scenes look like they were shot going 55 mph.....

Haha, you went out and rented it!

It was like the 3rd highest grossing movie of 1977, not bad at all.
 
They run it on TBS and Turner South about 4 or 5 times a month......:D

Anyone notice that the motorcycle cop that pulled Snowman over is Enos from the Dukes of Hazzard......
 
so that TA was mostly all torque? that sounds about right. especially if it was a 400 big block circa the late '70s. revving into the midrange rpms around 3-3.5k most of the time on a 400 v8 would probably sound like it's bad azz. you could probably spin the wheels all the time with that engine even though it may peak at 180hp at 5k rpm. you just wouldn't get any real speed out of it. that car really didn't look fast at all in the movie. i did like that glorious hard power slide coming out of the pond back to the road though.
 
hytorksc said:
so that TA was mostly all torque? that sounds about right. especially if it was a 400 big block circa the late '70s. revving into the midrange rpms around 3-3.5k most of the time on a 400 v8 would probably sound like it's bad azz. you could probably spin the wheels all the time with that engine even though it may peak at 180hp at 5k rpm. you just wouldn't get any real speed out of it. that car really didn't look fast at all in the movie. i did like that glorious hard power slide coming out of the pond back to the road though.

So kinda like a stock Cat/Bird? On street tires, we sound good, but end up spinning a lot. I mean a 15+ 1/4 isn't like a big deal at all.

Decent power/look, nothing too fancy.
 
No trac loc either.....

Good driving going on and off the interstates....

Power sliding and counter steering......

I love it......

I get out in the outer edges of parking lot at the mall after a little rain and practice my power sliding.......:D :D :D :D :D
 
the-big-e said:
Anyone notice that the motorcycle cop that pulled Snowman over is Enos from the Dukes of Hazzard......

The last few times I've seen it, I noticed that and wondered but wasn't 100% sure. And I've got the 'Pursuit Pack' DVD with all 3 movies on it :D

-Melon
 
Those car's are dog's from the factory, but they are very easy to get to run 11's. Only a cam, LT's, slicks, and a tune away from 11's
 
I had one (78) that looked just like that car. When i was growing up that movie came out i was around 10 and i was hooked on cars after watching that movie. They didn't have alot of power but that car will always be sweet.

When i blew the engine a couple yrs later i decided to build a 400 and put in it but never got it out of the garage because we didn't gage the bearings and i spun two rod bearing. Then i built a 455 out of a grand prix (i think) and put maybe 25 miles on it before i cracked the block while breaking th motor in.
The weird thing about pontiac is they don't have such a thing as small block big block, you could take the heads off a 400 and put them on a 455 and jump the compression ( which in turn cracked the block:eek:).

I would never build a pontaic motor again but i love those trans am's.
And yes in the movie they had an auto and a stick they used but you never see the stick.
If you pay attention in the movie after he pics up Sally Fields he takes off and gets rubber in second gear....
 
yeah, ^ what casey said.

400's had about 220 hp..

olds 403's, 185 hp

and 301's about 150 hp. ( at least thats in 79 )

and then they had one of the saddest displays of a V8 with forced induction in 1980-1981. :(

whenever people say turbo trans am, they think of the 3rd gen with the turbo G body 3.8 stuffed in it.

I am talking about the "4.9 turbo" which shoulda done betta.



I heard some dork last year at the nationals nightly cruise in syracuse last year, make fun of a 79' saying how his car is faster, more performance blah blah blah.

I think alot of people fail to realize what can be done with 400, 403, or 455 cid engines... if you want to remain loyal that is, even though the 403 is corporate olds.


but never bad mouth 2nd gen Fbodys. They own. turds stock, but who gives a damn. a black lowered down 77 or 79 has got to be one of the sickest looking cars. ID take a nice handling 400-500 hp 79 with a hurst 4 speed any day. :)

oh not to mention they have the best dashes ever.

http://www.trans-am.dk/images/TA-dash-l.jpg

look at that sheeet.

even though most dorks with any kind of sport compact, farting slow boat, or rwd japanese car of any kind, will always ask where your mullet is.

thats when i sucker punch their ~~~. ignorant yo yos.
 
The turbo 301's were dog's from the factory too, but still easy to get to run 11's. A buddy of mine in stock class has a record set at 11.55. The motor has to remain stock dimensions and parts too. No internal mods.

There's a HUGE difference between earlyand late 2nd generation TA's. The RAIV's, 455 HO's 4X's, and SD's were a force to be dealt with. 550-600hp isn't a problem with these motors at even a stock compression ratio (8.8:1). Only thing holdin these motors back from 10's is traction with the right amount of engine mods.
 
JStudrawa said:
So kinda like a stock Cat/Bird? On street tires, we sound good, but end up spinning a lot. I mean a 15+ 1/4 isn't like a big deal at all.

Decent power/look, nothing too fancy.
Yep, unfortunately a stock SC is about on par with that TA- maybe a little more. Forced induction has some performance advantages in driveability not considered by most. We are all boost.

I look at a stock SC as having the bottom end power of a supercar, with the top end power of an average car like a newer honda or something. We could probably hand that TA it's butt stock for stock.

man if we could just get that top end power together on the SC... we would have it made! somebody please come up with a solution- where are the turbo SC's??
 
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hytorksc said:
Yep, unfortunately a stock SC is about on par with that TA- maybe a little more. Forced induction has some performance advantages in driveability not considered by most. We are all boost.

I look at a stock SC as having the bottom end power of a supercar, with the top end power of an average car like a newer honda or something. We could probably hand that TA it's butt stock for stock.

man if we could just get that top end power together on the SC... we would have it made! somebody please come up with a solution- where are the turbo SC's??
AR makes plenty of power for a street car.
 
yeah i still want a 73' SD 455 :(



yeah really, can people just be content with like running 11's in a daily driver ?

sheesh.


I have a feeling when the AR is all said and done, there will def. be some cars with them running 10s, all boost. stock weight too hopefully. and think about it, Supras take like 1000 hp to do that. and when they run 8s its like god to the ricers. last one i saw, took 1500 rwhp to run a mid 8.... id be happy with an AR Supercoupe running 11s, on full weight to retain all comfort. To me Supercoupe > Supra. Let the ricers roll in now...

who needs a turbo ?
 
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Thunder427 said:
yeah i still want a 73' SD 455 :(



yeah really, can people just be content with like running 11's in a daily driver ?

sheesh.


I have a feeling when the AR is all said and done, there will def. be some cars with them running 10s, all boost. stock weight too hopefully. and think about it, Supras take like 1000 hp to do that. and when they run 8s its like god to the ricers. last one i saw, took 1500 rwhp to run a mid 8.... id be happy with an AR Supercoupe running 11s, on full weight to retain all comfort. To me Supercoupe > Supra. Let the ricers roll in now...

who needs a turbo ?
i thought Supras only needed 600 hp to run 10's. those cars are geared up to run very high rpms all the time, so their monster torque is always produced near or at the top end- look at their trap speeds- almost always above 140mph at advanced performance upgrade level. I have yet to read about an SC trapping that high, with a supercharger, it's glory comes in just off the line i think. the supra is sort of a "late bloomer".
I'd rather have a car that can do it all very well... the SC has the potential to become this. You always hear of cars that strike fear in your heart especially when they are heavily modded, sound absolutely bad azz, and are known for one or two outrageous attributes. But that just doesn't mean anything much on some street driving situations- open highway...yes. But the SC one day may do everything exceedingly well if it can get over it's own annoying quirks and massive weight. I guess the AR, mp3, or m112 are the only chances to get this done.
 
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