I live at 7,000 ft and was wondering if the lightning's HP numbers drop off the same as a naturally aspirated engine will. A friend of mine just bought a 01 Camaro SS and I'm sure he's gonna want to give the Lightning a run. If I still have all my HP due to compressing the atmosphere and his HP has dropped off, I am sure I will kick his ever lovin Chevy ***. Any thoughts?

Andy

 

I would bet it has at least the same effect, if not more than a NA car.

 

Hi WHYLITN,

You will loose about 3% of your power for each 1000 ft. above sea level altitude. So at 7000 ft., you lose 21% of your power, reducing a 380 hp stock '01 & up Lightning to just about 300 horsepower.

Since you live at that kind of altitude, you might want to think about increasing boost levels to help get some of that power back at your altitude.

Your friend with the normally-aspirated GM LS1 will have the same problem of loosing power due to altitude, it's due to the reduced level of oxygen in the atmosphere, and affects all engines. In your case, since you have that big M112 blower on top of your motor, you can easily increase boost, put a good tune on the motor & perhaps some other mods if you want to increase power to compensate for that altitude.

Good luck!

 

I would say from my own experience that Mr. Troyer's numbers are right on.

I live in the foothills of So. Cal and I can feel a significant increase in HP driving from my home down to the beach.

 

That's what larger pulleys are for. They help make up for the lost air density.