1funsvt:
I think the guy you are talking about with the 450 horse SHO is Nick Crimes. Quite the ride -- wish I had a chance to see it in action. I'm not sure who the other one is -- the name doesn't ring a bell but that doesn't mean that much.
I did see a SHO up at Thunderhill the last time I was up but never did talk to the owners; I had three friends with me and we were swapping cars back and forth so I was kept pretty busy as-was.
My SHO is mostly stock. I have Konis on the front [only], poly bushings, a 26mm sway bar on the back with some homemade polyethelene bushings, two sets of cheap [OZ Cignus -- on fire sale for $59/ea, so I can't complain] 16x7.5" wheels, one with S-02s and one with RE730s, and some Porterfield R4 pads on the front [best $150 I've ever spent on that car]. I've got a SHO Shop cat system and a dynomax catback which has been customized somewhat over the years as the mufflers have rusted, cracked, etc [one straight-through Race Magnum on the left side, a 24" glasspack in place of the resonator, and the normal Dynomax on the right side, with the inlet pipe crimp busted, so it leaks].
Also have a homemade 4" ram-air, K&N filter, and 80mm MAF [which is still in the experimentation stage, as I can't seem to get a good working program for my LPM that I've had for 2 years].
I've been really happy with the performance of the car, and my experiences at Thunderhill have only reinforced that; I had my Contour up there the last time I went, and my friend and his wife brought their souped-up GTP [which will kill the SHO in a straight line]. Definitely a good time [and the SHO was definitely the favorite, both from the instructors and the three of us].
It's on its third engine [long story, but we'll say one was because I got it used and didn't check it closely enough -- the other one just got tired, I guess -- at 176k that might be excusable], second tranny, second steering rack, third set of Konis [yes, I drive it hard], and I don't know how many other things. The A/C is poor, the exhaust leaks, the driver-side door is bent a little, the engine burns about a quart every 500 miles, but the intake sound is intoxicating and the punch and the handling just finish up the package.
I would really like to dump some [more] money into it and put on real brakes [these are good with these pads -- no fade even at full bore through thunderhill, but the rotors have got to be getting really hot], 3.2L pistons, stage II cams, a Quaife, and some suspension tweaks. No blower -- don't want anything messing up that intake sound -- and all I'm looking for is ~290 HP and some weight reduction. And I could still have a pretty decent car as a daily driver [the Contour].
Probably a rather silly thing to do, as I could just take the engine and drop into the back of something else for the same amount of money, most likely. A Fiero with that engine would be pretty fun, but that's probably blasphemy ;-), and my SHO is still my first love [as my mom said -- if you love your wife as much as you love that car, she'll be the happiest woman on the planet.. but that's OT].
Anyhow, a little longer post than I intended...
