The car was strapped to the dyno once again, fortunately without incident. Running with about 10 pounds of boost, the car recorded 586 rear-wheel horsepower at 5,450 rpm and 610 lb-ft of torque at 4,600 rpm. It's a contrast to his early F-bodies, in that it is very much the turn-key performance car. He doesn't find himself battling check engine lights or dialing in carbs anymore. Madia says he loves the way the car drives easily around town and then pushes him back in the seat when the turbo spools up. It's his first turbocharged car; he says he'll go with twin turbos the next time around. "You get greedy," he says.
Madia's love of nitrous was not to be denied, though. A TNT 90mm Power Ring wet system underhood is equipped with a single, conservative, 50-hp stage ... for now. Madia admits that this is all a bit much for the 10.8:1 compression ratio built into the engine before the turbo came into play.
"The engine can handle the power component-wise, but it wasn't set up for a turbo," Madia says. "We had to take a big cam out and put in the turbo cam (when we installed the STS system)," he says.
Beautiful candy blue nitrous bottles are displayed prominently under glass beneath the car's rear hatch. Madia keeps the bottles looking good by using a "beater" nitrous bottle when he heads to the track.
"The guys who fill nitrous bottles are not the most delicate," he says. The two blue bottles and the nearby gear that makes up part of the 600-watt stereo system (about 200 pounds of stuff altogether) are installed on a diamond-plate deck that can be removed all at once for action at the track. That's not to say the blue bottles are just for show. When they are in the car they are fully operational--Madia only gets them filled when he can be present to take care of them, though.
The blue theme continues forward to the rest of the interior, gracing the interior lighting and seat surfaces. Madia also "loaded the interior with every carbon-fiber piece I could get," including sill plates and a dash kit. Auto Meter boost, fuel pressure, and oil temp gauges line the A-pillar, while nitrous gauges appear in the center console.
Madia believes that at the car's current power level, and with the Hoosiers out back, he should be able to run in the 10s at his local track--enough to get the car booted out. "I want the car to be as powerful as it can be, but I like to bring people with me, and I don't want it to be a drag car," he says. "I'll run that 10-second pass some day and they'll ask me to put it away, but as long as I have that timeslip I'll be good to go. I'll probably frame it."