Edelbrock 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 - Tuner Car

We don't have a Project Cavalier in the SCC fleet. But if we did, this 2001 Cavalier Z24 sedan is pretty damn close to what we might come up with.

Built by the folks at Edelbrock over the last 10 months or so, this work-in-progress is, according to Edelbrock R&D guru and new products coordinator Rex Urasaki, a rolling laboratory for future product development. That might sound like this Chevy is a one-off piece of exotica financed by Edelbrock's deep corporate pockets, but it's not. In fact, all the mods on this J-body are basically off the shelf and DIY-able."

We've done nothing here that couldn't be done by any motivated street guy on his own," says Urasaki.

For Edelbrock, slamming a 2001 four-door Cav into a low-riding boulevard cruiser was simply not an option. The company stayed away from the body kits, table top spoilers and 19-inch wheels that are the J-body norm. Instead, Urasaki and crew set their sights on the road-racing world as their source of inspiration.

Right off the bat, the decision was made to leave all the engine internals undisturbed and feed the four-banger a heathy nitrous diet.

In went an Edelbrock's adjustable, on-demand Quad Four "Performer" Nitrous System. It works with a bottle heater to maintain consistent bottle pressure, an Edelbrock pressure gauge, the company's bottle-opener kit, which allows you to open and close the system from the driver's seat and a push-button purge valve kit.

Quick-release brackets from Edelbrock simplify swapping bottles, and the carbon-fiber bottles themselves are larger and lighter than standard. The clever wrinkle in all of this, however, is the integration of state-of-the-art data farming from Edelbrock's Electronics Division. Installed by TM Engineering, Edelbrock's QwikData road and track racing data acquisition package is able to harvest virtually any kind of meaningful information about this Cav's engine, chassis and handling performances for real-time management and off-line review. QwikData employs 24 analog channels, six digital ones, two built-in accelerometers, four linear potentiometers, one string potentiometer, a brake-pressure sensor and a shaft-speed sensor.

Proprietary analytic software lies at the heart of the system, which operates in the Windows 3.1/95/98/NT environment.

"This system is actually key to the whole project," Urasaki explains. "It's programmable from a laptop and controllable from a hand-held unit. By using it, we're able to collect data continuously and tweak parameters even at the individual cylinder level to learn how to maximize the performance of our nitrous system."

K&N Engineering provided the drop-in high-flow air filter, and the battery is a Yellow Top deep-cycle dry-cell from Optima. The only other significant engine-related modifications concern ignition and exhaust. For spark, Edelbrock tapped MSD Ignition. The result is a fully programmable system that's completely integrated into Edelbrock's QwikData system. It employs MSD's DIS-2 distributorless ignition system with BTM boost-timing control. Coils are dual-tower-style race coils from GM. For exhaust, the Cav wears an Edelbrock 4-inch Victor Series stainless-steel universal race muffler, which is rebuildable.

Edelbrock's corporate cousin, Russell Performance, was tapped for all the Cavalier's plumbing chores. Army/Navy-style AN fittings and braided stainless-steel hoses appear throughout and there's a billet EFI racing fuel filter also from Russell's. Urasaki's latest dyno results show 210 hp at the wheels for this Project Cav. That's 60 more horses (and 40 percent better) than GM's 2.4-liter twin-cam Quad Four delivers in OE trim. The Cavalier's big, beautiful disc brakes come from Baer's BaerClaw four-wheel disc kit. The four 13-inch Rotors are slotted, cross-drilled and zinc-washed. Here, too, plumbing is from Russell. All other accessible wiring and hoses are clad with Russell's Wrap-It self-sealing sheaths.

Suspension tweaks consist of Eibach's Sportline series spring lowering kit, along with anti-roll bars and an alignment kit. The gunmetal finish racing wheels are 57 Pro forged two-piece units from Gram Lights, measuring 18x7.5 with a 48 offset. They wear very sticky Toyo Proxes high-performance tires in 225/40ZR-18.

A dual-friction Centerforce clutch gets the power to the rubber.

Inside, Auto Meter gauges sit in special carbon-fiber mounting cups. The 5-inch tach is a 9000-rpm Pro Stocker, the EFI fuel pressure meter reads 0 to 100 psi, and the intake temperature gauge ranges from 30 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

The one true consensus to creature comfort is the Alpine CD and MP3 player/changer mated to the same company's 6x9-inch three-way speakers at rear and a pair of 5.25-inch two-way fronts.

The driver's and front passenger seats are black Torino racers from Sparco, which also has supplied the Lap 5 quick-release steering wheel and carbon-fiber racing pedals. A full, bolt-in roll cage is from Autopower, as are the four-point safety harnesses.

All of Edelbrock's project cars are red and understated, without any unnecessary ornamentation. So the Cav is naturally red and understated, without any unnecessary ornamentation. Additions include white bulb Xtreme headlamps and platinum super white fog lights from PIAA, tastefully understated graphics by Vinyl Mayhem and window tinting from Tint Factory.

We hope Urasaki and the gang at Edelbrock stick with the project and take this Bow-Tie to the next level. How about a turbo kit, guys? Or some cams? Heck, how about a 250-hp Quad Four crate motor?

There are about a billion J-body guys out there waiting.

InteriorAuto Meter gauges, Alpine speaker, Lap 5 steering wheel