ZO6 got spanked-over and over

Viablo

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Weather finally cleared up today, so i took a drive to my friends house a few miles away. I'm still in the break-in stage
(510 miles and counting). Make a long story short my friend's neighbor has a ZO6 and was out shining it up. We started talking and exchanged compliments. He started saying that his car was the fastest thing on two wheels and how he is beating everybody on the road and so on and so on. By now i realize he is a narrow minded idiot-there is always bigger and better. So i asked if he had run into any vipers and he said not yet but that he could smoke anyone (ok, he just graduated to an arrogant idiot) and challenged me to a race. So i explained to him that the car was still in the break in stage, but he laughed and said i was afraid of losing.
Now he needed a lesson.

"Well' i said 'if you want to race i'll go home and come back with my ZR1." To which he replied "i'll be waiting".

We come back and the race is on: we go from a 20 mph roll, i pull away from him and when i hit second i'm gooone. no contest.
no mercy.
second race from a dig. he gets me out of the hole (i could never launch this car) and is about 2 cars in front, by third gear i catch him and stay next to him pulling away at will waiting for him to catch up and pulling away at will. We hit some serious speeds (a little over 55...).

We get back and he is like a puppy that has just been sent to his corner and just says 'WoooW. I didn't think anything could beat this thing" (his ZO6). All of the sudden his precious car is a thing. "Are the vipers faster than the zr1?" he says.

to which i replied "By a long shot." you should have seen his face.

I usually don't do this sort of thing, i respect all high performance machines and the people that drive them, but if anybody deserved it he did.

I just got my GTS 3 weeks ago and it's the best car i ever had.
It makes the zr1 look docile but looks can be very deceiving.
It just nice to know that from time to time i have something that i can fall back upon. Thanks ZR1 (84,000 miles and counting, i almost forgot and modified.)
 

Gerald

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Suuuuuwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeet! Fun!

I once raced a guy in his Brand new C-5 about a year ago....
He just got it and I had my 94 STOCK RT. When he bought the car from the dealer, he assured the guy it was the fastest production car in the US. And that it would blow the Viper away.
So convieniently one day at a red light I pulled right next to him and it was on... He jumped ahead in first, by end of 2nd I had a car on him and 3rd it was way over. What did he do? About a month later he traded it in for a Big Truck... 2 FUNNY!

Gerald
 
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Viablo

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if i had to describe my day with smilies, here's how it went:

Me when i met the guy:
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a few minutes after i met him:
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Him as the race was about to start:
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,

Him during the race:
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Him after the race:
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Me this morning:
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SoCal Rebell

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Yeeehaaa spank that puppy of a Z06, they're sleds. I raced one a couple of nights ago, posted the kill on the Corvette forum for all to see. The guy cut me off getting on to the Freeway, we both nailed it on the ramp I was 2 feet off his back bumper, once on the Freeway no traffic, so it was on. Pulled him by 15-20 car lengths, it was funny because when I passed him I saw him rocking back and forth in his seat trying to make hs car go faster.
 

GR8_ASP

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Sounds like it is similar to the hp of Gen I (405 vs 400). A little short on the torque (400 vs 465). Note this is 1992-1995. 1996's were higher. Welcome Corvette, you have finally achieved (almost) what the Viper did in its first year.
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jcaspar1

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Just Gen I numbers. My 97 GTS dynos at 422 at the REAR WHEELS. It is nice that the Corvette will catch up to a 10 year old Viper in HP.
 

Y2K5SRT

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I have NO idea what the truth is on the car, but some of the Vette guys (including a few current Z06 owners) have suggested that it is a rating change more than an actual change in horsepower. They say that the current Z06 is pretty dang quick for 385 HP (and it is) and that it may be underrated. Some have suggested that it is a "paper-only" increase. No idea if that is true or not, but I am ALWAYS in favor of more horsepower for everybody, when handled responsibly, of course...
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Chris
 

Mike Brunton

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The HP and TQ change isn't going to do a heck of a lot for the performance of the car, IMO. Maybe a 10th quicker in the 1/4 at best. As for 0-60, has anyone actually gotten a 4.0???? I've seen Mike P saying he got close, but that seems sorta best case. Tons of the Vette guys have tried to get the magical mystical 4.0 number, but to date NOBODY has achieved it!

These cars are all traction limited (moreso the Viper than the Z06), but the mags seem to usually get 4.4 or thereabout on the Z06 0-60 times... Viper is usually 4.0-4.2 *traction limited*. Not bad for a car that hasn't changed in 6 model years. C&D even got 3.9 on a stock car. It's all in the launch - 0-60 doesn't say much about the power of the car - look at the 1/4 MPH for that. How many Vipers on the high side of 120? Quite a few!
 

2BADD 4U

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The zo6 with its gearing and hp increase will run neck to neck with the viper to the redline of 2nd. gear...after that the viper will take the zo6 by a football field to 150 mph. Read the article test between the 2 cars in Automobile mag.
 

david sklover

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sean of NJ:
They are pushing the limits of the HP you can achieve with that engine block though<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I respectfully disagree. side note-I don't think chevy will come out with a real Viper competitor, they're just not interested in competing at that segment of the market, advertizing BS aside. like this is Chevro-freaking-let, duhh.. at the price point the Z06 (and base coupe) compete they acquit themselves "stand upishly". they're not Vipers an no one with a brain says they are..-end sidenote. I don't have an 06, just a plain C5, Friday I dynoed 406 rwhp, uncorrected. yeah, yeah, she corrected down to 390, air was 62, barr 30.04, but I was still makin it, and not with a very modded motor, very mild cam, so to say that the limits of the technology are being reached isn't so, imho. the port config on the LS6 is quite superior to the LS1, and lends itself to making more power. the 06 will also stand higher revs much better. I'm using a conservative rev limit. as always, it's a ques of design trade off's. those willing to spend the $ can make plenty o power w/the LS6...

cheers,
David
"comrade in arms"
 

david sklover

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sean of NJ:
Nice hp David, what mods?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

thanks,
basic stuff:
doug rippie heads/cam/long tube headers
the cam btw - is very mild, a 115+, idles perfectly @ 800 with just the slightest rumpity-****
underdrive pulley
PCM programming
complete custom exhaust, header collectors to tips. dyno runs with unmuffled exh, which is how I run on track
vortex air intake -filter/box
smooth tube (TB to MAF)
LS6 intake manifold, new, and the reason for dynoing again..

David
 

Venom Lover

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Neil,
That Z06 owner is obviously an idiot, and you gave him what he deserved. Spanking him in the ZR-1 was a good move, extra-humbling.

sovietsu27 and Y2KGTS,
I also suspected initially that the "increase" to 405 bhp for the '02 Z06 would be on paper only. However, consider this. Some Z06's (unfortunately including mine) are dynoing at closer to 335 rwhp, which is more like 395 bhp, though there are many in the 340-345 rwhp range. In any case, GM will want 405 bhp to be attained by all the '02s produced, so some improvement needs to be made over the '01 LS6. My guess was some intake mods, since Halltech and Vortex seem to put most guys in the 350+ rwhp range. Thus, I was very surprised to see the latest AutoWeek, which indicates that that the '02 Z06 will have a modified cam and valve springs, as well as a revised suspension set-up. None of this changes the fact noted above by Ron S. and jcaspar1 that this brings the '02 Z06 to where Dodge was with the Viper 10 years ago (though the Z06 is 300 lbs lighter).

Mike B. is correct, I can run 4.1x 0-60 times in the Z06 on the street, but not 4.0x. Could I squeeze a tenth out of my times with a nearly empty tank of gas, better atmospheric conditions, stickier road, better technique, etc.? Probably.

However, I'm not sure I agree with 2BADD4U. Mike B. pointed out correctly the other day, on the CF I believe, that redline in 2nd gear on the Viper is higher mph than redline in 2nd on the Z06. So, maybe the Z06 is even with Viper up to the Z06's redline in 2nd, but up to the Viper's redline in 2nd the Viper will win, because at that point the Z06 will have to have shifted to 3rd.

In any case, the Viper is very traction limited on street tires for 0-60. I doubt you would knock over half a second off your 0-60 times in the Z06 by putting on slicks. I knock 6 tenths off my 0-60 times in the Viper with slicks.
 

Venom Lover

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As always, I see I can count on SoCal for some thought-provoking commentary!

At least I see SoCal is now restricting his slams on my Z06 to "straight line", presumably in light of his defeat at WSIR!
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Viablo

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Mike,

Any problems with the half shafts when using slicks?
You are putting down a lot of power.


Neil
 

Venom Lover

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Uhhh, funny you should ask, Neil. I put on a set of after-market half shafts (BTR Viper's) before getting Purner's slicks and skinnies specifically because of all the warnings I had heard about the stock half shafts (in conjunction with slicks).

However, I snapped one of the U-joints while racing -- on street tires -- at Carlsbad. The good news is that Tom Welch honored his warranty on the half shafts. The bad news is I told Tom there was a problem with the U-joint design the Friday before I broke the shaft, and he declined to buy back the part at that time. The result is I am out the $700 it took to repair the damage done to my differential when his half shaft failed. Needless to say, I would be pleased if Tom helped compensate me for this, since I warned him in advance of the problem, and he chose not to deal with it at that time. But he has declined to help me out in this regard....

Not that you wanted my full tale of woe, but there it is. I now have Unitrax half shafts. I have not raced on them yet, so I can't tell you how much better I will fare!
 
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Viablo

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Thanks for the reply Mike.

I'm sort of new in the Viper area so i am not familiar with Tom Welch. Could you tell me what company he is associated with.
Seems to me that if you indicated a problem with his design before anything happened, he should have thanked you and taken it more seriously. The fact that he is ignoring any liability on his part is not good business practice and i sure will not patronize his business.
 

Venom Lover

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Neil,
Tom's company is BTR Viper. Tom seems to be a very knowledgeable guy, and I cannot speak to the quality of any of his products other than the set of half shafts he supplied me. I happen to agree with your assessment concerning his business practices, but I should reiterate that Tom did honor his warranty on the part, which is better than nothing. I just wish he had done the buy-back the Friday before the incident when I pointed out the problem to him. He would have been out of pocket nothing more, and I would have avoided $700 of additional damage to the car.
 

garolittle

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I agree with an earlier post .... a brand new Vette is barely on par with a ten year old Viper. It's about time. But now, along comes the '03 RT/10. Not to be too bold but I imagine that Lamborghini owners will soon be "kneeling at the alter of humility".
 

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