My SC vs. Z06 Vette this morning

[David Neibert]

One of the guys I work with has a new Z06 and we just happened to get lined up with each other on the way to the office this morning. The industrial park our building is located in doubles as a drag strip for the serious racers in the area. It's two lanes of concrete in both directions that are divided by about 25 foot of grass median and guard rails. It' straight as an arrow for about a 1/2 mile and has good visibility to see anyone pulling onto the road. About as safe as it gets on the streets.

Anyhow we lined up and tried launching from a stop..we both just stayed there side by side spinning tires and bouncing off the rev limiters in 1st and 2nd. Both cars layed at least 100 ft of rubber. He hooked up before I did and started pulling pretty hard on me when he shifted into third. Right afterward we let off and turned around to come back the opposite direction.

This time we started from a 20 mph roll. I'm in 1st and the Vette is in 2nd. Same thing happened when we hit the throttle, only the cars were getting a little more sideways this time and I got traction at the top of 2nd and stayed with him when he shifted to third. Our front bumpers stayed within 4 feet of each other (him leading). A delivery truck pulled up to one of the intersecting streets on the other side of the median, so we both slowed it down real quick and pulled into the parking lot at work. I don't think we got over 80 mph either time, so it was actually a pretty safe romp.

I know I can beat him on the track, but on street tires that Z06 Vette is hard to keep up with. After getting into the office, I found out that half of the people there were watching us out the windows and now think both of us (over 45 gray haired hot rodders) are going thru a mid life crisis. I think they are expecting another round of racing at lunch.

David

[NASTY V6]

I bet he has some respect for the t-bird. Keep it safe and have fun.

Scott

[dirtybird91]

Dave,
Try to beat that guy for us at lunch! I know you can do it with the right amount of traction!

Dirtybirdie

[mannysc]

My Idol !!!!!

[BikerSC]

You tha man Dave. That is where that remote bottle opener would come in handy.

You didn't have the bottle on did you?

-Steve

[T-bird4vr]

cough use the n2o next time!!! cough

[David Neibert]

You didn't have the bottle on did you?

Nope...I would also have to turn the bottle heater on for about 20 minutes to get the pressure up. With the nitrous we would have to start from about 45 mph and it would still light the tires up.

I've only tried it on the street once since the system has been working and it's scary. The car will easily spin the Nitto 275-40-17s at 55 mph. It would be too easy to lose control, so I just use it on the track.

I'm pretty sure the Vette has less pounds per HP and more rubber on the ground. I knew the only chance I had of beating him, was on the bottom end with my Torque advantage. Once the tires started spinning, it was all over for me.

David

[pro street rich]

Good one for the blue guy's. tell him that if he wants you will try him with one that does not have a blower and see what he says... Sounds like I got to make a road trip if you need it...
Maybe tomorow you put on those slicks and go looking for him, that would really be a bell ringer for him.....Keep it together and think about a tire swap......Rich

[NYC Russ]

Good "its-not-a-race-because-that-would-be-illegal" race.


Of course, without the juice, you weren't going to beat him anyway, but that's a separate post

[David Neibert]

Rich,

He's knows my car pretty well and we have both been to the track together on a couple occasions over the past three years. He had a C5 with some intake and exhaust mods that ran a best of 13.2 @ 105. He bought the Z06 back in June and I think it's still stock.

If I had a set of BFG drag radials or some other decent street legal tires, I'm sure my SC will walk him up to about 90mph and then he will start gaining on me. With the 6 speed, he has a much better selection of gear ratios than my AOD.

The stock Z06s I've seen over at Gateway usually run 12.7 @ about 114. On the average day, my SC runs right around 12.5 @ 110 without the nitrous. The non-locking converter is costing me some MPH thru the traps, but really helps to maintain torque in 3rd, producing lower ETs than a locking one would.

IMO, There is no shame in getting beat on the street or the track by a Z06, they are awesome cars for the money. Besides that, I think he was the one worried about losing.

David

[MN12 KID]

The Z06 do have badass street tires. 245's in the front, and 275 in the rear?

[rplaster]

Sounds like you guys had fun. Sucks having all that power and not being able to put it to the ground. I recently ran my C5 at the track and discovered that those run flat tires suck for traction. The sidewalls are so stiff that they don't give even if you let your tire pressure down.Besides the traction problem my driving sucks just as bad, the best i ran was 13.4 at 109 best 60ft. was a 2.31 I have a question for David or anyone who has ran at the track alot? Why is my mph so high, and if i got my 60ft down to say a 1.90 would my mph go down or up?

[kuhnga]

That is a funny story David. It reminds me of Days of thunder where they raced the rental cars and showed up late for dinner.
People that dont understand just shake their head.
Gary

[Mr1der]

that rental scene was really funny but not recommended

nice work however Dave, I love both the T Bird and the Vette

what's your bird tip the scales at by the way? I think the Vette is somewhere around 3500 right?

[v8killr]

It really don't (maybe it does)matter if you beat that vette or not,just the plain thought of staying with if not beating him in a 4000 lb, 6cy car is awesome enough.

Every time i get in my car(when it's running good) i love it.Just like everyone else on hear i have owned a ton of cars and none that i get into as much as this one.I haven't done a whole lot of mods to my car as of yet just some gears and simple stuff but i live for the day i can put this thing in the high 12 low 13.What you and a select few are doing with these birds is friggn amazing period.