Alan's Z06 dyno, mods and racing

I'll start a thread with my dyno numbers from today and post all other mods with dyno #s as quite a few people have shown interest in the progress of my car. I'll also post any racing numbers I may put up. I'll also paste my driving impressions from the other thread for future comparison. Enjoy.

Just got back from Lg in Dallas and she ran pretty well. The first pull was only 451rwhp but the car was hot from an hours drive. We let it cool 20 minutes and pulled again which yielded 460 hp and 431 ftlbs. It was 80 with 80% humidity in Dallas. It was running pretty rich and he said it was losing about 10hp to that. I think someone told me most Vettes run about 13% parasitic loss so that yeilds about 530 hp and 495 ftlbs at the crank. Not bad for stock.

Driving impressions
"Well I passed to 500 mile breakin on wednesday of last week but I was in NYC all weekend so I couldn't really get on it until today. And let me say this to start off. This thing is an absolute animal. I mean a real beast.

The power this car makes stock is unreal. Keep in mind I have driven 355s, 360s, 430s, Stradales, E46M3s, my 600hp mustang from college, Murcielagos, Gallardos, Diablos, Porsche TTs, a 600hp TT porsche, Porsche GT2,3 and RUFs(the only one that might keep up). I make that list just to let you know where my point of view comes from. I will compare and contrast using those cars.

Acceleration
This car is an absolute rocket right out of the box. The torque is just so phenominal I can't stand it. It will accelerate faster than my E46M3 and my Ferrari 355 did without ever passing 4K on the rpms. And it revs to 7K. Not bad for 7.0 liters. When you nail it in 1st it squats and just rockets forward. The exhaust valves open after 3500rpms at full throttle and it sounds like pure muscle car bliss. Almost like a small dragster. I can't wait to open up this exhaust with headers and high flow cats. I already ordered my air charger which is what got that guy into the 10s from the other thread.

It easily out accelerates Murcielagos, my buddies GT2 and his Viper. I had a 600hp mustang in college that ran a 10.5@127 and it's a hair faster than that. I think people will be getting these into the 9s with just a few bolt ons and slicks. I drove a Porsche 996 stage 3 TT that had 600 ponies last month and it's definately faster than that. If you can catch a ride in one of these I suggest it.


Most people that are dynoing these are getting more like 530hp stock which is 25hp over advertised. And a few people weighed them in at 3050-3080 which is 70-100LBs under advertised weight. Now I understand why this car is faster than it should be.

Braking
It's kind of like throwing an anchor out the window. It can throw your guts right out of your mouth. My all time favorite stock brakes were the M3s. Most magazines have the M3 with some of the shortest stopping distances they have ever recorded. These are just a little better. Now I can't say they won't fade on the track but the last Z had that problem so they supposedly fixed that with these. Cross drilled rotors multiple calipers on each wheel. 6 front 4 back, I think(don't quote me) and 20 seperate brake pads. They are easy to modulate and offer very good feddback. Not quite as good as the M3 but almost. This may get better as they get more miles on them, but excellent none the less.

Suspension
This is where my only performace complaint is. It corners very well. It's pretty neutral. Not as nuetral as my 355 or a 360 or 430 is but pretty neutral. It has very high cornering speeds. Much like my 355. It's easy to drive around the corner with the throttle and all that endless torque. It pulls over 1G which you can see on the heads up display in the g meter. Very cool. When the car turns in I don't feel the confidence I did in my M3 or a GT3. Guiding an M3 or a GT3 into a corner is like driving a laser. You know exactly where the limit is. The Z, not so much. But once it's into the corner and set you know. I think this may be those crappy run flat tires they use. They just don't offer the feedback the pilots on my 2 M3s did. This can be fixed I think with new tires. It aslo suffers a little from being upset in mid corner bumps above .8Gs. Most owners will never know this. I noticed though as have most magazine write ups. I think this may have something to do with spring rates and shocks. I'm sure someone in the aftermarket will fix this though. I lowered mine already so this may have something to do with it. I haven't gotten it aligned yet. Over all the handling is very good though. It doesn't rise to the level of excellent as does the GT3 or Stradale but it is easy to see how it ran the second fastest production car time around the ring behind the Porsche Carrerra GT. It will rip around corners. It just takes a little more guts and skill than say the GT3, Stradale or the Gallardo.

Over all the level of constuction seems to be right up there with most of the sports cars out there. The level of quality of materials is where GM saves all it's money. It's mid level parts put together very well. Paints very good. All panels fit perfect. Leather is well put together. Carpet is where they save lots of weight and money. It's fairly thin and will wear fast. Floor mats suck. Lots of plastic. And I have no problem with any of this. It all disappears when I hit that pedal and other cars disappear.

Overall this is one of the greatest sporst cars built right now under 400K bar none. Especially for the money. Factor that in and it can't be beat. I give it an A+++. I am going to the dyno tomorrow. I'll post my stock #s for future reference. Hope you enjoyed this read a fraction as much as I enjoyed the testing of the car."

 

Well lets take a look at that. I used to drag race quite a bit back in the day so I know a little about it. The Z06s trap speed of 127mph indicate that this is a mid to high 10 second car with slicks. If the trap speed was another 10mph it could hit the very high nines I think. People have already gotten about 170hp out of the motor with just bolt ons and a tune. What would it take to reach another 10mph? I think they may already be there.

 

Just had my amp and speakers installed today. I used a JL audio amp(250/1) and a JL 10 inch sub in one of their prefabbed boxes. They made it especially for the corvette with weight in mind. It weighs alot less than the battery on the opposite side. It hits extremely clean and hard. I highly recommend it if you are going to add one to your cars pathetic stereo system. Here's some pics. Sorry it was dark.

 

Both cars run 120 traps in the QT. The Z is running 127 regularly and I raced my friends GT2 the oher day and it was a slaughter. Pulled away in 1t and never looked back. Have you driven all three? The GT2 handles better and it more precise but the Z is definately faster. The Murcis not better in any way. Which is what ring times and QT times back up. I love Murcis as that may be my next exotic but they're just not better perfomers and Gallardos are even further away.

 

No off course not but that's a very simple explanation. I was meerly stating it was psosible. Normalls getting into the nines takes lots of susoension and chassis work but the Zs HP #s suggest it has the power to run that fast. My guess is that with icks the new Z is a 10.3@130 car with slicks. But as you snidely say,"think what you like".

 

Thanks for the interest. Here's a few.

Nice pipes.

Nice ass.








http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v299/alanhenson/?action=view&current=2006Z06007_edited-2.jpg

 

For reference when I used to race my Saleen mustang convertible. I ran a 10.3@129 with 650hp. And that was at 3800LBS. The Z only weighs 3100. The terminal velocity of 127 has been acheived by many stock Zs already. They are normally running in between 125 and 127. It's hard to believe the F40 was that fast 18 years ago. I can only imagine what it would do with some sticky tires. I believe people have run 11.0@ 131 in the Enzo without traction. That speaks of a mid 10 second run on slicks. 130 is usually about the right speed for a mid to low 10 second run. Of course I am talking about a car that is properly set up for the QT which the Z06 is not. I mean front skinnies, chassis braces to prevent flex, locking diff, etc.. The usual tricks.

 

Well people that are running 144 have low at 9 second cars. I used to run a twin turbo mustang with a friend of mine that dynoed at 900hp at a weight of 3600 lbs. It ran a 9.2@145. Scary car to drive I might add. SO if you look at a Z06 with 700 hp which they are already hitting with bolt ons you can extrapolate a hp/weight ratio that is near the mustangs. Assuming the Z was set up for the QT I would guess it could pull a very high nine, but it would not be easy. I've seen plenty of guys runs high nines at 137-138 in my day. A Z with 700hp@3100lbs a different rear end gear, slicks, skinnies, chassis bracing might be able to do it. But maybe not. I wasn't trying to imply that these cars will be running nines off the rack or anything. It was just an off the hip ex drag racers agademic guess which may be a little off but not too far. I believe someone has already run 10.6s at 127 without slicks, skinnies, gearing or the like. Set up his car properly and he would be deep in the 10s.

What are you diving?

 

I'll have to beg to differ on the performance claims of the 430 versus the Z. We all know the 430 is about equal to the Stradale on most tracks as Ferrari claims. The 430 is faster in a straight line though. And if I am not mistaken the best time for the CS around the ring is 7:55(on sticky tires) which is alot slower than the Zs 7:43 on run flats.

I as many Ferrarists have been a little dissapointed in the 430s track prowess. It is fast in a straight line but it just doesn't seem to have the quick track times. On most tracks it's only as fast as the CS. The Z06 and the GT3 both got alot faster when the new model came out. The GT3 is running the ring about the same time as the Z06. I guess we know why Ferari won't test there.

Don't get me wrong. I am a huge Ferrari fan. I sold mine to buy the Z06 and I almost cried that day but the boys of marranello really needs to catch up.

 

Not the point of this thread. I was exicted about getting the Z06 and offered some driving impressions relative to other cars I have driven and I think I ruffled a few feathers. So I was simply responding to peoples posts. And I agree as long as you have fun with it that's the car you should drive. I guess i'll stop posting about it. This place isn't what it used to be. It was a very different response when I offered driving impressions of my Ferrari.

 

Well the difference is that with each horsepower you add you have to push and extra 1400Lbs around. What's the trap speed like in yours? And keep in mind I am talking about modifed Zs. Not stock.