VERY VERY Heavy modded C6 TT vs. 355 (not racing)

+1

 

One thing you need to ask yourself. Am I going to be happy with a slow car by todays standards?

I've had the go fast bug for many years. I bought my last NSX with the intentions of being ok with it being slow. That lasted about 6 months and 20g later, it was a 500whp beast.

With the 355 though, you can't really make it fast unless you want to dump 50g on a engine build and turbo setup.

Are you ok with all your friends putting it on you?

 

I just can't understand how anyone would have an issue with 375HP in a street car. Trust me, It's plenty. As others have said, the Ferrari is not about HP, it's the experience of the total package. If you struggle with that, it's simply not the car for you.

 

My uncle came over today for my 3rd round of Christmas. He wanted to go out to my garage and look at my 348 and 911 Carrera. He asked me how much power it had and started spewing about a 2014 Vette he test drove recently. I crushed him with "Corvettes are like ass&*)$# everybodys got one" and I think they are decent cars ,they're just common.

 

Actually the zr1 motor was made by Lotus. GM is too inept to build anything overhead cam that that doesnt blow up like a Vega. Lol

 

Wrong..designed by lotus, built by mercury marine. And I would flip it around and say GM doesn't need over head cams and big heavy engines to make a car go fast, and return 25mpg.

 

I was a equipment design engineer at GM's largest engine assembly plant for 3 years, in fact it was the largest engine plant in the world for many years. They did produce a few overhead cam engine such as the L850 and PV6. Not sure if they ever made an 8 cylinder OHC engine though.

 

I have owned Corvettes, Shelby KR, many Vipers over the years, including several Gen 4s, a Ford GT and Porsche Turbo S, etc... What I can tell you is that owning a Ferrari is a different experience altogether. I have fallen in love with the feel of driving a mid engine Ferrari. I own both a 458 Italia and 430 Spider (6 Speed MT). The feel, the sound, the vibe...very special indeed. Now in your case, having come from a high HP Corvette, I think that you are best off shooting for a 360 that you can mod as you go. You might spend a bit more upfront, but it will save you money in the end because, IMHO, a 355 wont do it for you. You need to move into the 360/430 range to get into what will surely do it for you. The way the car handles will also take you into the next level of performance as well. BTW, I don't even notice Corvettes anymore...too common.
In my opinion, get yourself a well sorted 360 with aftermarket headers and exhaust already done and drive it, all the while saving to have a TT setup installed. Another good car would be an early model (2004-06) Lamborghini Gallardo with a few miles on her (not hard to find) and eventually have it TT'd! Either way, you will have the power AND the handling with all of that beautiful sound coming out of the tailpipes. I just think that the 360 is a prettier car than a Gallardo!
Treviso

P.S. A good friend has a TT corvette C6 and while very powerful and fast...It doesn't put the power down to the tires/ground very well...I wont even go in that car again because my buddy almost killed us in it several times. The handling is just aweful and It just feels too unstable and I don't like that feeling. Also, no one ever compliments him with that car...it's just another Corvette...:-( With Ferrari, you will get the looks and compliments everytime you are behind the wheel (if you are into that sort of thing!)

 

Yeah, they just need 1 million cubic inches and a supercharger.

 

Z06 is not supercharged. Only the ZR1 was. The first corvette in history to come factory equipped with one btw.

Big displacement, you got it. Torque is where the fun is. That is what throws you in the back of the seat. It is what gives you the real feeling of hard acceleration. Notice the Ferrari has been slowly increasing displacement? 3.4,3,5,3.6, then the jump to 4.3..it's the only way to build an engine with both torque and horsepower.

But I hope you also realize that the 6.0 liter corvette v8 weighs less and puts out more power, and is smaller dimensionally then a Porsche 911 engine? It's approxamitly the same size as a Ferrari F430 motor, and weighs only slightly more.

 

It is just a different animal altogether. I enjoy driving all kinds of cars, but I particularly enjoy the high winding, high RPM redline of Ferrari cars.

 

The extra heft of high rpm engines is from variable valve timing, 4 cams and 4 or 5 valve cylinder heads which give more valve area for better breathing at high rpm. I agree with you about the vette engine being compact and powerful. I think that they are a good buy. I just dont think GM has the mystical draw or grand prix history of Ferrari and the value of their cars drops rapidly partly because theres no shortage of them.I have owned GM cars and they are fine but when I come out of a mall now I have the only 348 and Carrera 3.2 around here and dont see 25 cars just like mine. But to each their own and I can see the merit of owning a Corvette.

 

It depends on how you built a car. My vette has a short stroke version of the same basic design. That makes for a very high revving small block. Due to the availability of aftermarket parts it's not really difficult to keep it together at that rpm level. There are not many cars that offer the advantage of the availability of parts for it, especially Ferrari.
On the other hand a Ferrari already comes with a maxed out engine. So in the end both will cost you as much.

At the price levels seen for a Corvette it's hard to beat pricewise. The reason the Ferrari's are so high strung is they are a European car and fiscal reasons (ci-wise that is) come into play a lot more here.

 

Cadillac Northstar was an OHC V8.

Smaller physically, better mileage, better power range, more torque.

And the downside is what?

 

So if a GM style pushrod motor is so much more power per cubic inch with 2 valve heads and pushrods then why dont we see a whole Formula 1 grid made up of compact little 147 inch push rod cast iron v8's? The domestic vehicle industry has always made up for a lack of R&D and money by making engines twice as big as foreign cars and motorcycles. Overhead cam engines are costly to maintain (due to a general lack of support)and build but they are superior per cubic inch in both drivability and top end power. Even 302's like old z28's had to have the nuts revved out of them to make top power.