blackZ06

First off hi,
I just bought a 02 z06 this week and it is alredy time to go to the drag strip.
I was looking around and I have seen some people with some great 60 foot times with stock cars. What are some tips, tire pressure, launching rpm ect?
I had an 11 sec grand national and made a bunch of passes with that but this a hole new learning experience with the m6.

Thanks for the help Troy.

P.S. sorry if this has already been said I tried a search and could not come up with anything.

02ZOh6

This guy is the king. Ranger's drag racing tutorial

REDGAR

here is another one with ET Streets

http://corvettechallenge.info/howtolaunchaZ06.php

CySevans

You may seriously want to look into beefing up that rear end. It's a heck of a lot more expensive to fix than a solid axle and is prone to break with sticky tires. Output shaft and bracing highly recommended.

While on the subject:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/corvette-performance/511600-strength-c5-rear.html

blackZ06

Thanks guys all of that info was helpful.

Ranger

I had 500+ passes in two stock Z06s and never broke anything.

But here are some ways folks break them....

(1) Brutalize the tranny with poorly timed shifts near the redline.

(2) Get the rear wheels hopping on launch or the 1-2 shift and then stay on the throttle. Great way to break an axle or the diff case.

(3) Heat the tires at the drags and then dry hop it up to the line. Another great way to break an axle or the diff case.

(4) Burnout dry tires at the drags. More torture for the rear.

(5) Try to heat the tires at the drags, botch it, then try it again without reapplying water to the rear tires. This glazes the clutch or break the rear.

(6) Mod the motor to above 390 rwhp and then do hard launches at the drags on DRs. The rear will hate that.

Now, if you avoid the (1)-(6) driving errors, then you can probably make 500+ passes without breakage...like I did.

Good luck with your car.

Ranger

blackZ06

Thanks, I ran it tonight and made three runs. first run was
2.026 60'
8.17 1/8
90.30 mph 1/8
missed 4th and let off
12.89 1/4
93.26 1/4

the other two were later in the night and the traction got worse both were
2.4 60'
and got loose in third
next time I will go on sunday when they prep the track

itsfast

iTrader: (1)

1.98's and 2.0x's with new crappy street tires.
1.64 is my best 60' so far with 17" MT ET Street Radials. 24-26psi launching at 5k.

Mods - Headers, high flow cats, and Borla Stingers.

andres85

Thats with a stock clutch?

TonyJ

I can't launch mine at 3K with the street radials that high with out smoking the tires off. I get the best results at 15 psi. Your track must prep a LOT better than Bandimere...

Ranger

If you are spinning properly heated ET Street Radials, then the likely cause is the coordination of the clutch release and the throttle.
(1) hold the launch rpm
(2) release the clutch quickly but not a pop. All out in 3'-6' of forward movement.
(3) then and only then, squeeeeeze the throttle to the floor progressively over the next 10'-20'.

So I'd suspect you are being too aggressive with the throttle.

MT Radial on my 02 C5Z06 took launches of 4600-5200.

On heating the MT Radials....
First pass of the day, full burnout.
Subsequent passes that day, spin them until appearance of first wiffs of smoke. MT calls that "hazing the tires."

Also need to be careful to NOT get water thrown up into the wheel wells. If that happens, it drips back onto the heated tires while you're staging, and make the tires lose traction on the launch.

Ranger

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

I enjoy perusing all the C5 Z06 threads to do with drag racing, so much so that I'm not in a huge hurry to race mine. But I wonder, when I've seen folks race them in the past, I've seen a lot of them kick out sideways on the 1-2 shift. Does that ever get too crazy, like the car loose so much traction that you have to lift?

Ranger

I've seen 5 C5s hit the wall at the drags. None were running, as they should have been, in COMPETITIVE DRIVING MODE.

Here is my story, written amost five years ago when driving a 2001 Z06....

COMPETITIVE DRIVING Mode at the Drags--Disaster Avoided

I've always run in COMPETITIVE DRIVING mode at the drags. Do it on principle...It has no effect whatsoever on my times unless my rear end gets seriously out of line, at which point active handling will be invoked, thereby saving my a $ $. In such a moment, my ET would be the last thing on my mind.

Today I narrowly averted a disaster that was not of my making. AH saved my butt and vindicated my practice of running with it turned on.

I made eight passes at Capitol Raceway in Crofton Maryland. On the fourth pass, I was next in line behind a highly modified car that spewed tranny fluid on the track just after the 60' mark. Unfortunately, no one, including me, noticed the spill as it occurred. AND, I was next.... I had my best launch of the day (1.82) and slammed 2d gear hard amidst his tranny fluid...whereupon my rear end moved violently right...toward the wall. Fortunately, Active Handling engaged and queued me to back out of the throttle immediately upon recognizing my predicament...but not before I had come within just a foot or so of the wall.

Had I turned AH off (as many people do), I surely would have hit the wall HARD. Wouldn't have been my fault; but certainly would have spoiled the day. When that occurred, the last thing on my mind was my ET...which was a 12.81...in a day of 12.04 and a bunch of 12.1Xs, plus one trap of 118.1...all in COMPETITVE DRIVING mode.

Ranger

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

Nice! So when I press that button on the console once, it turns off traction control, but leaves Competitive Driving Mode on?

I've read and reread your drag racing tips, and I had a few questions. So what you are saying is, release the clutch smoothly but don't give it throttle until the clutch is completely disengaged, correct?

Also, when I hear about folks running 13.0@110, do you think that's mostly due to them short shifting?

And, do you suggest hmm, slightly granny shifting 1-2 since it's such a hard shift? I'd really hate to break the rearend in a car that I've only had for 3 weeks.

TonyJ

If you hit it once, it turns off all traction control. To get competitive mode, hold down the botton until it says competitive mode on the DIC.

Kraest

iTrader: (3)

You aren't going to break the rear-end. They are pretty damned strong and can live through serious launches (sub 1.7 60's). If breaking it is an issue that you're seriously worried about and you want to launch the car off the rev limiter, you could always upgrade to a hardened output shaft for $300 and launch in the sub 1.5s

Mike

1BadZo6

iTrader: (1)

Um man... A $300 Haft-shaft is not gonna save your rear-end at a "OFF THE REV LIMITER" Thats BS.... Before I got my car it had 14,000. Miles on it and 462rwhp and It blowed the Rear-end Case and the cluster gear and the right shaft on a power-shift / Dump....And blowed 3rd Gear out of the Car. That's a Test Drive that sent it to the chevrolet Dealership close by..

T-maxx

[QUOTE=Kraest]You aren't going to break the rear-end. They are pretty damned strong and can live through serious launches (sub 1.7 60's). If breaking it is an issue that you're seriously worried about and you want to launch the car off the rev limiter, you could always upgrade to a hardened output shaft for $300 and launch in the sub 1.5s

Everything in the quote above is completely wrong. I have personaly watched several C5's break left AND right side output shafts on near stock cars. Don't forget that when the output shaft breaks other parts may go with it. Catastrophic damage to the entire drive train =

Kraest

iTrader: (3)

I've personally been on ET Streets on my old setup and have a friend who dragraces his Z06 frequently. Neither of us have had problems even on the stock output shafts. I was leaving at 4000 rpm and he was leaving at 4500 rpm and cutting 1.7 60s.

*shrug*

Ranger

Breakage is very common. But can often be avoided by not making the common driving mistakes listed in post #6 of this thread.

I've watched several dozen Corvettes break rears.

Ranger