C5 Corvette, 4g Camaro Run Low 8s Bangin’ Gears

Crazy-fast Corvette and Camaro stick shift racers take on Nissan S14 and Terminator Cobra.

The video above comes to us from the Big Kleib34 YouTube channel and it features footage from the recent Street Car Takeover event at Beech Bend Raceway in Kentucky. This video focuses on the stick shift class at the event, which was led by a C5 Corvette and a 4^th generation Camaro that went head-to-head with some other wicked race cars including a Nissan S14 and a “Terminator” Cobra.

While none of these cars challenged for the record of the quickest stick shift GM-powered drag car, they all turned in impressive efforts, with the ProCharged Corvette proving to be the crème of the crop.

The Competitors

There are two key vehicles in this video, a blue 4^th generation Chevrolet Camaro with a monster turbo setup and a black C5 Corvette with a ProCharger setup. Before each of their first runs in the video, we get a quick walk-around of each car, revealing that they both pack a manual transmission.

While those Chevys are the stars of this show, there are a few other vehicles in this video that appear multiple times, including a black Ford Mustang SVT Cobra from the 2003-2004 era and a Nissan S14. Unfortunately, we don’t have any details on those two cars, but we can see that they are both incredibly quick. The Nissan is particularly shocking, tickling the 7s with what sounds like a small engine as opposed to an LS swap.

The Action

The first racing action of the video shows the blue 4^th generation Camaro tearing down the track. After a huge burnout, the beast stages, waits for green and rips out of the hole. The car jumps hard on the launch and with each shift, the Chevy muscle car dances all over the track, but the driver keeps the hammer down and runs an 8.851 at 174 miles per hour. There is also another clip of this run later in the video.

Next, the ProCharged C5 Corvette hit the track and while it had a great launch and a clean-looking run, numbers that don’t make sense flash across the board, so we don’t know what it runs.

The first good race of the video takes place between the blue Camaro and the Nissan S14. The Chevy redlights, giving the win to the Nissan, but then the driver lets off as the other car launches. As a result, the time for the blue Chevy was much slower, but the Nissan ran an impressive 8.452 at 173.

The black Terminator Cobra makes its appearance next against a black 4^th gen Camaro. In a clean race, the Chevy runs a lowing 9.8 while the Mustang wins on a 9.0 at 158 miles per hour.

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The Cobra then takes on the ProCharged Corvette, with the C5 getting off of the line better and cruising to victory when the Ford has issues. The Vette ran an 8.276 at 180 miles per hour on this run

Later on in the video, the blue Camaro takes on the Cobra and once again, the Chevy dances all over the track but the driver stays in it, running an 8.752 at 176 miles per hour as the Ford breaks again.

Finally, the video ends with two clips of the stick shift class final, pitting the Nissan S14 against the ProCharged Corvette. The Chevy might have a slight lead on the start, but it is a great drag race with the C5 grabbing a narrow win on the top end.

Crank up your speakers and enjoy!

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com