My bone stock '97 vette against the world!
05-03-2009, 02:53 AM
#1
My bone stock '97 vette against the world! This is gonna be a long one so if you want to skip ahead these are the cars that I raced:
96-98 Mustang GT (with bullet h/c/i)
Saturn Ion with a twin-screw blower
98-02 Camaro SS with headers, catback, CAI
99-04 Supercharged Mustang GT
LS2 GTO with a CAI
LT1 Camaro SS with LT4 mods and bolt-ons.
My car is bone-stock and carried a 215 lb passenger and my 200 lbs *** driving.
I went out to the local scene tonight and just had to get it out of my system. I really want to run a guy's GTO w/ the LS2 & headers/CAI/tune, but he didn't make it out tonight.
The first guys came up to me. A guy in a 96-98 Mustang GT and his buddy in a Saturn Ion with a twin-screw blower, which is supposedly stock wanted me to run them. Being a Mustang guy (I have a turbo '91 making pretty decent power) I was interested in the mustang. I asked him what was done and he said it was stock. I lost interest and told him so. So he said, "Ok, Ok, I'm not gonna lie. It ain't stock it's got a different top end h/c/i." Now, I was really interested. Meanwhile the guy in the Saturn told a buddy of mine that he'd raced and beaten his friend's '99 C5 recently. I had no idea what the outcome would be with the Saturn. Afterwards he told me that it was running 12psi, but didn't go into the other mods. They wanted to go from a roll, and I was game for anything.
96-98 Mustang GTThe mustang started at 15 mph and honked it off. It was disappointing to say the least. The vette just ate the stang's lunch. By the end of 2nd it was all over as far as I was concerned. I had him by multiple car lengths and was pulling away hard.
The Ion lined up next and wanted a 40 roll, which is the beginning of 2nd for the vette. I was surprised at how well his car pulled. I mean, we were absolutely door to door and I wasn't gaining ground until he shifted. I was at 5000rpm in 2nd and he shifted into 3 which is where I put about 2 cars on him before shifting into 3rd myself. From there, I pulled slightly until the top of 3rd, and when he shifted again the vette walked away nicely. I shut it down at around 120 with 5 or more lengths.
The next car that the Ion and Mustang tried to start something with was the '98-02 Camaro SS. According to my friend this car had pacesetter long-tubes and a whisper lid. I followed him out to the highway and was directly behind him on the on-ramp while he was merging at WOT (no cars for about 1/2 mile up the road. I was several cars back and went WOT when I heard him go. I shifted over to the left lane and stayed on it. It took me until the bottom of 5th gear (150 or so) to get by the Camaro. The Camaro then ran the aforementioned Mustang GT and walked away. When we turned around and went the other way I lined up with the camaro. The guy didn't seem to have much street-racing sense, and it was difficult to get him to match speeds with me. At first I was going 40mph and he was going slower. So I slowed down, but I didn't want to run from 35 which is almost my first gear's shift point. So, I slowed down and tried to get him to slow down to a more reasonable speed. Instead he jumped on it and got a half-second jump or so. I got on it eventually, haha, and passed him by 110 mph or so.
When I made it back to the hangout, I saw a pretty cool guy I met the night before. His '99+ GT has a centrifugal blower and not too much else, though it probably has bolt-ons like exhaust, pullies, etc... We ran three times, and he also had a passenger during the run. The first was around a bit of a bend that had me on the outside and when we got into it, it was give and take until he missed fourth. I thought he had just let out. So, I let out, too. The result was ambiguous with both car still side by side. The second run was nice and straight from a 40 roll (his idea). I started in second and when we went I jumped out nicely. I immediately told my passenger that I think he started in the wrong gear, and afterwards found out that it was true. He tried to run me down, and I didn't let out until he did somewhere into 5th gear (the shiftpoint from 4th is about 140mph). He was still a car or two behind me. On our last race he got it in the right gear and finally didn't miss any. It was a good clean run. From 40 up to about 130 or so, the Mustang pulled 3-4 car lengths or so. Not running away from me, but it was a steady pull in every gear.
The next guy with the LS2 GTO was complaining about weight and how heavy his passenger was and blah blah blah. So, we left his passenger at the hangout and I still took mine. I ran him twice. Once was from a 40 and once was from a 25 or so. On both of them, I got a slight jump, then he pulled me by half a car or so. When he granny shifted he lost that half-car (I powershift). And in 3rd gear I began pulling. In 4th gear he fell back quite a bit. I think his power:weight ratio is higher than mine was, which allowed him to pull, but my aerodynamics saved the day in both races. I wasn't sure what to expect against the GTO, and was pleasantly surprised to find that he had a CAI and an aftermarket cat-back. So, it looks like my future race with a different GTO that has headers, a CAI, and a tune might be an even more interesting race.
Finally, my passenger got out, jumped in his Pre-'98 Camaro SS (LT1) and gave me a run. He told me the mods, but I honestly don't remember the specifics. I remember him saying something about LT4 parts, and I know he's also got some other bolt-ons. I ran him twice. During the first race, I think he may have started in a bad gear because I pulled hard from the start to the end of the race. The second race, I started at the bottom of 2nd, he got a decent jump, and pulled about 2-3 cars. Going into 3rd gear I started to make up ground. Shifting into 4th at around 115mph, I was door to door with him, but pulling hard. I shut down around 130 with a couple of car lengths.
The races were a lot of fun because other than the race with the first mustang, I had no idea how any of them would turn out. Afterall, I was being honest about being bone-stock, and you never know if the other guy is being honest too.
My friend said he may bring the video cam for the race with the other GTO. If he does, I'll post the vid.
Chris
96-98 Mustang GT (with bullet h/c/i)
Saturn Ion with a twin-screw blower
98-02 Camaro SS with headers, catback, CAI
99-04 Supercharged Mustang GT
LS2 GTO with a CAI
LT1 Camaro SS with LT4 mods and bolt-ons.
My car is bone-stock and carried a 215 lb passenger and my 200 lbs *** driving.
I went out to the local scene tonight and just had to get it out of my system. I really want to run a guy's GTO w/ the LS2 & headers/CAI/tune, but he didn't make it out tonight.
The first guys came up to me. A guy in a 96-98 Mustang GT and his buddy in a Saturn Ion with a twin-screw blower, which is supposedly stock wanted me to run them. Being a Mustang guy (I have a turbo '91 making pretty decent power) I was interested in the mustang. I asked him what was done and he said it was stock. I lost interest and told him so. So he said, "Ok, Ok, I'm not gonna lie. It ain't stock it's got a different top end h/c/i." Now, I was really interested. Meanwhile the guy in the Saturn told a buddy of mine that he'd raced and beaten his friend's '99 C5 recently. I had no idea what the outcome would be with the Saturn. Afterwards he told me that it was running 12psi, but didn't go into the other mods. They wanted to go from a roll, and I was game for anything.
96-98 Mustang GTThe mustang started at 15 mph and honked it off. It was disappointing to say the least. The vette just ate the stang's lunch. By the end of 2nd it was all over as far as I was concerned. I had him by multiple car lengths and was pulling away hard.
The Ion lined up next and wanted a 40 roll, which is the beginning of 2nd for the vette. I was surprised at how well his car pulled. I mean, we were absolutely door to door and I wasn't gaining ground until he shifted. I was at 5000rpm in 2nd and he shifted into 3 which is where I put about 2 cars on him before shifting into 3rd myself. From there, I pulled slightly until the top of 3rd, and when he shifted again the vette walked away nicely. I shut it down at around 120 with 5 or more lengths.
The next car that the Ion and Mustang tried to start something with was the '98-02 Camaro SS. According to my friend this car had pacesetter long-tubes and a whisper lid. I followed him out to the highway and was directly behind him on the on-ramp while he was merging at WOT (no cars for about 1/2 mile up the road. I was several cars back and went WOT when I heard him go. I shifted over to the left lane and stayed on it. It took me until the bottom of 5th gear (150 or so) to get by the Camaro. The Camaro then ran the aforementioned Mustang GT and walked away. When we turned around and went the other way I lined up with the camaro. The guy didn't seem to have much street-racing sense, and it was difficult to get him to match speeds with me. At first I was going 40mph and he was going slower. So I slowed down, but I didn't want to run from 35 which is almost my first gear's shift point. So, I slowed down and tried to get him to slow down to a more reasonable speed. Instead he jumped on it and got a half-second jump or so. I got on it eventually, haha, and passed him by 110 mph or so.
When I made it back to the hangout, I saw a pretty cool guy I met the night before. His '99+ GT has a centrifugal blower and not too much else, though it probably has bolt-ons like exhaust, pullies, etc... We ran three times, and he also had a passenger during the run. The first was around a bit of a bend that had me on the outside and when we got into it, it was give and take until he missed fourth. I thought he had just let out. So, I let out, too. The result was ambiguous with both car still side by side. The second run was nice and straight from a 40 roll (his idea). I started in second and when we went I jumped out nicely. I immediately told my passenger that I think he started in the wrong gear, and afterwards found out that it was true. He tried to run me down, and I didn't let out until he did somewhere into 5th gear (the shiftpoint from 4th is about 140mph). He was still a car or two behind me. On our last race he got it in the right gear and finally didn't miss any. It was a good clean run. From 40 up to about 130 or so, the Mustang pulled 3-4 car lengths or so. Not running away from me, but it was a steady pull in every gear.
The next guy with the LS2 GTO was complaining about weight and how heavy his passenger was and blah blah blah. So, we left his passenger at the hangout and I still took mine. I ran him twice. Once was from a 40 and once was from a 25 or so. On both of them, I got a slight jump, then he pulled me by half a car or so. When he granny shifted he lost that half-car (I powershift). And in 3rd gear I began pulling. In 4th gear he fell back quite a bit. I think his power:weight ratio is higher than mine was, which allowed him to pull, but my aerodynamics saved the day in both races. I wasn't sure what to expect against the GTO, and was pleasantly surprised to find that he had a CAI and an aftermarket cat-back. So, it looks like my future race with a different GTO that has headers, a CAI, and a tune might be an even more interesting race.
Finally, my passenger got out, jumped in his Pre-'98 Camaro SS (LT1) and gave me a run. He told me the mods, but I honestly don't remember the specifics. I remember him saying something about LT4 parts, and I know he's also got some other bolt-ons. I ran him twice. During the first race, I think he may have started in a bad gear because I pulled hard from the start to the end of the race. The second race, I started at the bottom of 2nd, he got a decent jump, and pulled about 2-3 cars. Going into 3rd gear I started to make up ground. Shifting into 4th at around 115mph, I was door to door with him, but pulling hard. I shut down around 130 with a couple of car lengths.
The races were a lot of fun because other than the race with the first mustang, I had no idea how any of them would turn out. Afterall, I was being honest about being bone-stock, and you never know if the other guy is being honest too.
My friend said he may bring the video cam for the race with the other GTO. If he does, I'll post the vid.
Chris
Last edited by Chris Arnold; 05-03-2009 at 05:35 PM.
05-03-2009, 05:21 PM
#2
Good races! It's nice to see a good writeup. So many times it's a one sentance story that leaves you scratching your head, lol. I think, with all of the newer crazy stuff coming out, alot of people forget that even a stock C5 is a strong runner and shouldn't be underestimated. Keep'em coming, good luck against the GTO!
05-04-2009, 01:20 AM
#5
Yeah, I'd agree that they weren't great drivers. It really made no difference, though. The bad driving allowed me to beat the blown GT when I shouldn't have, but in the last run he did well enough and we verified that his car is stronger. The top end in the vette was definitely stronger than all of the other cars in the list, though.
this whole time i was thinking it was an lt1 and i just couldn't understand it. makes sense now. Trending Topics
05-04-2009, 02:12 AM
#8
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Well the problem I am having with all of this is that even though the gto was heavier and your car is more aerodynamic, it's still a 400+ hp car and on top end, I would have figured he would have come around you. I wanna know how you beat a bolt-on ls1. Your car is slightly lighter, but he has more power than you. Idk, I know the c5 is a damn good running car, but I have seen them get pulled hard by bolt-on ls1's so who knows.
05-04-2009, 02:23 AM
#9
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Well the problem I am having with all of this is that even though the gto was heavier and your car is more aerodynamic, it's still a 400+ hp car and on top end, I would have figured he would have come around you. I wanna know how you beat a bolt-on ls1. Your car is slightly lighter, but he has more power than you. Idk, I know the c5 is a damn good running car, but I have seen them get pulled hard by bolt-on ls1's so who knows.
05-04-2009, 03:31 AM
#10
Well the problem I am having with all of this is that even though the gto was heavier and your car is more aerodynamic, it's still a 400+ hp car and on top end, I would have figured he would have come around you. I wanna know how you beat a bolt-on ls1. Your car is slightly lighter, but he has more power than you. Idk, I know the c5 is a damn good running car, but I have seen them get pulled hard by bolt-on ls1's so who knows.
I'm just giving you the facts. Accept it or don't; I don't care, either way. I race for fun, and I post so you guys can partake in the fun, too. I tell the losses and the wins. The vette isn't even my go-fast car - I have a mustang for that... The vette's just my DD. It runs what it should. I don't have a factory freak, and I'm not telling you anything questionable. I've had it to the drag strip only a couple times and it's gone 13.2@108 in warm weather. I think it'd go 13.0 with a few more laps under my belt and a decent launch in cooler weather.
As to the Goat, I'll put my C5 up against any bone-stock GTO (LS1 or LS2) in a race from 70-150. I know most people don't like roll-on races, but the point I'm making here is that the vette is just stronger up top, and that applies to F-bodies as well. I watched the guy pull on me in 2nd gear. From a dig, I don't know how it'd go b/c I haven't raced any from a dig yet, but I've outrun a few of them on the highway. So, I'm convinced it ain't just shitty driving, now. With any luck, I'll have the run with the other Goat on vid so you guys can criticize his driving instead of insinuating that the story is bullshit.... assuming I even come out ahead. I won't have to tug a 215 lbs passenger, and the driver won't be as light as the 140ish guy I was racing above, but he'll probably be making 20-30 more hp than the guy I raced too. Either way, I expect it to be a close one.
Chris
Last edited by Chris Arnold; 05-04-2009 at 03:59 AM.
05-04-2009, 04:11 AM
#11
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Hey man, I'm not calling you a liar, especially seeing as how anything can happen on the street. If he just had some long tubes and a CAI, then it would make sense that your weight advantage and aero helps out.
Be careful though, some of these 01-02 f-bodies have been able to hit a high 12 with just a lid and catback, so who knows.
Sounds to me like your vette runs good. I would love to get my hands on a c5.
Get the video for the gto race when you can, I wanna see it. I have a friend who has a bone *** stock 06 gto a4 that he thinks will run a 12.8 and can take a stock c5 pretty easily. I just wanna know if he's right or not. Good luck with the races man, although it doesn't seem like you need it.
Be careful though, some of these 01-02 f-bodies have been able to hit a high 12 with just a lid and catback, so who knows.
Sounds to me like your vette runs good. I would love to get my hands on a c5.
Get the video for the gto race when you can, I wanna see it. I have a friend who has a bone *** stock 06 gto a4 that he thinks will run a 12.8 and can take a stock c5 pretty easily. I just wanna know if he's right or not. Good luck with the races man, although it doesn't seem like you need it.
05-04-2009, 07:04 AM
#12
It's all good. If it happens on cam, you can bet I'll post the vid regardless of outcome (unless my car loses a wheel or something embarrassing, haha)
I don't think a bone stock GTO with an auto is going to run a 12.8. I don't know them all that well, but I'm thinking that a manual with a hell of a driver would be the only GTO that would have a shot at that kind of time. I could be wrong, though. Through the 1/4, your friend may be right about C5s... I dunno. Tell him to take it to the strip and find out for sure. He'll need 13.0s or better to feel confident about being quicker than C5s, in my humble opinion.
Chris
I don't think a bone stock GTO with an auto is going to run a 12.8. I don't know them all that well, but I'm thinking that a manual with a hell of a driver would be the only GTO that would have a shot at that kind of time. I could be wrong, though. Through the 1/4, your friend may be right about C5s... I dunno. Tell him to take it to the strip and find out for sure. He'll need 13.0s or better to feel confident about being quicker than C5s, in my humble opinion.
Chris
05-04-2009, 08:15 AM
#13
Well the problem I am having with all of this is that even though the gto was heavier and your car is more aerodynamic, it's still a 400+ hp car and on top end, I would have figured he would have come around you. I wanna know how you beat a bolt-on ls1. Your car is slightly lighter, but he has more power than you. Idk, I know the c5 is a damn good running car, but I have seen them get pulled hard by bolt-on ls1's so who knows.
Last edited by ScreaminRedZ; 05-04-2009 at 04:41 PM.
05-04-2009, 08:28 AM
#14
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Hey man, I'm not calling you a liar, especially seeing as how anything can happen on the street. If he just had some long tubes and a CAI, then it would make sense that your weight advantage and aero helps out.
Be careful though, some of these 01-02 f-bodies have been able to hit a high 12 with just a lid and catback, so who knows.
Sounds to me like your vette runs good. I would love to get my hands on a c5.
Get the video for the gto race when you can, I wanna see it. I have a friend who has a bone *** stock 06 gto a4 that he thinks will run a 12.8 and can take a stock c5 pretty easily. I just wanna know if he's right or not. Good luck with the races man, although it doesn't seem like you need it.
Be careful though, some of these 01-02 f-bodies have been able to hit a high 12 with just a lid and catback, so who knows.
Sounds to me like your vette runs good. I would love to get my hands on a c5.
Get the video for the gto race when you can, I wanna see it. I have a friend who has a bone *** stock 06 gto a4 that he thinks will run a 12.8 and can take a stock c5 pretty easily. I just wanna know if he's right or not. Good luck with the races man, although it doesn't seem like you need it.
05-04-2009, 08:32 AM
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GJ Op you have to keep the C5 Corvette racer name alive. I get tired of seeing people race at the track with TC on and run 14.5's and everyone is like "That is Damn sad out of a 50k dollar car"
05-04-2009, 08:34 AM
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hey also how many miles are on your car? You should look into changing the Rod Bolts because the early model LS1's especially the first year in production like yours are very bad about letting a rod bolt go at higher RPM's and BAM!!! through the side of your block the next thing you know you are pricing LS6 or stroker LS1's.
05-04-2009, 11:01 AM
#17
Wow, never heard of the rod-bolt issue. I don't really plan on tearing the motor apart for that. If it goes like that, I'd be pissed, but LS1s aren't so expensive these days. I've got 54k on the clock, now.
I just found out that I'll be going to Germany in half a year or so. Can't wait to see how it does out on the Autobahn. I'll bet I'm in for a surprise, but I'll give those Euro cars some American hell.
Chris
I just found out that I'll be going to Germany in half a year or so. Can't wait to see how it does out on the Autobahn. I'll bet I'm in for a surprise, but I'll give those Euro cars some American hell.
Chris
05-04-2009, 11:25 AM
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I've seen a bone stock LS1 C5 trap 111 mph on more than one occasion. Not the average, but not one a million either. The fasted I've seen for an LS1 GTO is about 109 mph. Definitely capable of beating a mild to moderate bolt-on LS1 fbody also, especially when you take driving into account. The OP stated that he power shifts and not many people do that.
