Happy B-Day to my Corvette

[Ragtop 99]

Coming up on its third birthday next month. To celebrate, it's getting:

*EPS 226/234 115 cam with supporting goodies (dual springs, C5-R chain, etc.)
*ATI Super damper with 10% UD
*MGW shifter with carbon fiber shift knob
:woot:
Hopefully the cam comes this week and can be installed next week. :)

[demonspeed]

Bunch of burnouts instead of blowing out candles, right?

[Nine Ball]

The MGW shifter is kick ass on the TR6060 trans. BEST manual feel I've ever experienced, no joke.

You need booooost.

[Ragtop 99]

You need booooost.
I almost bought the exact car as an '07 and would have saved about $4k. Had I done that I would have gone straight to the blower.

I'm enjoying the car NA with lots of gear. I'll have around 465 - 475 RWHP so right around a stock C6Z, but a little less low end torque than a Z. With my Z51 Tranny it will be close to having a C6Z with 4.33s for 1st - 3rd gear. Around town, throttle response will be pretty damn good and I'll be traction limited. At 100 mph, having more power when I go into 4th would probably be nice. Maybe uncle Tony will send me one. :poke: :D

[Pro Stock John]

Well if you commute on streets like where your office is, you don't have any room on your daily drive to really wind the gears out. I'm interested to see how you like the combo. What did the gears run?

[Ragtop 99]

3rd gear is done by 100 mph and there is one spot I can do that safely almost each day if I hit it right. Some opportunities get killed by crappy road surfaces in places that would be good for a 2nd gear WOT blast.

The rear is DTE's stage II build. It was about $2k when shipping both ways is factored in.

[Pro Stock John]

Is that one of those deals where you send your stocker back in as a core?

I wish I could hit 100mph on my commute. I take side streets on the way in, and there is one light where I can hit about 70mph. I take the highway home, and it's usually too congested but I do play frogger and move over about 4 lanes in 1 minute. :)

Are you running stock width rims in back? Are you thinking about drag radials? Does Nitto have 19's?

[tones2SS]

That's awesome. Happy birthday to your car.
Nice upgrades.

[Ragtop 99]

Thanks for the birthday wishes.

Sometimes I think I should set fire to the runflats instead of candles. :D
Is that one of those deals where you send your stocker back in as a core?
yes
I wish I could hit 100mph on my commute. I take side streets on the way in, and there is one light where I can hit about 70mph. If you drove a vette instead of an SUV, you might get to 100 without needing a runway. ;)

Are you running stock width rims in back? Are you thinking about drag radials? Does Nitto have 19's? For Dec - Feb, I put the stock rims and runflats on. I don't want to mess around with a flat tire when it is 30* outside.

The rest of the year I run Nitto Invos in Z06 sizes (325/19 back, 275/18 front). Here's the summer wheels (LG World Challenge has an offset that allows for 11" width on the back w/o needing a widebody conversion)

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff93/ragtop99/Sideforwardangle.jpg

When I got my rims, I really should have gone 18" on the back and used Nitto 555 RII. There is a dearth of DRs for the 19" rim and I'm not ready to spend $$$ for Michelin PS Cups. I may switch to Toyo 305 R888's for the back. That's about the only R Compound tire in 19" that fits. Whatever I run has to be able to handle rain.

[Nine Ball]

Now that you've had it a while, what do you think about the car? I remember you going crazy trying to decide between coupe and vert. When I had the '05 C6, that top came off anytime the weather was nice. Kinda miss having that roof option, since the Z06 doesn't.

[tones2SS]

Great color.:rock:

[Ragtop 99]

Now that you've had it a while, what do you think about the car? I remember you going crazy trying to decide between coupe and vert. When I had the '05 C6, that top came off anytime the weather was nice. Kinda miss having that roof option, since the Z06 doesn't.

I take the top off a lot too. Its a pretty open and satisfying feeling. Not as good as my verts, but much better than a hard top or sunroof. Reminds me a lot of my MR2.

The two drawbacks are the turbulence in the back at highway speeds and the targa top is less convenient. I can get the top on and off pretty quickly, although I've never tried to pop it off at a stoplight, so that's not really an issue, . The problem is that in the spring the car gets covered by pollen pretty quickly and I hate brushing up against the car to get the roof on/off if I'm in a suit or good clothes. Just being able to push a button and drop the top would be handy.

I do like having the clear top, I'm glad you pointed out that option. The car feels airy even when buttoned up. I had glass tops on the MR2 and I never used the sun shades in the winter. During the summer, I do wish GM made a sun shade for the top as the car really heats up on a sunny 90* day.

You wouldn't have to twist my arm to trade straight up for a GS vert, but overall it has worked out fine. :thumb:

[Pro Stock John]

Do the Grand Sports come as targa top cars?

So are you DD'ing your C6 right now, or driving your Volvo or minivan?

What tires on the back of your custom rims, how do they hook?

[Nine Ball]

John, all C6 coupes other than the Z06/ZR1 are removable roofs. That is one appeal of the GS, the looks of the widebody and the removable roof. Had that car been out when I bought my Z, it would have been a hard decision. The LS3 is more potent than the LS7 when building a FI engine, on a stock longblock.

[Z Fury]

Do the Grand Sports come as targa top cars?


It is an option, yes.

[Ragtop 99]

Do the Grand Sports come as targa top cars?
As tony pointed out all C6 are targa tops. There is no fixed roof option other than buying a Z06. The vert is available too.
So are you DD'ing your C6 right now, or driving your Volvo or minivan?
Only the wife uses the minivan. My goal was to use the volvo as my primary winter driver, but my oldest needs a car 3 days a week and we saw how well he did parking the van. Bottom line is I'm close to daily driving the vette. I take it most days unless snow is forecast.
What tires on the back of your custom rims, how do they hook? The custom rims have nitto Invos. The hook better noticeably than the GY runflats, but nothing like when I kept Nitto 555R's on my Camaro. They do ride better and are much quieter than the GY runcraps, so switching is a big improvement.
That is one appeal of the GS, the looks of the widebody and the removable roof. Had that car been out when I bought my Z, it would have been a hard decision. The GS gets the widebody, brakes, and sways of the Z06 (shocks too??). A GS vert with a blower basically gets you close to what a convertible Z06 would be like.

I've seen a couple owners post that they sold their Z06 and went to a GS to get a removable top. Unless you are pure track hound or would never take the top off, the GS just seems like the best way to go.

[Nine Ball]

The only negative I see with the GS is that the dry sump oiling system only comes on the hardtop coupe, and only on the manual trans cars. No verts get it, no autos get it.

[Z Fury]

The only negative I see with the GS is that the dry sump oiling system only comes on the hardtop coupe, and only on the manual trans cars. No verts get it, no autos get it.

I thought the manuals got dry sump, regardless of top. I guess I read it wrong somewhere.

EDIT - A quick search also proves my initial thought wrong.

Want an LS3 with the dry sump package? You’ll only find it on the 2010 Corvette Grand Sport Coupe equipped with a manual 6-speed transmission.

[Pro Stock John]

So did you drive the C6 today? Looks like you guys got a few inches of snow.

[Ragtop 99]

Worked from the Bethesda office today, so no driving. ;)
8" of wet heavy snow here. A lot of tree limbs broken in the neighborhood. We did go out for lunch in the van, but the vette would have struggled to make it out of our neighborhood today

[Ragtop 99]

The only negative I see with the GS is that the dry sump oiling system only comes on the hardtop coupe, and only on the manual trans cars. No verts get it, no autos get it.
Despite a dry sump, there have been several Z06's that died due to oil starvation going through a sweeping turn (forgot if it was RH or LH). I think GM updated the system, but you don't hear that many stories of guys killing regular motors if they added the extra quart before hitting the track.

I'm thinking that most hardcore track guys aren't driving a vert or an A6. I'm not 100% sold on its value, so it would not bug me to live w/o it.

[Pro Stock John]

$2K for gears, no other mods to the diff? I'm surprised you haven't taken her to the track and just pooched it out and tried for a 12.5@120 mph kinda time. :)

[Ragtop 99]

$2K for gears, no other mods to the diff?

The $2k for gears included the following upgrades:

• Proprietary clutch pack & bearing oiling improvements
• Cryogenically treated ring & pinion set
• C6-Z06 left output shaft
• C6-Z06 right output shaft
• C6-Z06 heavy duty OEM pinion shaft support
• New Timken bearings & races
• New HD 16-disc carbon clutch packs
• Heavy duty cone springs

I'm surprised you haven't taken her to the track and just pooched it out and tried for a 12.5@120 mph kinda time. :) I did go once and ran a 12.27 @ 117.5 before the gears and tires were added. Going to the track makes me want to spend money on going faster and doing mods that increase NVH, so I tried to avoid it with the vette.

[demonspeed]

I did go once and ran a 12.27 @ 117.5 before the gears and tires were added. Going to the track makes me want to spend money on going faster and doing mods that increase NVH, so I tried to avoid it with the vette.

Considering your LT's, and soon to be cam, I'm thinking you may have already thrown your NVH concerns out the window (or out the targa) :shiner:

[Pro Stock John]

Sounds like a good deal for 2 G's. 12.2@117 is bad ass.

What does NVH mean?

[demonspeed]

Noise, Vibration, and Harshness

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise,_vibration,_and_harshness

[Ragtop 99]

Considering your LT's, and soon to be cam, I'm thinking you may have already thrown your NVH concerns out the window (or out the targa) :shiner:

It is a slippery slope. I've been managing the NVH as I mod.

The LT have cats and I kept the stock exhaust. The car is no louder than an F-Body with full L-T with cats and the original SLP dual-dual exhaust. C6's with stock manifolds and aftermarket exhausts such as the Corsa are louder than me.

Many LS3 daily driver cams use 2* - 6* overlap. I limited overlap to 0* to make sure the idle and low rpm drivability will behave itself. The cam should idle at 750 - 800 with a bit of a lope and the smoothness of stock. The EPS lobes are reported to cause less valvetrain nosie than the Xer and LSL lobes and work without max effort springs. hopefully it will add up to a nice gain w/o being ragged edge.

[demonspeed]

Many LS3 daily driver cams use 2* - 6* overlap. I limited overlap to 0* to make sure the idle and low rpm drivability will behave itself.

Do you anticipate having any trouble with MD's emissions stations?

[Ragtop 99]

I've had no problem in the past as they do a quick look and rely on the OBDII test. If I had to pass tailpipe, I think it can be done with this size cam in a 6.2l motor. I'd probably need to optimize the tune more and bump the idle to 900 rpm.