ZR-1 set up for autocross

[rhipsher]

Originally Posted by emmvette

I appreciate the responses; all very good input!

I have driven a ZR-1, but was not impressed; I think because it had been beat on way too much for years and needed some TLC. I've ridden in another and had a blast, but didn't drive that one.

I didn't think about the extra weight over the front wheels, but realistically I'm not looking to have the quickest time; just to have a lot of fun!

I have driven more than a handful of ZR-1's that range from bone stock to ones with medium mods to full out $30k LPE stroker . Mine is what I would consider a medium mods car with ported top end, a few chip mods, open air sensor relocate, Forced air, A Spec stage 3 plus clutch kit, Fidanza flywheel, And a complete poly bushing kit. From the outside it looks fairly stock but it will walk away from a bone stalk one easily. But then there are the fully blown (I have more money than you) strokers Complete with not only all the same mods that mine has but with $30k in engine work equipped with all the best goodies like Wilwood brakes, Coilover shocks, Fiskes 335's that are blistering fast and would be a football field ahead of mine in seconds. But there are not allot of those out there. So if your looking for one that looks stock but performs better than a stock one just get a medium modified one. I don't think the bone stock ones are that impressive either but back in the day they were the bomb.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Fully Vetted

I can honestly say I have never seeing this group of words put together to form this sentence. I almost couldn't read it. It was like all the letters were just jumbled together. I think 'Vote Obama" comes out of my mouth easier. Or, "Here, take my gun. I don't want it."

a zr-1 that's running poorly isn't impressive. a properly running one on the other hand

[emmvette]

Originally Posted by Fully Vetted

I can honestly say I have never seeing this group of words put together to form this sentence. I almost couldn't read it. It was like all the letters were just jumbled together. I think 'Vote Obama" comes out of my mouth easier. Or, "Here, take my gun. I don't want it."

Ouch, I didn't mean to offend anybody; I would certainly never dream of the words "V0t@ Ob0m@" coming out of my mouth, and you see I can't even type the letters.....

The vette I drove is still for sale, so as a courtesy, I'm not going to mention it, but it was as mentioned above a "medium" mod car, top end job, upgraded chip/tune, brakes, exhaust, headers, Fiske rims, .... but it was not anywhere close to as fun to drive or as quick as the Z06 I have. It was a real disappointment for me, as I drove the better part of a day to go look at it after a lot of anticipation. As I mentioned earlier in this thread it had been heavily used and was also probably way out of tune; and needed some work. I'm also guessing that some of the mods may not have been done as well as they could have been. Anybody who reads this forum knows that not every port job was as good as it could have been.

My tendency is to like things that aren't necessarily current; I like tube stereos, LPs over CDs, old houses rather than new, and I'd love to have a C4 ZR1 to compliment my '68. The reason I bought the Z06 was after spending almost every weekend for 3 years restoring the '68 and still not being finished - I wanted a corvette I could just get in and go and not worry about fixing something. The Z06 with under 10k miles fit the bill. After making that decision a few years ago, I am realizing that I still don't drive the Z06 much and just maybe the right ZR1 will find its way into my garage one day.

Sounds like there are a number of 450-500 HP ZR-1's in Illinois. If any you live near DeKalb and would be interested in taking me for a ride sometime, let me know. I'm over this way for work every 4-6 weeks. I'd love to see how a ZR-1 in good condition runs.

[emmvette]

Here is the '68. I have a lot of hours of work in the car. I didn't do all the work myself, but as much as I could. And since I wasn't tought much about wrenching on cars growing up, it took me a long time to do some things....

I probably have 100 hours of sanding, buffing, and painting in each set of rims alone....

With the American Racing 200s rims and BFG tires:




with Ansen Slots and race tires

[rhipsher]

That's beautiful man. Great job.

[WARP TEN]

Originally Posted by emmvette

...... The reason I bought the Z06 was after spending almost every weekend for 3 years restoring the '68 and still not being finished - I wanted a corvette I could just get in and go and not worry about fixing something. The Z06 with under 10k miles fit the bill. After making that decision a few years ago, I am realizing that I still don't drive the Z06 much and just maybe the right ZR1 will find its way into my garage one day.

Sounds like there are a number of 450-500 HP ZR-1's in Illinois. If any you live near DeKalb and would be interested in taking me for a ride sometime, let me know. I'm over this way for work every 4-6 weeks. I'd love to see how a ZR-1 in good condition runs.

Hi emmvette--
I am in Lake Bluff--a bit north of you. I have a 22k mile 95 with what you would call middle mods--porting, no secondaries, headers, Corsa, 4:10s, but no Fidanza and with cats. Marc Haibeck did the work and it is excellent. About 486 HP at the crank; lose the cats and add a Fidanza and it is 510 all day long. But my point is that I use it as a daily driver whenever the weather is nice. (Not so much earlier this year but lots recently). They are reallly very reliable cars--just old C4s that with the exception of the engine any Chevy mechanic can fix. And for the engine you are very close to Marc, Pete, Al and others with great mechanical knowledge. Marc has done nothing but C4 ZR-1s since he got his 1993 in 1993. So I certainly wouldn't be worried about having a ZR-1 as a daily driver. And if you plan to be up in my area you are welcome to try out old WARP TEN anytime. Just send me a PM and we can arrange it. --Bob

[Fully Vetted]

Originally Posted by emmvette

Ouch, I didn't mean to offend anybody; I would certainly never dream of the words "V0t@ Ob0m@" coming out of my mouth, and you see I can't even type the letters.....

Hey, no harm, no foul, no worries. Just not something I see very often.

[Hotdogand6pack]

A c4 zr-1 is far better suited for track days and hpde. Autocross, not so much. The advantage of the lt5 pans out on long straights or uphill corners. The long torque curve means less shifting and more torque when you want it, and less torque when you fear it by short shifting.The lt5 has a pull advantage over any other corvette, that being whether at 3500 or 6500 rpm the gas pedal is still a Go-Lever. If you would like to see a stock zr-1 stack up against modern competition at an hpde, check my post, "a funny thing happened on the way to the forum" in this board.

[emmvette]

Thanks for the replies!. I've made my decision. Hopefully by early next week I'll own a ZR-1... We'll see what the weekend roadtrip brings; you never know what could follow a guy home!

[emmvette]

Road trip underway...