406 Twin Turbo

Not old hat to me, just a well equipped C6 has more balls than I do. I ran what was called D-Gas from 1962 till '65 and learned in that short time that the horse power race would never be won on a working man's wages. Have not touched an engine to make it "better' since then. $$$$$$$s equal bragging rights for 2 days to a week and then you start over.

It takes mega money to be "In it to win it,' but then stupidity helps.

Not old hat to me, just a well equipped C6 has more balls than I do. I ran what was called D-Gas from 1962 till '65 and learned in that short time that the horse power race would never be won on a working man's wages. Have not touched an engine to make it "better' since then. $$$$$$$s equal bragging rights for 2 days to a week and then you start over.

It takes mega money to be "In it to win it,' but then stupidity helps.

A good friend of mine back in the late 60s had a 66 Vette roadster with a highly modified 427 stuck in it. The g forces under full acceleration would pin you to the seat. He claimed around 600 hp -- and when I drove it -- it scared the "hell" out of me when the front end got very light at around 100 or so. I had a stock 69 350/300 hp roadster 4 speed with power nothing & no a/c then. Back then I could not see the need for a/c with a roadster even in TExas.

...funny...I've always had AC but never used it...until I lived in south Texas.

The old C2s I drove would get light about that figure to undesirable at 110. The C3 is only a bit more forgiving but never seemed as stable at the C2. The C5 and C6 are a whole new ball game as they tend to suck down and will bottom out at plus 140. When that happens you know you're way past guiding it for a split second or two. Lets not even go there on the C4 flexible flyer.

Never got into the big block as it was easy to turn 11.41 (my best runs) in the quarter with a 301 CID in a 2300 pound car.

Even in that car you wouldn't move out of your seat until the blood returned to your brain. Back then we didn't race the Corvette, most of the time it was a gutted old '50s coupe or a '55 150 2dr. Way to easy to snap a half shaft universal and rack up some major damage.

...I've had my C4 out to around 125+ and it's seemed solid enough for as long as I wanted to stay there...which admittedly isn't long. It's a Z-51 C4, though.

Lots of people do that to their C5/C6 Vette if they have the money to do so= . I think alot of it has to do with ego and bragging rights by having insa= ne amounts of hp and tq. Such a vette would be ideal for the drag strip s= o long as it had a cage , or, for short bursts of acceleration merging ont= o the Interstate . For speeds in upwards of 140 mph which this vette is ca= pable of, youd need a safe off-road place like an airport or a long deserte= d road that is in good shape , relatively straight , with Spotters to make= sure no one else is around. In short, they are good for the 'wow' factor= as at car shows, etc... but they arent too terribly practical . If tuned = well, they make fine around town cars with few problems arising if any. I= wouldnt mind borrowing something like that for a couple hours just to expe= rience the acceleration..but thats about it.

Lots of people do that to their C5/C6 Vette if they have the money to do so. I think alot of it has to do with ego and bragging rights by having insane amounts of hp and tq. Such a vette would be ideal for the drag strip so long as it had a cage , or, for short bursts of acceleration merging onto the Interstate . For speeds in upwards of 140 mph which this vette is capable of, youd need a safe off-road place like an airport or a long deserted road that is in good shape , relatively straight , with Spotters to make sure no one else is around. In short, they are good for the 'wow' factor as at car shows, etc... but they arent too terribly practical . If tuned well, they make fine around town cars with few problems arising if any. I wouldnt mind borrowing something like that for a couple hours just to experience the acceleration..but thats about it.

Tell us what "lot of people" equates to in numbers. Would 10/15 out of say

30,000 be lots of people to you? Even at the car shows I see very few if any that pump out that kind of HP. As I told you before I have friends that have 7 second cars and few if any drive them on the street, well, one does but he's driven that type of car all his driving life. My nephew drives a 502 CID double shot '66 Impala from the trailer to the strip and a few times up and down the side road by his house in the country but has little or no reason to be getting onto an Interstate.

I think it depends on where you live and how much highway you have to speed on between destinations - out here in the wide open states (CA, NV, AZ, UT, west TX, MT, etc.) I see lots of folks hopping up cars for daily freeway driving all the time...it's just a hobby. My officemates son just bought seriously vicious older vintage Camaro that he commutes in between here and V-ville.

Heading through Death Valley wide open for Vegas is a weekend sport...and I passed a passle of streetable Vettes heading home from a track day at Willow Springs just yesterday afternoon. Wouldn't see anything lake that back east where I've lived in the past, and certainly not at this time of year...

...then again, I've also been stuck on the 405 in my Z06 sitting next to Maseratis and Ferraris all doing 25 mph for hours/miles.

I think it depends on where you live and how much highway you have to speed on between destinations - out here in the wide open states (CA, NV, AZ, UT, west TX, MT, etc.) I see lots of folks hopping up cars for daily freeway driving all the time...it's just a hobby. My officemates son just bought seriously vicious older vintage Camaro that he commutes in between here and V-ville.

Heading through Death Valley wide open for Vegas is a weekend sport...and I passed a passle of streetable Vettes heading home from a track day at Willow Springs just yesterday afternoon. Wouldn't see anything lake that back east where I've lived in the past, and certainly not at this time of year...

...then again, I've also been stuck on the 405 in my Z06 sitting next to Maseratis and Ferraris all doing 25 mph for hours/miles.

In Europe I saw many old Coopers (the real ones) that would pass you well over 100, that's not only a hobby over there, it's a cult. As a whole I see very few hot cars on the road, many more with $25,000 worth of sound equipment or 3,000 pounds of hydraulics. I live in the mid-west where it is so flat I can see houses 8/10 miles away so there is no loss of those that think those long straight roads were made for drag racing. Milan to the north and Norwalk to the south and many more small weekend tracks that have closed because of insurance costs. Still go to Eldora to watch the NASCAR guys shake it up on Tony's track and MIS is 30 minutes away. Lots of late model sprint cars and WoO competition all around here.

Oh to be 71 again.......... ;-)

We used to have weekend drags on a closed taxiway at our local airport. Lots of racers here - my young neighbor races his Miata down at Willow Springs regularly, and then there's the Spring Mountain racing school/resort over in Parhump. I even work with a guy that builds and races everything from closed track to off-road, instructs, and has been doing it for years...I got my pilot's license alongside a funny car driver down in Pomona.

Having grown up in the midwest where most things fun will get you in trouble I get why some might not understand. But those whom do are in plenty supply and at all ages. You only just have to go find them.

In Europe I saw many old Coopers (the real ones) that would pass you well over 100, that's not only a hobby over there, it's a cult. As a whole I see very few hot cars on the road, many more with $25,000 worth of sound equipment or 3,000 pounds of hydraulics. I live in the mid-west where it is so flat I can see houses 8/10 miles away so there is no loss of those that think those long straight roads were made for drag racing. Milan to the north and Norwalk to the south and many more small weekend tracks that have closed because of insurance costs. Still go to Eldora to watch the NASCAR guys shake it up on Tony's track and MIS is 30 minutes away. Lots of late model sprint cars and WoO competition all around here.

Oh to be 71 again.......... ;-) Yeah! Every day is a gift. I spent a very enjoyable tour tour in the UK in early 80s. Lots of interesting cars -- Lotus 7s plenty of real Minis. Ford had some interesting small cars at that time too which you never saw in the States. In fact, emissions controls were unheard of -- the Mazda 2 ltr I drove had a choke and was right hand drive 5 speed. US cars were really too big, except on the motorway.

They changed the name from Carriage Way when I was there. ;-))

The most vehicles I saw there from the USA were dually ton Chevrolet pickups.

I saw a high speed wreck just north of London on the M1 and they were picking up the remains by hand, the biggest part I saw was the dash, never saw the engine.

Fun place, may go back if time allows.