Many years ago(1980)had a chance to run the 78 L-82 on track at Riverside International.....was clocked at 132 on back straight..which was redline on tach...3.70:1 rear,manual tranny...steering got "light" at 110-115 due to front end lift..lowering front end helps correct some of this...think taller gear ratio such as 3.08 would be better for sustained runs at 125/higher...

 

I don't usually go that fast, but; I recently had mine to about 110 for a very short time and I thought it felt a bit light and twitchy.
Made me a bit uneasy. . .

 

Ok, so all of my go fast experience has been on two wheels at sanctioned competion events some with lap timers and radar. That said. Perception of speed changes dramatically over about 125-130 mph.

I had no problem with 125 mph. Getting off my FZR400 (125 with a tail wind) and gettin on my FZR1000 (165 was my fastest recorded speed) the first time on a big track was an eye opener. It took some serious seat time to get comfortable running in the 140's around the banking and 160-165 on the straights. Braking is a whole story for some other time.

These days I spend many days on the track per year on my little 319 lb 110 rwhp 500cc machine. No more competiton for me on two wheels. I broke two ribs with my own elbow on my last competition outing. I took nine months before I could pick up a coffee cup with my left hand. 5.5 lbs/rwhp and a real 500 GP fairing...

My 502 corvette, 6.9 lbs/rwhp (estimated 15% driveline loss on the ramjet)

No offence to anybody but to go out on vintage iron in uncontrolled condtions and attempt to maintain speeds in excess of 125 mph is

I'm not saying it cant be done but a burst of speed on a wildly optimistc speedo does not a timing association time slip make.

One more thing Do the math!! Short tires, 4 speeds and high numerical rear gears...

 

that's why my car has a dedicated computer with touchscreen and gps.

My car at 100 was barely controllable I had 0 issues getting there. Another problem I have had is that low profile tires on non track surfaces such as freeways tend to track poorly. The grooves in the freeway have been worn by 225 tires, put a 275+ on there and you tend to push out of the grooves. Even at 70 / 80 mph.

 

Hensen, if you are going to the Nationals come and have a chat with me, VetteG in the CCCUK forum. I have run my car up to 135mph (on GPS) so far without problems and it will go faster. Using the Tremec T56 6 speed box makes that eminantly doable with a decent engine output. But as others have pointed out you need 1st class suspension underneath you and serious driver concentration as well.

The Euro tour you are talking about is based around 500 miles a day so I doubt you would have to run at 150mph for extended periods. In saying that I would love to give it a bash on some of the German Autobahn's.

G

 

I tried to follow C5's, a supercharged C4 & some ZR1's (in a foreign country, Officer). At an indicated 130mph the car felt as steady as it does at 80mph (ie fine). I didn't go any faster (I was already in huge fine/rip up licence territory) & slowed down a lot when I remembered that the tires weren't rated for high speed! Suspension is totally stock, though all rubbers had been replaced just prior to me buying it, there is some slight play in the idler arm but the rest of the suspension/steering appears to be in good stock condition. The steady feel of the car is due, I reckon, to the downforce created by the 80-82 front end. The roads were foreign, so were smooth, meaning that bumps weren't an issue. Bends were all high speed curves so I still don't know what the steering reaction is really like at high speeds. What I do know is that the front keeps firmly planted down & there's no lightness in the steering that I noticed.
Doesn't a rear wing/spoiler on a car add downforce to the rear but also causes lift at the front?

 

Hi Paul,
We are talking about front spoilers or air dams. Rear wings! Dont even go there!

 

That only applies to all original Vettes..

I had a 465 HP 383 engine and a TKO overdrive tranny in mine... Even though I went off the gas at 165 mph, the car would've probably maded it close to 200 mph.. Based on my gearing and tire size, I would've hit 200 mph at 6100 RPM in 5th gear... Considering that my street tires were only rated 118 mph, I didn't wanna go faster than 165 mph and went off the gas..

Of course that was on a racetrack.. I would never drive that fast on a public highway

 

Hi Graeme,
Yes, but I thought I saw somebody mention rear wings earlier? I recently met up with an old mate who's been working for McLaren & got a mind numbing explanation about downforce, etc, etc, how "enthusiastic kids" (not his exact words!) can turn their cars into high speed death traps by bolting huge wings on & so on. Then it got technical, so I headed to the bar The good news is that he loves C3's. The bad news is that he wants to drive mine round Mallory

 

You could always put a reverse wing on...lift the rear end so the nose plants...

 

But it could end up handling like this does!



link (for a laugh): http://www.cummfybanana.com/cars/car_casuallofa.htm

 

When my '69 had the stock power steering and stock air dam it was scary at 130 down the front straight at Brainard. Now with rack and pinion and the indy spoiler it really felt nice. I just need more gear to go faster

 

As some of you will know - there is a VAST difference between driving in the USA and some parts of Europe.

Last week in my tweeked 1986 BM I averaged about a ton using 110 to 130 on the straights ( 10pm ish ) - basically empty roads, etc.

And last January during the Cannonball Winter Challenge, on the Friday afternoon heading up from the Alps to Paris for a night out and stayover - we were holding 150 basically with the odd 160 for mile upon mile.

Interesting poing, after a gas stop ( 11 cars ) we were chasing a friend who had a new Porche and my friend Darrin (driving his twin Turbo Skyline ) turned the boost up full. We hit about70 / 80 probably in second and ALL FOUR wheels broke loose - yes all four !! Those tyres are 10 and a half inches wide tread, and it was on dry tarmac.

But , despite 650 bhp, we could not catch the organiser who drives a big single turbo Supra - he says about 750 bhp - we reckon probably less at 675 / 700 - but much lighter car.

Not expecting my 1981 C3 to reach those levels, but being able to chug along at 150 should be reasonable.

Out of interest - The engine preparation for the Skyline cost £14,300 - about $26 grand.

 

Back to your original question....drop in a LS1 and 6 speed tranny/3.08 gears and go for it..

 

You won't have to worry about 100 miles at 150 MPH. You will run out of gas before that.

 

If I run with the back of my onepiece front unpinned, it will raise up about an inch and a half at the firewall.(It packs alot of air under the hood)It does seem to have some downforce but not enought to overpower the trapped air underneath!However the pressure is on the front half of the clip also.(Wheelwells forward)I'm not sure on a stocker though,mine has been modded from the wheelwell forward.I have not expierienced any "float" yet.I remember that they had trouble with the Mako II (The car that the C-3 spawned from)and it's big rollin front fenders adding lift to the car.They toned them down a bit because of that.(If I remember correctly.)MAKO Fans??

 

i had my 73 up to just a bit under 140 last week and she handled like 60 mph,and it still wanted to go. but then again why shouldnt it, everythings new

 

My 81 one is down right now for repairs (pic soon) suspension replace thanks vb&p and new brakes ssbc and new cam,carb,intake,fan but before that driving from wiesbaden germany to hanau got her to 110 on 81 stock everything if the alingment had not been bad oh yeah loose front A arm she could have gone a lot faster "got my feeling hurt by an old opel cadet old one with lots of rust that blew by me like I was standing still!

 

That's Me! Mine is a C2 63 with a Mako Shark Body kit, Big front spoiler, rear flip up like the bumper C3s, 295 50 15 rear tires, 225 60 15 front tires BFG radial T/A's, Big Grand sport type flairs all around, Heavy front and rear sway bars. Run 145 to 155 for over 10 miles with a Porche 911 Turbo that blew by me on the interstate going to Woodward Ave Dream Cruise. Caught him in seconds, No float, No lift, No light steering, Tracked flat and true, drove like 70 MPH and had pedal left at 6500 RPM and up in 4th. 327 Tripower, super T-10, 3:55 Gear. This was on US roads and the only time I went over 100 in the car, What a Rush!

 

There was a time when I was afraid to go 60mph with the old wore out 71 suspension.The grooves and semis were a nightmare!But with the C-4 suspension and the 3.08 gear speed is no longer a problem,however the speedometer has been broke for awhile now.I don't plan on finding out how fast it will go on the highways around here anyways.(Missouri)But I see no reason why it won't move rite along!That's the cool thing about a vette,It looks like it's doing a 100mph,even when it's parked!