jd1a

Any speed beyond the drivers capability.

Jebbysan

Nader is proof positive that the "Good Old Days" were not good old days.......

Jebby

7t9l82

Truest statement yet.
Nader a hero? 🤔 I'll go with fraud for 20 alex

mitch.1972vette

This a cool post!

L-46man

Iggy...are you sure you didn't transpose that.... The C-3 had FAR LESS not great but less CD than a 65. Less frontal area as well. This does not make sense...unless the snippet you quote was before Zora figured out the front spoiler and the radiator cut outs on the 68... As in the PROTOTYPE WAS WORSE.

I have hundreds of articles on C-3 development....the C-2 was ALWAYS WORSE AT EVERYTHING...lift at both ends drag, CD, Frontal area....etc etc.

The article goes on to mention that the car needed 210 HP at that speed vs. 155 for a 65.

cordially unkahal

Little Mouse

You just think a C3 is not that stable until you drive a C2 at speed.

69427

ignatz

Here's the whole thing. Bottom of the page compares C3 as worse than C2 until changes were made. The prototype testing showed the 5/8's lift. Later on the article goes on to describe lift at 117 #'s which would make more sense than what I did using the spring coefficients. Realistically I am not sure how to do that calculation based on aero and springs so I don't know how to deal with the later statements that are expressed in percentages to C2's.

On the next page lots more this and that kinda chit-chat. You might want to pick up copy for your library. Seems like a well researched article.

I know nothing more and am not going to go out and try to measure lift at 120 on my car somehow, so we're stuck with whoever says whatever.

cheers

vince vette 2

80 L82, dual exhaust, with headers had it up to just under 130 mph and felt fine. Then one night on the same highway at around 115 I tapped the brakes and turned the wheel to go into the left lane to pass someone and it went sideways. Issue was the airdam extension, about 1.5" of extra rubber to reduce airflow under the car was never installed. So, 130 straight ahead seemed fine, but the fact was it was not stable if not straight and smooth. After putting the extension on there was a noticeable difference in behavior. As someone said earlier, the 80-82 aerodynamics were much better, assume all the features are actually installed. Point being, as others have said, safe speed depends on a lot of factors.

Pale Roader

You guys make these cars sound like VW vans. But how would they, even the 'bad' C2 compare to a different car ov the era? Say a 70-72 GM A-body? A 70 Cuda?

Little Mouse

Had 3 C3 vettes 72, 73,78 and a 66 vert with hard top. 73 and 78 bought new 72 was 6 months old when i bought it 6500 miles on it. The 454 in the 73 ended up highly modified nothing left but the 2 bolt block and oil pan had 3.36 rear. The 66 also had a bbc with manual steering at 155 on the freeway the front end lift so bad i could have changed lanes with 1 finger on the wheel. Not even close to that bad in the 73. None of these cars were anything but stock ride height and stock body angle. Ill repeat it. You only think your C3 does not feel stable until you drive a C2 at speed.

jkippin

For me they are unstable at any speed....unless I take my medication first, then they become stable

gkull

GM put a lot of wind tunnel time into their 1981 twin turbo 24 hours of Daytona factory entries. I saw one of these Vettes in a collection in California and had to have that kind of light weight front ends for my Vette to go fast. I smashed up the nose road racing and did all the fiberglass work at home and took it to the paint shop. I have a coil over front end and 700# qa-1 dual adjust to lower it on racing days.




I should have bought the fixed round head lights like the real GT1 Vettes




I was right at the 3000 lbs min for VP SCCA road racing with a 427 SBC



I have most of the air blocked off in the front end like Sundowner



This was my first designs and I can lower the chin spoiler right near the ground for racing. Fully tested at high speed

The outer open square is where my 3 inch air ducting went through for my front brakes



Rear view with 345 width road racing slicks. 4 inch chrome tips out of 3 1/2 in and out race mufflers. The funny thing is when I have been stopped for speeding. "The cop ask me if my car was street legal?" " Of course it has a license plate doesn't it?" I had my 5 point belts, neck brace... on

Gordonm

I drove my stock bodied 72 at this speed on a road, it was closed for an event. It was quite stable. Took it to 135 and it started to get light so I cruised at 125 to 130 for most of the time. Now my Z06 is a different story.

gkull

I've got to say that it is so nice to live out here in the Southwestern US where the posted speed limit on freeways is 85 mph. When I grew up there was no speed limit........... So I'm Grandfathered in

brassplyer

Lol.

gkull

.70 OD and 4.11 rear end. I went with 4.11 after doing a lot of math and the engine I had at the time. I wanted to be at or near max HP at my class limited speed of 175 mph. I wanted to be able to accelerate as hard as possible in OD for the 93 mile open highway road race called "The Silver State classic" I did this before I went to the Daytona front end. Depending on the tire diameter that used I was right at my max hp 6400 rpm just below the 175 limit. So from 4200 to 6400 I was right in the power band. My stock body 79 with body rake, custom chin spoiler, and rear wing was very stable in clean air. Being passed or coming up behind some one in testing was very dicey. The turbulent air wake of other cars would really move you around on a narrow two lane highway. In those days of unlimited speed limits on the course for the top class, cars deaths happened at nearly every event. The cars take off every 30 seconds with the fast guys first. So you sit in your car and wait to go. It's an eerie feeling when you are driving and off in the distance you see a black cloud of smoke rising. Then you drive by and actually see a burned out wreck that went off the road at over 200 mph and you know that someone just died that was happy and smiling just a short time ago in the drivers pre race meeting!

It's great to be young and dumber! I always wanted to put in a 200 speedo and never did. You just drive with a GPS speedometer and a timer

I just noticed the mileage 60138. Now I have 174,000 and about 10 motors later.

gkull

I was out at the Nevada Silver State classic road race when Big Red ran. He was 18 year's old at the time and got the record for 198 mph average in the 96 mile course. Look at the exhaust when they get it up on the lift. Merry Christmas to all of you.

427Hotrod

Here's my C2 at 177 MPH on a 1/2 mile runway course. Later ran 200 MPH at the TX Mile.

I added a spoiler....not sure if it helped a lot really...but certainly didn't hurt. Most of my front lift came as I put my foot in it. It rises due to TQ and didn't want to come back down. My car starts with a decent rake to the front which helps and for stuff like this I add hood latch extensions to vent some air. After this run I added new upper a-arms to dial in more caster. Not that it drove bad...but I was going to shoot for 200 MPH and thought it could help.

I can honestly say it drives well to me....not new C8 well...but nothing to scare me so far. No weird quirks or upsets.

A lot of these handling ills could be solved with some rake I

think to keep nose down instead of having the butt lower.

JIM

Pale Roader

Not to mention look WAAAAAY cooler. A muscle car or classic should always have some rake, even if its a dead-even suspension and a slightly taller rear tire.