C4 Tech/Performance L98 Corvette and LT1 Corvette Technical Info, Internal Engine, External Engine

High speed runs

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Old Dec 31, 2013 | 07:33 PM
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Default High speed runs

I had a chance to really push my 89 in a controlled environment today. In just under a mile i got the old plastic fantastic up to 135 mph. After that it ran out of breath and really did not want to go any faster. 6th gear was useless, i did this in 5th. It was shakey and twitchy at speeds. It really shows how badly i need tie rods, shocks, alignment, all that stuff. I also got to do this against my friends brand new 6 cylinder mustang. My vette was faster, thank god. How fast have you gotten your car to go? Mines bone stock except for cat deletes. I have vids i will post tomorrow.
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Old Dec 31, 2013 | 08:11 PM
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Nice, looking forward to the vids. 5th gear is your top speed gear. Been just over 175 solid as a rock. glad you were safe about it but I would change out the parts that are questionable on your car before I did it again.
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Old Dec 31, 2013 | 08:12 PM
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Originally Posted by octaneforce
6th gear was useless, i did this in 5th.
Well documented that the 6th gearing is for cruising only
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Old Dec 31, 2013 | 08:28 PM
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Originally Posted by We Gone
Nice, looking forward to the vids. 5th gear is your top speed gear. Been just over 175 solid as a rock. glad you were safe about it but I would change out the parts that are questionable on your car before I did it again.
175?! Your motor must not be stock lol. But yeah im gonna do some work on my car before next time.
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Old Dec 31, 2013 | 09:18 PM
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Originally Posted by octaneforce
175?! Your motor must not be stock lol. But yeah im gonna do some work on my car before next time.
He has one of those pesky LT5's..
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Old Dec 31, 2013 | 10:26 PM
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135 is getting close, but the L98 should do better than that. I had my semi stock car, when still fairly tight after a rebuild get to 140 quite easily, with more to go. hell, it would kick-down at 120 !
The desert scenery was flying by, the broken white line was solid, the car seemed to sit down and get more solid the faster it went.

Then the thought of a tumble-weed or a jack wabbit caused me to return to reality and lighten up on the pedal a little...that and remembering an unfortunate incident in Nevada many yrs back that cost me over $700 for being in a hurry.

I'm too damn old to do events like the Texas mile or similar speed runs on a safe, approved and documented course. I have to "remember when" these days.

205 ft per second is about what 140mph equals....yeah, even a tumbleweed would hurt at that speed.

I gotta tell ya, after a bit of low level flight at those speeds, 80 mph seemed like I could open the door and step out......
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 02:38 AM
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Originally Posted by leesvet
135 is getting close, but the L98 should do better than that. I had my semi stock car, when still fairly tight after a rebuild get to 140 quite easily, with more to go. hell, it would kick-down at 120 !
The desert scenery was flying by, the broken white line was solid, the car seemed to sit down and get more solid the faster it went.

Then the thought of a tumble-weed or a jack wabbit caused me to return to reality and lighten up on the pedal a little...that and remembering an unfortunate incident in Nevada many yrs back that cost me over $700 for being in a hurry.

I'm too damn old to do events like the Texas mile or similar speed runs on a safe, approved and documented course. I have to "remember when" these days.

205 ft per second is about what 140mph equals....yeah, even a tumbleweed would hurt at that speed.

I gotta tell ya, after a bit of low level flight at those speeds, 80 mph seemed like I could open the door and step out......
I mean with unlimited space im sure it could keep going. But it just ran out of ***** after 130. Those last 5 mph took forever and then i ran out of room. Your right though! 90 felt like a joke!
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 02:59 AM
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Originally Posted by octaneforce
How fast have you gotten your car to go?
146 There was a little more to go. Not much, but a little more...

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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 10:32 AM
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Originally Posted by octaneforce
175?! Your motor must not be stock lol. But yeah im gonna do some work on my car before next time.

LOL, yes it is an LT5 with a 7k rpm limit and it was stock 375hp, Now has about 500hp still does 175+ just gets there faster.
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 10:52 AM
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-Got the old 89 up to about 120 once knew it would go faster but not a whole bunch. TPI was out of breath so I backed off

-Had the ZR1 up to 158. Good crosswind hit makes you realize if something happens youre along for the ride. Had more in it but wasnt pulling hard enough to want to keep going

Had my Camino up to 140 it got there right now ,had plenty more left + another gear. Had to do it once, stick to 1/4 mi type acceleration nowadays. Feel strange saying thats the fastest car Ive had lol.

I like having a license and insurance I can afford.
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 11:29 AM
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Originally Posted by cuisinartvette
-Got the old 89 up to about 120 once knew it would go faster but not a whole bunch. TPI was out of breath so I backed off

-Had the ZR1 up to 158. Good crosswind hit makes you realize if something happens youre along for the ride. Had more in it but wasnt pulling hard enough to want to keep going

Had my Camino up to 140 it got there right now ,had plenty more left + another gear. Had to do it once, stick to 1/4 mi type acceleration nowadays. Feel strange saying thats the fastest car Ive had lol.

I like having a license and insurance I can afford.


Man, aint THAT the truth !

it took me becoming a fossil to get my rates down finally. The ins writers are under the impression that at my age, I'm fairly harmless now...
Back when I got the 1st vette....29 yrs old, single and they LAUGHED in my face when I went shopping for full coverage !

My 1st vette was insured as an RV...never to be driven to or from work, weekends ONLY or after 5pm weekdays. And that coverage was only possible IF I bought an annuity from the carrier...
(State farm).

They wanted some other assurances I guess....

The ONLY benefits of getting old....the cops quit looking twice and the ins is affordable. Still refuse to take the 'seniors' discount at Dennys...
insult to injury
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 01:43 PM
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had to do it once and made it to 147 before I ran out of room. It seemed to still be pulling but I don't need to try it again, we don't go quite that fast autoxing.
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 02:33 PM
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Before my rebuild I had the pedal to the floor and it ran out of wind at 144mph 4400rpm. There was no more acceleration. Since the rebuild I had it to the same speed at 3800-4000rpm and stopped pushing my luck. My max RPM now is 5400 so who knows what's the max speed ?
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 03:20 PM
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Originally Posted by cuisinartvette
Good crosswind hit makes you realize if something happens youre along for the ride.
Takes quite a bit to upset the C4 aerodynamics.
I like it when big trucks pass in the opposite direction and nothing happens. Just a little wind noise.
Any other car and the buffet smack's your head on the side window!
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Old Jan 2, 2014 | 01:15 AM
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Originally Posted by octaneforce
How fast have you gotten your car to go?
Speedo said 162, GPS said 159...ran out of road before I ran out of throttle, 5th gear. Stock '96 LT4....
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Old Jan 2, 2014 | 01:34 AM
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My first corvette was a 1991 and I had her up to 157 before I backed off. My z06 I have had up to 201 mph and my 1992 has a scary top speed. Here is a second to third gear pull..

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Old Jan 2, 2014 | 10:13 AM
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I don't dare try but I've had my 90 over 110 and it was solid with much more to go. 102,000. My tires are just too old....
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Old Jan 2, 2014 | 12:00 PM
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I did 150 in my '85 back when it was nearly new. It surprised me how stable it felt.

I did 155 in a '68 442. That was calculated off the tach since the speedometer stopped at 120. I can't believe I survived with those lousy skinny tires we had back then.

35 or 40 years ago I was with a friend at 140 in a '69 Camaro. We blew a tire. Actually heard it pop. It felt like a gust of wind and caused us to shift over about a lane. As he slowed it handled much worse until we got stopped. Lucky to have survived that too.

I haven't tried topping anything out in a long long time and with the higher top speed of some of my cars now I think I could be in a lot of trouble.
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Old Jan 2, 2014 | 03:10 PM
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Originally Posted by QCVette
I did 150 in my '85 back when it was nearly new. It surprised me how stable it felt.

I did 155 in a '68 442. That was calculated off the tach since the speedometer stopped at 120. I can't believe I survived with those lousy skinny tires we had back then.

35 or 40 years ago I was with a friend at 140 in a '69 Camaro. We blew a tire. Actually heard it pop. It felt like a gust of wind and caused us to shift over about a lane. As he slowed it handled much worse until we got stopped. Lucky to have survived that too.

I haven't tried topping anything out in a long long time and with the higher top speed of some of my cars now I think I could be in a lot of trouble.
The Top speed of cars these days is insane. My 2011 SHO has a top speed limited at 140 and thats in a 4 door sedan with twin turbos from the factory. Guys are claiming 160+ with the TSL removed..
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Old Jan 2, 2014 | 03:57 PM
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http://www.gtasourcepage.com/88MTTopSpeed10.html
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