dallas916

That's why we drive 'em.

4cefed

From my understanding the suitcase was used in between the 24 hour mark and the 5,000 mile mark. If my memory is correct, the bolts of one of the fans backed out and the fan cut a radiator hose. They pulled into the pits and changed the hose with one in the suitcase. Thats the reason the 5,000 mark is 2 mph less than the 24 hour mark.

gbrtng

Hib was not a driver, but I seem to remember he was there ...
The car was at the NCM a few years ago - don't know if it's
still on display.

WydGlydJim

I think someone has been bitten by the same bug more than a few of us have been bitten by.

It's a good thing.....basically a lot of people on this board know just about everything there is to know about the Zr-1. The records are simple an amazing feat; truly mind boggling really!

Makes me really proud to be a "Brother of the Beast"

DMark

Its still there!

Aurora40

I know no one probably cares... But GM returned to Fort Stockton 2.5 years later to set some more records. This time with the Oldsmobile Aerotech powered by an Aurora V8. They ran for 24 hours, then did it again 7 more times. Somewhere between the 10,000 km and 25,000 km mark their transmission gave up 6th gear, so they continued on in 5th at much higher than planned revs.

http://members.aol.com/aurora402002/articles/aug05.pdf Scroll down a page or two.

USAFPILOT

What would it take to get a modded ZR1 to break that VW's record. Would one of yall's 415's hold together that long? I think the stroked motor might have a little trouble...Maybe a 368 or 385? Use the larger cams, leave the gears stock, use skinny tires, lower and lighten it? Would need some aerodynamic advancements. We would need to average 205MPH. 30MPH increase in speed, over 24hrs, would be tough. We would probably need to cruise at about 220.

Cjunkie

pushrods are run in the le mans cars for 24 at higher speeds.

DMark

GM has no reason to try and break a record it already holds.

It would be very bad PR if a C6 couldn't better a C4.

They're not going to risk that.

Zrxmax

Their certainly are some possibilities for a modded LT5 resetting the record. However... the car itself would be a pretty straight forward expense... getting the track and all the logistics covered would be an entirely different level of expense.
Cruising at 220 mph would require an engine that put out hp power in the neighborhood of 650+ or minus. Building a LT5 to sustain that kind of power output would be doable... but... for how long and at what rpm ?

Tom400CFI

That's not true, but this is:
The ZR1 set that record w/the throttle blocked at 70%, meaning it was never at WOT. Running an engine at WOT for 24 hours isn't that "amazing". Motors are tested at WOT for way, WAY longer than that:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...79&postcount=2

Hell, my boat has 750 hours on it and 50% of those are at WOT. I don't mean to belittle teh ZR1 because it IS one of my all-time favorite cars. But let's keep things in perspective; a base C6 could probably beat the record and a C6 Z06 could do it in 6th gear.

ZR1991

The car that set the record was stock, remember, and was the earlier 375 hp engine. It ran in testing at196, and they calculated that a safe ( in the context of beating the record with time to spare for possible repairs, which were unnecessary, except for a hose right after the 24 hour mark) lapping speed was 182 or so for the entire time. So they ran it limited to 6500 rpm (correction-5500 RPM) (Special, but stock off the shelf rear gears), and ran at that speed even during turns.

This is a lot different than running in an endurance race where the speeds vary, even if they are higher at times. In fact Porsche decided against an attempt because they felt their le mans champion cars did not have the endurance.

The car was in excellent shape at the end, and was driven in exhibits for many years afterwards (not racing). Wonder how far it could have gone? When they passed the 5000 mile record at somewhere under 30 hours, I wish they would have kept going. But as I understand, the drivers and team were spent, and the track time and other very high costs had exhausted the budget. So I gues you could say the car won!

Regards

32valves

yep cuz every one knows that the C6R and the Z06 have IDENTICAL engines

93RubyZ

I believe you are right about that. The specifics are in The Heart of the Beast. As mentioned though, no repairs were needed during that 24 hour record run.

93RubyZ

In regards to the 24 Hours of Le Mans comparison, the ZR-1 traveled for about 4,221 miles during the 24 hour record, or about 6,793 km. According to Wikipedia, the furthest distance traveled by any 24 Hour of Le Mans champion looks to be about 5,333 km, which averages out to about 138 mph over that 24 hour period -- well below the ZR-1's average speed of 175.8 mph. In 24 hours the ZR-1 traveled almost 1,000 miles further than the best ever run at Le Mans. The feat accomplished by the LT-5 engine should not be taken lightly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...e_Mans_winners

By the way, the LT-5 is also a "boat engine."

Peaven

If that's the case, then why hasn't GM attempted this already? The publicity value of beating an 18 year old world record would be great, and would give the c6 reliability status that no one else has matched.

The reason why GM hasn't is the same reason why Porsche, Ferrari, etc. haven't tried to in a production vehicle....they don't have the confidence that it can be done and they don't want to risk failure. Dmark is right, the resulting bad pr would be disastrous for GM or any other manufacturer. VW finally did it, but not without building a specific car just for that purpose.

Jim78SA

Just to set the record straight. The car that beat the 24 hour record was a V12 by VW called the W12 engine. All the info on the records is on the ZR-1 net regisrty site. To my knowlege the ZR-1 is the only car between the last three record holders (Dusenberg 1940, Corvette 1990, and VW 2003) to be a V8.

Greybeard ZR1

I believe that a Ferrari (production car) broke one of the shorter records that the ZR1 set, possibly the one hour. Car and Driver had the story. It took the 175+ record into the 180's. But, I'm not positive that it was FIA certified.
BTW, nice analysis of why the LeMans comparison does not apply. But you've got to admit that running a road course at those speeds is much harder on a car than circling an oval track.
BBTW, you're right, Halverson was not a driver at that record setting run. But he was the only journalist, and wrote the only eyewitness account.

Aurora40

Not true at all. The average speed over the 24 hours is nowhere near 170mph.

Edit: nm, 93RubyZ beat me to it.

glass slipper

It wasn't a V12, the cylinders are arranged in a "W" configuration...that's why they call it a W12.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W12_engine
Here's a picture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W12_engine
Although it looks like a V12, each bank is actually a V6 with a common head for each bank. The W12 is literally two narrow angle V6s from their VR6 on a common crankshaft. The narrow angle V6 looks like an inline engine because of the one common cylinder head for both banks.