SCM_Crash

You guys are silly posting the weights of your fully modded cars. When you mod the car it becomes apples and oranges. That's why I didn't post the weight of my 03z after I began modding it.

The question was "Isn't the C5 Z06 the lightest Corvette ever built?". Modding a Corvette changes the weight completely. Just long tube headers alone reduce the weight 20lbs. Then with straight pipes you lose another 10-15Lbs. So on and so on...

Back on track here. GM's curb weight on the Z06s is correct. Most people don't race with a full tank of gas, however.

David426

Bad info on the weight of gasoline.. Unleaded gasoline is 6.0- 6.5 lbs per gallon depending on additives such as ethynol

Dave concrete

I can almost swear my Titanium exhaust was lighter then the straight pipes. And your right we got off the subject a bit. But then again it is interesting to see how modding your car with lets say a blower and then being able to off set the weight with another mod.

SCM_Crash

LOL! I promise you this that unless you made the axle-back portion of your straight pipes out of cast-iron, the straight pipes are definitely lighter than full-sized mufflers regardless of the metal they're made out of. The rest of the OEM exhaust system is cast iron and steel. There's a total of 18Lbs saved from making the mufflers out of Ti instead of stainless steel. However, there are still full sized mufflers in place.

Corvettes are well balanced. Z06s aren't as balanced as the coupes because the majority of the weight savings came from the back half of the car. When you slap a blower on the front of the car and reduce more weight from the back of the car, you throw the balance off even more.

RC45

Incorrect. Every set of catback/straight pipes I have used on my car have weighed MORE than the stock Ti catbacks. Borla stingers, Borla XR-1, custom made stainless, Bill Botas etc etc.

Long tube headers and full stainless midmipes and X-pipe shave a few pounds off the cast manifold steel h-pipes, but it is canceleld out by replacing the Ti catbacks with a stainless system.

Done this excercise many times in the last 8 years.

This is the reason why I have gone back to Ti mufflers and cuttouts with my car.

Bottomline is the Ti catbacks are the lightest tailpipe you can fit on the C5 platform - other than Borlas own Ti catback.

Interesting. This is how rumours start

And for the record yeah, my car is still bone stock except for new tyres...

AU N EGL

Great

All you light wt guys head on over to a truck stop and scales. Get your car weighed, pay few dollars.

get the scale print out and post it.

I think some of those light wts, will add 200 lbs easy.

SCM_Crash

So what you're telling me is that you have straight pipes with mufflers? Then you don't have straight pipes, you have a stock-ish system with a different material. Straight pipes don't have mufflers except for the case of an inline muffler.

There's absolutely no way in hell that full sized Ti mufflers are lighter than just stainless pipes going up and over the axle and straight back. Sorry, but I'm waiving the on that.

This is documented. Please research before saying I'm pulling it out of thin air. The coupe is 51/49 balanced while the Z06 is 53/47 balanced. This is largely due to the reduced weight of the back glass (no hatch) and the lighter axle back exhaust. Of course, there are smaller things that play a role in the rear-end weight savings as well, but those are the main things.

RC45

What I am telling you is that I have probably forgotten more about various exhaust combos for the C5 platform than you may know exist.

Over the last 8 years I have had:

Stock exhaust from front to rear.

Stock manifolds, H-pipe, Borla Stinger.

Stock manifolds, X-pipe, Borla Stinger.

Stock manifolds, X-pipe, Borla XR-1 straight pipes

1.5" headers, catted X-pipe, Borla Stinger

1.5" headers, catted X-pipe, Borla XR-1 straight pipes

1.5" headers, catless X-pipe, Borla XR-1 straight pipes

1.5" headers, catless X-pipe, Borla XR-1 Resonator Borla XR-1 straight pipes

1.5" headers, catless X-pipe, Borla Stingers

1.5" headers, catless X-pipe, Billy Boats

1.5" headers, catless X-pipe, custom stainless

1.5" headers, catless X-pipe, stock Ti mufflers

1.75" headers, catted X-pipe, Borla XR-1 straight pipes

1.75" headers, catted X-pipe, Borla XR-1 Resonator, Borla XR-1 straight pipes

1.75" headers, catless X-pipe, Borla Stingers

1.75" headers, catless X-pipe, stock Ti mufflers

And various other combos I cant recall. The bottom line is that none of the cat back over-axle setups (including the Borla XR-1 stainless straight pipes) was lighter than the stock Ti mufflers.

Ready, Fire, Aim. Don't assume other people dont know from practical experience what they are talking about.

Here is a compilation through 2006 giving you a sampling of almost all of those combos. Enjoy.



Here is a sample of the 1.75" headers and straight pipes



Here are the 1.75' headers with XR-1 resonator and XR-1 straight pipes



And finally 1.75" headers with X-pipes and stock Ti mufflers with the cutoutys open, pretty much straight pipes again.



I believe I may know what straight pipes are on a C5

And you know this because you have weighed these exhausts side by side and used them back to back?



Your point being? You claimed the Coupe has better weight balance than the Z06. In my opinon the stock Coupe felt light in the nose and was poorly balanced and no better than a minivan in stock form. This is why I say this is how rumours are started.

SCM_Crash

OK... I'm not going to keep doing this with you. You said every set of straight pipes you had were heavier than the stock Ti's. The Ti axle backs were only Ti from the axle on back. The rest I'm sure was heavy. But my point was that if you expect me to believe that a 2.5" pipe going over the axle and out the back weighs more than a full sized muffler, then you've got to be crazy. Show me on a scale how a 3'x2.5" piece of tube weighs more than a full sized Ti muffler and I'll shut up about that.

And what YOU personally experienced with weight balance doesn't mean squat on a scale. Fact is fact. Science is science. Put the front end and back end of a bone stock Z06 on the scales independently (as I have already done as well) and you'll see that the documented numbers of 53/47 are correct while the Coupe is 51/49.

Have I done this myself? Yes. Have you? Apparently not. Just because you're used to driving a Z06 and you go drive a coupe doesn't mean your experiencing what you THINK you're experiencing. If you're coming from a track point of view, it's on the driver. Either way, the balance of the cars are indeed different, with the coupe being more balanced.

That being said, I'm not going to continue this petty argument since it has NOTHING to do with the topic which had to do with a stock car. Not a modified car.

RC45

This is correct. Borla XR-1 over-axle stainless straight pipes are not lighter than the stock Ti cat back.

Have ever seen, held, lifted or weighed the stock Ti catback from the C5 Z06?



Why dpo you feel the need to tell me this? I have had 3 different sets of stock Ti mufflers in my possesion over the last 8 years. I am well aware that they are Ti from BEFORE the rear axle.

The Ti pipe stretches from the rear flange of the mid/X-pipe, goes over the rear axle, turns to the side, enters the Ti muffler assembly and then exits and turns to the rear.

Are you aware that Titanium is about 55% lighter than stainless steel?

BTW, Borla XR-1 straight pipes are 3" pipes. They neck down to 2.5" at the flange. Borla STingers are 2.5".

Stock Tis


Borla Stingers


Borla XR-1



My old notes show stock Ti 13# per side, Borla XR-1 15# per side and Stingers 19# per side.

What do your notes say?

And again? Your point being? There is no such thing as "perfect weight balance" - perfect is opinion and impression, not the "number", what ever it is. As static f/r balance is tossed aside once you are underway. Accelerate and weight shifts rearward, altering the weight balance, hit the brakes and weight is transfered forwards - again influenincing feel and feedback.

The mythical "perfect front/rear weight" is just that, a mythical magazine number used for stats comparisons.

Reread what I posted, I never disputed the numbers, I disputed the claim that the Coupe was "more balanced". "More balanced" for whom?

"More balanced" is an opinion. One driver may feel the "more balanced" car is the ne with front bias, the next driver may say a "more balanced" car is the one with the rear weight bias.

Again - the statement "The coupe is the more balanced Corvette" is how rumours are started - the next thing you will be saying is that stock for stock the Coupe is the "better handling" car? .

And as to whether I have had my car on corner scales, more time than I care to remember.

Have you ever weighed stock Titanium mufflers from a C5 Z06 Corvette?

:?



Don't take it to heart though, many of us lived through these same question/answer sessions in 2001/2/3/4, so by 2010 they are really old hat

TurboTnZ06

I've weighed my 01 Z at Ennis, Tx and Bandimere, Co. It was always between 3000-3080 depending on tank load iirc

Dave concrete

I got to say when I took off my Ti system and put on the Borla straight pipes I remember saying to myself the Ti's felt lighter. I don't have factual proof just felt lighter and noticable.

JDMUSCLE

That is exactly what my 06Z weighed with a quarter tank of gas and a bunch of crap in my glove compartment!!!

I thought the C5Zs where in the 2900 range!!

SCM_Crash

Anyone use their Z06 Tire Repair Kit?

I actually keep mine in the car since the tire gauge is accurate and the pump comes in handy if I want to air down the back tires at all for the strip and air back up before leaving.

I have AAA so I'd never actually attempt to repair a tire on the side of the highway.

I also keep a 15Lbs bag of tools in the car at all times just in case there's an emergency of some sort.

Fromes

Actually no, the O4 also came with the chrome wheels, which negated the weight savings that came from the hood.

RC45

Actually no, the 2004 Z16 does NOT come with "chrome" wheels. No C5 Z06 ever came with "chrome" wheels.

They are high polished stock C5 Z06 wheels - not chrome.

I have to wonder how and where all this incorrect information comes from?

There seem to be a large number of C5 newcomers in the last 4 years that don't know the real low down on the cars.

So now class, we have now learned that the stock Ti mufflers are LIGHTER than even straight pipes and the Z16 wheels are not chrome, but rather highly polished aluminium...

Any other rumours that need quashing??

garage-ghost

No no no...The Z16 came with polished aluminum wheels which I would have to guess were lighter than the painted stock Z06 wheels. Yes I know the Z16 wheels were clear coated but clear-coat weighs less than paint.

Woops...guess RC45 already told you that...

SCM_Crash

RC45... I still can't find any weight specs on those straight pipes other than what you said, so I can't agree with you yet. Regardless of Ti weighing 55% less than steel, there's still far more than 110% more metal used in making a full muffler vs just a single pipe that runs out the back. Therefore, mathematically something is wrong with the figure. So we haven't LEARNED anything about muffler weights. Show me the straight pipes on a scale or something.

lwise4

Hmm My poster say's 2006 Z06 3130, C5 series Z06 3118. Most C3 models were also 3130. C1 53 to 55 models were 2850.

johnnytaboo

who says learning stuff can't be entertaining