Yep, I'm pretty sure it was you. You honked at us as you came up behind us in the right hand lane near the Mitsubishi dealership (we were in the left lane) and then you waived at us as you passed. I waived back, and then immediately thought it might be you given the locale. I think you either turned into the little strip mall across from the car dealership at Belmont and Ogden, or you turned South unto Belmont.
Your Z looked/looks awesome and I loved the sound.

 

i'm the only black c5z i know of around here and south on belmont from there is the way i go home so it was me I remember that your car looks pretty good too

 

Thanks

Are you looking at going to the track day on Oct. 3 up at Black Hawk Farms? I think the North Chicago Corvette Club is sponsoring the event. I'm starting to look at doing this event myself. I'll have to put some new front brake pads on before I go however since mine only have a couple of thousand miles left on them. I also want to get a SNELL Helmet before then, but if I don't they said that they rent them for only $5.

Quick question for anyone/everyone: If I don't push the car past 60% how much tread depth will probably be lost off of my Michelin AS Pilot Sports? It won't make a difference, I'm just curious what others think I'll "plane" off of them. The tires have around 7/32" still so there is plenty of tread on them.

 

Oh, the Chicago Corvette Club's drive up to Wilmot Wisc. for dinner was a BLAST! Eight cars went on the trip, most of which, believe it or not, were C5's! Al's has a supercharger on it making over 500HP. We were also blessed to have Jim with his very cool '63 four speed on the cruise. Two of the other Vette's that made the trip were C6 GS's. My wife and I really had a lot of fun. Hopefully more people will join a local Corvette Club and keep the great fun and camaraderie that we enjoy with this great car alive and well.

BTW, pic's of the exhaust have been taken. All that is left is to get them uploaded now, then I will make a sound clip of the car while the stock exhaust is still on it so that I'll have a before and after clip once the new exhaust is put on.

 

I'm more of a straight line kind of guy

I had my car at great lakes dragway last week my best run was 11.84 @ 118mph but was acting funny AFR at idle was pegging my wideband (21.8) and got codes p0171 & p0174 (lean bank 1 & 2) after a few hours of hunting down the problem I found the bottom of my fast intake was cracked

I repaired it with JB Weld and fiberglass mat so far its been holding so i'm trying to get back there SOON to see what it run now hoping for much better times (hopping for under 11.5's)

 

I spent some time back during July to actually make sure that these fit together. Like the Borla S-type video review I gave a link to, the initial fit had to be worked a little but for a $600 savings I'll take that; especially since it was the same issue for the "Borla's". By working the slight fitment issue out ahead of time it should make the install go a lot faster, and thus cost less if I have a muffler shop do it instead of my neighbor and I doing the job.

 

Now I just have to get them installed. LOL

 

I also have to get some new front brake pads and an exterior wax and buff. LOL

 

i just did mine wash, clay bar, machine buff & hand wax man what a difference!

when i bought the car the dealer had one of there guys buff it and he had no idea what he was doing left buff marks from one end to the other i was able to get about 90% of the buff/swirl marks out very please with the way it looks now

that exhaust is not a big task at all they key is getting the rear end up high enough I back up to a drop off thats next to where i live also had my red car on a open car hauler with the rear hanging off both worked well

 

Thanks on both counts.

I'm thinking about having Delta Sonic do the exterior job for me next Friday. You see, it's people like you who need to train people like me because I have absolutely no clue on what to do with a buffer in my hands and several types of wax. I have no problems washing her and keeping the interior & engine bay clean but at this point I'm completely out of my element on the clay and buffing stuff.

Regarding the exhaust, thanks for the encouragement and tips. I might just use one of them since one of my neighbors across the street (a former student) offered to help me put it on. I'll talk with him about getting it done next Sunday after Church.

I'll also make sure that I take some -before and after- sound clips as well. I've already contemplated the format for them; Idle, then 1k, 2k, 3k, 4k & a quick but brief WOT mash of the throttle. My thought is that this will give a broad RPM comparison between the two systems, allowing people to more definitively pick out when, where, and to what degree differences exist with greater clarity. If the new system is going to drone, and Not4Spd said his didn't and we have the same thing, then I hypothesize that it will happen on the 2k and 3k RPM spots. Even so, I am also aware that the sound of the new system will likely deepen based upon others' experiences. If that happens I'll be sure to let people know a few weeks later.

 

I've been having a lot of fun driving the Corvette and doing some Bass fishing while the weather is still holding up. Monday I installed a Varaam V3 Velocity Stack. All I can say is WOW! I know, I know, they aren't supposed to work, but I have noticeable, definite improvements in torque and smoothness. It keeps me looking forward to getting the exhaust put on. More to come on the V3 Velocity Stack...

 

So, why do I like the VR V3 Velocity Stack; isn't it suppose to be a scam??? Well after doing a lot of research I decided to try it for a specific reason. The reason I decided to try it was due to the mod that I had put in back in June regarding the MAF. My MAF already had the screen removed, and it was also larger than the stock unit. So, considering that I was putting on the twin tube CAI I decided to "port" the MAF from it's 82mm size all the way to 86mm. Interestingly enough, the car didn't throw any codes, and as I reported earlier, the twin filter CAI and this enlarged MAF were definitely quicker and smoother. However the increase in power and smoothness that I noticed with those mod's came when I floored the car in the lower gears at low RPM's. What was really starting to bother me was that I had been noticing over the last month or so is that when I drove it easy in 1st - 3rd gears between 1k - 2.5k my car would make a high pitch whining sound as if it were actually running at 4-5k, but it wasn't accelerating quickly. Of course if I floored it then the exhaust note would change to more of a growl and it would then accelerate instead of bog like it did before the twin filter CAI and enlarged MAF.

So I talked with a young friend of mine that I've know since he was 13yrs old (I mentored him with rc racing). That young man is now an engineer and has worked for International Harvester & Ford for the past four years. I told him that what was happening and that I was thinking of putting in a velocity stack insert but I wasn't sure. He suggested that I put it in because he thought that I really needed to smooth the air out from my home spun "port" job because it wasn't the smoothest thing out there. He said that the increased flow of turbulent air from it was probably choking the engine and keeping it from being able to really use the increased flow effectively. That suggestion sent me back combing through the archives. What I found was that people's accounts concerning the performance of the VR Velocity Stack were actually quite interesting. In essence everything that I read generalized that while the VR Velocity Stack typically only offered HP increases between 3-5 HP (rounding) on a dyno, in almost every case people DID notice an increase in torque, especially within the lower RPM ranges. The modest HP gains generally lead people to discount the gains since they were outside of an acceptable p-value (although the p-value was never expressed in any of those posts). All of this lead to the VR Velocity stack gaining a dubious place in Corvette performance mod folk lore as being a "wasted money paper weight". Still, given my particular port job with the MAF, and the rather consistent citations of increased torque, I figured it would be worth a shot.

So what happened?
Well, I actually gained all of the following:
A) Increased low RPM (1 - 2.5k) torque
B) Changed low RPM exhaust note
C) Increased acceleration
D) Increased fuel economy (from 32mpg hgwy average with high of 35mpg to 35mpg with high of 39.6mpg)

- The increased torque has been evident in that I can run in gears 2nd - 6th at an average of 12mph LESS than I was able to before the VR Velocity Stack WITHOUT lugging. I was actually able to cruise last night and today in 6th gear at only 35-37mph with NO problems, and 5th gear is now being run in around 25mph! That, for my car was simply amazing; especially considering that the lowest I used to run my car in 4th gear was 20mph.

- The change in exhaust note was substantial; Not enough to keep me from putting on my exhaust, but definitely much better. The car no longer "whines" between 1 - 3k as if it is out of breath; instead it is much more of a mid-baritone growl or rumble, as if it is no longer "working" to accelerate at light throttle.

- Needless to say, the acceleration has definitely improved. I can drive more relaxed, using only light throttle application and the car easily keeps up with everyone else from stop lights without me having to get into it at all. It no longer sounds like it's working to accelerate the car at light throttle from 0 - 45mph. In fact, even 1/3 to 1/2 throttle, applied smoothly, now puts serious distance between me and "normal" new cars as we leave stop lights; and again, the car no longer sounds like it is working to do so. Interestingly, I have noticed a pronounced dip in the number of "normal" new cars (including the pocket rocket badge accessorized ones) that are trying to race me from stop lights. It almost seems as if they no longer think they "smell blood in the water" from my car sounding like it's working hard pulling a lot of RPM's (even though it wasn't), and not actually pulling away from them. Praise the Lord that this is no longer happening.

- The increase in fuel economy seems to be stable. When I first went on the highway with the VR Velocity stack the Vette actually hit 40mpg!!!! When I came home that evening and told my wife, her immediate response was "you've only drove it once so you really don't know if that is a real figure". Well, yesterday night James and I cruised through Plainfield, then Naperville, then Downers Grove and finally Westmont, before I dropped him off and went home; and my average through all of that street light stop and go, slow speed traffic was...25.1 mpg! When we were on I55 heading out to fish I averaged...35.3mpg!!! Yes, she dipped down to 32mpg when I went up some inclines, and she increased as high as 39mpg on the declines that are all a part of heading South on I55, but she would then find her way back to 35mpg. Cruising on that same stretch of road since June I would see her dip all the way down to 27pmg and struggle to get back to 31mpg without me having to hit the reset button on the more level parts. So the fuel economy increase seems like it is a stable improvement that is here to stay.

I know this was a little long winded but I thought it would be helpful. All I can say is that I'm glad that I decided to try it; it's a keeper for me.
Now I just have to get the exhaust and front brake pads on. Having this car is turning out to be waaayyyy more fun than I ever imagined it would be.
Viva the ride ladies and gents because Corvettes really are special cars, and the Corvette community is a big part of that.

 

Good news; it looks like the new exhaust and front brake pads will be put on this Wednesday. When it goes on, I'll take the before/after sound clips and put them up along with some pic's.

 

I'd love to here that exhaust ones you get it installed I just nodded my b&b did a bypass and loving it

 

The exhaust is ON!!!! And I LOVE the sound!!!!

 

It took us a LOT longer than it should have to get on because two of the bolts (one on each side thankfully) broke inside of the flange. What should have been about an hour and a half job turned into a 7 hour job as we simply didn't have the tools to be able to drill them out. With a good blessing and a lot of sweat we took turns at each, with the driver side getting punched through enough to put a bolt on it but we just couldn't get the other one through. American ingenuity prevailed and my neighbor suggested a mini c-clamp to hold it so we finished it on that note.

When we started her up she sounded AWESOME!!! A really nice, deep rumble to her, but not overpowering. Yes, I now know that we had exhaust leak but it was still music to my ears. We then went out on the highway to get a feel for it and for me to finally see how his car runs. My neighbor has a 3rd gen RX-7, and guess what type of motor is in it? Yep, you guessed it, he has our Corvette LS1 in it. He's done pretty much the same stuff to it that I've done to mine (de-screened and enlarged MAF, Honker CAI, aftermarket power bridge and coupler, and performance exhaust). I was looking forward to seeing his car run since it so light but with our motor and trans in it. We only ran a few miles down the highway and back. His car can really accelerate well. We found that I had to be one gear lower than him to pull the same, but that was about it, we kept things rather sedate, which was hard for him since he's still a young man at only 25yrs of age. LOL

 

So yesterday evening I took the car to Midas and they did a fantastic job of fixing the two holes and getting everything sealed up. They punched the hole through on the passenger side that we couldn't get out in like 2 minutes. They also enlarged the hole that we did manage to drill through the broken bolt on the driver's side in like a minute. After putting two new bolts and nuts on (since the threads were now gone for those two holes), they put some exhaust putty around the flange to make sure everything was sealed. The total cost was only $43!!! Talking about being blessed.

What I IMMEDIATELY noticed was that the sound was more mellow, but it still had the deep rumble!!! What that did was make it even more acceptable since it wasn't as loud during acceleration as it was when we first put it on.

So, what does it sound like? It sounds EXACTLY like the Borla S-Type sound clips floating around on You-Tube for a more or less stock C5 Corvette. The sound difference in comparison to my stock exhaust? There isn't any. LOL

I have taken a sound clip of the new system that I will upload, but unfortunately we got started on the new system about 1.5 hrs later than we planned and in the rush to finally get going I forgot to take a sound clip of the stock exhaust system. With that said, I'll see if I can put a link to one that's on You-Tube of a stock system that sounded like mine did (or as close as I can find) and people can go back and forth for comparison. I may also throw some links up of several Borla S-Type systems to compare mine to theirs. I'm pretty sure that this imported "no-name" system is from the same foundry as the Borla system...but that's just a hypothesis. LOL.

 

Did you remove the H and go to straight pipes like I did or did you keep the factory cross over? Glad to hear you got everything buttoned up.

 

Hey bro, how are things going with you and yours? No I kept the H pipe.

Right out of the box this thing had a super throaty rumble that is every bit the Borla S-Type. I took it on a a prolonged highway cruise a little over a week ago and I did notice some drone at cruise speeds (1500 - 1750 RPM's in 6th gear) but as the exhaust has gotten another week under its belt I and my buddy James realized this past Saturday that the drone had noticeably decreased in both magnitude and RPM range, as we were on the highway for a good spell on our way to do some Bass fishing.

Instead of having to do 78mph in order to relieve the drone I only had to do about 73mph. This seems to indicate that the mufflers are continuing to break in, and I am hopeful that the drone will further decrease both in magnitude and RPM range over the next week or two. I'll let everyone know.

 

That done will hopefully fall to the wayside I know mine did. Then again I just throw on some cutouts so at certain upper RPM's the drone is pretty constant. My Vette is doing well other ways. Just throw on the Polished Typhoon intake and seems to have freed up some horsepower, but then again it was down for 3 weeks while I finalized the install so it could just be my imagination.