I addressed your torque question above but you must still be learning how to drive this car if you think it is slow. Unless we are talking about a Callaway Twin Turbo where it would be closer, I can obliterate any vette from the late 80s in any gear at any RPM with the Z06... It wouldn't even be close but as kids we sometimes remember things to be bigger/faster than they really were.

And compared to a Honda S2000, please! You are driving a car that can outrun to 100 mph every Ferrari currently for sale in the US... Just a little perspective.

 

Howdy,

I understand your feeling. When I bought my car, it felt ok. But it didn't feel like a world beater. In fact it didn't feel that much faster than a Camaro.

One of the things about the car is that the power comes on evenly and it comes on smoothly. I have a 383in 72Nova that is all apart currently. It would plant you back in the seat, hard. It had gobs of torque. The Z06 is faster than it was. But didn't feel as fast.

At first I was worried and thought I might have bought a car that wasn't "all that". My first trip to the racetrack, and a couple of streetraces changed my mind about the car. It holds its own.

So, don't fret it. It really is fast. Its just too smooth, and the power delivery is deceptive.

 

TURN OFF YOUR TRACTION CONTROL ya big dummy! If that doesn't do it for you then your car is not running right.

PS: If you had much more torque you couldn't use it anyway because all it would do is spin the rear tires more.


[Modified by buddha, 11:21 AM 8/19/2002]

 

I'm gonna have to go with J-Rod and JimX. I came from a 2000 coupe, and wasn't particularly amazed either. I detailed my 2000 and had it in the garage, ready to take to a local dealer to have them sell it for me.

I drove the Z06 for a week, feeling much like you did... Then I drove the 2000 coupe (which I now refer to as "The Slug") to the dealer. That's when I could tell the difference. Don't get me wrong, the 2000 still felt pretty darn good in 1st gear, and 2nd wasn't bad, but 3rd felt positively sluggish compared to the Z06. And my 2000 had Z-51, but it felt like it was gonna flop over in the turns after driving the Z06 for a week.

That all said, the Z06 often underwhelms me. I believe there are several factors, not the least of which is an exponential factor. I think you have to DOUBLE HP to REALLY feel a huge gain.

Much like wattage in a stereo, which you have to increase by a factor of 10 in order to get a dB increase of x2 (I think that is right, any stereo experts feel free to jump in and correct me, but I think the principle is right).

I think that for me, going from a 345hp car to a 405hp car (and the torque gain being even less) it just isn't a big enough increase to kick your butt. Yeah, it is faster, and yeah it is pulling harder than you think, but contrary to popular belief here on the forum (where people "feel" 5hp gains from air filters) I don't think your fanny can tell 10%-15% increases as well as we would like.

I will also say, though, that coming out of a turn in 3rd gear, the car feels much stronger than my 2000 coupe did... I think the hp really does a lot of its work on the high side of 60mph.

One other thought, I mentioned this briefly in another thread, but my brother built an 86 T/A with a 350 and ran 13.40s. He decided that it wasn't fast enough, and put in a 400. He drove the car and said that it felt a little quicker, but wasn't as much faster as he had hoped.

Took it to the track... it ran 12.40's.

It's all about the shape of the powerband. If you doubt that, surely we can ALL relate to having driven/ridden in some stick shift car that FELT faster than some buddy's automatic, but lost to the auto in a race. The stick felt faster because you are doing some high G spikes at times during the launch and shifting, but the auto car was pulling better average numbers.



[Modified by Tom Steele, 11:42 AM 8/19/2002]

 

Yep. Driving around town and punching it below 4,000 RPM's, my 1970 big block FEELS faster for sure than my Z06 does. The torque pushes you hard into the seat instantly. The Z06 doesn't so that nearly as violently. So SOTP, my '70 big block does feel faster. But its not. Because above 4,000 RPM's is where the Z06 just wakes up, while the big block has reached its peak. The Z06 is more of a beast about 4k than the big block is. Totally different power bands between the two cars, although they have similar peak output levels to the wheels.

The LS6 is a bit of an odd engine considering its 2 valve pushrod design. Its power band behaves more like a 4 valve DOHC engine - very few 2 valve OHV production engines develop most of their torque above 4,000 RPM, and redline at nearly 7k.

 

Agreed, but it is the only way to get a 5.7 liter engine to produce 400 hp. The only replacements for displacement are forced induction and high rpm. It is amazing that the LS6 accomplishes the kind of higher rpm breathing comparable to a DOHC design with only a 2 OHV design.

 

Oh, I know - I'm not complaining, just observing :)

On the contrary, I'm still in awe as to how the LS6 produces so much HP and torque with only a 2 valve OHV configuration out of 5.7L, while at the same time getting 28 MPG on the highway, 100k mile tune up intervals, on pump gas, naturally aspirated, and qualifies as a Low Emissions Vehicle. :crazy: :cheers:

 

A guy buys a car, joins a forum to learn about it, asks an innocuous question about why it doesn't seem as fast as he expected and is told he is stupid, crazy, doesn't know how to drive and that the car he had before was slower (which he already knew).

Welcome to the Internet, and have a nice day.

All the post suggests is that the stock engine doesn't pull as strongly below 4000rpm as over it, which it does not.

 

I think it is the comparison to the 85-89 vettes feeling faster that got me going... :bb

You have a good point... :rolleyes: ... Didn't mean to harp on anyone... :blueangel: :cheers: :cool:

 

Dyno the Z. If the numbers come into range, then its probably just you.

 

Tom--you asked...it is double the wattage of your stereo to get a 3db increase in spl.
Kevin B.
02 EB Z06
1500 watts......... :)

 

Take the stickers off the S2000 and put them on the ZO6. That should make it feel faster! :jester :jester

 

If your dads 80's Vettes were stock, they were slow as dogs%^t

You just had that little kid bighead :D

:cheers:

 

I think you need to find the guy that you sold the Honda to, and the two of you go out to the track. But, first you must learn how to maximize the potential of the Z06. After you put 10 can lengths on the Honda in a 1/4 mile, you'll know how fast the Z06 really is. If you can't do that, then it's time to get it checked out.

 

Thanks Kevin, I wasn't sure my numbers were right, but I thought I had the principle right.

 

:sleep: :sleep:
:rolleyes:
:bs

 

I was starting to feel the same way. Let a friend drive the Z shifting at redline. I think that feeling will come back. :D

Or take it to Lingenfelter.