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C5 - How fast can It Go ?

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Old May 2, 2007 | 11:33 PM
  #101  
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I got a similar thread locked when I mentioned 155 MPH and my wife saying STOP!!! The car had a more but we ran out of road.

Be Careful Buddy!

Take it to the track..and have your fun legally.
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Old May 3, 2007 | 09:49 AM
  #102  
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151 mph in my 99 A4, intake sucking, straight pipes screamin, top down, corvettes are the s$$t. Woo Haa!
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Old May 14, 2007 | 06:31 PM
  #103  
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1995 LT1
Rt 70 across western Ohio is long, flat, and laser straight as far as the eye can see.

167mph in 5th at redline, 6th is too tall.

Too worried about my convertable top to try a top speed run in my 2003 but as far as Im concerned it is plenty fast enough for my licence which exists on the razors edge of existance.
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Old May 14, 2007 | 10:03 PM
  #104  
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Wow after reading all this Now I see how dumb I must really be. I hit 170mph like 2 days ago, and before that I did 187mph all in my 97 M6. couldnt get it any faster than 187ish.. I also live in Il and we have lots of straight flat highways.. I had my buddy in the car too.

I am stock for the most part. just zip tie mod, and straight pipes..
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Old May 15, 2007 | 12:26 AM
  #105  
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Originally Posted by Jistari
Some of you guys are killing me :-)

On the right road, that you've been on a hundred times, at the right time of day, with the right traffic conditions (basicaly no other vehicles), in a car that you know is in top shape, with a driver that has some experience at high speed driving, 100+ for a short run isn't one iota more dangerous than regular highway speeds.

You can make all the comparisons you want, statisticaly I'm gonna die within five miles of my house in some mundane manner, so I guess bungie jumping from a helicopter over a burning lake filled with crocodiles in the himilaya's is safer huh?

I'm not advocating irresponsible driving, but coming to the corvette forum and trying to sell "ya know, you really shouldn't exceed the posted speed limit on public roads" is like going over to the Golden Gloves Boxing forum and saying "you shouldn't hit someone in the head, you might hurt them". Bothe statements true, but maybe out of place :-)


135 btw, only a few times, but they were the right times.

This is my favorite post of the thread.

NOTE: except for the part referencing a statistic. I suspect that people driving in excess of 100 mph were not part of the sample for that statistic.
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Old May 15, 2007 | 04:45 AM
  #106  
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i've hit 188 mph (300km/h) on my 99 M6 european Corvette

and the rpm continues to climb (red line 5th gear) 6100 rpm
then 6th... climb a little.
(300km/h is the max @ the speed and the hud was 99)
so around 305/307 km/h.

but... I don't know why the hell, all the euro C5 speedo are 8% wrong !!! (compare to differents gps)
and the us corvette are acurate.

so 307 is 190 mhpx8% = 175 mph
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Old May 15, 2007 | 09:11 AM
  #107  
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Although mine is not stock I ran it qiuckly to 165 mph with another gear and some rpms still left.
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Old May 15, 2007 | 12:40 PM
  #108  
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I believe everyone missed the original intent of this thread. It was NOT asking how fast YOUR C5 can go.

It was asking what the aerodynamic limitations of the stock C5 coupe body are, and how much power would be required to push it to this speed. I would like to know as well.

If I had to guess I would say in the 235-240 mph range and probably close to 1000 rwhp to push it there.
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Old May 15, 2007 | 01:01 PM
  #109  
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Originally Posted by MGorman
It was asking what the aerodynamic limitations of the stock C5 coupe body are, and how much power would be required to push it to this speed. I would like to know as well.

If I had to guess I would say in the 235-240 mph range and probably close to 1000 rwhp to push it there.
There are no real limitations. Ask any jet pilot. Put a big enough engine in something, and even a brick can break Mach.
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Old May 15, 2007 | 01:22 PM
  #110  
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Originally Posted by fdxpilot
There are no real limitations. Ask any jet pilot. Put a big enough engine in something, and even a brick can break Mach.
I would think with a car you would run into some serious aerodynamic instability issues at some point. I agree you could push the car faster than 240 mph with more power, but at some point it’s going to think it’s a plane and try to take flight.
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Old May 15, 2007 | 08:00 PM
  #111  
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Originally Posted by MGorman
I believe everyone missed the original intent of this thread. It was NOT asking how fast YOUR C5 can go.

It was asking what the aerodynamic limitations of the stock C5 coupe body are, and how much power would be required to push it to this speed. I would like to know as well.

If I had to guess I would say in the 235-240 mph range and probably close to 1000 rwhp to push it there.
Finally !!!! Someone read the thread I am still waiting for a answer
I have not found the source that can answer the orignal question
Thanks for your personal insights interesting( enough for another
thread)
Best wishes(I did not take any of the threads personally)
Road Pilot
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Old May 16, 2007 | 09:16 AM
  #112  
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http://www.f-body.org/gears/

it's setup for the T56 transmission F bodies, but it's close, if you know the Vette trans gearing you can plug it in, with rev speed

put in your #'s and it shows theoretical speed in each gear...including 6th

The rear end axle ratio makes a HUGE difference


I've done 150 in my Vette, and 190+ in my 6spd LS1 RX7 (430whp 2700lbs)

Last edited by BlackBoosted2; May 16, 2007 at 09:22 AM.
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Old Oct 7, 2015 | 11:09 PM
  #113  
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Default C5 gearing/speeds

Originally Posted by road pilot
Friends,
I have been reading all of the threads concerning C5 coupes and how
fast they will go. In other words the top end. Every one has a opinon
about top end; I would like to see a formula and or a graph. There are
some pretty smart people inthe forum ( I am not one of them ), maybe
one of you can explain to me what the C5 body style can actually
run flat out. Lets face it the wheel horse power in a stock vette (coupe) is not very impressive, compared to a Z06 or a mod vette.
Yet I hear speeds of 170 mph. How much horsepower is enough to
reach a flat out speed. I know that rear ratios have a effect on top end
and there are A4 that can be converted into multi speed trans that
suppoesably increase top speed and the 6 speed can have a effect
depending on the OD. I guess the question is 1. how fast is the C5
body designed to run and 2. how much horsepower will be needed to
hit top end and 3. how much over/under drive do you need ?
Thank you very much for taking the time to read these questions
and your responce.
Road Pilot
There are basically three types of C5 Corvettes, Coupes, Convertibles, and Z-06's (I'm including the hardtops in with the Coupes and am not addressing the 7 liter C5R's that won Lemans in 2001, 02, and 04). The CD (drag coefficient of a Coupe is .29 - from memory?, and .30 on the Convertibles. Back in 1997 this was a very efficient design and low drag coefficient. Because the Coupes had a very low CD most magazines that you're probably familiar with listed top speeds with the stock 345 and later 350 HP stock engines in the 172-175 mph range. The Z-06's had either 385 or 405 HP but were geared differently and though they accelerated faster than a stock C5 coupe, their top speed was actually slower. Most magazines reported them to be around 168 mph. The Convertibles were the heaviest C5's made (around 3,248 lbs.) and with the top up magazines reported a top speed of around 162-165 mph. I have created a spreadsheet (based on all stock unmodified C5's each of the three types, that will tell you how fast the car will go at any rpm's in any gear. To go wide open, keep it in 5th, the .5 to 1 sixth gear is way too tall for the engine to "pull." My C5 convertible will go about 165 at 5,300 rpm's in 5th. Redline is 6,000, but it won't pull redline in 5th or obviously 6th. Hope this helps.

Last edited by Nigel21; Oct 7, 2015 at 11:13 PM.
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Old Oct 8, 2015 | 08:19 AM
  #114  
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So sort of an addition to what most have said so far. This is a great article about achieving top speed in a vehicle and breaking records. I understand it's not a corvette, HOWEVER, I chose this article to show that even an older body style of a 240sx still has the aerodynamics to achieve high speeds. It also has a full list of mods and pictures to the vehicle. So you can get an idea of what you may need in order to top your vette out. Also I must add, tires play a huge role here. Make sure you always check your pressure, and have the properly rated tire for the speed you're trying to achieve.


http://www.speedhunters.com/2014/01/...13-top-200mph/
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Old Oct 8, 2015 | 10:50 AM
  #115  
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Whoa - 8+ year thread bump.
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Old Oct 8, 2015 | 11:46 AM
  #116  
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I've hit 168 in a 2003 Z! And it was still climbing.
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Old Oct 8, 2015 | 12:20 PM
  #117  
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since its back from the dead I'll ad mine lol

171mph modded 03z still going I chickened out!
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To C5 - How fast can It Go ?

Old Oct 8, 2015 | 03:19 PM
  #118  
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John Lengenfelter said over 200mph the C5 is very light in the rear.
It needs some down force.

Toque
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Old Oct 8, 2015 | 04:39 PM
  #119  
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203 GPS'ed at the airport run with my mod'ed 01 Z

This thread cracks me up and is truly the vett owners rep.

Buy a 200 MPH car and come up with every excuse possible to not drive it to its limits :-)

Last edited by Froggys's Apprentice; Oct 12, 2015 at 09:58 PM.
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Old Sep 20, 2019 | 08:50 PM
  #120  
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Default 180 mph

Originally Posted by road pilot
Friends,
I have been reading all of the threads concerning C5 coupes and how
fast they will go. In other words the top end. Every one has a opinon
about top end; I would like to see a formula and or a graph. There are
some pretty smart people inthe forum ( I am not one of them ), maybe
one of you can explain to me what the C5 body style can actually
run flat out. Lets face it the wheel horse power in a stock vette (coupe) is not very impressive, compared to a Z06 or a mod vette.
Yet I hear speeds of 170 mph. How much horsepower is enough to
reach a flat out speed. I know that rear ratios have a effect on top end
and there are A4 that can be converted into multi speed trans that
suppoesably increase top speed and the 6 speed can have a effect
depending on the OD. I guess the question is 1. how fast is the C5
body designed to run and 2. how much horsepower will be needed to
hit top end and 3. how much over/under drive do you need ?
Thank you very much for taking the time to read these questions
and your responce.
Road Pilot
I’ve got a 99 Corvette Convertible. I reached 180 mph and had a lot left. I was driving with the top down. **** was blowing everywhere. So I shut her down. My only concern was it going to go airborne. My question is will my convertible be more aerodynamic with the top down?
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