Example ad that comes up all the time.

"Aftermarket intake, cam, supercharger, headers, exhaust, tune, dyno at 600+hp - NEVER RACED"

Sure it may have never been tracked but why would anyone believe that this hasn't been beat on?

Just makes me laugh when I see it.

 

Good point, I see no way someone is going to spend that kind of money to add that amount of power and not sample it shall we say from time to time. Like you said it may never have been raced but it had to be beat on a bit.

 

define "beat on". I don't think adding a supercharger (or heads cam etc...) and then driving the car hard would be considered beating on it. That's how a corvette is supposed to be driven.

 

Well.. putting heads, cam, and supercharger on a stock motor then tuning it, putting it on a dyno and then driving it that way for 10k miles is going to strain the parts..

Nobody beefs up a car to 600hp and drives it like a 80 yo woman.

I don't care, I love that the cars are being modified and people turn them into a beasts. But don't try and fool anyone with the statement "never raced".

 

True. I guess anyone with half a brain would know that any kind of modded car is going to have been driven harder than a stock car.

 

They could drive it the same way I drive mine. I will play around a bit but I have never done a hard launch or burnout and I have had a supercharger for over a year. I think a car would take much more of a beating on a track then the street.

 

Never raced pretty much equals always raced.

 

You would be the exception right? I mean you don't believe every ad that says "never raced"

 

Horsepower and torque are contagious. You don't have to race to enjoy it. -- Been there, done that. -- --

 

I'm sure the vast majority of them are total BS. I guess to some people it sounds good.

 

I did the headers, CAI, COW tune, Rt 66 and only made three passes at the track. One burnout that wasn't even a real one. Drove 26k before trading in the car for a Z. Should have kept it because I'll never race that Z. Some of the people just want bragging rights.

Look what I have. stuff like that. I do it a little bit.

 

"driven hard" = raced

taking it up to 6k - 6.4k rpm from 1st or 2nd to 3rd, 4th, 5th etc is driving hard just like you raced it. I go to 6.4k rpm from 2nd to 3rd on my way to work sometimes. Maybe once or twice a week. Thats how you get rid of carbon buildup

 

 

The abuse the car takes in the Race track vs. hard street driving is unbelieveable. Take your car to Laguna Seca for a whole day and your brakes, tires, oil, etc.... is done.
And there are lots of people who do all the mods and the car actually never seen rain or racetrack.

 

Even if it was raced, everything that gets worked a lot harder is replaceable. Tires, brakes etc. There is nothing wrong with driving these cars hard. Thats what there made for. To be honest a modded car making 650 hp is probably going to be driven easier on the street. More power your making easier your going to get up to speed

 

Why would you think any used, high performance car hasn't been beat on...modified or not? I think the safe assumption is all used, high performance cars have been beat on. Despite the safe assumption the fact is most Corvette owners don't use the performance their car possesses. I'll venture to say the majority of modified Corvettes have never been seriously raced. For most its limited to the occasional straight line blast on a public road (like with most unmodified Corvettes).

IMO "racing" isn't always indicative the car is mechanically impaired. Virtually all serious Corvette road racers I know are meticulous in how they maintain their modified cars. Not that drag racers are any less conscientious in how they maintain their car but I'd be much more concerned with a car that has been drag raced regularly (believing drag racing is more destructive to the car than road racing). I'd be more leery about forced induction on a stock, cast-piston engine and I'd simply walk-away from any Corvette that has used nitrous.

In general I share your skepticism but I think its important to recognize distinctions between what could be an excellent modified car and one that may have been abused. I've seen some really fine modified, raced Corvettes I wouldn't hesitate to buy.

 

Thuth is modded or not most of these cars get driven hard. Adding substantial mods only increases the stress and impact of your driving habits. Remember the car was designed to handle a certain amount of power and when you bump that up to 600HP some stuff is going to either break or wear out faster.

 

so in other words they wasted all that money on a supercharger and all so they can put put around town at 30mph! What's hard to understand?

 

I'm still trying to find that in the Owners Manual but so far no luck.

 

I laugh at the people saying don't buy a used ZHZ because it has certainly been beat on when it is clear that any used Corvette is very likely to have been just as beat on, especially when we hear statements like, "I don't think adding a supercharger (or heads cam etc...) and then driving the car hard would be considered beating on it. That's how a corvette is supposed to be driven." It is just the way most will be treated and any buyer needs to start evaluations with that in mind.

Many used and apparently stock Vettes have been RETURNED to that condition and the owner will probably not reveal that.