[Z06] H/C vs FI
01-30-2008, 07:17 PM
#41
Le Mans Master
01-30-2008, 07:38 PM
#42
Supporting Vendor
Member Since: Jul 2003
Location: http://www.mphparts.com 800-364-1975
Posts: 6,486
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
1 Post
The first question you need to ask yourself is what you intend to use the car for. Usually it's one of the 3, predominantly:
Sure, many people will pick 2 out of 3 but for the most part, just focus on the one that you will do most and that you get the most enjoyment out of.
From there, the answers are somewhat simple.
Forced induction cars will ALWAYS put down more power than NA cars. See my sig for where my 2003 Z06 is right now. I am gunning for at least 800/800 to the wheels, and I am confident I will get the car there. The car is an absolute BLAST to drive, I can paint rubber on the highway at over 100mph with ease. Bottom line is, it's a very, very FUN car, but it's not necessarily fast from light to light (sort of hard to do when 1st gear redlines in about 1.5 seconds, 2nd gear in about the same time, and traction doesn't even start to become a reality until 80+ mph). With the right mods (built automatic transmission and a cage) this car could run 9s all day at 140+ mph. With a stick things are much more challenging.
Sooooo... for all around fun, I'd definitely say a high powered FI build is the way to go, there's no rush like it... really.
Let's do road racing / auto cross next since that's fairly simple. Can you RR/autox an FI car? Sure. Can you do it effectively or competitively? Not so much. FI cars will usually battle heat issues in various forms when driven hard for extended periods of time. It's also hard to "round out" an FI car properly for road racing (can you imagine the braking an 800rwhp car would need to have in order to REALLY use the extra power it's putting down?) I think most people will agree, an NA car has a distinct advantage when it comes to road racing and auto cross and will be much more controllable as well.
Finally, drag racing... I am a boost junkie so I hate to admit this but it's true. NA cars will tend to run more consistently than FI cars, but it's the properly/well driven FI cars (especially the ones with automatics) that will take home the crazy ETs and MPH numbers. If you absolutely have to run 135mph+ in the 1/4 I would go FI, if you want to run 10s at a respectable MPH you can get there NA.
The more I have researched what numbers others have achieved, the more I become impressed with the C6Z as a bolt-on NA car. The fact people are reaching 550 to the wheels with relatively mild bolt ons consistently is impressive enough. After having done a "full tilt" 346 with twin turbos and leaving rubber everywhere I go I can tell you that once you get past the 600ish to the wheels mark, the power is wasted around town. Sure, it's a lot of fun, and everyone should get to experience the 800hp rush at some point. But it's just not fast or well rounded, per se.
After driving my C6Z at stock power levels for 2 days, I am confident that another 100 to 150 to the wheels is all the car really "needs". Any more than that just smokes the tires in most driving situations... but I have to say... it sure is nice knowing that if you run into a bike on the highway you have a good chance of smoking him.
- Plain old fashioned street fun
- Drag racing
- Road racing / auto cross
Sure, many people will pick 2 out of 3 but for the most part, just focus on the one that you will do most and that you get the most enjoyment out of.
From there, the answers are somewhat simple.
Forced induction cars will ALWAYS put down more power than NA cars. See my sig for where my 2003 Z06 is right now. I am gunning for at least 800/800 to the wheels, and I am confident I will get the car there. The car is an absolute BLAST to drive, I can paint rubber on the highway at over 100mph with ease. Bottom line is, it's a very, very FUN car, but it's not necessarily fast from light to light (sort of hard to do when 1st gear redlines in about 1.5 seconds, 2nd gear in about the same time, and traction doesn't even start to become a reality until 80+ mph). With the right mods (built automatic transmission and a cage) this car could run 9s all day at 140+ mph. With a stick things are much more challenging.
Sooooo... for all around fun, I'd definitely say a high powered FI build is the way to go, there's no rush like it... really.
Let's do road racing / auto cross next since that's fairly simple. Can you RR/autox an FI car? Sure. Can you do it effectively or competitively? Not so much. FI cars will usually battle heat issues in various forms when driven hard for extended periods of time. It's also hard to "round out" an FI car properly for road racing (can you imagine the braking an 800rwhp car would need to have in order to REALLY use the extra power it's putting down?) I think most people will agree, an NA car has a distinct advantage when it comes to road racing and auto cross and will be much more controllable as well.
Finally, drag racing... I am a boost junkie so I hate to admit this but it's true. NA cars will tend to run more consistently than FI cars, but it's the properly/well driven FI cars (especially the ones with automatics) that will take home the crazy ETs and MPH numbers. If you absolutely have to run 135mph+ in the 1/4 I would go FI, if you want to run 10s at a respectable MPH you can get there NA.
The more I have researched what numbers others have achieved, the more I become impressed with the C6Z as a bolt-on NA car. The fact people are reaching 550 to the wheels with relatively mild bolt ons consistently is impressive enough. After having done a "full tilt" 346 with twin turbos and leaving rubber everywhere I go I can tell you that once you get past the 600ish to the wheels mark, the power is wasted around town. Sure, it's a lot of fun, and everyone should get to experience the 800hp rush at some point. But it's just not fast or well rounded, per se.
After driving my C6Z at stock power levels for 2 days, I am confident that another 100 to 150 to the wheels is all the car really "needs". Any more than that just smokes the tires in most driving situations... but I have to say... it sure is nice knowing that if you run into a bike on the highway you have a good chance of smoking him.
01-30-2008, 07:45 PM
#43
Supporting Vendor
Member Since: Jul 2003
Location: http://www.mphparts.com 800-364-1975
Posts: 6,486
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
1 Post
Oh, one other comment. Whereas with the C5Z and C5 you pretty much had to go FI if you wanted great power and also reasonable drivability... the C6Z seems to be getting a lot of people there with NA builds. There's no replacement for displacement. I am going to try a few different cam grinds to get an idea of what kind of power and driveability can be achieved, but my sense right now is that you don't have to give up the world with NA builds on these cars.
