texel

Per the rules...9.5 x 15 steel rims..3400lbs without driver..iron brakes..4 speed...with a Holly carb..solid rear axel..**** poor gas mileage...and 10 lap Goodyears..really old tech..but lots of HP..a real show for sure -)

http://www.racelinecentral.com/CarofTomorrow.htm

A ZR1, GT2 or ACR would give cup cars problems at the Glen or other road courses ..Its pretty bad when the Z06 pace car has bigger rims, rubber, engine size, a dry sump, etc than the race cars !

Perhaps the Car of Tomorrow should be called the Car of 1968..that is the tech being used...

RFC2

So far no one has given an informed answer. Stock ZR1 with factory size slicks, set up to maximize left turns within stock suspension changes (lowering and camber).

What would it do against a nationwide restrictor car? And yes only for a few laps. Would lack of downforce and stiffness kill it?

09C6ZR1

I picked #38 up on the 10th of September at the Museum at the same time Blue Devil got his......We had the great pleasure of having Thomas McFall as our tour guide....While doing the paper work he told me that within the exception of the sprint cup cars that the ZR1 stays right with the nascar cars......true or not who am I to say....but this gentleman knew his stuff so I am inclined to believe him.

09C6ZR1

I picked #38 up on the 10th of September at the Museum at the same time Blue Devil got his......We had the great pleasure of having Thomas McFall as our tour guide....While doing the paper work he told me that with the exception of the sprint cup cars that the ZR1 stays right with the nascar cars......true or not who am I to say....but this gentleman knew his stuff so I am inclined to believe him.

Zapper

Ya know, I never even thought of comparing these two cars at all. I happen to have one of each. Frankly the ZR1 is much quieter and far more civilized to drive. The Nascar is a lot noisier and a ton of fun to drive. Sure gets a lot of attention every time I fire it up. It does not have the butterfly valves on the exhaust - too much extra weight

Now the real answer for all of the guys who have complained about the interior fit and finish on a ZR1 - the NASCAR Morgan McLure Monte Carlo beast has a rather spartan yet purpose built interior. The seat certainly keeps you in place because it is formed around you. Seat belts are pretty snug too. Mirror is a lot wider than the ZR1's, but I definitely like the 60's channel on the satellite radio in the ZR1, the cushier seats and the leather wrapped everything. As I am breaking in the ZR1 I am finding that you really have to hang on to the steering wheel with both hands when you are accelerating with a lot of road ahead of you, its just not as ballsy as the Nascar, however the track is a much safer place to try everything. This car is the most powerful car that I have driven on the street - I have not seen the upper limits of this car yet and frankly I may not - the car is exceptionally powerful in every sense in comparison to my Cobra with 637RWHP

It would be interesting to see a number of ZR1's running on a track at the 189mph mark as the Nascars do. Lot of heat coming off the central tunnel of the car. I am looking forward to seeing what Pratt and Miller will do for the ZR1 owners in the future. In the meantime the Nascar drivers who did buy the ZR1's should be able to tell us their take on this question.

Zapper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxwZhWQYWcQ


After watching this video, you will all see how much slower the ZR1 is in getting up to the 189-190 mph mark. Nascar cup cars get up there much faster. So will it hang, as the question is asked for a few laps - yes, however the cup car will get up there much faster. How it will drive around a banked track - I would say not as well as a cup car - the suspension settings are tuned to each track IMHO - you need to have a Phd in track set ups with all of the bars,levers gizmos and thingmees on a Nascar that connect with the front and rear suspension geometry. The other lesser powerful race cars - someone else will have to answer that question

FactHP

"After watching this video, you will all see how much slower the ZR1 is in getting up to the 189-190 mph mark. Nascar cup cars get up there much faster"


For one thing the driver is shifting at 4000-4400 for some odd reason. I'm pretty sure NASCAR drivers don't shift 2500 rpm under readline.

gilly6993

I honestly can't even believe this is being discussed....regardlees if it's Busch or a Cup car....they spend how many millions of dollars to design these cars to do one thing....go left around a track extremely fast and safe....there is no way a car built on the assembly line at Bowling Green could compete with this....yes the ZR1 is fast but we're talking about Nascar here people....

CDNZR

Bingo.... Even if it's on a road course or going straight.
Cup/Bush > ZR1

meadowz06

No. Not even close.

Tom Steele

You base this on? Why wouldn't you believe they could spend $60-70k on an engine and not get it to make 850 SAE HP for 500-600 miles?

Tom Steele

As a NASCAR fan there are a lot of folks here who don't fully understand the OP's question.

He asked about a NATIONWIDE car, not a CUP CAR. HUGE DIFFERENCE between the two.

I've wondered (offhandedly while watching a race for my own amusement) the same thing.

Heck, I've wondered how a well prepped Z06 would do against a NATIONWIDE (used to be BUSCH SERIES) car on various tracks.

My guess is that Shiels has one thing right, without downforce it would be ugly at speed.

But the Z06/ZR-1 are lighter and have better tires/slicks available to them - or at least better sizes.

Brakes would be a huge weak link on the ZR-1 or Z06 in spite of one poster's incorrect claim of NASCAR using low-tech iron brakes. Nothing in NASCAR is low-tech. Not even their Holley Carbs I expect.

In any event, the answer to the OP's questions is NOT REALLY, but for a lap or two on the right tracks it could be interesting.

Here are the specs on the NATIONWIDE SERIES cars.

NytmereZ

, this thread should be closed, its ridiculous

Onerareviper

I'll second that....

Tom Steele

Let's close ALL THE THREADS that some people think are silly or don't agree with!!!

Tom Steele

I see where you are coming from, but keep in mind that NASCAR's rules are specifically designed to limit the cars.

You are correct, but as the OP said - ON A RESTRICTOR PLATE race, the numbers would allow for a ZR-1 or Z06 to theoretically be in the same league as a NATIONWIDE series car.

On a restrictor plate race, a Nationwide car is making about 450 hp and isn't using the brakes much at all.

Throw some slicks on a Z06 or ZR-1 and make adjustments to the alignment, tune it to take advantage of the 98 octane fuel they are running and you'd only have to add wing or something to give it some downforce to arguably be in the same league as a NATIONWIDE series car.

In fact, the ZR-1 - with almost 200 hp more, better CD (I strongly suspect) and slicks should be pretty solid on a restrictor plate track.

Sure this is all goofing around, but we don't always have to talk about the SERIOUS STUFF like whether to put a carbon fiber cover on the console lid or which wax will produce the shiniest shine on our Corvettes ALL THE TIME do we?

P.S. I've had my C5 Z06 on a short track here in my hometown. We were shooting a TV commercial and we had a guy strapped on the roof of a race-car...

VIDEO HERE

and after we were done I took my C5 Z06 out on the track and did a few laps. It is a very short track and the NASCAR guys use it as a test track before Bristol.

The main thing I noticed was that I was in a four wheel drift headed for the wall every turn. I'd dive in low and try to stay in the power as long as I could before I started to worry that I was going to run out of pavement. With slicks, it would have been a much more interesting experience.

As it was I figured I'd trashed 5k miles off my tires in a half dozen laps or so.

I had a similar opportunity - with similar results - in St. Petersburg, FL many years ago with a Mustang Cobra.

So I can see where someone might wonder - offhandedly - about whether a Z06 or ZR-1 would be able to hang on certain tracks with Nationwide series cars.

Sorry if that upsets some of the folks here that are so serious!



http://www.hawkandtom.com