I was able to get registered for the Daily Driver class for the 2013 Hot Rod Magazine Drag Week, a dream of mine for the last few years. I will be driving my car (see sig) 1200 miles just to make it to the start of the even.

Being an 05 I'm working with the biggest pile of crap rear end GM has put in anything, but it hasn't been an issue until now. I don't beat on the car much and its never seen the track, but that will obviously change.

Speaking to a suporting member here, and well known shop he's basically said I'm going to have issues, which i knew. His suggestion was to use the RPM Transmision's 06+ Diff upgrade which he's done before. Although not bullitproof its FAR better than the junk in there now. I know it will eventually add value to the car, but I really can't afford it or I technically can, but I'd rather not blow a ton of cash on it to be honest. All said and done he was thinking close to 4K parts/labor.

I guess I'm just wondering what people are thinking, or asking you make up my mind for me I guess. I plan to run on my BFG 19 inch street tires, and leave off idle softly, and probabley short shift into 2nd as traction is going to be a huge issue. I'm not looking to set the world on fire and expect nothing as its been years scince the last time I was on the track.

- Travis

 

After searching I have a bit of a question. Why is the Zip adapter with bolt and seals just over $400, while the RPM adapter kit is $1000+ ? http://www.rpmtransmissions.com/differentials

 

You are going to be wasting your time with street tires, you are just going to spin, probably wheel hop (which breaks rears) and likely go sideways....which if you are inexperienced and don't let off the gas...will wind you up in the wall for posterity in Hot Rod.

My strong advice is to buy some Mickey Thompson 275/40/17 drag radials and c5 from rims and practice a bit. Your rear is not made of glass...practice launching softly and it will last for a while. If you get any wheel hop get out of it and if you go sideways let out. The Mickeys at 17 lbs shouldn't wheel hop.

Save your money for just a few trips to the strip. My rear lasted 301 hard launches.

Study this web page..

Www.rangeracceleration.com

 

Joe I completely understand what you are saying but there are several issues at play that are unique to my situation. I live on Nantucket island off the coast of cape cod. My nearest track is a 2.5 hour ferry ride, and a 3 hour drive from there. Due to the limited number of ferry trips and the crazy high demand of summer/vacation residents coupled with my job (police officer) it's impossible for me to get the car off island, or even get enough days off in a row to make the trip up to the track in June, July, or August. So, practice at the track simply isn't going to happen. I've raced a bunch before so hopefully it's like riding a bike....

Second, I wouldn't feel comfortable driving almost 4000 miles in a week on a set of mickeys, nor will I have enough room in the car for the second set of wheels to change into at the track. I know it's nothing close to ideal, but this IS what I'm working with. Are the DTE and ECS braces pointless in my situation?

Again, I plan to leave from idle and prob end up short shifting until 3rd gear comes along because I know traction is going to simply be none-existent. Also in the DD class the quickest ET allowed is 10.80 so I'm not trying to set the world on fire. It's about consistently...which is also not going to be a strong point I have a feeling!

-Travis

 

Travis,
Joe is my mentor and I'm surprised he didn't mention a C5 Z06 diff swap. Norm aka Stanger383 might make you a bracket to mount it because it won't be a direct fit. The diff is anywhere from $700-1000. The bracket is up to Norm and then there's labor but still a far cheaper and proven alternative. I'm in the process of doing that right now.
Jeff

 

Hey Jeff,

The reason I didn't advise that is because the OP lives in an area where I don't think there's a track for hundreds of miles around. If he was planning to hit the racetrack often, I would have advised that. But given his needs, I thought I set of tires would be all he would really need, and he could sell those later when he's done with them. No need to spend that type of money on a rear for a few runs.

 

your best protection is the right equipment, going to race without the right tires is why the rear blows, you wont be consistent, and if you drive that easy you will be lucky to run 15s, the brace wont help, its wheel hop that blows the case, i got 12,000 miles and still have tread with my mt 305 35 18. they are my street tires, would you feel comfortable if someone took a shot at you without your vest, you can also buy the case and side covers rpm adapter and put your dif and gears in for a 2nd generation rear, but that will blow to with hoop, bracollie had 3 rears in an 07 blew them all, then i told him qa1 shocks double adj and et streets never blew again and has over 600 rwhp stroker plus nitrous and driving lessons

 

Make sense. I should have stayed out of it but am excited about making this conversion now and was trying to spread the good feeling around some.

And Dennis, I'm coming after you and Norm. I just need to drop another 5/10's and I'm there!
Jeff

 

Don't bother racing with street tires. You really risk damaging your rear or hitting the wall. Street tires are like ice skates with your power.

I would drive that far on mickeys no problem. I drive with them in the rain all the time they are great. My friend who is 75 drove from Boston to Florida through a tropical storm with NO problem. Just slow down a little if its raining.

Seriously, you are not going to have fun on street tires.

 

What kind of problem?

 

well hurry up its 100% doable, anytime i can help Jeff give me a shout

 

Darn iPhone!

 

"Second, I wouldn't feel comfortable driving almost 4000 miles in a week on a set of mickeys, nor will I have enough room in the car for the second set of wheels to change into at the track."

Just a thought.....you could send a set of wheels ahead via FedEx. If you give yourself 5-8 days, you can use FedEx Ground which is not all that expensive. I've done that with sporting equipment that I didn't want to drag thru airports or pay baggage surcharges to the airlines.

 

ok....so there has been MUCH thinking about this today.

Here's my latest thoughts. How about throwing a brace on it, just for peice of mind maybe. THEN mounting a trailer hitch and making a mount to put a set of 17's with a set of Mickey's on them. Kinda takes care of a few issues (sort of) at once. Mickey's for the track, my regular tires for the street, and I'll still have room for the other crap inside the car.

Thoughts?

 

I had a brace on mine when my rear broke. Didn't help. Still bent the main shaft of the tranny, they always do. Don't waste your money.

I used a little trailer for years with no problems. It's a little bit of a hassle, as you can't really back up with the tiny trailer, but you can always just grab the trailer with your hands and move it. It's so little that when you try to back it, it will jackknife very quickly. If you get a tiny Harbor Freight trailer, be sure and get an extra tire or two. They sell a kit to bolt it on the tongue. The little tires are cheap and they do go flat. I can tell you from experience that they do go past the 55 mph limit with no problems.

I finally got tired of dealing with the trailer and just started driving on my Mickeys and they are not bad in the rain.

I bought wheel chocks from Wal Mart to hold 8 tires as my friend and I used to do road course events. You can't drive those tires on the street as they have no siping. Lots of guys run a truck box instead of the front tire spots...and if you look in the autocross and road course section there are threads with trailer designs. Last I checked e-trailerhitch.com was the cheapest place to buy the de-laan hitch. If you have NPP you will have to mod it, again, threads exist in the z06 section.

And be prepared for people telling you that you don't deserve a Corvette since you put a trailer hitch on it! I get all sorts of nasty comments, mostly from waxers.

If I was you (and I've done all of this) I'd just drive on the Mickeys.

 

Joe, thanks for the fast reply. I found your thread last night which is what started my ball rolling in this direction. As far as the brace goes, I honestly might just do it anyway. It's getting a clutch before summer so the drivetrain will be moved around anyway might as well throw a brace on there then. Do you think the Hinson motor/tranny mounts will help at all?

As far as the hitch, I don't have the NPP, but I do have the Corsa tails. From what I saw last night they should be an issue. I can't run a trailer, even small one because the ferry will RAPE me because of the extended length. I'll just fab up a mount to put the 2nd set of wheels on there.

Onto the wheels. A forum vendor has quoted me $300 shipped for a set of 17x9.5's that will match my other Z06 repro's. For tires, I'm wondering if a full slick would be the best choice given the give in the sidewall and I won't have to drive with them on the street. What should I do about the TPS?

- Travis

 

You need a $100 tool to calibrate the TPMS got the TireRack or similar source.

 

dont waste your money on a brace, and the back tires will fit in the back just move the passenger seat back up a hair and put the tire on the ledge

 

I think you can get a hitch to work with corsas. Watch the tongue weight limit if you plan to put tires on a rack like the toter rack in my picture above. Should be fine as I think weight limit is 200 and the wheels and tires will be about that but you should look into that.

If you run drag radials at 17 lbs you shouldn't have any issues with wheel hop. I wouldn't buy the mounts for your use. My friend got them and the car was a lot less fun to drive due to vibration being transmitted. His was a c5...maybe the c6 is different but as perhaps you can tell, I'm not into spending money unless there is a definite gain and for your one week of track time I don't see the gain.

You cannot run bias slicks with your stock front end. The tail of your car will start wagging at 120 mph and its a scary feeling. I did it for a season and never again. While I got away with it if I had to stop fast for someone or something in my lane, I am afraid the car would have swapped ends. Don't do it. If you want slicks you have to have skinnies, bias skinnies are better, but I have heard folks run radial skinnies and it's ok with bias rears. Skinnies and removing the seat will give you .1 to 1.5 guaranteed but I don't think you are going for a record so again I wouldn't spend the money.

If I was you I'd buy some C5 fronts, they can be had for $50 each and 275's fit fine on them. If you don't mind spending the money, your repros should be fine. You want a c5 front fitment, but your vendor should know that. They are heavier but for your use it's no big deal. If you were going for a record on the forum fast list it would matter but it won't for you.

If you have your street tires nearby you won't have any TPS issues. Different year cars do different things but my 05 will drive 59 minutes straight with no message. After 60 minutes it says "check tps system" but I hit reset and it's fine. When it says that I can't get comp mode, only traction on or off. You will be fine if your tires are there, it'll read them when you park.

You better check and find out what roll bar rules the power tour is using. How much power do you have? If you are below 11.5, and you could be if you get drag radials, you might get kicked out. Candidly, if you haven't raced in a long time and never in the Vette, I wouldn't worry too much about breaking 11.5. But if you used to race a lot and know what you are doing, you could easily break 11.5 if you have a blower.

I kind of wish I'd have thought to do this...I could represent the stock clutch Corvette contingent pretty well with my 1.4's!

 

This is the best advice.

If you need more room for stuff (you shouldn't) you could always remove your passenger seat. It will give you 53 lbs weight savings and plenty of room for stuff.