QwikSilvr

I owned a '98 C5 some 12+ years ago. I built up the top end of the motor by putting a set of A&A heads and a decent cam and long tubes. Did the work and tune myself. It seems like eons ago.

I miss the 'vette experience and have my eye on an LS2 powered C6. The car has low miles on it, has a Vortech V2-T supercharger, alcohol injection and I think is cammed.

I haven't driven the car yet. How drive-able is such a car? I am not interested in racing it on the track and would only occasionally track it at a place such as VIR. It will not be a daily driver, however, I would take my wife for drives from time to time. I don't mind a car that is a little on the wild side, but my wife is much more sensitive to such things.

Is such a car typically race mannered even when not driven like a race car. In other words, can such a beast go from mild to wild on demand or is it always going to be wild? HP is purported to be at 650+. Not sure if that is at the wheels or at the crank.

Frank

doomi

The biggest factor in drive-ability will be the cam, imo. If it is an extreme cam the car isn't going to be as much fun to drive in low RPM's.

If it doesn't have a cam or the cam is mild the car will be very drive-able and enjoyable.

QwikSilvr

Thank you doomi. My C5 had a somewhat lopey cam (I would characterize it on the low to med lopeyness scale) and I enjoyed it.

I don't know yet what cam is in the C6 so a test drive is in order.

Frank

southspeed

As stated above a centrifugal car will drive close to stock at low rpm's as long as the cam isn't too big. See if it has any cooling mods taken care of and make sure it can idle in traffic and not overheat. Manual or auto?

J3TVETTE

I will help answer this.

My car is a 2008 A&A V3 SI with a mild comp cam, headers etc etc. 6 Speed Manual as well. The car drives great and has not let me down. Cruises on the highway getting very decent miles per gallon. I ALWAYS let it warm up in the morning to bring the oil temp up since it has an aftermarket cam. I feel better about doing that.

It does not have any serious surge issues. It does not overheat in Miami traffic (tested this numerous times). AC still blows ice cold. I have owned non supercharged C6's and can say they are all very similar. Just remember that if the supercharger is self contained it will need oil changes as well so add that into your maintenance. I'm on a twin disc clutch and it feels just like the factory clutch to me. I say go ahead and jump on it!

QwikSilvr

It is a manual and has an aftermarket radiator.

Also, I know that alcohol injection provides a boost to fuel octane and helps to cool the cylinders. For cars that are equipped with meth injection, is it required to use it or can the car be driven without it. I do not know anything about meth injection with exception of some basic reading on the 'net.

BadAV

It depends on how the car was tuned. Most are tuned so that the meth provides extra insurance against detonation, so in this case you can run without it. The flip side is if it was tuned so that meth is adding to cooling and fueling - the unsafe way to do it, in my opinion.

As far as daily drivability, the cam size, LSA, and tuning will make all the difference in how it drives. In general, the lower the LSA, the more lopey the cam and the worse the low speed drivability is. If all of the components were picked as an integrated system, daily drivability will be similar to stock.

QwikSilvr

Thank you BadAV. I am going to test drive the car in the next couple of days.

Anything else I should look out for?

IansInGarage

Tracking a boosted car is a terrible idea. But all other things, should be fine.

QwikSilvr

IansInGarage, thank you for the reply. Would you mind elaborating? Also, when I say tracking it, I mean taking it for a couple of laps around the track to see how it accelerates and for the thrill. I do not intend to run it hard for more than a few moments at a time.

AORoads

Maybe he's talking about the extra front end weight???

As far as the car itself, how do you test for whether/how it's been driven? I mean, even with low miles is it possible it could have been "beat on" and have a shortened lifespan after you buy it?

I don't know (and I don't know what to look for); I've never entertained the idea of buying a used, supercharged car with or without meth.

QwikSilvr

Good point. Thank you for the feedback.

saplumr

I run 10psi and the largest "streetable" blower cam I could get. Managing the car can be a little difficult at low speeds and quick stops from speed but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

BadAV

I suspect he is referencing heat soak and overheating that are somewhat symptomatic of centri blowers when pushed hard. From what I have seen, coolant temps are a bigger issue for centris. It really should not be a major issue for the casual use the OP has described, as long as the install was done properly.

IansInGarage

For reference, I'm a track instructor for Circuit of the America's with a great group.

Even stock C6's are on the edge of doing multiple laps around a track keeping the temperatures in check. I've seen a couple boosted vehicles, and even a factory supercharged C6; have really bad issues with heat. But if your talking about tracking like punching it on straights and just feeling the corners out you should be ok. Didn't mean to come off quite so negative. Me and the people I track with drive 90% of our ability for 20min sessions. This almost cannot be done with many boosted cars. But sounds like your just wanting to do spirited parade laps; which is way different then a track day.

QwikSilvr

Thanks for the feedback and you nailed it. I don't see myself doing 20min sessions. Always appreciate different perspectives.

Best,
Frank

kcbc

magnuson 2.3 ???

jim2092

Maybe just me, but I would never buy a boosted car that I did not know the entire history of. Buy a sound stock vehicle and have it boosted by a reputable shop if you desire.

Unreal

Keeping a centri car cooled on a road course is near impossible.

449er

A supercharger is not heavy enough to be even considered ANY extra weight on the front end of any car