nasty98_C5

Ive heard that just changing the gears (i have 2.73s) and the stall that I could be a low 12 without touching the motor. Is this true? Id like to eventually save enough to build a stroker or something of some kind but until then im open to other mods lol. Id really love to breaks into 11s without too much $$. If the gears and stall thing is true, maybe I could do gears, stall, headers, a cam and some slicks and hit 11s? =D

LS1LT1

Absolutely...with drag radials as well of course.




You could do gears, higher stall converter, headers/X-pipe, cold air intake (Vararam is good), dyno tuning and tires and hit 11s (in cooler air at least)...the cam is not necessarily needed at that point though it will certainly help get you even further into the 11s and keep you there even when the weather turns very hot/humid.

7secondsquarter

Trade it to me and buy a real race corvette & save yourself a ton of money as once the bug bites it can be terminal!


www.dragvette.net

Seriously though you want to invest in the drive train if you want to do a lot of drag racing. Upgrade the 4l60, maybe a trans brace, 3.42's and at least a 2800 stall TC. Also as mentioned - Drag radials and a line loc. I would do all of that before adding power to the front end. Most of all - have fun.

nasty98_C5

sweet. good to know these "rumors" are actually true. another vette guy told me that, but his was bone stock, so I was really hesitant. But it did make sense, because the gears are so damn weird. there is simply no where to do 180+MPH around here, so why even keep that type of gear ratio? haha

nasty98_C5

haha, I wish I could afford to do that! sweet car. so youre saying go with the 3.42s? I thought about doing the 3.73s, but I dont want to take away from the driveability end of it either. But the mods you mentioned are definitely good ideas. now I suppose ill just have to come up with the $$$$$

C5 Pete

There are many different opinions on how far to mod your vette. 3.42s (at the minimum) or 3.73s are a good place to start. along with a higher stall converter. Sticky tires, cold air intake and headers/x-pipe round out the list and still maintain excellent drivability.

There are quite a few options for 18" drag radials that are relatively safe on the street, so you won't have to buy a dedicated set of wheels - although, if you plan to race a lot, 17" wheels are a better choice.

You will need a tune of course, so include that in your budget.

If you're going to track it a lot, better get a trans cooler as well. and start saving for a tranny rebuild.

None of these things have to be done all at once, or at the same time (except gears/converter/tune)

Join us October 22nd at Englishtown's Raceway Park for the nnext Corvette Challenge race. We are a (mostly ) friendly bunch and anyone there can help with advise.

www.corvettechallenge.info

enjoy your new ride.

_twisted_

some of the best advice is to go to Etown for one of the Challenges - a ton of r&d will be there and you can see what combos do what.

Oh yeah and buy a tech card so you get a baseline on your car.

Gohard777

yes, it's all true...haha. i did the 373's, 2800 stall, headers with just the Predator tune and ran 12:46 @ 110 mph. the only thing that kept me from low 12's was the tires, i needed drag radials. i liked the corners also, so i did autocross tires.... with this combo, you have Great streetability, you don't notice anything different until you nail it! gearing is perfect, 70 mph is under 3000 rpm's, (good for traveling), and 6000 rpm's in OD is 170 mph....2800 stall, (you don't even notice a difference from stock, until you get on it), and now, with the SC, it's still like stock, until i give it some gas...........

nasty98_C5

Yes! This is awesome lol. Okay cool, ill look into the gears thing. So I guess ill go with 3.73s since most of the response on here was that. I didn't want to effect the car to much but im glad to hear all of this! Im going to have to look into one of these Corvette challenges as well!

LS1LT1

It depends on your tolerance level and possibly even which cat back exhaust you're using.
In an A4 car, 3.42s will deliver better highway fuel economy then 3.73s or 3.90s and can make less exhaust/engine noise at speed as well, that's a given.
But to me the performance gains would be worth it.

The 3.42s might be cheaper to do because you can simply buy the whole 'take out' rear from any manual C5 and install it as it is (no need to remove/replace the ring & pinion inside of it as long as it's all working/not broken).
If I had a C5 auto and was seeking 11s with stock internals while still maintaining a 'streetable' set up, I would likely go for a 3.73/3600+ stall combo. If one has the tolerance for it they could even go for 3.90s with a 4000+ stall but that's really not for everyone.

nasty98_C5

won't a giant stall like that effect driveability? I know what the stall does, but ive never driven a car with a high stall. lol i'm a N00B. but even still, I don't think I can handle 3.90's with a 4000 stall. That would just be a mean drag machine. Which is awesome, but I want drive it places too. And sometimes that can mean 200+ miles, so probably not the best idea to go that high. I kind of already had it in my mind that 3.73's were the highest id go hhaha.

LS1LT1

Part of the benefits/beauty of those shorter (numerically higher) gears is that they tend to 'tighten up' a higher stall torque converter as well.
Meaning that a 4000 stall converter can actually feel less loose and be potentially better suited to daily (stop and go traffic) driving with 3.90 gears than say a 4000 (or even 3600) stall with only 3.15 or 3.42 gears.
The downside of course is higher RPMs on the highway (more noise and slightly worse fuel economy) but as far as 'feel' goes, the numerically higher gears can actually compliment the higher stalls.
Of course with a stock motor there is a point of diminishing returns as well. You generally wouldn't put a 5000+rpm stall and 4.10 gears in a stock internals/naturally aspirated LS1 car on 26" tires.

robert miller

After the 3:42 gear headers cat back new air intake from the stock piece of junk. Are for a good price I will sale you a full build street car a4 driver with 973 rwhp and save you money and time down the road... Robert

Gohard777

I can't even argue with you on this post....he might as well save himself 10 years of aggravation and buy your rocketship and be done with it...hahaha. I have heard that this is where we all end up at anyway

Redvette_22

PM sent

93Rubie

In a later post you say your still a NOOB. I consider myself this as well I only got 20 passes on my 93 so far. I came to the conclusion mods are worthless if you cannot drive the car. Granted I'm a 6 speed manual so that makes things more tricky.

What are you running now? I would get used to what you got and drive it well then add stuff later. That is my plan. I got 300hp, why have 400, when one cannot FULLY tame 300. My 2 cents worth.

nasty98_C5

Im a n00b to corvettes. Not racing. Lol I have a 550rwhp truck I run all the time. My stock Corvette is awesome, but has nothing on my truck......YET =D and I've run the car about 5-10 times now. Ran a 13.5 everytime. So as far as im concerned, I should start bracket racing and try to win some money hahaha

nasty98_C5

I meant to ask you also, what's a tech card?

C5 Pete

Tech card is the sheet you fill out with your info and the car info.

Or, if you were asking how much is a tech card, it's $30 at e-town to run the Challenge.

I plan to be at Atco tuesday night. Perhaps you can make it out.

93Rubie

Ok, I see. Good luck and that sounds like a cool truck.

That is funny, my 93 runs pretty consistent 13.50's. Even with 2.1X sixty foots....I'm working on that.

I think your goals of reaching 11's and keeping it street able are very doable. Being a auto this should be easier yet. Good Luck.