Clairvoyantwolf

I'm surprised no one posted this before:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cult...ar-contenders/

Vetteman Jack

A nice article on the C5. It’s still a major bang for the buck 14 years after the last C5 model year.

red03vette

great article! interesting to see how the C5 stacks up with some power upgrades.

knewblewkorvette

With temperatures in the 90s during our testing, I expected the 'Vette to cook its oil. Sure enough, I regularly saw oil temperatures in the 290s.


Wow

bobs77vet

so what does adding a z06 exhaust do to wake up a stock c5? is it from the cat back or does it have different headers?

Corvette#2

I noticed that too. Holy crap that's hot. My record oil temp is 260 while hooning in 119 ambient.

Corvette#2

Headers wake up a C5 but they're not a part of a z06 exhaust. Most say a catback will give you ~5hp if you're lucky. The weight loss is the biggest thing since it's made of titanium, but even then, you're not going to feel the weight difference.

acroy

Great article
This is Matt Farah's car from The Smoking Tire / One Take, is it not?
Really enjoyed the comments on handling balance and steering feel

Corvette#2

Yeah he bought Matt's old car for his wife.
I think it's got heads/cam/intake.

dbgoodwin

grampi50

The results don't surprise me...I never have thought that any of today's cars were leaps and bounds better than the C5 anyway...

JHrinsin

Yes he really needs to contact the folks at Improved Racing for one of their thermostatically controlled oil adapters and get an oil cooler setup installed on that car. While he is at it, maybe he should check to see if it has the later 2-pcs bat wing pan and if so install the IR trap door baffles in there as well.

The PO of my '99 FRC launched his original LS1 short block at a HPDE event (#7 piston) and then had a new forged short block installed before I bought the car from him. I am currently rounding up the above mentioned pieces/parts along with the later style valley cover/PVC setup as well as a 4-corner steam tube setup to protect the PO's "investment" in this forged short block.

radar502

Been saying for years my OLD C-5 04 Z-16 with 500HP LMR tuned Houston TX. will run with the newer C-7s Sting Rays with all new stock ,shocks springs bushings , ECT. and the 500 HP helps , good set of tires doesn't hurt eather . We do auto cross my times are as good as any C-7 ( NOT A Z) some times even better on the rack forget it , can't catch me . Now that's a stock C-7 . I think my old 04 Z is super for the money I might have $30,000 in it ( not cheap eater ) but not $60,000 + so will the old C-5s run with the newer hot rods with a little work ..Hell yes .. I have a video ..

Gordy M

Running a stock C5 at a track without oil cooler it is not unusual to see the 290 temps. Usually you are on the track for 5-10 minutes before you see those types of temps. When talking to several powertrain engineers years ago they said with the 15-50 oil it was safe at 310F. If I am at an HPDE I usually changed from hard lapping to engine cooling when I hit about 280F. Short shifting for a lap or two will quickly bring it back to 240-250F, then running it the remaining of the 20 minute time period it will get back up to 280 at the end.

Quickshift_C5

knewblewkorvette

What are the coolant temps when you are running 280 degree oil temps? I would think with those high temps your coolant would be puking out.

Quickshift_C5

Highest coolant temps I've seen (when my oil temp was 194F), was 236F. It was still climbing, but I backed off for cool down laps.

thegame

I miss my C5 - for the current owners since the cars are now getting up there in age do they still feel tight and well built or do you start to hear a lot of rattles and things of that nature?

I took a ride in a buddies older mustang and holy **** I thought the thing was gonna fall apart.

Corvette#2

I suppose track days are just that much different than anything possible with street driving. I was doing dozens of 1st-2nd, 2nd-3rd, 3rd-4th full throttle runs to redline in extremely hot ambient temps with the AC blasting (wasn't cooling the cabin much) and only got up to 260 oil temp. I guess the high speeds kept the heat somewhat in check since my coolant always stayed in the 230-235 range. I think you're getting into the thermal breakdown range at 290. I guess the oil life meter depletes rapidly at those temps. As it is, I can usually only get around 4000-4500 miles before it hits 0% life.

Quickshift_C5

Track days are definitely different than anything on the street. You spend a lot of time WOT for 20-30min depending on the session length, using maintenance throttle at times and ramping it up quick to WOT again. Only taking your foot off the gas for the brake zones. Hard to replicate that...safely/sanely...on the street.