I know most of you probably drive agressively on a regular basis. How are your cars holding up (weak spots, etc)? I know the rears are one of the weak points, but on radials they "should" break loose way before anything snaps. I have a 2000 Z28 M6, only had it for only 4 days now. It has 18,000 miles on it, and it completely stock. I like driving somewhat aggressive but I'm trying not to rag on it hard. It takes some getting used to the LS1 growling at me at 3k+, just normal driving sounds more agressive because of the exhaust tone. This sumbitch is fun...I want to drive 100+ everywhere I go now. Should I be concerned about any specific weak spots or things to look out for? Keep in mind that by "agressive" I mean romping through the gears every now and then in a straight line, not doing burnouts at 6000 RPM for 5 minutes, or 40MPH E-brake mega donuts and all that crazy sh*t you see in the videos. I don't over rev, I usually shift around 4,500. There's a difference between agressive and just crazy out of your mind driving. I just have this fear of tearing it up. At some point I'm just gonna say f-it...but that time isn't here yet.

This is kind of OT so I'll post it there....

 

Get some Subframe connectors. They help cut down on the body flex less rattles and squeaks develope and they do help handling a bit.

check out : ls1.com and ls1tech.com also

 

Drive it hard, it'll take the abuse !

Just keep up on your fluid changes, Check your brake system every other oil change, Keep fluids topped off, Tranny filter fluid every 25-30k even on the m6, (it cant hurt) and rear end fluid changes every 15-20k, just keep up on the fluids and it should be a good car to you

 

like it or not driving your car hard increases wear and causes parts to fail sooner than normal.but who cares!thats why we bought these cars.

 

as long as you can do the work yourself, you wont mind !!

 

It's under warranty too.

 

abuse is not covered.be careful.

 

It's hard to prove abuse.

I say, as long as you can afford it, drive it like you stole it!!! I mean, it's not a $1,000,000 "super car", so F-it, have fun with it.

I'd say in your case, having the M6, the things that will wear out / break first will be the clutch and / or the rear end. In my case, having the A4, I think the tranny is going to puke out at some point, so I'm prepared for that. Not that I WANT it to, but I'm just aware that it's highly possible.

Otherwise, as much as F-bodies aren't the same build quality as 'Vettes, I think they're built tough enough to take most of the abuse you can throw at them. I think the LS1 has been around long enough now that it's proven itself as a strong engine, just like the old SBC's, so I believe it's up to the challenge! The weakest link in the motor is the pushrods, which have been prone to bending when the LS1 is over-revved. Otherwise, the bottom end is solid, and it should stand up as well as you can expect a car to when you want to drive it hard.

 

Bring your ride by sometime and sample some wicked pizza!

As for riding hard.. I dont do that too much.. I wont be changing my rear end fluid ever 20K.. or 50K for that matter.. there is synthetic in there .. no need to go all freaky and change it every full moon now..

I have done 5-6 oil changes in the 34K miles so far... I wait till it tells me I should then I change the oil. Always synthetic.. Still a strong car..


I had my LT1 always breaking something .. Maybe thats why I dont get too hard on my 2002.. .I think always fixing and upgrading has a downside to it... when will it ever end? hmmm

 

I went with stickier tires (Bridgestone RE750s) and now the f-ing clutch is slipping. Not all the time, just when I drag race and shift at 5000-5500 rpm.

Dealer says it's "probably wear" causing the slipping clutch, and he wants $400 MF-ing dollars to diagnose! Even more $$ if I want them to actually fix the thing!! I told them to shove it. Local t/mission shops have told me $350 is the going labor rate for clutch jobs on my car. (Mr. F-ing Goodwrench !!!) Besides, they'd just put the same crappy clutch back in and it will be slipping again soon too.

I'm told there is a Z06 clutch in this car ('02 TA). One possibility is that the factory stuck a lesser clutch in the car b/c maybe they were out of ZO6 clutches they day they built my car (hey, if they can do it with the block (LS6 vs LS1) then why not the clutch??)

I'm not done with Pontiac, but I want them to fix the f-ing car under original warranty (only 29k on the clock). HoustonZ decribed my driving style - I'm not out there doing 3500 rpm clutch drops off the line at every stoplight, so I'm like WTF? Why can't this cluth hold up to how I drive it. I drive it hard, but imo I do NOT abuse it.

Sorry for the cussin' but I am pretty worked up over this deal. As I said, I'm not done with Pontiac yet !!

I'd appreciate anyone's ideas, or their experience with this type of problem.

 

34000 miles.. a few hard runs here and there.. very sticky tires.. no slip..
Yes, the factory did use the Z06 clutch in the 2002's...

Honestly, I think alot of people drive manual transmission cars differently..

I went with my friend when he first got himself a manual and was like "OK.... so who taught you to drive a stick?"
He is getting better... still isnt the best but I think his time in AutoXing is helping him some in his EVO..

His problem was that he never feathered the clutch at all.. was taught that it had to either be on or off... if this were the case, riding a motorcycle would be out of the question for him! hehe

I find that people who are hard on their trannys have them fail prematurely.. I know.. I killed 6 A4's in 3 years! hehe

I would wonder if you ever try shifting without your clutch or if you dump it often at all? do you let off of it very fast more often than not?

 

The car is built really well. I have 36000 miles on my 2000 ss and the only problem that I really had was the rear pinion seal getting a small hole cause a little of the rear axle oil to leak out. I have the car up to 136mph and it felt like I was walking on air, so dont worry about getting on the car because I did this while racing a vette and we were neck in neck. Just watch out if the rear axle leaks a little oil out from the pinoin seal because that oil is not cheap if its the synthetic.

 

as with a person, treat it how you want to be treated. be nice to it and it will give you many years of fun. its like a dog, you can play fight with em but if you get to carried away they well fear/hate you. if you treat em nicely they will give there life for you

 

just a little too involved here arent we?

 

just wonderin wut clutch is in 01 ws.6