Last night a buddy of mine ran a guy we both know. My buddy has '89 Civic with B16, header, exhaust, ECU, cai, pullies, 75 shot. Guy with the Camaro has K&N cai and Borla cat-back. It's a '97 and a M6.

They go out and line up. Guy with the Camaro spins bad in 1st but hooks in 2nd. Civic spins some in first but not that bad, gets out about 2-3 cars, and goes to the juice in 2nd. He spins in 2nd and the Z comes by him pretty easily. Civic hooks in 3rd and holds his own about 2-3 cars back through the 1/4.

It was a pretty good run. I think it might have been a little closer if the Civic hadn't spun in 2nd, but still a good run.


Gotta love a guy that can't launch a M6 LT1....




Jon

 

I don't know if you were being sarcastic or not, but it's a heck of a lot harder than launching an A4. The M6 is pretty friendly in the Z28, but it still takes skill to do it well.

Anyways, it's nice to see a LT1 with such little done to it beat up a car that is on the juice with other mods.

Dan

 

I was being a little sarcastic. I know it's harder to leave with a M6. But if I, or a lot of other poeple who can drive better than that guy, were in the car it wouldn't have even been a race. I'm no Evan Smith but I have had plenty of seat time in M6/A4 LT1s, that's for sure.

Back when my '96 was bone stock I beat the kid with the Civic by about 3-4 cars, but I could leave with the pedal to the floor and get ZERO wheelspin. So I definately had an advantage. A simular M6 LT1 in good shape with a driver should be even quicker...




Jon

 

A 6 spd. LT1 Vette is a creme puff to launch IMO...is the Z setup different? I cut consistent 1.9's-2.0's in a LT1 6 spd. vette on street tires. Easiest car to launch I've ever owned. Try launching a 5 spd. turbo 6 that doesn't make decent power until 3k rpms...it'll give you new respect for the Lt1's launch ability

Jason

 

I'm not positive on this, but I was pretty sure that vettes came with 2.73s, even the M6s, set up more for top speed???

I know that the smallest factory gear in a M6 LT1 F-body is a 3.23, with the also optional 3.42. So technically, yes it could be a little more difficult "technically" to launch I guess...

Overall I would have to agree with you though. I personally don't think M6 F-bodies are THAT hard to launch.



Jon

 

I was comparing the M6 to the A4. I said that the M6 is friendly in the Z28.

Of coarse there is still the balancing act that you need to play between spinning the tires from too much TQ, or bogging.

You can't drop the clutch in our cars like you can with a lot of the sport compacts and cars with less torque.

If you drop the clutch from almost any RPM, you will break the rear end loose.

They are not that hard to launch. I was comparing them to an A4.

Dan

 

I wasn't saying you were wrong or anything...it's just that I see a lot of guys saying they have launching problems and are only getting 2.2-2.4's....whereas the first time I ever launched an LT1 vette I got a 2.0 and whittled it down to 1.9. It was so easy compared to what I was used to.....so I'm wondering if the difference is just in the Z's rear end or suspension?

Btw, the Vette I was referring to had a 3.42 rear end.

Jason

 

Most of the standard vettes I have seen have 3.42. the Z51s all come with the perf axle.

 

Yeah, stock vette's come with wider, stickier tires in the back too I believe.

I'm guessing that I'll by pulling 2.0 60's and below now that I have my 275's in the rear. I was pulling 2.2 60's the first (and only) time I went to the track with 245's on.

The higher rate Bilstein shocks won't help though.

Dan

 

Yeah, Vettes come with 285's....so I'm sure that helps. Plus my Vette was supercharged with a lowered compression ratio....which moves the peak hp and tq up the rpm band....which probably helped launching as I had enough down low to get out easy but not so much that wheelspin was a huge factor....at least until the top of 1st.

Jason

 

I agree that there is a fine line between spinning and bogging in the LT1s. But it seems like once you learn how, it's not too hard anymore and you can always beat the other person off the line. From my experience my 96 3.8 w/ 3.42s was a lot easier to launch than the LT1. The LT1 feels a lot more "wild".

 

I had a easier time off the line in my bros sced 5spd stang than my car. 500hp and a 3200 convert makes it a little hard.

 

well i need to know the secret cause i can't get better than a 2.4 60' for the life of me.

 

a vettes suspension is totally different too! Mt freinds 96 Vette has a way different set up then my 93 z stock for stock.

But launching an M6 With gears on street tires IMO isnt the easiest thing in the world thats for sure

 

so whats the big secret to launching the m6, do you burn lots of clutch or do you start off at 3k or is every one of them different