[BlaqWhole]

Originally Posted by Larrio Andretti

What's funny is when a guy like you shows up at an HPDE with all the mods and 11,000,000 whp and cant drive worth a shit. I bet you'd get passed by the spec miatas with 150hp.

Your missing the point of a car like the ZL1. Chevy sorted everything out. Get it out on the track and then evaluate what needs to be changed. The thing that will need to be changed is the driver. Spend some time in the ZL1 at the track... get humbled and then spend the next few years modifying the driver. When you know what your doing you won't want to change much about the car. A good driver exploits the cars strengths and works around the weeknesses to turn quick lap times.

The ZL1 is much more car than most drivers on the track can handle. No car mods needed!

Originally Posted by Can'tHave2MuchHP

Does this warrant response?

He actually has a point. He is saying that there is no need to mod the car when or if you can't push it to it's stock limits anyway. It's like going back to the buffet line when you can't even finish the food in front of you. So I get it...but on the other hand, I might not be able to push the car to it's limits, but a couple mods might help me get past MY limits in said car. Plus everyone is able to do whatever they want with their own money. So you're both right.

[mr965]

I've tracked mine half a dozen times now. Happy with the power for now. I plan on improving the handling first and see how satisfied that keeps me before turning up the wick for even more ridiculous power. It's already crazy fast with only the pure race cars or mega dollar cars able to get around me.

[Larrio Andretti]

When I'm at the track in whatever car I'm in I drive against myself. Trying to improve lap times. It's fun to mod.. I definetly get it. I have over $100k into a Nissan 350Z. It's a hard core road race car. Much more so than even the ZL1 1LE. What I found along the way is that some of the modifications I made to the car slowed me down... like 700whp. I was faster around the track with 550whp because the car was unmanageable coming out of turns with 700whp. The fact that it was turbo and power wasn't linear was an issue along with the overwhelming torque. Very difficult to drive.

Horsepower is easily defeated by braking. A driver who can brake later wins every time. This comes with expreience. Those spec miatas.... yeah they can brake crazy late! They are light. Defeats horsepower! Yeah... one passed me at Sebring on my first ever track day! Lesson learned!

You earn much more respect showing up at a track and driving a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

Master the machine! If your not taking your ZL1 out on the track your missing the whole point of the car. It's so good right out of the box!

[Mister Will]

Originally Posted by Larrio Andretti

When I'm at the track in whatever car I'm in I drive against myself. Trying to improve lap times. It's fun to mod.. I definetly get it. I have over $100k into a Nissan 350Z. It's a hard core road race car. Much more so than even the ZL1 1LE. What I found along the way is that some of the modifications I made to the car slowed me down... like 700whp. I was faster around the track with 550whp because the car was unmanageable coming out of turns with 700whp. The fact that it was turbo and power wasn't linear was an issue along with the overwhelming torque. Very difficult to drive.

Horsepower is easily defeated by braking. A driver who can brake later wins every time. This comes with expreience. Those spec miatas.... yeah they can brake crazy late! They are light. Defeats horsepower! Yeah... one passed me at Sebring on my first ever track day! Lesson learned!

You earn much more respect showing up at a track and driving a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

Master the machine! If your not taking your ZL1 out on the track your missing the whole point of the car. It's so good right out of the box!

Very articulate response with a genuine insight, and you are probably going to get a lot of crap for it.

The truth is most owners who mod just want to be able to say (think) there czar is just that much quicker than the identical model next to them. Lets face it most owner will do nothing more than red light racing a highway roll racing.

People just want to mod there cars. Its a disease.

[JB'sZL1]

Originally Posted by Mister Will

Very articulate response with a genuine insight, and you are probably going to get a lot of crap for it.

The truth is most owners who mod just want to be able to say (think) there czar is just that much quicker than the identical model next to them. Lets face it most owner will do nothing more than red light racing a highway roll racing.

People just want to mod there cars. Its a disease.

True. But Larrio has a point. If you can turn off the nannies, and get good traction, it is truly an upper echelon machine as is that most will not fully realize the ability and potential of.

[Infern0]

Originally Posted by Larrio Andretti

When I'm at the track in whatever car I'm in I drive against myself. Trying to improve lap times. It's fun to mod.. I definetly get it. I have over $100k into a Nissan 350Z. It's a hard core road race car. Much more so than even the ZL1 1LE. What I found along the way is that some of the modifications I made to the car slowed me down... like 700whp. I was faster around the track with 550whp because the car was unmanageable coming out of turns with 700whp. The fact that it was turbo and power wasn't linear was an issue along with the overwhelming torque. Very difficult to drive.

Horsepower is easily defeated by braking. A driver who can brake later wins every time. This comes with expreience. Those spec miatas.... yeah they can brake crazy late! They are light. Defeats horsepower! Yeah... one passed me at Sebring on my first ever track day! Lesson learned!

You earn much more respect showing up at a track and driving a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

Master the machine! If your not taking your ZL1 out on the track your missing the whole point of the car. It's so good right out of the box!

I take your point, but I would still love to see that 350! That was the first car I ever tracked.

[Larrio Andretti]

I dont have access to my pics now but this was my blog. http://projectsaa2.blogspot.com/?m=1

[Can'tHave2MuchHP]

Originally Posted by BlaqWhole

He actually has a point. He is saying that there is no need to mod the car when or if you can't push it to it's stock limits anyway. It's like going back to the buffet line when you can't even finish the food in front of you. So I get it...but on the other hand, I might not be able to push the car to it's limits, but a couple mods might help me get past MY limits in said car. Plus everyone is able to do whatever they want with their own money. So you're both right.

I mean, the reason it wouldn't warrant response in my book is I, and most of us, clearly weren't talking about tracking performance for most of our mods. 650 HP, 550+ RWHP is plenty (if not too much) for circuit tracks. I was talking about straight line performance. HP. Anyone can get the full potential out of the ZL1's straight line performance in an Auto. Just step on the gas. A lot of people can get the full potential of the ZL1's straight line performance as a manual too. But adding power makes that potential bigger, and for me at least, a lot funner. If I wanted a track car, it most definitely would not be a burly $70,000 Camaro.

[Larrio Andretti]

But 3,800 lbs for a drag car is acceptable? The car is a sports car. The suspension is set up for a road course. You want to go faster in a straight line set up the suspension to transfer weight to the rear wheels. Get the car too hook up in first gear.

I bought my ZL1 to drive occasionally on the street. I have my 350z for the track and I have my A7 as a daily driver. I grew out of drag racing when introduced to road racing.

[Mister Will]

Originally Posted by JB'sZL1

True. But Larrio has a point. If you can turn off the nannies, and get good traction, it is truly an upper echelon machine as is that most will not fully realize the ability and potential of.

I am in agreement with him.

Its just that many enthusiasts are going to add modification regardless if it makes them faster or not.

For instance, the 160 degree thermostat mod. Hot rodder wisdom says that it makes the car run cooler. But some very smart people believe it is a worthless mod. Yet people put it in anyway.

[BlaqWhole]

I agree with you guys to a certain extent. However a driving reason for my mod addiction is that I don't drive cars that are not customized to how I like it. At 650 hp a stock ZL1 will never satisfy me. Not for long. Can I squeeze every tenth of a second from the quarter mile? Nope and nor do I care to. But while on the highway will an extra boost of hp make a quick 40-80 burst much more fun and exhilarating? Damn skippy it will. Can I squeeze every bit of cornering ability out of my ZL1 as it is? Nope. But will a tighter cornering feel make me enjoy the car better? Abso-freakin-lutely. So it isn't always about trying to push a car to it's potential all the time. Sometimes it's about the little enjoyment that we get ALL the time we drive when DDing our cars and not the 1 or 2 hours we might get every now and then at the track. Sure it is fun going around a track or up and down a drag strip. But for me it is much more fun having a 700 rwhp on the highway and feeling that raw power (responsibly of course) as opposed to having a bone stock ZL1 with 550 to the wheels. Different strokes...

[Mister Will]

Originally Posted by BlaqWhole

I agree with you guys to a certain extent. However a driving reason for my mod addiction is that I don't drive cars that are not customized to how I like it. At 650 hp a stock ZL1 will never satisfy me. Not for long. Can I squeeze every tenth of a second from the quarter mile? Nope and nor do I care to. But while on the highway will an extra boost of hp make a quick 40-80 burst much more fun and exhilarating? Damn skippy it will. Can I squeeze every bit of cornering ability out of my ZL1 as it is? Nope. But will a tighter cornering feel make me enjoy the car better? Abso-freakin-lutely. So it isn't always about trying to push a car to it's potential all the time. Sometimes it's about the little enjoyment that we get ALL the time we drive when DDing our cars and not the 1 or 2 hours we might get every now and then at the track. Sure it is fun going around a track or up and down a drag strip. But for me it is much more fun having a 700 rwhp on the highway and feeling that raw power (responsibly of course) as opposed to having a bone stock ZL1 with 550 to the wheels. Different strokes...

Agree with this too. Make my car "11" when all the others are 10.

Enthusiasts will always mod their cars.

[Can'tHave2MuchHP]

Originally Posted by BlaqWhole

I agree with you guys to a certain extent. However a driving reason for my mod addiction is that I don't drive cars that are not customized to how I like it. At 650 hp a stock ZL1 will never satisfy me. Not for long. Can I squeeze every tenth of a second from the quarter mile? Nope and nor do I care to. But while on the highway will an extra boost of hp make a quick 40-80 burst much more fun and exhilarating? Damn skippy it will. Can I squeeze every bit of cornering ability out of my ZL1 as it is? Nope. But will a tighter cornering feel make me enjoy the car better? Abso-freakin-lutely. So it isn't always about trying to push a car to it's potential all the time. Sometimes it's about the little enjoyment that we get ALL the time we drive when DDing our cars and not the 1 or 2 hours we might get every now and then at the track. Sure it is fun going around a track or up and down a drag strip. But for me it is much more fun having a 700 rwhp on the highway and feeling that raw power (responsibly of course) as opposed to having a bone stock ZL1 with 550 to the wheels. Different strokes...

I 100% agree.