C4in mesa

This thread is more aimed at guys who are members of A.C.E. which is Arizona Corvette Enthusiasts. At least that is where I got the idea from and brought it here for a national forum. I posted a thread on there asking if there was anywhere in the state of AZ where I could max out my car and see what its top speed is ? I mentioned that I had recently taken a chance on a slightly traveled freeway and hit 140mph. It was obvious I need several miles to reach the cars max and a public road isn't the place to do it. Criminal speed being the number one reason. But it raised a point from all the BS I was reading. 2 guys from the same club made it to a club meeting last winter in 2 modified C6's. They were coming from Payson to south Scottsdale. About 70 miles total with a couple lights but lots of twisting road and the ocassional straight stretches ! I believe the posted speed limit is 65mph. These 2 guys were bragging they made it to the meeting in 35 minutes. I asked how the heck did you do that ? One guy pointed at the radar jamming equipment in his dash. i said If the DPS gets a visual of you doing 140mph you are done for. Anyway if you get caught that is your neck and you pay the ticket. At least those guys who own POWERFUL cars get on it from time to time and enjoy all that money they spent. I don't see the point of owning and driving a car capable of doing a quarter mile in under 13 seconds and a top speed of over 160mph if you never break the speed limit. Go buy a Toyota Camry or a SUV. Is it so you can look cool ? I have a big package look at me ? I get the whole be a responsible citizen crap. Of course but why own a car like a Corvette if you never step on the gas and let it roar. I would like to hear some feed back on this. Personally I like to step on the gas sometimes and fish tail at a light turning green. It is such a blast.

FOURSPEEDVETTE

I don't know of any Corvette owner who doesn't jump on it once in a while. I do, and I really baby mine. I call it "just blowing out the dust". No problem here as long as it's done in a safe setting and no one else is at any risk. Having a powerful car and not exercising its power once in a while most likely never happens to the vast majority of Corvette owners.

black_89_vette

I just tell people "if you have to ask the question, you won't understand the answer".

seijack

Bravo, bravo.......

bac22

Half the fun is just getting there...generally top end MPH performance is needed so you can play on the low end MPH scale...Blasting from 0 to 70MPH on an on-ramp brings a grin every time and technically I'm not breaking the low sine the whole purse of the on-ramp is to get up to speed to merge into faster traffic. That same on-ramp using my truck...boring...not to mention it takes the whole @#$% on-ramp to get my truck going that fast, the Vette, less than 1/2 !

Paul Workman

I believe there are two basic groups of performance car drivers: Those that thrill at actually experiencing the car's performance, and those that thrill from simply owning a car with the capability...of speeds greater than 13 sec 1/4 miles or 160 mph. I group them as either WARRIORS or WAXERS.

Both groups appreciate the potential of the car's performance - just in different ways. Take the same car and limit HP and top end to that of the average mini-van, and I expect that neither group would buy (a Corvette or whatever). Warriors certainly wouldn't be interested due to actual performance. Waxers wouldn't because the mystique the potential of performance brings - wouldn't be there.

It kind of reminds me of that Opel GT from the mid 70s (?): It was obviously designed with references to the C3 Corvette body. I guess the idea was it would appeal to the mystique of owning a C3. But, because it lacked everything close to the performance of the C3, it had neither the performance NOR the mystique of the tribute car and sales flopped like the dead fish it was. If you're gonna talk the talk, ya better be able to walk the walk, I recon!

Sleazy Rider

until you shoehorn a small block chevy in it, then it becomes an orange flash.

ch@0s

WTH ... I own a fast car and I drive fast. I spend most of my time on the Highway. Most of the traffic is traveling about 80 MPH around here. Let just say I can fly by them if the mood hits me or it is needed.

65Z01

Though my prior 35th Anni never saw the "150mph+" advertised it did see MANY passes down the 1/4 mile at Englishtown, topping out at a buck-five.

For my "thrill" it's not so much the speed as the acceleration, both forward and lateral...

Paul Workman

I might could identify... In 79 I shoehorned a 327/350 hp into a 73 Vega with a Powerglide to soften the blow to the stock differential. Strangely enough the rear never broke, in spite of some WOT spurts past some L82 equipped C3s of the day. That was a fun little car. I sold it to get into a 427/435 hp El Camino. Ah...dem were da dayz, huh?

GKK

Because, There's a Time and Place to go fast safely...

If you want to drive fast, go to a drag strip or sign up for an Auto X event. That way, if you crash you'll usually only hurt yourself and not some innocent bystander walking down the street.

I'm all about fast sport cars but, I'm all Against Selfish, Inconsiderate Idiot Drivers!...

If some idiot kid in a sports car killed someone in your family speeding down the street, maybe then you'll understand...or maybe not?....

PLRX

I don't drive faster than 65 MPH.

DGXR

Here's a comparison:
Most people paying for cable TV enjoy only a small fraction of the channels they get.
Does that mean they should cancel their cable subscriptions?

1/4 mile times and maximum speed are only a couple areas where Corvettes shine. They are also good for autocross, cruising, road trips (couples only), date night, occasional spirited driving, etc.
I could sell my Corvette and just drive the Tacoma (or get Corolla or something that is more difficult to break speed laws), then rent something sporty for a weekend when I feel like it, but I prefer to own. C4s have great bang for the buck value and are surprisingly cheap to insure. If you find one in good condition and don't abuse it, they can be relatively cheap to maintain. Heck I have heard of C4s enduring lots of abuse before finally failing. Personally I've owned 2 Corvettes (both 1995 LT1/M6) and once the existing problem areas were fixed (heater core, rear wheel bearings) I have not spent much money beyond regular maintenance. I don't autocross or drag, just 85% normal driving and 15%ripping through the gears and attacking of backroad curves.

Of course not... why would anyone?

mtwoolford

If I read it right the question was why OWN a car capable of 160 mph plus; NOT why go 160 mph on a public highway. It's like the old question, why does a male dog lick his own dick? BECAUSE HE CAN.

Personally I enjoy my vette, driving it, working on it, just looking at it or talking about it with another enthusiast and I haven't had a speeding ticket in decades.

The last speeding ticket I did get, the highway Patrolman PERSONALLY thanked me for stopping because I was pulling away from him. And getting a ticket for doing 72 in a 65 was a whole lot better than being arrested on the spot.

And yeah, I remember MANY trips to Nevada when there was NO speed limit in Nevada and going insanely fast in my 61....of course just because it was legal doesn't mean it was smart.

But for those with (an understandable) desire to test their car for less than the price of a speeding ticket, there are numerous legal open road venues such as the Silver State Classic, the Pony Express 100, and I'm sure others.

mtwoolford

75 Chevy V8 monza's got the yet to be released next generation Camaro rear suspension and, one year only, V8 / four speed manual trans combo. I pulled the 262 V8 (another one year only) and replaced it with a 345 horse 350 crate engine clone. That was one fast car....capable of leaving the much vaunted Highway Patrol 302 Mustang "pursuit cars" in it's dust (see my above post #14)

1Asterisk

As a guy who works wrecks, at 160 you are at the mercy of your environment as much as your skill.

Even if you ride back and forth to make sure the road is clear, a blowout, animal, or anything out of your control can result in your death. The car/driver being capable of hitting 160 is only a part of the situation.

As to why own such a vehicle? I think high speed is just the byproduct of high power and high (MPG) gears. Nobody needs to go that fast and I wouldn't know where to find a track to do it.

When I was younger I used to top out every car I got in. It was stupid and I had enough close calls to realize it was dumb. These days it's just find to have such a tight handling/performing car. I don't need to hit 160 to get fun out of driving it. I will take a quick trip up to 70 or though. That's just as much if not more fun that extreme speed.

astepup

I've had my 94 up to 142 mph once...and that was the only time I did something like that and it was the last. As has been mentioned all it takes is an animal/rodent coming out of the ditch or a tire blowout to really ruin your day. I really don't care if my vette can hit 160 or if it tops out at 120. It's a FUN car to just drive and own. I rarely go over 70 mph in it and that's usually just on the way to see my son on a 65 mph limit stretch of road that goes for 125+ miles or so. I could take the Impala for such trips, it'd be a lot more comfortable, quiet and sedate...but where's the fun in that? Sure I take the occasional corner a bit faster and "snort the pipes" and last year in the Black Hills I had a BLAST carving up the curves. Top end speed for me at least is the last thing I appreciate my car for. I'm willing to bet that if anybody/everybody were to take a hard look at the things they have they'd realize a very small percentage consists of things they NEED. I own a model of Americas sports car that looks, drives and handles great enough to put a smile on my face every single time I get in it. The fact that it can probably do 160 mph is just a bonus...albeit a very cool bonus

astepup said that

Docderek05

I'm never gonna drive an Indie car, or a stock car, or any oval track car for that matter, but when I climb into the cockpit of my c4 and sit there looking around...as it really is a cockpit, just that feeling of being in a machine made to drive, not to haul the family groceries..or pick up the kids, or take granny to the doctors, is the real truth of the car..it's a sports car...not a utilitarian average roller, and it deserves to be unwound...when I can do it safely...Not in traffic, not on a city street, but on a freeway when the road is open, and blasting up to 80..as previous posters said..to blow out the dust, other than that...anything else is irresponsible, and being a Club member..the last thing I would want would be to stupidly cause someone harm, and have that stupidity reflect on my Club. Everyone here knows our C4s can easily cruise at 80..so it's no stretch to roll em to 100, but that is very rare for me, if ever, and 80 is pretty much the limit I take my Lt1 to, and more likely I will be cruising at 68..and loping along at 1800 rpms.

Whiteonrice

I've owned a couple of Vettes that would do 160 plus. One was an 02 with a procharger that put out 473 to the wheels and the other was an LT4 that I never dynoed that would supposedly do the 160 plus. I never went much over a 100 in either one of em. To me the thrill was getting there.

I had a Honda CBR 1100XX for awhile that I accidentally got up to 140 on the on-ramp of a freeway. There was a Porsche a stoplight and two lanes that narrowed to one. It wasn't really a contest but when I got to the bottom of the on ramp I noticed the traffic was going really slow. I checked my speedometer and I was going about 140. Really didn't seem that fast.

gerardvg

Join a car or corvette club, with quite a lot of members you can hire a racetrack or a runway. Here in Australia the corvette clubs and other car clubs combine to hire a racetrack or a runway at a smaller type airport.

Do the usual safety checks of the cars attending and driver briefings to make it as safe as possible.

We do timed laps and can be put in a group of those doing similar times and are spaced 20 seconds apart, great way to run an event and have a good time with no risk of anyone coming into contact with another. We take turns at being flag marshals and have the usual emergency crews in attendance just in case something does happen, so there you go we can have fast cars and use them in relative safety.

Airport runways are a great place to stretch the legs of any fast car, it is quite cheap with several clubs hiring a race track or runway.
No need to endanger anyone else or risk getting arrested on the highways.

Has anyone ever noticed the ones with very fast cars have no need to prove it on public roads, you would never know there are many sleepers out there that would just laugh at someone trying to race them.