Timmy's C5

According to my calculations, it should lap the track at about 130 - 135 mph. That is it would lap at 1:06 minutes for the 2.5 mile track. Kind of gives you an idea of just how fast the IRL car's are doesn't it.

no cure

I'd think one could get a 165 mph lap out of a bone stock 02..

Timmy's C5

Since a stock Z06 can only corner at 1G, there isn't anyway it could do more than 110 mph in the four courners which represent 1 mile of the track 2.5 miles. Therefore you estimate is way too fast!

MJM

Thats 1G on a 200 foot skid pad. It would be different on a banked track at speed.

Matt

no cure

you are (imho) wrong on 2 counts.
a Z06 will pull *at least* a steady state 1.1G on the high banking at indy, probably not needing to slow to below 150.
also, how do you calc that 1G would be 110 mph? look at the radius of the turns, and the race line re the 'high to low' banking afforded.. I've done (many times) non banked turns that are much tighter than Indy at ~ 90 mph...

Chuck Harmon

The Z will pull over 1.3G's on the track on high speed corners even without banking. The banking at Indy would allow even higher speeds. Forget trying to calculate the actual radius of the corners. You sweep down from the right to the apex and sweep back out to the wall making the driven radius a vastly different number. I think the car would be driven nearly flat out, scrubbing only a little speed on the corners.

It sure would be fun to do it on such a smooth, high speed, famous track. I'd be talking about it for years to come!

Chuck

93Polo

It would be fun. The banking and large radius would make for some big G #s. However running the F1 circuit with infield road course would be even more :cool: :yesnod:

Timmy's C5

No Cure is right. I forgot to consider that the driver would start the turn out high then cut to the apex and finish off by drifting out high. He would do this to actually increase the radius of the turn. The actual radius of the turns at Indy are approx. 840 ft. Using the above strategy, the driver could “stretch” this out to about 1100 ft. At 1G this would yield 127 MPH. The turns at Indy are actually very flat when compared to other oval tracks. Using your 1.1G estimate, this would yield 131 MPH. To achiever your estimate of 162 MPH average, and the corner speed of 131, the Z06 would have to average 182 MPH for the rest of the track! This is well above the top speed of a Z06, and doesn’t even consider that the car would actual have to accelerate from its corner speed to its top speed. Using the higher cornering speed above, I would up my estimate of the lap speed to 144 MPH. I feel this may be on the high speed, because I have assumed that the Z06 could pull ½ G of acceleration coming out of the turns to its top speed of about 170 MPH. This is just a swag as I have never seen anything published about what rate of acceleration a Z06 can actually pull at this high a starting speed. Maybe one of our Z06 friends could go out and run 131 and then punch it to see how fast it can reach its top speed!

By the way, in all of this I am not trying to flame the Z06. I think it is one of the finest high performance cars on the road today. When you consider how little it costs when compared to other cars of its performance levels, it has to be the biggest bargain in the history of high performance cars.

SCOTT LEININGER

OKAY, NOT BRAGGING, BUT I HAVE DRIVEN INDY IN MY ZO6. I AM A POLICE PURSUIT DRIVING INSTRUCTOR IN INDIANA. I HELP TEACH A CLASS AT THE INDIANA LAW ENFORCEMENT ACADEMY CALLED THE ADVANCED INSTRUCTOR COURSE. WE TEACH SEVERAL THINGS IN THIS CLASS SUCH AS THE PIT MANEUVER, BOXING IN TECHINQUES, AND ONE DAY WE GO TO THE INDY TRACK AND DO HIGH SPPED RUNS IN THE POLICE CARS. I TOOK MY Z OUT THERE LAST JULY WHILE TEACHING THE CLASS FOR A FEW LAPS. I DIDNT WANT TO PUSH THROUGH THE CORNERS TOO MUCH AND RAN 120 THROUGH ALL 4 CORNERS. I WAS AT 150 AT THE END OF THE FRONT AND BACK STRAIGHT. TRACK OFFICALS TIMED ME AND SAID I HAD A 124 LAP AVERAGE. IM GOING BACK IN JULY FOR ANOTHER CLASS. ILL TRY TO GET LITTLE MORE OUT OF IT.

I THINK IT WOULD DO 160 DOWN THE STRAIGHTS IF YOU COULD PUSH IT IN THE CORNERS AT 130. TURN ONE IS WICKED AND SCAREY. IT DOES GIVE YOU AN APPRECIATION OF INDY CAR SPEED AND HANDLING.

IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST TIMES I'VE EVER HAD.

SCOTT LEININGER

AND MY SPEED WAS CONFIRMED BY MY PASSENGER WITH A HANDDELD RADAR.

no cure

Scott, you only slowed to 120ish in the corners yet only averaged 124? something doesn't compute. and why are you shouting?

btw - Timmy's C5, you said
the actual top speed (6600 rpm) of an 02 Z is 175 mph, on level ground. and it does pull pretty decent when ya come out of fourth (146mph) for the first 15 mph or so..

vroom vrooom

GRB

This one's gonna be a beaut before it over. :boxing

Chuck Harmon

GRB,

You are right! The day before Easter, I got about 200 track miles in two ZO6's at Sears Point. Half in mine and half in an instructors. My first of 5 1/2 hour sessions was very humbling. I was taking corners as fast as I dared, yet, a 5.0 Mustang with 150,000 miles was sticking to my rear bumper through the corners. After experiencing what the ZO6 could do in the instructors hands, my confidence grew. By the end of the day I was doing a much more respectable job; but, it is absolutely amazing what a Z can do when pushed to its limits.

The pre-session talk warned us that to go off the track meant that you would very likely hit one of the barriers or walls. Indy would be even less forgiving. One of the recent mags has an article about high speed handling of numerous cars, including the ZO6. I think it is R&T, but I can't find the mag right now when I need it. They showed the Z as the skid pad champ among the competition at .98 G's. But during one particular section of the track, the high speed lateral g's were about 1.34. You really have to creep up on the speed of the car at a track. The stickier a car is, the less warning you normally get that you are about to lose it! This is very true of the Z.

When I think of how fast I went into many of the Sears point twisty curves, Indy seems like it would be a veritable straight-a-way. But I can very much appreciate how much side force may be generated at 120 going through the first turn. But it also wouldn't surprise me in the least to see Jim Henricy blast through it at 150+.

Gambling with my ability and/or my cars is pretty high stakes when you push it to the limits. I didn't want to bring my car home at the end of a hook. But I sure had a great time!

Chuck

no cure

fwiw, seattle international raceway, now (renamed pacific raceways) has a long main straight with a turn (T1) and some more straight, then the braking zone before turn 2. it's actually one long straight-a-way from the exit of turn 9 until the braking zone in front of T2. T1 is just part of the straight, cool dudes with cool cars take it flat out. I've gone thru there about 2000 times, many many times at 150 or more, and at 150 it is at least a point seventy five G turn. and it's not near the edge. I've had to take evasive action there and had head room to spare. these cars are awesome.
when giving rides, first timers, who've never passengered at SIR before often clutch their shorts the first time at speed thru T1 :)

David
would love to have my car at Indy, I'm sure I could get a very impressive lap

MJM

I would ship my car to Indy and fly out there just to get a lap like you did.

I'm serious, if this opportunity presents itself again instant message me and I will be there.

Matt


[Modified by MJM, 11:58 PM 5/23/2002]

SWCDuke

[QUOTE]
fwiw, seattle international raceway, now (renamed pacific raceways) has a long main straight with a turn (T1) and some more straight, then the braking zone before turn 2. it's actually one long straight-a-way from the exit of turn 9 until the braking zone in front of T2. T1 is just part of the straight, cool dudes with cool cars take it flat out. I've gone thru there about 2000 times, many many times at 150 or more, and at 150 it is at least a point seventy five G turn. and it's not near the edge. I've had to take evasive action there and had head room to spare. these cars are awesome.
when giving rides, first timers, who've never passengered at SIR before often clutch their shorts the first time at speed thru T1 :)

David
QUOTE]

Back in the mid sixties I used to take my SWC out to Kent on summer weekdays and run all day long for two bucks. Sometimes I was the only guy there. The first trip out I chunked the OEM General JetAires and was hesistant through T1 - always lifted - because I couldn't find the damned apex with the way the course rolled off to a slight downgrade from the slight upgrade of the dragstrip at that point.

In the summer of '64 I returned with a new set of 6.70-15 Michelin X radials and a traffic cone and broom handle to mark the T1 apex. By mid day I was taking T1 flat at about 140 MPH. At that speed the nose of a SWC assumes the pitch attitude of a 727 at V2 and the car drifted sideways over some chatter bumps. Are they still there? Man, that was an e-ticket ride for a 17 year old!!!

Duke

no cure

you'll have to forgive me, but I have no idea what an SWC is. always assumed it was some reference to a college or something. anyway, yes, there are some bumps around T1, and big long ways chunks of missing pavement, kinda a 'guiding strip' that one makes sure to be to the right of..

you used to lift, eh :)
more than a few folks have learned the very hard way about lifting at speed whilst making a high speed turn there.
all day long for two bucks, day-um, that's quite the perspective. and in 64 (or earlier) you had a car that could get 140 in T1, that is awesome. there's plenty of iron that still can't get that speed.

Timmy's C5

Scott,

I am green with envy about your drive at Indy in you Z06! Your observations tell me my calculations are at least in the ballpark. I got to drive one of Petty’s Winston Cup cars at Indy last year, and you are right about turn one. Because of some of the pit buildings, you actually start turning into turn one before you see it!

SCOTT LEININGER

Yes, turn one can bite you. i think you do do 130 in the corners which showed give you 160 down the straights. But i dont want to find out how hard those walls are.

SCOTT LEININGER

I got some great pictures, going to get video this july.