Just got home from the C4/ZR1 Gathering at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY. Because of gas prices and weather, not as many folks showed up
this year (about 160 registered, down from 200 last year). Remember, this is mainly about folks who own a certain style of corvette made between 1986 and 1996
(I think those are the correct years), so it's not about ALL corvette owners.
Still, it IS about power. Seems like all anyone ever talked about was what modifications they made to their car to get more speed/power out of it. My b/f put his ZR1 up on the dyno again this year and was pleasantly surprised to see that the mods he did on his own earned him 40 more hp (from 425 last year, to 465 this year). Had he sent his engine out to one of the corvette ZR1 gurus, and paid him $2500 for similar modifications, he wouldn't have been able to get more hp.
Some folks came from as far as Washington state, Connecticut, and Ontario to this thing. Luckily, for us, it was only a 4 hour drive (not counting stopping to eat, top off the tank).
Much to everyone's joy, the sun shown brightly on Saturday when we all went to a local race track where the museum guys rented the drag strip for our use. I'm surprised that no one seriously "hurt" their cars out there, because you can bet they were pushing them hard down that quarter-mile track. My b/f had read in some Car and Driver magazine (or some such publication) that the best time that could be expected from a stock engine on a ZR1 was about 12.8 seconds in the quarter-mile. His best time was 12.5, which he was very happy with, though some folks were seeing even better times than that. Of course, a few C5 and C6 corvettes were out there and they got the best times, but none under 11-something. The fastest mph my b/f saw was 116, and the ZO6 that came to the track saw 132, I think.
Anyway, here's some pics from the weekend. I didn't get a good close-up of the best time my b/f got, but did get a good shot of his second-best time....
Still, it IS about power. Seems like all anyone ever talked about was what modifications they made to their car to get more speed/power out of it. My b/f put his ZR1 up on the dyno again this year and was pleasantly surprised to see that the mods he did on his own earned him 40 more hp (from 425 last year, to 465 this year). Had he sent his engine out to one of the corvette ZR1 gurus, and paid him $2500 for similar modifications, he wouldn't have been able to get more hp.
Some folks came from as far as Washington state, Connecticut, and Ontario to this thing. Luckily, for us, it was only a 4 hour drive (not counting stopping to eat, top off the tank).
Much to everyone's joy, the sun shown brightly on Saturday when we all went to a local race track where the museum guys rented the drag strip for our use. I'm surprised that no one seriously "hurt" their cars out there, because you can bet they were pushing them hard down that quarter-mile track. My b/f had read in some Car and Driver magazine (or some such publication) that the best time that could be expected from a stock engine on a ZR1 was about 12.8 seconds in the quarter-mile. His best time was 12.5, which he was very happy with, though some folks were seeing even better times than that. Of course, a few C5 and C6 corvettes were out there and they got the best times, but none under 11-something. The fastest mph my b/f saw was 116, and the ZO6 that came to the track saw 132, I think.
Anyway, here's some pics from the weekend. I didn't get a good close-up of the best time my b/f got, but did get a good shot of his second-best time....
