Youtube Greatness Unearthed (again)
I'm sure many of you frequent the virtual domiciles that many of us have come to love known as the forums, but I found this video at Corvette Blogger, and decided it put such a smile on my face it was worth a look-see for the masses as well. This video circulated the forums for a while and was appreciated for what it was, and still should be quite a treat for those who have never seen it.
There is a certain unadulterated draw to loud fast cars that some of us possess much in the same way that a 4 year old possesses excitement for Christmas around the month of December. Seeing how we are adults, we don't have to wait 11 months for the excitement to build, we can usually go out and find what we desire with a fair amount of ease, but then—once in a blue moon, the excitement falls into our laps. The lucky duo in this video happens to be behind a ZR1, with the claimed addition of Kooks headers and a Bassani exhaust in the description. The lucky pair seems to spark a bit of showmanship from the driver of the ZR1.
DISCLAIMER: TURN IT UP. Somewhere around the 0:35 second mark, if there are any small children in the room, they might be asked to leave if noise is a concern, also there is some coarse language at the end of the video that basically sums up what you were thinking anyway, but might not be suitable for all audiences. Enjoy.
We know. Utterly ridiculous, but at the same time, isn't there a $&!% eating grin on your face? It's hard not to after not only hearing the ZR1 and its LS9 completely stomp some pavement out, but the amateur director's reaction is pretty priceless too (and he wasn't even in the car!). We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. This is the original posters comments about the video:
I was driving behind this Corvette Zr1, with Bassani and kooks headers, through my city in Michigan. After a couple miles, the driver must have noticed us filming his car because, he then floors the loud peddle and launches, full throttle down a hill, moving at some incredible speeds. This is the most amazing noise I have ever heard, the loudest Corvette I have ever heard, and also one of the most amazing/ beautiful cars I have ever seen. And yes, I scream out of shock when the car accelerates, its kind of funny but its pretty much a fail!
Lingenfelter 2006-2011 Z06 Corvette
For those of us with a heartbeat and even a vague interest in anything Chevy, Lingenfelter has become known as somewhat of an icon in the Corvette world. So, it should come as no surprise that Lingenfelter has come around once again to throw down some serious power down from the Z06, lest anyone forget the powerhouse that emanates from Decatur, Indiana. In their impressive lineup of ridiculously powerful, yet completely street drivable cars, the single staple that we can always count on from Lingenfelter is the Corvette. Coming 
from a company who was founded on the blazing speed and power that came from their original Lingenfelter Corvette, nothing should be discounted on their new endeavors. After all, this is the same company founded by the guy whose 2001 Corvette managed a 1.97 second 0-60mph. Most people on planet earth haven't had the opportunity to accelerate that fast.
The package Lingenfelter Performance Engineering -or simply LPE- put together for the C6 Z06 is a complete teardown and rebuild of the LS7. This means you drop your beauty off (where it will initially be dyno'd for the "before" numbers), to be massaged and reconstructed at the loving hands of the team in Indiana; then pick your beauty back up, with a new snarling beast under the hood. The fellows at LPE first pull your engine, and disassemble it to CNC port and polish your cylinder heads for a better flow, optimized for components soon to be listed. After the porting and polishing, the LS7 gets a multi-angle valve job, and resurfaced for a slight bump up to 11.5:1 compression. Then things begin to get reassembled and prepped to be ready to rock on with some brand new components. Ferrea high performance dual valve springs are chosen, along with titanium retainers and valve locks. A Lingenfelter Z06 GT19 camshaft is implemented, crafted by none other than Competition Cams. To feed the beast, Lingenfelter has designed a high flow induction system coupled with a LPE 4" ID mass air flow sensor. All of this flows into a port-matched LS7 intake manifold controlled by a ported and polished LS7 throttle body. Mating everything together are official GM head gaskets and head bolts. To keep everything running smoothly and coolly- is a 160 degree thermostat. This whole beauty gets assembled by a LPE tech in house, and then tested and tuned. This means, not only is the whole package placed back into your beauty, but then it gets tuned, and tested to perfection by the hands that crafted it, and know it best- inside and out, literally. This team of engineers wrestles- gently but firmly- with your newly tempered beast, to extract somewhere in the neighborhood of 630bhp, and 570 pound feet of American muscle.
This build by the best, comes with a three year/36,000 mile warranty, and a certificate of authenticity. The whole package comes in at $10,146, and overall for the level of work, and the power it outputs is a pretty great deal. The team at Lingenfelter has become 
renowned for maintaining and incredible level of drivability on their builds, while being able to muscle up at the right moment and output tremendous amounts of power. The highway mileage for the Z06 remains the same as it was the day it left Bowling Green, but puts out another 120 hp. Granted, their test car had long tube headers on it by American Racing, which if you're truly looking at putting out this kind of power; it would be silly not to implement the use of long tube headers. The turnaround time for the entire installation is 3-4 weeks with prior notice to LPE.
If you would like more information on the Z06 package by Lingenfelter, give them a ring at 260.724.2552. The crew over at Automobile Magazine also had the chance to drive one of the Z06's LPE has put together and matched it up against a Dodge Viper SRT-10, if you would like to read the article check it out here.
DBA Rotors for the Corvette
Premiere performance for an automobile means that the vehicle needs premiere braking power. There are a few ways of going about this, but none of them are as affordable and guaranteed as replacing the rotors on the vehicle. An entire big brake package, like the ones that companies such as Brembo and Wilwood offer for the Corvette, is the absolute top-notch way to go, but those systems can run $5k and up for front and back. If you want to improve stopping power in an affordable way, replacing your stock brake components with higher performance aftermarket ones can do just that for you, and that's exactly what I did on my C6 Z06.
I recently came to realize that my rotors were worn down pretty well. Changing them would become pertinent in the next 4-5k miles or so, so I decided not to flirt with any trouble and take care of it right away. I did my research and decided upon going with DBA rotors for my Corvette, but had some choices to make from there. I picked DBA because the reviews I'd read on their products were consistently fantastic. The company, in the last few years, has built a great reputation for itself based on the incredible performance of its rotors and their affordability as well. Many Police forces, whose braking needs can often times be more intense than even a track-racer, have begun using DBA rotors for their entire vehicle pools, and with good reason. DBA has been praised for performance, price, and durability, and all of those things are the sorts of features I want on my Z06 Vette.
So, with that decision out of the way it became time to decide upon which series rotors to purchase for my Vette. DBA offers, amongst their higher performance lines, 4000 and 5000 series rotors. These two series of rotors share a lot of fantastic features with one another, among them being: Thermo-Stability Profiling, Thermo-Graphic Paint Markings for heat monitoring, and DBA's own fantastic Kangaroo Paw ventilation systems. Each of these features helps guarantee your DBA rotor's performance, and provides numerous performance benefits.
The Thermo-Stability profiling is one of the most overlooked features of these rotors. This process, which is unique to DBA, allows for greater thermal stability than standard block street rotors. TSP is a process by which, ultimately, the metals used for the rotors are treated on a microstructural level to be more resistant to heat, and more willing to disperse it outwards. By profiling their rotors in this way, DBA rotors offer race-car like heat dispersion performance without the durability loss that is often times associated with high-end rotors. TSP means less fading under extreme conditions, more stability under heavy braking, and increased durability and rotor-life. This feature alone has made DBA rotors a favorite for police forces everywhere, and has proved time and time again to raise them above the competition.
Of course, TSP alone isn't enough for DBA. They've also fitted all of their rotors with Thermo-graphic paint and Kangaroo paw ventilation. The Thermo-Graphic paint markings are both cool looking and incredibly useful. Thermo-Graphic paint is a form of pigmentation that will change color based on temperature. By utilizing this paint on rotors, DBA has created a system that's visual and quick and easy to check on the performance of your rotors. By monitoring your Thermo-Graphic markings, a driver is able to easily tell under what temperature his brakes are running, and tell, as hotter means less performance, just how well they're handling the driving stress said driver is putting them under. Three different markings provide a steady progression of performance monitoring on DBA rotors.
The Kangaroo Paw ventilation system that DBA utilizes is a brilliant means of heat dispersion. Normal rotors provide their heat dispersion through a vane system, which utilizes thin open slits moving outwards from the center of the rotor for hot air to disperse, in much the same way that cooling ducts work in a large building. The problem with a vane system though, while easily made and affordable for the companies, is it minimizes the amount of heat dispersion space available. For structural integrity, vane systems must run smaller open areas than closed to ensure that the rotor remains stable and durable. DBA was able to solve this problem by utilizing smaller portions of closed areas, whose shape is inspired by the shape of kangaroo paws, to allow for more open space for heat ventilation on their brake rotors. This Kangaroo Paw system provides vastly improved ventilation (performance stopping gains of over 20% over vane system rotors) by offering more open space, but doesn't result in decreased stability. In fact, because of the nature of the kangaroo paw shape and the ability to spread it out across the rotor, the structural integrity of these rotors is improved over their standard vane counterparts.
All of these factors resulted in DBA rotors being an easy choice. It then came down to whether the 5000 series, which feature Alumalite materials and a two-piece construction, were worth the extra money over their 4000 counterparts. The "Alumalite" material difference doesn't seem huge to me, quiet honestly. Cast Iron functions just fine for rotors because of its strength, but, it does make sense that by combining the various benefits of the Alumalite aircraft-grade aluminum with the strength and durability of cast-iron that the rotor itself would be more able to expand differently based on different operating heats, and ultimately, have less of a chance of warping. That's where the two-piece construction came in, also. Two-piece construction allows for torque and pressure applied to the rotors in extreme stopping conditions to be spread out more evenly amongst both pieces of the rotors, and ultimately for the rotor to accept this torsion better for greater durability and control. With this in mind, and based on reviews I'd read elsewhere, I ultimately decided on 5000 Series rotors for the front (where high intensity stopping tends to be more demanding on the rotors) and 4000 Series rotors for the rear.
Of course, with purchases like that, there are always more things to decide upon. The last decision that I had to make for my upgraded rotors was whether to go with Slotted or Slotted and Drilled rotors. The slotted and drilled combination set are more expensive, and this is because of their increased stopping power. The combination of a cross-drilling and slotted set-up means much greater heat dispersion, and as result, improved stopping power. When doing research online, however, it became apparent that cross-drilling can result in decreased structural integrity on brake rotors, and many people had complained that their rotors, when used under very extreme conditions, had developed splits and cracks at the drilling points. These complaints were few and far between with DBA brakes, thanks in large part to the two-piece construction of the 5000 Series as well as the increased integrity and ventilation provided by the DBA Kangaroo Paw ventilation system. However, they did exist in some places, and resulted in my decision, ultimately to install slotted rotors on front and back and avoid the potential problems of the cross-drilled rotors resulting in a rotor break down the road. That being said, slotted rotors are nothing to sneeze at.
Standard rotors are block, or solid, rotors in design. What this means is that the rotor face that the pads meet is made of a solid, flat, construction. These brakes, while durable and affordable (and, for these reasons the factory standard on almost all cars that are sold) have a number of downsides. The solid construction equates to increased pad wear, as there's more point of contact for the pads to rub against during stopping. In some ways, you would think that this solid construction would result in greater stopping force, but it's actually the opposite of that, as counter-intuitive as that may seem. The slots in slotted rotors allow for heat to more easily disperse from the rotors during braking, and, ultimately, heat is the name of the game when it comes to brake performance. Thus, the slotted rotors, while slightly less abrasive on pads, are still able to stop much better because of their heat dispersion, and their ability still, because of their well-crafted materials, to grab more efficiently. Ultimately, too, increased heat dispersion means cooler rotors means cooler pads under braking, and thus, even greater pad life. Thus, the benefits of moving from a standard rotor to a slotted one is two-fold, as it increases durability for other major components of the braking system as well as increasing your vehicle's ability to stop quickly and forcefully in intense driving conditions.
Thus, with all of this in mind, I picked up 5000 and 4000 series slotted rotors for my Z06. Knowing too that for optimized performance new pads should be put on with new rotors so that the two may break in with one another, I ordered a set of Hawk HPP+ pads. I considered the ceramics, because of their decreased brake dust, but ultimately the compound materials used in the Hawk HPP+ pads lead me towards purchasing those. I can deal with brake dust (and as often as I clean my Z06, I know it can't be too big of a problem), and the increased performance offered by the stronger grab and greater efficiency of the HPP+ pads were too much for me to pass up. Also, admittedly, the price difference between the HPP+ and the Ceramic pads played a factor in my decision. The Ceramics are over $100 more and don't offer enough of an appreciable performance gain over their Ferro-Carbon compound counterparts.
It only took a couple weeks to receive everything, and my friends over at SouthernCarParts.com (who I'm always happy to give a shout-out to) took care of me to make sure I received exactly what I needed in the most timely manner possible. After the wait, once my products arrived, I took them to a shop to have them installed. Normally I do install my stuff myself, but when it comes to properly bedding-in pads against new rotors, I wanted to leave that up to a professional. The most surprising thing about this trip to the mechanic though wasn't the cost of the install (it wasn't really that high, it just felt high compared to my usual $0 cost of install) was the response that I received from the guys at the shop. The comments concerning the quality and coolness of my DBA rotors was definitely a bit of an ego boost when I arrived. I'm fairly certain they expected me, when pulling up to have brake work done, to be going with stock replacement parts and that they were surprised when presented with quality aftermarket performance parts. The response on the two-piece 5000 Series front rotors was especially positive.
So, after having them installed, I was excited to see what these new brakes of mine could do on the road. It's hard to measure braking performance changes without actually taking it to a track and measuring it, and I didn't have an opportunity to do this, but it seemed pretty obvious on the road that these new brakes offered me a lot more stopping power. I can't wait to get my Z06 out on to a track and see just what I can do with the extra confidence that improved brakes give me, allowing me to go faster with the knowledge that I can slow down more quickly. I'm extremely happy with my DBA rotors and the Hawk pads that I coupled them with and know that if you're looking to do an upgrade yourself, these are exactly what I would recommend, 100%. Great brakes at a great value.
Here's a cool video from DBA (Australian accent and all) explaining their 4000 and 5000 series rotors. Check it out:
Corvette Z06 and ZR1 Billy Boat PRT Exhaust System
Billy Boat Performance Exhausts, who have been making industry-leading, high-quality exhausts for some time now, have put their know-how to work on the C6 Z06 and ZR1 again, and they've created something brilliant and fantastic. The newest exhaust line from their R&D team is their PRT Exhaust--PRT stands for Purge-Resonance Technology. The PRT systems are designed and manufactured to ensure that at normal cruising speeds there is no cabin drone within the vehicle, but that once opened up in to the higher-RPM ranges the vehicle itself has the powerful, throaty, and classic muscle tone that people want and expect from a Chevy small-block V8.
Of course, the success of Billy Boat exhaust systems is nothing new. From their renowned Bullet exhaust systems (known for their loud, powerful, and aggressive tones) to their even more well-respected Fusion systems (which took the best aspects of the bi-modal stock exhaust, made those their own, and improved the tone), Billy Boat has been impressing the Corvette crowd for some time. For this reason, and the prior success of their other PRT systems, I was happy to see B&B produce this PRT exhaust for Z06 and ZR1 Corvettes. It seems like a potentially great match.
Of course, the exhaust isn't without its questions. The first, and most obvious of these, is why buy a non-bi-modal aftermarket exhaust? Chevrolet has done great work designing and producing their Bi-Modal exhaust systems, and they've gained a lot of press and praise for good reasons, so it seems a little counter-intuitive to remove that b-modal functionality when you upgrade. Of course, the bi-modal exhaust doesn't work for everybody, does it? I've heard many times from people who don't like the very abrupt change in tone up the RPM range. Also, by keeping the tips closed, the bi-modal restricts air flow at lower RPMs and ultimately restricts HP at start off. The difference is small, of course, in HP and Torque, but it does exist, so if you're trying to squeeze the most ponies out of your Chevy, it's not necessarily a good thing. The second question would then be: if you're eliminating the bi-modal, how do you keep the vehicle drone-free? This is an area where the PRT system works wonderfully.
Specially designed and acoustically tuned (in much the same way the new, well-reviewed Borla ATAK exhaust systems are), the PRT mufflers are designed to specifically minimize cabin drone by focusing on the tonal range of the Corvette. This then allows for the system to maximize external volume and tone, and to offer a clean, powerful, pure, and throaty exhaust noise that doesn't come coupled with insane interior exhaust drone. This rare combination of exterior sound and interior comfort has become the exhaust system holy grail that most exhaust manufacturers have found themselves looking to achieve, and few have done so as well as Billy Boat has. That combination, too, is what makes their PRT exhaust systems so special.
So, what does a PRT exhaust ultimately mean for your vehicle? For one, it's improved quality. The stock exhausts aren't, necessarily, poorly made. They're just not as well constructed as after-market exhaust systems tend to be. GM uses cheaper stainless steel materials for production to save on their bottom line, and, when you view the stock exhaust next to much any other exhaust system this is incredibly obvious--and especially obvious when viewed next to the quality that Billy Boat provides with their 304 Stainless Steel, Mandrel Bent exhaust system for the C6. The Billy Boat PRT system also results in impressive weight reduction. Various parts associated with a bi-modal exhaust become unnecessary when moving away from it, and the Billy Boat system is designed more efficiently than the stock mufflers, which results in a lighter exhaust system.
The best aspect of the PRT exhaust definitely comes in the tone. I had the luxury of hearing one, because I've got a good friend over at B&B, recently, and I was amazed at the tone. At lower RPM's it was about as quiet as the stock Bi-Modal exhaust, although the tone was undeniably deeper. When my friend accelerated through the RPM range, the tone became incredible. It picked up quickly and assuredly, and had this fantasticly deep rumble. The rumble, not even up in to the 6000rpm range, never became a raspy or whiney note either. It maintained a brilliant middle-ground in tone, keeping it away from the dirtiness of a Magnaflow type exhaust on one end of the spectrum, while also keeping it shy from the high whistle that a lot of the new Formula-1 inspired exhausts are striving for. Instead, it had a powerful, deep, and throaty crescendo through the RPM range that's exactly how American muscle should sound. Inside the vehicle, too, we were able to turn off the radio and hear no drone at all at cruising speeds. The exhaust is still audible, of course, but there's none of that deafening exhaust drone that blocks out your radio, your conversation, or your own train of thought, and that's nice. As we accelerated, too, the exhaust became increasingly more audible, but maintained a fantastic interior tone that still allowed us to speak (or, in my case, laugh with giddy delight at the tone--it's amazing how a car, more specifically THE car, can always make me feel like an excited child. Gotta love the Corvette).
In all, I must say that I'm excited to see Billy Boat release their PRT system for the Z06 and ZR1. Is it for everyone? No, it's not, and the Billy Boat Fusion (my favorite exhaust, personally) exists for those people that wish to maintain their bi-modal exhaust functionality. Is it amazing? Yes, it certainly is. The development and technology that Billy Boat has put in to their PRT exhaust line is obvious in the sound and the build of them. So, if you're looking to move away from the Bi-Modal Exhaust, this is definitely an exhaust to consider.
On a side note, but still related, Billy Boat has started offering all of their exhaust systems with new, ceramic coated, Satin Black Exhaust tips. I love the look of them, especially on a vehicle with Carbon Fiber rear end work (like a diffuser, or something). The satin black finish is classy, and aggressive, and could really give a vehicle a much more custom look. That being said, I've also heard lots of things about Ceramic Coating chipping on Headers and other systems, so I'm not certain about the durability on exhaust tips. I imagine, being Billy Boat, they're probably pretty strong, but I still wonder. With as beautiful as they are, and as great as the exhaust sounds, I'd hate to have them installed only to chip later. I'll probably give it some time and check on them again, on my friend's Corvette, and see how well they've handled the test of time! I can say, for certain right now, they're gorgeous exhaust tips (they give his black Z06, with CF work, a very Batmobile-esque look, and that's just awesome).
Big Brakes, High Performance Pads and Rotors, and the Corvette
Wilwood, Brembo, SSBC, StopTECH, and AP Racing are a few of the big names that immediately come to mind when the phrase "Big Brakes" gets thrown around. What's lesser known is that a large number of people misinterpret information like rotor size, drill patterns, pad material, and the number of pistons in a caliper. I'm writing this article to try and put a cap on some, if not all of these issues for the reader out in the world wide web of information. The goal is to try and explain some of these terms and concepts and their meanings to the best of my abilities, and narrow a couple of brands (maybe even one) down that seem to stand above the rest, in terms of fitting the needs of the new Corvette. But in order to do that, we must first understand the basics of braking, and how it is best achieved. Believe it or not, it doesn't start with how big your brakes are…
It starts where the rubber meets the road. Literally- your brakes don't stop your car, your tires do. Your tires are your first point of contact in the war against momentum. Think about it this way- if you can lock up your stock brakes, then you don't need bigger brakes, you need stickier tires. This is the point of contact on the road for everything- turning, acceleration, and braking. But before you go out and purchase a brand new set of Mickey Thompson drag radials to run on the street, let's briefly discuss a few basics on the tires. I am not advocating one tire supplier over another in this article, but the Tire Rack articles I reference happen to be some of the best tech articles on the internet for informational purposes. I'm sure most of you are well aware that each tire has a size to it. But, for those of you that don't 
here's a basic rundown of things to look for when choosing a set of tires. Size is obviously most important and is measured by width, aspect ratio, and rim size. This is stamped on the side of each tire in the width/aspect ratio/speed rating and rim size format. So a tire that is 225/50/R16 (like the one shown in the diagram from Tire Rack) is 225mm wide, has a 50mm aspect ratio to the wheel, is a radial tire and fits a rim size of 16 inches (tire size article here). The next most important piece of information for our purposes will be focusing on tread wear rating. Basically, in short the tread wear rating achieved on a tire is a good indication of how sticky a tire is. Plainly speaking, the stickier the compound the better the tire grips the road but the faster it wears out. This translates to having to replace tires more often, and wet weather driving should be approached with extra caution. So without writing a full tech article on how to determine all of these factors, I have provided another link to Tire Rack's tech articles outlining each of these points (tread wear/ UTQG test standards here). So, now that you've gone out and bought the stickiest tire you could legally run on the street, (***It bears repeating once again that when purchasing tires, a general rule of thumb is: the stickier the tire, the lesser the tread life, and generally speaking the worse the wet weather traction is going to be. ***) you want your braking to be improved further. Understandable.
Press on eager eyes, press on.
Suspension is the next area I want to touch on briefly as well. I'm not writing a tech article on how to modify your suspension today, but think of it this way: your tires are only able to remain connected to the road as much as your suspension keeps them planted on the road. In short, your contact patch (the area that your tires are actually touching the road-generally less than one square foot); can only be efficiently used if it is firmly planted on the road. So, on the new Chevy Corvette (or any new car for that matter) this shouldn't be an issue initially, but aftermarket springs and shocks go a long way in terms of keeping your car planted to the road firmly and more effectively. Factory suspension is designed to be comfortable and usually not maximized for the track. So, if your plans are to track the car, I strongly encourage upgrading the suspension for better handling and traction. The more effectively your car is connected to the road, the more the contact patch is efficiently used. The more your contact patch is efficiently used, the better the traction. The better traction is maintained, the better the braking. See? Great braking starts with great tires and great suspension.
Rotors: Cross-drilled vs. Slotted vs. Blank
Now I'll move on to perhaps the biggest debate in aftermarket braking: rotors. I repeatedly hear people debating whether or not cross drilled is better than slotted rotors, or whether slotted rotors are better than blank face rotors and vice versa for each of those, or a combination of the two. This is not an easy debate to settle, but before I anger the World Wide Web, we should examine the strengths and weaknesses of each. Cross drilled, although they may be the cooler looking of the bunch, are susceptible to cracking under heavy use (such as track time). By drilling holes in something (this may be obvious…) the structural rigidity of said object is reduced (it should also be noted that it substantially reduces un-sprung rotating mass, but this is negligible compared to the downfalls stated later). Brakes work on the principle of friction, and when friction happens- the byproduct is heat. Rotor temperatures can reach upwards of 900 degrees Fahrenheit when used heavily on the street and occasional track days, temperatures on the track have been recorded for an F1 brake rotor generating heat in excess of double that at 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. So as these components heat up, they also cool down, expanding and contracting putting these stresses on normal metal or alloy components is harsh enough; let alone drilling them full of holes. So, after repeated use in these conditions, the weakest area of the rotor tends to give way to the stress. This is evident in the manifestation of cracking around the weakest area of the rotor: the holes. A prime example can be seen in the picture below. This can result in catastrophic brake failure, which not only can be dangerous to you and others, but be extremely costly to repair. When the big names in racing technology like Brembo, Wilwood, etc. recommend against using cross drilled rotors on the track, their advice should be heeded. The only exception to this rule I can see is when the manufacturer uses ceramic or carbon/ceramic brakes, a markedly more expensive option seen on the feet of Ferrari, Porsche GT series cars, and other high end supercars.
After ruling out cross drilled rotors as a serious track or heavy use option (in my honest opinion, I question why they are even still made as an aftermarket option) the next rotor face design most heavily debated is slotted rotors. Slotted rotors serve multiple functions in their design: they help to expel hot gases as they are generated against the face of the rotor and the pad, while simultaneously sweeping the face of the pad free of dust, and any (in the uncanny event) debris that might have been sucked into the rotor/pad braking surface. Slotting rotors also helps the "bite" 
characteristic of the pad- much in the same way drilled rotors have the same effect. Slotted rotors have been around for quite some time now, and have proven themselves to be a viable option over blank faced rotors. However, the reasoning behind a slotted rotor is the same as a drilled rotor without the apparent disadvantages, and has proven so in various forms of racing.
The next option is a blank faced rotor; this is structurally the strongest of the three discussed options. But a blank face rotor lacks the advantage of slots to help expel heat and debris from the pad and rotor area, effectively running hotter than the slotted rotors. However, a vented, blank face rotor seems to be the rotor of choice for most race teams. By venting the rotor, with vanes inside the rotor itself, the air in the surrounding wheel and hub is effectively impelled through the surface of the rotor itself drastically dropping temperatures on the rotor face. Many manufacturers have developed an excellent system, as seen in the cut away picture from StopTECH-the impeller design pulls air through the surface of the already drilled rotor aiding in cooling. It is a fact that the heat generated by the braking process must be dissipated. The rotor (disc) handles roughly 80% of this job; therefore any advances in cooling this component are of great benefit. Vented rotors were initially introduced by Ford on the GT40 in 1966. With this we should also note that cooling is a large part of effective braking. Although not practical for most street cars, large ducts are often used in race car design to aid in cooling brakes; less heat means longer life, and less wear.
Pads
Brake pads are another serious point of contention for many enthusiasts and racers. The brake pad itself is a shaped conglomeration of friction material bound to a backing plate usually made of steel. Pad material can and has been made of various materials including asbestos (not commonly used anymore for obvious health reasons), ceramic, Kevlar, copper, aramid fibers, and other various organic and semi-metallic combinations. For the sake of argument I will not delve deeply into the "best" pad or pad materials, but there are a myriad of companies that produce brake pads, and each generally defines the differences between common light economy car use, and those designated for heavy truck, street performance or race only abuse. Some commonly noted companies include Hawk, EBC, Porterfield, Project Mu, Brembo, and so on. Different pads are geared towards different goals, some value less noise over less bite, others value less dust over less noise, and others still are designed for maximum performance regardless of noise or dust. The choice in pad is almost as unique as the driver, but more importantly the goals the driver has for the car and its performance and how the driver likes the brakes to perform at a certain point. Some racers prefer a harsh initial bite, making braking less initially modulated; while others prefer a moderate bite to help them gauge modulation in extreme braking situations. Again, pad choice is as unique as the car and varies uniquely from driver to driver,
Calipers
Ahh, those big shiny, colorful, name bearing beauties we all see behind the wheels of the cars on the greatest circuits in the world, clamping down on massive rotors slowing the car in impeccable fashion. These beauties are engineering feats in themselves, and are the final product of months of R&D, reshaping, resizing, structurally balancing, and finally matched to the car for perfect clamping force distribution. That being said let's delve into some of the different setups that calipers come varied in. There are many different configurations for a caliper that go into play in order for it to function at its maximum efficiency. Things like number of pistons in the caliper, caliper material, piston material, the brake fluid being used, the size of the piston(s), the weight of the vehicle, the intended use of the vehicle, etc. The list goes on for quite a while longer, but for our purposes I will explain very simply how the caliper functions. In a nutshell, the process goes as follows: your car has a brake fluid reservoir usually behind a brake booster/master cylinder. This master cylinder is connected to the pedal which pivots on an axis- acting as a lever. When you place your foot on the pedal and apply pressure, this lever (pedal) amplifies the force of your foot and forces fluid in the brake master cylinder and through the closed system traveling throughout the vehicle to each corner at the same time, expanding and driving the piston out of the cylinder in the caliper against the pad to clamp down on the rotor. A simple cutaway of a caliper is below courtesy of howstuffworks.com and for a further in-depth explanation of how disc brakes work, please click on the picture to link to the article.
Now that we know how a caliper works, let's examine how companies reach a conclusion on which size rotor, what size caliper, and what size piston within the caliper to use, and how many of them. This is an extremely complicated process that focuses on the corner weight of the vehicle, and starts and ends with the factory braking bias. The engineers of each braking system from the factory, for every car and manufacturer, had to put the system/car through an extremely stringent series of tests. In order for the car to pass, it had to be deemed road worthy after hundreds of hours of testing and reevaluating and ultimately the approval from the DOT and other governmentally mandated safety laws. In reference to braking bias, it is logically apparent that when you brake, weight shifts forward, and say you had just slapped some no name (or-as popular in the sport compact world, taking a higher performance model and installing its bigger brake setup on the base model car) bigger brakes, and would actually find that your stopping distances increased. What? Bigger brakes taking longer to stop the car? That's right; by upsetting the braking bias you upset exactly how much pressure the brakes apply to each corner. By installing a bigger rotor, with a bigger set of pistons, it might be setting the braking bias too far forward resulting in the undue amount of pressure being put up front with not enough bias in the rear consequentially creating longer braking distances.
Fluid and Lines
Fluid is an entirely big subject in itself, and for our purposes I will refrain from making extreme recommendations, but if I was to over broaden the subject and make a **GENERAL** recommendation, I would say that it would be safe to do three things regardless of brake set up. Initially, I would recommend first and foremost following the exact specifications of any brake kit manufacturer that you end up purchasing. The amount of time these companies have spent researching which fluid works best for their kits, and the components that they use in each kit (rubber seals, and different metal components of the system react differently with different chemical make-ups of different fluids). Secondly, for a performance application, avoid DOT 5 fluids as they are silicone based and more compressible over glycol-ether based DOT 3, 4, and 5.1 fluids. Thirdly, I would recommend bleeding your brakes 2-3 times a year, more if you drive hard or especially if you track the car, or live in a humid climate. But honestly, this is not an easily approachable subject for the amount of depth we're going into for this article. But on the subject of lines, I am a firm believer in stainless steel braided, Teflon coated lines. They do not expand in the same way that factory rubber lines do, creating a stronger pedal feel with better response. Dollar for dollar, it's probably the cheapest and most noticeable performance upgrade you'll spend on brakes.
Summary and Notes on Fitment
So, how do we determine which kit is better for our new Chevrolet Corvette? There are a few big name companies with great kits on the market, namely Wilwood, Brembo, and StopTECH. These are all big names and can offer incredible quality, and superb fitment. They each are 6-piston front/4-piston rear kits with the options of either slotted, or drilled and slotted rotors. As discussed earlier, slotted is the better option when choosing high performance rotors. Each kit comes with a set of stainless lines, and requires a minimum wheel size of 18 inches. It should be taken into consideration also when purchasing a kit of this magnitude that these will be larger than the factory brakes, and wheel fitment is crucial. The minimum clearance for each of these brake manufacturers is 2mm. This is easily accounted for when you follow the brake manufacturer's directions for test fitment. The manufacturer will provide a FREE template online to be printed out to scale and then applied to poster-board or cardboard and then cut out placing this inside the wheel and double checking measurements and fitment. Pretty straight forward and easy to do with the wheel obviously removed from the vehicle. I hope that this article has helped clear up some of the misconceptions on big brakes, and brakes in general.
Corvette Mild to Wild Exhaust Exhaust Switch
By now I'm sure a lot of us have seen or experienced the dual mode exhaust by now offered as an option on the 08+ Corvettes. It is an incredibly good idea in itself, appealing to the quieter preference crowd, while also appealing to the loud crowd that still happen to live in quieter neighborhoods. The mild setting for the exhaust works below 3500 RPM and effectively pulls your V8's growl down to kitten level. But magically, after 3500 RPM, the kitten like purr becomes a monster growl ready to make anything under the tender age of 11 cry. Chevy accomplishes this by utilizing vacuum activated baffles inside the exhaust system, effectively either bypassing the mufflers, or routing exhaust through the mufflers. If your car is equipped with it, and you find yourself constantly trying to end up in that glorious point over 3500 RPMs, we've got the most cost effective solution for you. The creation of the Corvette Mild 2 Wild Exhaust switch allows you to control exactly when and where you want to have this mode active. The Corvette Exhaust Switch comes with two key fobs that control this function, as well as the option to 
program your factory Homelink visor, if your car is equipped with one. The installation is simple and easy along with being quite possibly the cheapest exhaust modification you will ever do to the car.
This is however, nothing new to the scene. These little guys have been around for a couple of years now and have been very popular. The ability to control your bi-mode exhaust system from inside OR outside the car is pretty impressive. I talked to the guys over at southerncarparts.com, and they informed me that this was one of their fastest sellers, simply due to the fact that it is so easy to install, and the results are instant. And to be honest, who doesn't like the sound of a V8-especially the eight cylinder beating of an LS series motor? On top of the convenience of it all, the MSRP for this little device is somewhere in the $90-$110 range and for what you get-that's a pretty rocking deal.
The convenience of being able to change between a quiet subdued tone, from a fear inducing growl is not only helpful to slide stealthily by Johnny Law, but more applicable for the occasions in which you might be coming home late and would rather not be on the receiving end of the HOA's letter of disapproval. Being that the switch is a simple fuse controller, it works quickly and efficiently. The key fob can be attached to the keys themselves, or mounted somewhere else in the car if you're clever enough to find a nifty hiding spot. But honestly, one can't help but feel a little bit like James Bond when all it takes is the press of a button on the Homelink visor and the exhaust changes from kitty to carnivore. The overall pleasure with this system in its stock form was good enough from Chevy to honestly be noted as one of the smarter solutions they've come up with, and deserved a nod of approval from many an enthusiast.
However, the control over this system was a simple stroke of genius, and deserves a nod from everyone that runs a dual mode exhaust.
Ceramic Coating VS Header Wrapping VS Naked Steel for Corvette Headers?
In the automotive industry, it's almost a lost cause attempting to come to a conclusion by searching on the internet for a definite answer on something as debatable as header wrap vs. ceramic coating vs. leaving the header naked as it was the day it left the factory.
I said almost a lost cause.
Today, what I'm going to examine are the differences between the options above, and speak to a couple of different reputable companies to get their take on which method(s) should or should not be implemented; and in the most unbiased manner possible, try to discern the best way to protect your investment while keeping it cool and making it the most efficient. The companies I have selected to talk to for this article are American Racing Headers, Jet Hot, and Kooks Headers. This way I can get a few different takes on the whole situation. American Racing Headers is a company based out of New York (most of you are probably familiar with) that specializes in crafting headers for American cars. Jet Hot, based in North 
Carolina, is a company that specializes in ceramic coatings for exhaust pieces for just about anything that has an engine. And last but certainly not least is Kooks Headers, also out of North Carolina, who specialize in custom exhaust pieces for domestics. These companies have one thing in common: exhaust is the driving force behind each of their businesses, as so they are commonly considered to be experts in the field. These companies have spent countless hours and lots of money researching and developing their products and services, so I figured- who better to ask?
The first of these companies I had an opportunity to interview with was American Racing Headers. I spoke with Anthony, who put me in touch with the owner of the company- Nick. These guys have been in the exhaust business for twenty some odd years but the company itself has only been around for the last five and a half. Talking with Nick, he informed me that all of their systems are made out of SS304 Stainless Steel, which is 200% better at retaining heat than mild steel. "The issue with wrapping a header is that by wrapping something around it, it insulates it [the header] but retains moisture and dirt against the steel itself. This leads to rust and cracking prematurely and also prevents the naked eye from seeing any damage caused until it's too late. By wrapping the system," he explained, "it's almost a guaranteed early death to the component." We went on to talk about ceramic coatings on a header. "We don't recommend coating our headers unless it's for an extremely high horsepower application, there's just really no need. As far as coating a header, unless you intend to use the car for a lot of high abuse racing- like road racing, or have a forced induction system it's just overkill."
Bottom of the third: Coating: 0. Wrapping: 0. Naked: 1, according to American Racing Headers.
The next company that I was able to get a hold of was Kooks Custom Headers. These guys have been in the exhaust industry for 48 years, so needless to say they've been around the block a few times. I spoke with George R. there, and he was very to the point about wrapping headers: "It's a thing of the past. Originally it was used to retain heat in the primaries, but that's not necessary anymore." When I brought up the notion of ceramic coatings, he shot that down almost immediately as well, "There's no need, its overkill for anything but a racecar. You could do it for looks, but it's really kind of pointless." So, that's two in the books 
that have shot down the notion of coating or wrapping headers for anything but a fully fledged racecar. These also happen to be two of the most respected names in the business.
Top of the sixth: Coating: 0. Wrapping: 0. Naked: 2.
So far, the top two names in headers have said not to do anything to your headers unless you're running an absurd amount of power, forced induction of some sort, or unless your car is a true bred race car (and as much as I know we all hate to admit it, but unless you trailer your car to the track, it has at least a 6 point cage, 5 point harnesses, is not registered, and has no interior- it does not qualify as a race car). I know this goes against everything we've all read on the forums, and against what we've all been raised/taught through the years. I certainly used to think that ceramic coating headers and then heat wrapping them was the only way to go. Interestingly enough, however, when you break it down past it being an overkill move, the engineering behind both of the previous two notions is not without thought. The cooler an engine runs, generally the better, but when you start changing the way that exhaust is pulled out of the engine (scavenging), you start to change the way the engine behaves. It is possible to change the dynamics of the engine in such a way that you actually lose power. The concept of over-scavenging is what happens when an improperly tuned exhaust pulls too much air through the engine and you end up with a flat spot in the RPM range.
I know what you're thinking- "But wait! He hasn't said anything about Jet Hot yet!"
So, last but not least I got a call back from Jet Hot, and much to my surprise it was from David Burton, the head of engineering for Jet Hot. David was very patient with me and my lack of an engineering background, and broke it down very simply. In essence, when you coat something, you prevent corrosion. This is true with the Jet Hot coatings, but unlike header wrap their coatings provide a completely uniform dispersion of heat, and do not trap moisture, but prolong the corrosion resistance process. When asked about corrosion he said, "It really depends on the alloy and what kind of metal the headers are made of. Different metals will oxidize and rust at different rates. Mild steel is prone to rusting quickly, where as stainless steel is more corrosion resistant, even cast iron is prone to pitting- just at a much slower rate. Wraps and coating both improve the thermal qualities by acting as insulators, but wraps will burn and sometimes even etch themselves into the metal or alloy they cover as they heat and cool. They also trap dirt, debris, and water against the metals they are insulating. The thermal cycle burns the carbon out of steel as it goes from extremely hot, to cool, and then repeats. When this happens, the metal begins to rust under normal conditions. What the ceramic coating does is act as an insulator, and a corrosion inhibitor."
So, top of the ninth, Coating: 1. Wrapping: 0. Naked: 2.
Basically, what I can deduce from all of these interviews is that the first singular issue that should be addressed is that we should NOT be wrapping headers. It's a thing of the past, passed down from the generations before. Ceramic coating is a great tool in preventing corrosion, but not entirely necessary for an everyday driver. The bottom line is if you want to spend the extra money on corrosion resistance, and heat insulation, it's not a bad idea- but the headers will perform just as well without them. So, if you happen to be running a beast of a Corvette with a small mountain of power underneath the hood - either by way of forced induction, or just an astronomically built N/A set up - then it might be a good idea to get a ceramic coating on your headers. But, for the rest of us, while it does look nice, and provide an insulator to our headers, those beautifully crafted bends of steel sucking out the hot gases inside our motors, can be left just as naked as the day they were born.
Keep it under the limit,
-CN
Special thanks to Nick and Anthony at American Racing Headers, George R. at Kooks, and David Burton and Cheryl at Jet Hot for patiently taking time out of their busy day to put up with my poking and prodding and answering my questions.
Wilwood’s Corvette C5 and C6 Big Brake Kit
First things first. We all know how much we love speed and acceleration. I distinctly remember the first time I rode in a really, really fast car. I couldn't have been older than 15, and I was hanging around a local speed shop when I should have been in Mrs. Bateman's Trigonometry class. Rather than enlightening myself in the sense that Mrs. Bateman would have preferred, I was getting ready to learn my first lesson in forced induction, and the magical feeling that torque and acceleration bring to the road when applied correctly. I had been recruited by a "shop hand" to help bleed his brakes. Regardless of what city this was in and what kind of car this was, behind a set of beautiful wheels sat a set of beautiful, big, glossy, perfectly engineered brakes. These were a far cry from the puny stockers his car had been equipped with when it left the factory some years earlier. These were real brakes. My first reaction, aside 
from an open mouth, was pure joy that I should be so lucky at the tender age of 15 to witness such beauty in the automotive world surrounding me. Long story short, we bled the brakes, he popped in new pads simultaneously, and we went for a spirited drive to bed in the new pads. It was on this drive that I experienced sheer, blistering acceleration like never before in my young life, but what impressed me more was the absolute, retinal detaching, braking that followed each fierce jaunt of acceleration. His tires didn't lock up. His 60-0 distance would have been alarming to the parental unit had she known where I actually was. I had never experienced stopping power like this before. When we returned to the shop, he explained to me that you should never modify a car to the point that its power that outperforms its braking capabilities. This made perfect sense to me. Why would anyone modify a car to go faster than they can safely stop it?
Corvette engineers, whilst increasing the power of the LS motors near the end of 2005 didn't lose sight of that fact. They designed the stock brakes to be quite effective when driven on the street, in a relatively mild, safely controlled manner. But honestly- who hasn't taken their 'Vette up to the mountains on some "spirited" drives? To those of you who track these fine machines- (turn 10A at Road Atlanta never ceases to be a big braking turn after the back straight!) have you never felt the groan and moan of your stock brakes being heated to the point of fading on the track? That feeling of your brakes saying "I can't!" is no more encouraging than sliding into the kitty litter, or hitting gravel at the apex of a turn in the mountains. But thankfully Wilwood has the answer to our quandary of spirited driving: Really Big Brakes.
The simple laws of braking are- the more surface area your brakes have (rotors and pads together in particular) the faster they can slow your 3,180 lb beast down. The more effective your brakes are, the safer your stopping capabilities are, the lower your lap times, and the less stress on your stock set up. If you're looking for the end of your braking woes, your need look no further. These brakes are six pistons strong up front, and 4 pistons strong out back. Along with being gorilla strong in the piston department, these fine fellows rotors range from a respectable 12.19" to a massive 14.25" in diameter in the front. For those than can't quite grasp how large this is- the stock wheel size for most economy cars is a 14" wheel. This means the rotor alone for these brakes is bigger than the entire wheel of the Corolla. It should also be noted before I delve any deeper into the technical aspects of this kit, that it will fit BOTH the C5 and the C6. Pretty awesome, huh? We thought so.
The amount of pure engineering in these brakes is astounding. These brakes are fully compatible with the OE master cylinder and maintain the ABS. Radial mounting and the option for two different piston volumes only begin to hint at the structural engineering feats accomplished when Wilwood decided that having the most structurally sound caliper was of the utmost importance. The caliper is constructed of Forged Billet Superlite (FSL) and starts 
weighing in at a feathery 4.4 pounds. The caliper body is the product of FEA computer design and stress flow forging technology. FEA technology allows the designer to test the prototype in a computer environment to determine the optimal structural design within the dimensional parameters of the component. Stress flow forging produces a part with the internal grain structure of the metal aligned in the direction of the flow of the body contour. The results are a caliper with superior clamping efficiency and ultimate strength against fatigue, stresses, and distortion under load. Pretty phenomenal stuff. All of this engineering generates big brake clamping force with six differential bore stainless steel pistons. Stainless steel is used for its high resistance to corrosion and low thermal conductivity that reduces the heat transfer from the pads. The differential bore pattern balances pad loading to help maintain even pad wear. High temperature bore seals provide long service life and maintain their resilience to provide positive piston retraction on release. Two options for overall piston volume make it simple to match the calipers with master cylinder output and rear caliper size for correct bias proportioning. Just to get 
a feel for how these bad boys look behind a wheel, I have a picture from hotrodandrestoration.com below.
All in all these brakes are some of the best on the market, and provide the most bang for your buck as far as aesthetic styling behind your wheels, and giving the most serious stopping power available to us on the market. The track and show enthusiast should be eyeing these pups with the utmost confidence and a dream of stopping on a dime - every time.
Until next time, keep it under the limit,
-CN
Chevrolet Releases Teaser Video for SEMA 2010
The SEMA convention is fast approaching, and that's great news for automotive junkies like you and me. SEMA has quickly grown to be one of the planet's premiere car shows/conventions, and its focus on aftermarket vehicle modification makes for incredible releases year in and year out. Every year, too, the Corvette is one of the most well-represented of all vehicles present. As America's true automotive darling, I don't see why it wouldn't be. This year's SEMA is already shaping up to be a very exciting event for Corvettes as well, as Chevrolet has begun slowly releasing small tastes of what's in store for the show. Among all the great vehicles will be Corvettes from numerous different companies (you can be almost certain that companies like Edelbrock, Romeo Ferraris, Lingenfelter, AMS, and their like will be there) as well as some special Corvettes from Chevrolet themselves. In the teaser there's a peak of a the Corvette Racing C6.R as well as a Jake's Racing Corvette (looks to be a modified ZR1 by Jake's Racing, even) which will undoubtedly draw a lot of press and attention at the show. Until SEMA begins in the first week of November, these small teasers are all we have, but they're a great way to wet the palate and get a small taste going for the kinds of Corvettes that will be present.
Romeo Ferraris tackling the C6 Z06
Romeo Ferraris, who have made a name for themselves as a top-tier performance modification company, are taking on the C6 Z06. The Z06, which was the top performance Corvette for a while before the monster big-brother ZR1 rolled around, is still a fantastic and respectable performance vehicle, and with the Romeo Ferraris touch is even more so! They've installed a Vortech kit to boost the performance output of the Z06 up to 677PS and 823Nm of torque (the numbers they list, which roughly translate to 668HP and 607 Lbs Torque), and make the vehicle more powerful than its ZR1 brother.
The Vortech system has a number of components, including: a centrifugal compressor, an air-to-air aluminum inter-cooler and high-flow injectors. They also attached a high performance cat-back sport exhaust system, and exterior visual/light weight modification pieces. All of this makes for a Z06 with a 211+ MPH Top Speed, and a 3.3 second 0-100 km/h rating. Not to mentioned, a Z06 with the Romeo Ferraris moniker is a pretty neat thing to have.
