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
Jimmie Johnson Driving a Corvette C6.R
Well, we've seen Juan Pablo Montoya drive a ZR1, and Road and Track do a Road vs Track comparison of the ZR1 and the C6.R, so how about now we watch NASCAR dominator Jimmie Johnson go around a track while driving a C6.R. This is a great video, and really the true highlight of last week's SPEED Channel Test Drive:Corvette special episode. The video begins with Jimmie and the show's host Tommy Kendall chatting to one another while driving around the track in, respectively, the Corvette C6.R and the Corvette ZR1. The praise these two knowledgeable, intelligent men bestow upon the cars is really just impressive. Jimmie Johnson has nothing but great things to say about the Corvette Racing C6.R, and he really takes it out and opens it up on the course (maybe too much?). Johnson has nothing but compliments for the C6.R concerning its grip, power, and response, and that really doesn't (and shouldn't) come as a surprise, and that's the thing about the Corvette always makes me smile most: no matter who's driving, whether it be a first time driver or one of the world's most dominant and experienced race car drivers, anybody behind the wheel of the vehicle has fun and really praises what the Corvette does.
Corvette Racing Off to a Good GT1 Start
The Corvette C6.R GT1 Competition vehicle has been well documented over the last few years for its impressive performance, incredible build, and gorgeous Corvette looks. Over that time, though, it's race results have been mixed and varied. Corvette Racing did end their 2010 Race season with an impressive (albeit close, and a little lucky) victory which came directly as result of their pit crew managing their fueling better than the opponents (especially Ferrari, whose race leading vehicle ran out of gas--literally--on the homestretch of the final lap). Before that great win at the Petit Le Mans, though, the Corvette Racing season hadn't been as promising. Some great top-3 finishes were marred by other less than stellar showings at major races.
This season, however, looks to be off to a great start from the get-go. While not officially 2011, the first GT1 event of the year is underway, and the Corvette C6.R made a great showing by putting down the quickest opening-day pre race qualification times. The driver who managed this, also, is not one of last year's Corvette Racing regulars, but was instead one of two Brazilian newcomers to the Corvette team.
Sergio Jimenez, the driver who set the benchmark for his competition with a 1:33.024 time on the 2.676-mile Autódromo José Carlos Pace, is a Brazilian born driver who has spent the last few years between various different levels of racing. With victories at GP2 and A1GP, Jimenez also represents Lamborghini in the GT3 race division. He will, in fact, be pulling double-duty this weekend and driving both the GT1 C6.R and the GT3 Lambo car.
Of course, Jimenez's knowledge of the Brazilian course gave him a bit of a home-field advantage. Knowledge of the course, actually, accounted for quiet a disparity in qualifying times, as the top 4 drivers were all Brazilians. The good news there is that Jimenez topped his Brazilian brethren, who were driving such vehicles as the GT1 Lamborghini Murcielago and the Maserati MC12 (who posted the third and second best times, respectively). While these qualification times don't immediately mean a great deal for the season ahead, they do present some great promise.
When asked about his time driving the Corvette, Jimenez compared it to his GT3 Lamborghini and said, "The main difference I have noticed between this car and the GT3 Lamborghini I have driven is the brakes and the torque. It has great torque which is going to good for us in the uphill sections.”
Of course, Jimenez wasn't the only person making their GT1 debut inside of a Corvette Racing C6.R. Joining the team alongside Jimenez was Claudio Dahruj, who is acting as his co-driver for the race. Here's to hoping for great times from this Brazilian race tandem in the future when they're behind the wheels of the Corvette Racing C6.R. If you want to watch their performance this week, also, it will be airing on Speed2, live, on Sunday at 12p.m.
Another Z06X Update
This will, most likely, be the last time that I post an update pertaining to the Corvette Z06X (at least, so far as its appearance at SEMA is concerned), but I came across a video with a live walk-around of the vehicle that I felt really needed to be shared, as well. If you're like me, you think the Z06X is, in its theory, a fantastic vehicle idea with a ton of promise. I'd love to see Chevrolet do a limited release run of the vehicle to consumers, as I'm certain a lot of track-warriors would be ecstatic to have their hand on one. This video--the first half of which provides a walk-around of the Camaro SSX (Chevrolet's Camaro track companion to the Z06X)--provides a pretty great look at the vehicle and some information directly from one of the team leads in charge of its construction.
Check it out, and enjoy! (If you want to skip the Camaro SSX portion, skip ahead to 3:00. I recommend watching the entire thing, though, as what they did with a heavy Camaro is pretty interesting as well).
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.
Corvette Runs Ad Highlighting Petit Le Mans Victory
Continuing in their recent slew of increased marketing spending and Corvette hype, Chevrolet is celebrating the Corvette's recent victory at the Petit Le Mans with a great advertisement. First seen this month in USA Today, the ad highlight's the Corvette Petit Le Mans victory to close out the C6 Racing year. It was a great victory which came down to the wire and was ultimately decided thanks in part to a poor pit stop and fueling error by the Ferrari team. It's a great ad, and definitely does a good job of highlighting a very important win for the Corvette racing team.
Text-In case you can't read it in the image scan.
THE WINNER OF PETIT LE MANS
As Seen by Porsche, Ferrari and BWM
Chevy celebrates the tremendous end-of-the-season win by Corvette Racing at Petit Le Mans with this full page advertisement in the Friday, October 8th edition of USA Today.
Congratulations to Corvette Racing and Compuware Corvette
No. 4 drivers Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen and Emmanuel Collard.
After 9+ hours covering 902 miles, you proved once again
it’s not where you start. It’s where you finish.
Corvette ZR1 and Porsche 911 Turbo Comparison
MotorTrend, who loves their comparisons, seems to prefer the Corvette and 911 comparison more than any other. Over the years they've pitted these two monsters against one another time and time again. There has always been a theme in these comparisons, too. The first bit of it is that the Corvette is faster in a straight line, and that the Porsche is more fancy, well-built, and ready for a track. But, hold on! This comparison seems to result in a strange role reversal!
In their drag comparison, MotorTrend found the 911 to actually be quicker than the ZR1, a result that I'm sure very few people expected. The Corvette ZR1 was no slouch, either. But, the 911 Turbo's quickness is absolutely impressive. The 911 was able to post a 11.2 second quarter mile, a time that's impressive, but it is in the 0-60 and 0-30 MPH ratings that the 911 Turbo really tore it up. The 911 went from a stand-still to 30MPH in just one second! In less time than it took you to read that sentence, the 911 Turbo could have been going 30MPH, and that's not something to scoff at! The 911 then hit 60MPH in 3 seconds time. Again, wow. The Corvette ZR1's 11.6 1/4mile and 3.5 second 0-60 rating are fantastic, but seem almost tame in comparison to the Porsche. Now, having run that test first, I'm sure most people were expecting an all-out win for the Porsche, especially considering that while the ZR1's numbers are impressive, those Porsche ones are insane.
Of course, when MotorTrend put a professional driver behind the wheel of these two vehicles and put him on a difficult, complicated, racetrack, something interesting happened. The driver himself, after running the 1/4 mile in each vehicle, anticipated the 911 to take a decisive victory on the track. Watching him drive the vehicles though, one can quickly see how surprised he is. Making multiple comments about both the fun factor and the pure performance feel of the ZR1 while driving it, it's hard not to be impressed. The driver is able to keep his lines with relative ease, and he rockets across tight turns and through sweeping straight-aways. Using both the Traction Assist functions, and with them turned off, he's able to best the Porsche 911 Turbo. He even talks about how, at the high-speeds and through the course, the 911 feels scary by comparison to the way the ZR1 handled the course. His final numbers, through multiple laps, are a telling sign also. The best lap time that the Porsche could post was more than 3 seconds behind that of the Corvette. 3 seconds a lap is the difference between first and last in most professional races, too! He posits a lot of the performance difference comes from the ZR1's handling (a surprise when going against the TT, AWD 911) and it's big, strong, and responsive carbon brakes.
Perhaps the most telling of the entire comparison came in their standing mile times. Across the Mojave Flats, the Vette was able to post an impressive 177MPH standing mile, and even go as high as 195MPH in a straight-away. The Porsche, on the other hand, didn't fair so well. The test 911 that they had for the comparison broke! That's right, the Corvette ZR1 went to the very edges of its capabilities in the dry and hot Mojave, without so much as a mechincal hiccup, but the Porsche 911 Turbo couldn't even finish it's standing mile! In years past, this would've been the biggest shocker of all, but Chevy has definitely fixed their build-quality reputation over the last few years, and the reviewers didn't even seem surprised by this result.
So, there you have it, a quick recap of the MotorTrend comparison which put two long-time arch-enemies against one another and saw a strange and surprising reversal of roles. With the Corvette officially winning 2 of the 3 comparison tests it was put in to, also, I think a very clear cut winner has been found. Of course, MotorTrend will never say one way or another that one vehicle's vastly superior, but I think the video and the results speak for themselves. What do you think? Would you rather drive the Porsche 911 Turbo or the Corvette ZR1?
Road and Track’s Road vs Track ZR1 and C6.R Showdown
Road & Track lived up to their name this time when they pitted the ultimate American Road machine, the Corvette ZR1, against the ultimate American track machine, Corvette Racing's C6.R. The ZR1 is a nasty, aggressive, mean, cruel, powerful, and all around monster of a production vehicle that uses its 6.2L Supercharged V8 to tear up stretches of asphalt and spit them out. The C6.R has been dominating in its class all year long, and if a beautiful and incredible piece of machinery that highlights the dance-like capabilities of the Corvette body on the track. Radical vs Refined. Beast vs Beauty. Road vs Track.
The C6.R, as the comparison shows, is still a powerful and capable machine. The regulations of the ACO prohibit the C6.R from utilizing the bigger, more powerful engine of the ZR1. They also limit the brakes, and other aspects, of the C6.R, so that it must shave weight wherever it can to maximize performance. Because of its weight-saving designs, and its race tuned body, the C6.R does more with less, and posts track times that are the envy of most other vehicles on Earth. Of course, in doing all of this, it loses a lot of the explosive tail-end focused power of the ZR1. The ZR1 provides this power thanks to its TVS Supercharged LS9 which delivers 638 and 604 Torque to its wide wide wheels. The vehicle is still designed for road driving though, and because of that comes with the niceties and amenities (A/C, Stereo, Power Accessories) that are expected of such. These things give it a much heavier build than the C6.R, and as result, a tail-end that, while powerful, is infamous for losing itself around sharp corners quickly. Who can blame it though? With that much power, it can't be an easy job to hold the asphalt. I've also never read or seen any review of the ZR1 that doesn't call it an absolute blast to drive, many of which even highlight its wild and aggressive nature (and fish-tailing rear-end) as reasons why it is, possibly, the ultimate driver's vehicle.
Based on these two things, this is definitely a fun and interesting comparison, the results of which aren't wholly surprising, but which are cool to see. Here's a little teaser video for the upcoming Road & Track magazine that's worth a watch, and be sure to check out the actual written comparison when it's released, as it looks like it will be a great article, from start to finish.
Juan Pablo Montoya’s ZR1 Drive – Video
Last week I wrote about Juan Pablo Montoya getting behind the wheel of a ZR1 and tearing up the Milfrod Proving Grounds. Well, thankfully, no one would let such an event occur without video, so here it is. Before the video, I thought I'd include a few more quotes from JPM after the event that I particularly enjoyed. I wont go in to any greater detail about the day at the track though, as I already did that in my last update. So without further ado, here are the quotes and the awesome video of JPM tearing it up with a ZR1.
"On Thursday I was at the GM Proving Ground (Milford, MI) driving a Corvette and scaring people around. That was a lot of fun. I scared a lot of people (laughs); that was fun. It’s a really, really cool little race track with up and down and off-camber corners. If you’re going to build a circuit, you should go and see that before you do something because it was wow.”
“Oh, they were sweating a lot and I was driving the car over two laps. I was kind of surprised (laughs). It was fun. I don’t know how they do it but I took all the tracking control and stability controls and switched everything off. You’re power-sliding and spinning the tires in fourth gear and things like that. When you’re trying to hang onto the car at 150 mph with a passenger beside you; you’ve got to be on it and you’re driving the car. I mean as a passenger, I wouldn’t be my own passenger. Put it that way (more laughter).”
"I leave always a little bit of margin, especially in the faster corners. The slower ones, I really go at it and do a little drifting here and there and it’s just fun. It becomes fun for me as well because you’re enjoying yourself and I was very impressed with the car. I was really impressed with the car. I drove a Corvette many years ago, but when you drive on the street you never really know what the car can do. And this was like a track day. And this was an awesome race track. So it was fun.”
Juan Pablo Montoya Tore Up Some Track in a Corvette ZR1
Read a recent article highlighting a day at Milford Proving Ground (also known as the Lutz-ring) with Juan Pablo Montoya behind the wheel of a ZR1. All in all, it sounds like an absolute blast, which I'm sure it was. Any time you have a race driver of that ability handling a vehicle with that much potential, the results are certain to be great. There's a lot of posturing on the history of both the GM owned course and the GM produced vehicle that I wont bore you with. Suffice it to say: this track is a tough but fun, 3-mile 17 turn raceway, and the Corvette ZR1 will turn you inside-out with its power and performance. The interesting part of the article, to me, was where we got word from J-PM on what he thought of driving the Corvette ZR1. Bear in mind before reading this that this is coming from a man whose job it is to handle a vehicle at 160 mph and who is well-documented for his love of European supercars. When I say super, I mean super too, like Porsche GT2 and whatever new monster Ferrari is producing. Well, the ZR1 is definitely the American equivalent of those supercars, and the quotes from Juan-Pablo listed in the article certainly highlight that. So, here we go, taken directly from Sam Abuelsamid's article on Examiner.com:
Montoya agreed as he climbed out of the Corvette with an ear-to-ear grin. "This thing is insane. You want to have fun and play around? It doesn't get any better than this."
For a driver like Montoya that is used to driving high-powered cars for a living to be this impressed with a road machine is saying a lot. He later referred back a Ferrari 360 he once owned, calling it "an understeering pig!" Discussing the Corvette "with a lot of European cars they are very precise and they don't really move, but you don't get the excitement of the driving. Yes you're going really fast but this car brings that out a lot more. It's exciting to drive and will get your heart pumping really fast. I do this for a living and I was stressed." Stressed in a good way though.
This writer has driven the ZR1 and other cars at high speeds on a variety of tracks over the years, but riding alongside Montoya in the ZR1 truly was a thrill ride better than anything you'll experience at Cedar Point. He had the ZR1 on its limits, drifting through every corner and fully compressing the suspension through the carousel. Watching a driver of Montoya's caliber working the steering wheel and steering with the throttle was a joy to behold and really put my own ample but clearly much more limited driving skill in perspective. Nonetheless it was a worthwhile way to spend an afternoon.
Very Cool!