hpfiend

Agreed- the interiors in the corvettes are not as nice as equal generation german cars- they are about 8-10 years behind. The c6 is better than the c5 and both are worlds above most the rest of GM except for maybe a caddy or the gto for some reason. I swear the POS "BOSE" headunit that came in my z06 looks like it came out of a 90s blazer. And the plastic gas pedal next to a nice aluminum brake and clutch... I have spoken with a c5 engineer (online) and he says everyone complains about these little details but they add up and that is why the car costs 50some grand instead of 100- c5 at least-

Thanks guys- EFI live sounds like what I want AJ- Is a c6 EBCM compatible with a c5? Do you know who makes them? I think I am interested in the PCM side of the traction control anyhow... Scott- Would you say EFIlive is worth $150 more than the Pro version and 300 more than the basic version of HP tuners?

oops... Again I never said Porsches were not neat or fun to drive- about any porsche of any vintage except for maybe the 912 or 356Bs will still turn my head in appreciation- I just said they are overpriced for their performance and not very reliable. I guess what we are arguing here is the value in the two purchases. I could care very little about status so that does not figure into it for me but I know it does for many others it does or Porsche would likely be out of business- And FWIW we have met before Chris, if you remember, and I think your Audi is pretty impressive for what you have done to it- I just dont want one.

My friend, my parents were in the Porsche club for 20 some years. They have had 914s, 911s, Audis, VWs, etc. I am well aware the 924 is an entry level Porsche- my dad sold his 67 vette for it and it was one of the poorest decisions he ever made and it was every bit as much of a prize as far as "build quality" and reliability, as my dad's much later 1 of 16 911. That is why I inherited it with only 35K miles and we had no qualms about bastardizing it with a GM V6 as a father son project. The c5 and newer corvettes are so far beyond the Porsches that unless you are interested in status at the cost of performance and $ it is a no brainer. I think this is about the same time that porsche clubs stopped having the porsche vs corvette meets ;-). I will agree with you that German cars are very fun to drive when new and under warranty- they are "neat" but very expensive things go wrong with them that would never go wrong on a corvette- Answer me why the guys who repair them and who know them much more than the average "porschephile" never drive them- too expensive? No- other than air cooled 911s they depreciate worse than almost any other car except for maybe a Mercedes so they can definitely afford the used versions of them. I almost bought a 951 recently (again fun to drive factor) but I am well aware what I would be getting into as I have owned one - beginner model or not- and my parents have owned several during my life. What does my dad drive now? 2008 LS3 C6.

Have you ever owned a Porsche? I have. I daily my z06 unless there is snow on the ground and it is very reliable. I wont even respond to the build quality issue as it is laughable on the porsche side.

Wow that is an awesome resource! Is the same available for the lsx motors and/or the corvettes?

lol are you serious? At least they are slowly closing the gap but it still costs 28K more and everyone knows how much porsche options cost and that the zr1s are going below sticker.

hey all- what software/tuner would you use and why? hptuners? diablo? EFILive? LS1Edit, etc? Interested in looking at competitive driving mode,active handling, torque management, paddle shifters on an auto, built in HUD shift indicator, CAGS, etc. Thanks, Andrew

What harness are you guys referring to? Fuel injection?

GM build book? 1300 hp? Intrigued....

stroker inline 6? harness? for the jeep fuel injection? We don't want to go offroad really- just have a nice sounding, smooth running V8 with a holley 4 barrel for easy maintenance- it may even get better gas mileage...

Hey all- Thinking about a potential project- My dad has an 87 wrangler inline 6 4wd 5spd with only 4K miles on it... it is the last year before they went to fuel injection and the engine is not that great as a result. He rarely drives it (obviously)- he bought it new and a v8 would probably destroy the value if he ever decides to sell it--- but he always talks about putting a 283 or 327 in it so thought I would ask around.... We may buy another one in bad shape to practice on first as this one is so mint. Thanks! Andrew

What am I missing here... You have a 350Z you like the handling but want more power? You are thinking of spending 15K to swap some high stress high headache engine into a car with a suspension/drivetrain it was never designed for? Why not just sell the 350Z and buy a c5 corvette? It already has an lsx in it and I would bet it has a beefier drivetrain than the 350z. I don't know how much 350z's weigh but c5s and definitely the c5z are pretty light- around 3000 lbs so you may need less power. How big of a tire can you fit on a 350z? I have 295s on my c5z and I *think* 335s will fit on stock fenders. You can add a bolt on sts turbo kit for 8 grand or so / blowers for 4-6 / or whatever IPS charges for their turbo setups- tough to tell from their website... All this assumes you are set on drag racing with IRS in the first place....

was that the last one? my dad and I were going to swing by but were too tired from planting trees all day to stay up all night racing...

is a sportsman block the r302?

if you want to do the work I would try and get a factory intake and put the e7s on and a stock hood, swap those out, leave the cam as its not worth the hassle of taking out, rear-end isn't worth much to bother with swapping a stocker in unless it also has an eaton/locker or some 31+ spline setup in it with aftermarket axles- Id also leave the exhaust and pullies as they isnt worth the hassle either. so in short I would sell the upper/lower intake, blower, and hood, then sell the car as a lightly modified fox gt. Ideally a stock cam would help but again you have to find a stock one and then fight those rusty ass water pump bolts that love to break, mess with the timing chain cover and the oil pan seal which can be tough, etc etc etc.

oops

Depends on how extensive the work is done - if alot of bolt ons/power adder I say part it- if mostly NA, other than the heads and intake most else is not worth much as people are afraid of used short blocks... i

Nice! That sounds like what I need- what does the shifter look like? Why did you go another route bdh?

Thanks for sharing! That is very impressive for a solid axle car. Very surprising as well that the mid-engined exotic level Ford GT is also now bested by the souped up pony car of the same make. FWIW there was no 2005 z06 but I am assuming who ever compiled the data meant 2006.

I will grant you that the shelby is more comfortable as it does not have a race bred suspension and is larger. But as far as squeaking less I am wondering if you are comparing it to a c3/c4? My 03Z is with 23K miles has much less squeak and rattle than an 09 v6 mustang I drove as a rental with 1400 miles. My dad's c6 with the removable top is also quieter so far but he only has 5K miles. You are correct the shelby is not a standard mustang and a z06 is not a standard vette so it isn't mustang versus vette at resale it is shelby vs z06 and they are pretty close actually according to these 2 links that granted aren't that reliable. 150-200K for both a 1965 shelby and a 1963 z06 (unless celebrity status comes into play) http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/dec2005/bw20051229_129027.htm http://www.z06vette.com/forums/f4/z06vett-our-only-1963-z06-owner-191/ It all depends if the women you ask are interested in the cars themselves or the income base that buys them- but imo it is hard to argue that the aesthetic design quality of an economy car (add a badge, wheels, and spoiler=v6->shelby) is on par with a world class sports car.

http://rangeracceleration.com/

This I want to see supported... maybe if I were driving the vette and and sam strano in the mustang.

Depends what you are going to do with it.... In short if you want to casually drag race get the gt500, otherwise get the vette. If you are going to autox/road race or drive on public streets well beyond where you should be driving get the vette. For a daily- either would be fun but the back seat in the gt500 (if they still have them KEY if you have any small children but I dont think you do) and slightly bigger trunk could be more practical. I think they went to a panhard bar/torque arm rear so while an improvement in handling over the 4 link it is still not going to feel as stable in the corners under normal driving with rear-end skips and the weight difference again would really show. The vette would likely destroy it in gas mileage. If you want to seriously drag race I wouldn't buy either as the gt500 is pig heavy and the vette takes a lot of money to get a reliable yet decent hooking setup in transmissions/halfshafts/differentials/spindles/etc. If you drive either one the collectors value goes down but I would argue that the shelby may be more limited in numbers but I wouldn't call either ultra-rare it will always be a mustang and standard 60's vettes cost a lot more than standard 60s mustangs. It all depends on what happens down the road. If shelbys continue to be made (which is likely as that is fords only "answer" to the vette) and GM or whoever buys the vette program after they go broke again drops the z06 for another 40 years the vette will be worth more. Look at the 1963 IIRC z06. As far as turning heads, gearheads love both the shelby and the z06- if you are looking to awe women and children in addition get the vette. Am I biased? Sure, but I loved my 5.0 and may be building another soon.

Hey all-- I don't know much about automatics other than the fact that the really fast drag cars use them. I like to shift but know that it puts a lot of stress on the drivetrain and they tend to break more parts. So... what does a manual valve body do? Do you actually shift it with a shifter? My dad's C6 has paddle shifter buttons but it just feels artificial without rowing the shifter. Are there other options to SHIFT an auto? I am going to join umtra sometime later today but I already know their position ;-) Laters, Andrew