C6 Z06 Vararam Installation Completed - I hope!

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Well, a break in harvest finally allowed me to tackle the installation of my Snake Charmer last night. It took a little longer, ended up having to finish it in the dark with a trouble light but I sure am excited to try it tout today. I have to get some swather and combine parts, get some grain graded and then hopefully in the middle of the afternoon I might be able to fire it up!

My thanks to Manny for "holding my hand" and guiding me through this process, I hope I didn't make a total balls up of the install!

It is sort of fun though to try you hand at what ought to be a straightforward swap.

Now to go pick pop bottles for my "header fund" so I can be one of Manny's Edmonton jobs if we get enough work for him to come out, no custom combining in sight for me yet sadly!

Cheers,

Garry
 
OK, back home and getting ready to go out.

Just to let you know why I might be nervous and some of the stupid things I've done well let me tell you.

With my old Datsum 280ZX I had read that it was possible to substitute a set of Tubro 280 injectors in the NA car. So I ordered a set and swaped them out. Turned the key, the car starts. Now I'm feeling like a God. Drive at a snails pace to the paved road, turned and then floored it.

The result? A whole lot of sputtering but not a lot of action!

Thus not the most confident about these things. But I've done 3 CAI since then without problems. Just never tinkered around with a car that at one time cost $120,000!!!!!!!!

I should have results either within a few minutes or within an hour or maybe posted from jail!

Cheers,

Garry
 
So back in exactly one hour.

The car started!

So I drove to the pavement, sadly I live down 5/8 mile of gravel so it is puttering along at 20 km/hr! Now very oddly, 1/2 to my right, is a set of flashing lights. Now while this is a secondary highway it is VERY unusual to see a police car (RCMP) on this stretch of road. It turned out to be a Sherrif car (Alberta) but again very unusual. Plus they tend to work in pairs.

So I stopped almost beside them, popped the hood and checked the hoseclamps. I was complacent about this sort of thing and so imagine the surprise after I installed my CAI in the Dakota and popped the hood one day to find out that the filter had vibrated itself off the piping! Don't need that experience again!

So putter into town, fuel up, wash the car and then head back out.

Drive for about four miles to make sure they're not lying in wait, turn around and then up through the gearbox.

What are my impressions?

Well, it is already such a darn fast car that it is hard to tell if it is any faster. I make a few passes up to 250 km/hr and it is still the seat slamming acceleration that it has always had.

Now there may be a difference in the exhaust note say starting at about 3000 rpm.

Now one question for the other Z06 owners out there, while I always keep the traction/stability control on, from say a rolling 10 km/hr when I floor the car I've never been able to spin the tires. I still can't do that. Nor with the traction/stability control off can I do that.

Now I realize that I've got some 13 inch wide tires but I thought with 505 hp and now a little more that I'd be able to smoke the tires effortlessly. Now I'm not a 1/4 mile bracket racer type of guy but I always thought it would be pretty easy to spin the tires and I haven't been able to do that yet. Now the power is there, having had the car to 293 km/hr and it still pulling hard, but just not able to get the smoking start I thought would be so easy with a car like that.

Any of you have any experiences?

The car may be running a bit warmer but doing a few consecutive passes at full throttle that may be the cause. I'll have to wait until tomorrow when I go to get my son and get some longer just highway speeds under my belt to see if this is really the case or not.

Plus as they warn in the instructions, it take a few miles of driving before the engine's computer adjusts to the faster air flow, so they say.

But so far, so good and unlike my previous tinkering, the car still runs like a banshee!

Now I'm almost starting to think that I need to double my investment over the headers I had been considering for around 3K and look at that supercharger that Manny just posted about for 7K if he can do that on his spring Edmonton trip..................

Cheers,

Garry
 
Garry.

Great write-up. Does the CAI sound a lot different than before?

Some nice speeds your hitting that Z06 on the hiway--JEEBUS, that's fast! I can't say I've had the same pleasure in mine. I'd like to put mine through the gears on Shaftesbury trail. Totally remote with new pavement to boot!!!
 
You're having too much fun out there Garry .:eek:

Definitely sounds like you've got the mod bug........and congrats on the successful V-Ram install.

They say after you get the mod bug then "way too much horsepower"....."is just plain not enough".

Why not cut to the chase and just strap on the blower and be done with it? That should get you a quick 175....then later when time and money permits, get a pulley and stronger tune for another 50 to 100 or more if you want.:coolgleam:

$7k for a blower sounds like a deal. I'm gonna have to check that out myself.

I too like the idea of "way too much".....:D

I know another member with a new vel. yell. 'vert who would love more power. Where is that man from Welland?????

Happy modding.

C.
 
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Good morning Gentlemen,

One thing I do have to watch yet, it seems as if the length of one of the red couplers might have been nice to be a bit longer. I'm worried a bit about having a good solid fit over the beginning of the plastic shroud that is the start of the air filter housing. It is tapered at this end so the tendency would be for the red coupler to slide off, especially if it seems to be marginal for length. But I'll just have to keep an eye on it for a few trips and see if it looks OK.

Does it sound different? Yes, starting at maybe 3000 rpm there is a bit of a whine/shreek that you can hear. Oddly not as pronounced as the CAI was on my 280ZX.

I hate to say it, but it is almost a leap of faith. I've seen dyno sheets that showed that at rest the gain was between 2.5 and about 10 rwhp which is a good starting point. But being as this is more of a ram-air system than simply a CAI the position of the company is that the big power gains come when you are actually moving and more air gets forced into the air filter inlet.

I'm not sure that I have the finesse to be able to say tell between a car with 505 hp travelling down the road and say 540 hp. To be honest with the Z06 you are accelerating so fast that it just comes down to describing the experience as that, bloody darn fast!

I must comment that I am lucky in that I have a stretch of road by my place that has no residences for about 5 miles, just a straight, level road, little bush and with most of the harvest done on this road probably little opportunity for wildlife encounters.

Travelling at those speeds, while exciting (and sort of terrifying!) is certainly not the most responsible thing for me to be doing. Injury, death and major, major tickets including the loss of the car are always in my mind.

Yes, the Shaftsbury Trail would be a wonderful place to drive a car like this, nice sweeping curves, some residences, but way too much bush and I've seen way too many deer on that stretch of road for me to be comfortable to do speed runs there. And did they just pave it? I took my gf for a ride on the Shaftsbury Trail maybe back in June but have not been there since.

Now on to further mods. It just seems to be sensible from a results point of view, that to add a header for 2.5 to 3K and get maybe 40 hp more that I should bite the bullet and invest 7 K and get, if it can be believed 175 rwhp more which would put me past ZR1 performance with a lighter curb weight and lower air resistance (0.34 vs. 0.35) ought to be most satisfactory. But I am also not sure what types of jobs Manny is able to do away from his business, if it is all bolt on that is fine and as long as he's not opening up the engine he's good to go or what. I wonder why this system is so much less than others, plus I also need a different radiator and there was no price for that.............

Maybe it would be a suitable 6th anniversary of being cancer free gift to myself?!

I'm somewhat still puzzled about the lack of tire smoke. Perhaps I need to do it the old fashioned way from a standing start and run the throttle to 2,000 or 2,500 rpm and side-step the clutch and then punch it. How do the guys on the Youtube video's get sideways in their 1 to 2 gear shift also is eluding me. Take off the traction and stability control?

But 5 months into the experience of this car, my only comment is that any of the people with the SRT 8 Challengers or 427GT Mustangs are really missing the boat in not buying a slightly used Z06 instead. I'm 6,500 km into the car now and it really is the drive of a lifetime for those of us not on a Koenigsegg budget.

Cheers,

Garry

It is a pity, as I mentioned on a previous thread, that the other Z06 owner that I met in Peace River one day was not more sociable as the best way to test this car would be (outside of controlled before and after passes on a strip) would be to go head to head against a stock Z06 where all things being equal (driver weight and I'm tubby plus how full the gas tank is) might give a more solid indication of how the car is performing.
 
I was on Shaftesbury between Peace River and highway # whatever out by Eaglesham. The river would make for closeby animal danger as you said, but the pavement was smooth as a baby's bottom--if not new. Visibility was amazing!! I apologize for not attempting to make contact, as I was with one of my colleagues that day.

The lack of heavy equipment on a road is sure noticeable on Alberta hiways. I'm going from Calgary to Edmonton today--it's not a great drive. Too much traffic and giant ruts from the semis.

I say get the headers AND the supercharger and budget a flat 10k. The headers wouldn't require install by Manny, so you could get great gains whenever. Be sure to ceramic-coat them.

If I was lucky enough to have made the right decision, and went with a Z06, I'd take the LGs, but go with the pros--as opposed to the street series.

Man, reading your posts really makes me want to trade-up to a Z06 Garry. I should test-drive one someday.
[mob][/mob]
 
I am sorry that I missed you when you were in the area! My 1st inperson with a friendly Corvette owner would have been nice finally.

There are a few nice roads up here, seems to me I remember another one that runs south of Peace River (accessed through Judah Hill) going south to Girouxville that had some beautiful flat long sweeping curves. Another good stretch is on the Whitemud that has good pavement running west of it that is accessed just south of the bridge over the Little Smoky River when you are heading south of Guy to Valleyview, another nice right hand sweeper and little traffic.

The headers and SC would of course be nice to add but I'll have to wait until the grain gets sold so I see where I stand. Coating the headers I think would be a must, the powertrain produces enough heat as it is! Geeze, headed seats in this car - who ever drives them in temps cold enough for that to be needed!

I was really surprised how the numbers of both Z06 and ZR1 have dropped. I think 7 and 8,000 Z06's made in 2006 and 2007 and 500 this year? People opting for the Grand Sport it seems. It really is probably the best performance buy (used and not new) that most people will ever have the chance to experience. It is not simply a case of say taking a car like a Supra and investing 45K in total to get a faster car, but a Z06 is a purpose built to be running at 200 mph car. Not a 160 mph car with twice stock power added through mods. I mean for the $ I spent in buying the Z06 I could have produced a very powerful LS3 280ZX, but I'd be scared to take it to faster than 140 mph speeds. I added a larger throttle body and headers and CAI to the 280 and took it to 135 (top speed for this NA car) and it was frightening in terms of lack of stability - it wasn't designed for that kind of speed. The Z06 was and the stability and braking are just so eye opening that to get that sort of sophistication and technology in the hands of a regular guy like me (no Euro uber $ cars in this guys life!) is a dream prior to 2006 we'd never thought possible. Just consider the leap forward the cars made between the C5 and C6. A C5 Z06 400 hp and 170 mph. A C6 Z06 and 198 mph for just 105 hp more! My hats off to the engineers at GM and I sure hope they got good bonus's for that type of result.

I would go for a test drive for the experience. Bring a trusted friend to drive your car and do some side by side runs.....................

Cheers,

Garry
 
Garry the price for the rad is $875.00 .

Now just to clarify , when we go out west , it will be for package's only . That is -Vararam / headers /tune ONLY

We will not be doing any Supercharger work .

The headers for your car Z06 are still a much needed part of the build . So you should plan on buying some .

If you really want to do the charger , it would be best for you to drive the car here or ship here to have the work done .

Thx
Manny@dasilvamotorsports
 
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Great Posts Gary! I'm really enjoying reading them and feel like I'm right there in the car with you. Some day I wish to move up to a C6Z but it's not in the cards yet.

As for the cost of the radiator, you can always sell your stock one to offset that cost. I'm glad you are having so much fun with your car! Oh, btw, I wouldn't recommend actually side stepping your clutch, just let it out quickly. I tried side stepping the clutch pushed in only a quarter way down with the engine off and the bang it make against the dash scared me from wanting to do a full side step.
 
Thanks for the clairifiation Manny. I'll keep it in mind. I know ramming a who bunch more air into the engine would certainly benefit from a more rapid exit from the cylinders but I guess it is also a case of bang for the buck HP increase as well.

A drive to Ontario would be very nice, a real "Vettecation" as it would be. I wonder who to bring though, my son or my gf? Different reasons for taking either of them on something like this.

I wonder which would sound better of the upgrades, the headers or the SC whine?!

As Riley P prompted, Manny, do you take stock radiator cores on trade when you upgrade?

Thanks for the encouragement Riley P. I figure as a newer owner my perspective might sometimes be different and that you find it interesting is kind of you to say.

So here is my next question without wanting to start a new thread.

How do I remove the front bumper license plate mounting? It seems to be fastened with something like two-sided tape maybe? Can I reef this off or do I risk pulling paint? Should I apply heat or just how do people go about doing this? Anyone have any suggestions?

It is a cosmetic situation that I have been thinking about and while I'm sure it has no impact it does block the straight in airflow to the top of the Vararam inlet........

Cheers,

Garry
 
Good afternoon,

Well I just discovered something interesting about the front plate holder. While walking around the yard I decided to actually go and take another look. Now it is about 25 above but by no means hot. I pulled at the front of the plate holder and it just pulled back about 6 inches, I looked inside and the places it was fastened to the front bumper had these long black strings like silly putty. So I gave it a bit of a pull more and off it came!

I have a few odds and ends to clean off, you can sort of roll the glue or whatever it is into balls and just pluck it right off so it cleaned off pretty good all things considered.

Now to fire up the Z06 and it is even yellow for a school bus type color to go and get my son and I can also check to see if my very shabby shroud cutting job is resulting in the car running warmer or if it was just after all the horsing around I was doing with the car last night.

Something else I was disappointed about was I bought a radar/laser detector and I haven't come across a police car since then. Up until last night when I spotting that highway car last night that had pulled someone over when I was going for my Vararam test. I am not sure if they shut their radar units off once they've stopped someone and have pulled them over but it never made a beep as I went by him...........

So 6,800 ish for the SC and then 900 for the new rad. But I have to get the car to Manny............

Good thing folks in Alberta like to drink and throw their empies out in the ditch for me to pick up and return.

Cheers,

Garry
 
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