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View Full Version : drove a 2011 grand sport today...



IPD
03-31-2011, 08:44 PM
...but before anyone says anything, i'm not buying a corvette. :)

i drove it because i wanted a "feel" for what a higher hp car was like. it was the 6-speed auto (yes, and i wouldn't have driven anything else). :p

decent fit to the car. handled pretty nice. i'd forgotten what it was like to drive a car without having your teeth shaken out of your head by the drone of a catless single-shot. visibility was fair; although the high decklid in the rear is VERY high from the inside. acceleration was good. i was a bit "unimpressed" by it. i was expecting something to snap my neck; but this was just a firm acceleration--nothing spectacular. don't get me wrong, it got to 70mph pretty fast. i just expected a bit more from something that's supposedly got more WHP than my "little ole v6 tt".

unfortunately, i had the dealership guy riding shotgun; so i didn't really bang around the gears with the paddle-shifters too much. i'm sure i could have gotten a bit more "oomph" out of it if i'd flogged it into 2nd and planted it. it's undoubtedly faster than my car; but the distinction is marginal, i feel.

i'm not sure what the drivetrain loss on an atx ls3 vette is, but with 430 crank, it's probably making an easy 350 at the wheels; which is probably 100 more than my car has currently. and my car weighs a lot more. :) i mainly wanted to gauge how it felt going from what i have to the vette--as i sense that that difference, again, will be the same between the vette and my new build.

it felt good--just not quite good enough. definitely not 54k base price (devaluation to be 30k in 3 years) good. it's probably the turbos. cars without them just don't feel quite the same. :)

stealthee
03-31-2011, 08:48 PM
Acceleration and speed can be deceiving. My Grand Prix is much quicker than my Stealth. With 260 hp and 280 tq it better be. Even with instant boost it doesn't "feel" as fast as my Stealth. Maybe its the gearing, who knows?

IPD
03-31-2011, 08:57 PM
i quite agree. i'm sure it IS faster than my car--it just wasn't a "hands down" margin. fyi, the curb weight on the coupe (which i drove) is 3311 lbs. since my car was originally a base-model, i'd guess that makes my car 200-300lbs heavier (current form). unfortunately, since i wasn't "surprised" at all by the car; i don't know what to expect from 16g's and 3.5L. it may be something i feel comfortable with--just more of it. then again, it might scare the bejeezus out of me. i was hoping to get a better gauge for something a little closer to that--performance wise. oh well.

p.s.

the 3-spoke steering wheel looks MUCH better than the pillsbury dough boy ones that they used to have. i may have to reconsider my 3rd gen wheel in my car. i just don't want to lose the horn, airbag, cruise, radio controls, etc. :sad:

TwIzTeD_3kGt
03-31-2011, 09:08 PM
I wonder what the dyno graph looks like on the ATX Corvette. Could probably tell you why it didn't 'feel' faster just from looking at the dyno graph's side by side with the 3S.

stealthee
03-31-2011, 09:08 PM
I have become spoiled with having radio controls in the GP. :lol:

jrod
04-01-2011, 10:36 AM
ls3 grand sport is a great platform! Almost everything the Z06 has, and a lot more boostable application! The ls3 holds boost so much better than the ls7, plus you dont have to worry about that dry sump bullshit.

Any way, ls3 auto cars are quick. I went 11.8 at 119 with just a intake and headers. Stock ls3 auto cars dyno at 375-390ish. Not that much drive train loss, the auto eats up more power than anything.

IPD
04-01-2011, 12:25 PM
guess my car is deceptively slow. it feels much faster than it is. :sad:

IPD
04-03-2011, 08:06 AM
btw...i've heard rumors that the c7 corvette (due ~sometime in mid 2012) could potentially have a blown v6 in the base models...

i wonder how those guys with the v8's would feel 6 months after purchase when the tuners are putting out 800whp from the "bases".

92 Stealth TT
04-03-2011, 08:39 PM
i like the idea of the grandsport, but flat out the zo6 puts to the ground what the base makes in the engine(and about 10k difference in 3yrs). and to be honost salesmen usually allow you to push a vette. the one vette that recently impressed me was the new zr1. 638hp is rediculus. i'm sure it's awesome in a 3S, but with awd it just doesn't feel the same, that commercial said they still build rockets, you damn right they do.

stealthee
04-03-2011, 08:58 PM
I've seen nothing of the sorts. The "base" Vette will be the Grand Sport and will have a smaller, but more powerful direct injection V8.

IPD
04-03-2011, 09:46 PM
638rwhp is a late-model viper. yes, the GS doesn't have as much power; but it can be turbocharged to well past z06 levels without even breaching the cost of a z06.

i know there's been strong rumors about a 5.5L DFI v8--so i'm sure that's part of the lineup. as much as i'd love to see an FI 6-cylinder (and yes, it would harken back to the days of the c1 corvette), i don't think they'll be able to keep power at a level justifying the price of the vette. it's going to be a hard enough sell over a tau v8-equipped genesis coupe.

Chris@Rvengeperformance
04-04-2011, 10:09 AM
I can't see why GM would put a boosted v6 in there when they have already proved the LS engines can have excellent mileage, exceeding our engines easily.

There is no need to over complicate the recipe they have perfected. The only think I'd like to see is stock twin turbos instead of the blower, but you can't argue with its results.

jrod
04-04-2011, 06:34 PM
638rwhp is a late-model viper. yes, the GS doesn't have as much power; but it can be turbocharged to well past z06 levels without even breaching the cost of a z06.

i know there's been strong rumors about a 5.5L DFI v8--so i'm sure that's part of the lineup. as much as i'd love to see an FI 6-cylinder (and yes, it would harken back to the days of the c1 corvette), i don't think they'll be able to keep power at a level justifying the price of the vette. it's going to be a hard enough sell over a tau v8-equipped genesis coupe.


Viper.. Where are you getting those numbers?

The vette will never have a V6.. Its Un American. The LS9 motor is a great platform! 6.2 liter and supercharger.. Yes!

IPD
04-04-2011, 07:53 PM
touche. it was actually an i6. :p


In 1941, a 235.5-cubic-inch version of the 216 engine was introduced for use in large trucks. Both the bore (3.5625” or 90.49mm) and stroke (3.9375” or 100.01mm) were increased over the 216. This engine also had a "dipper system" as described above, in reference to the oiling system, as in the 216.

The 235-cubic-inch (3.9 L) version was added to cars in 1950 to complement the new Powerglide automatic transmission, and 3.55:1 rear differential. Hydraulic lifters were used in the Powerglide 235 and a fully pressurized lubrication system was introduced in 1953, but only in cars ordered with the "Powerglide" transmission. The 216-cubic-inch (3.5 L) continued to be standard powerplant for cars with the three speed manual transmission until 1954, when the 235-cubic-inch (3.9 L) became the standard powerplant on all its cars. Two versions were used in 1954 cars - a solid-lifter version with 123 hp (92 kW) for standard transmissions and the hydraulic-lifter 136 hp (101 kW) version (the Blueflame) for Powerglide use.

The major limitation for performance on the 235 was the design of the intake and exhaust ports. Unlike more modern straight sixes, the 235 had siamesed ports, with three intake ports and four exhaust ports. This meant the adjacent cylinders 2 and 3 and cylinders 4 and 5 shared a single exhaust port between them, whereas cylinders 1 and 6 had their own exhaust ports. Secondly, since there were only three intake ports, each port was divided between a pair of adjacent cylinders: 1 and 2, 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 shared an intake port. The design of the intake manifold also favored the middle port (and therefore the middle two cylinders). This ultimately caused the four end cylinders to receive less mixture, resulting in an unequal and unbalanced work load between the six cylinders.

From 1954 to 1963, the high-pressure 235 engine with mechanical valve lifters was used in some trucks. From 1956-1962, all 235 engines used in cars had hydraulic lifters.

It is interesting to note the original 1953 Corvette engine was the high-pressure 235 engine equipped with mechanical lifters. A 150 hp 235 engine was used in the 1954 Corvette and into 1955 (until they were all sold). The Corvette 235 was equipped with the same slightly higher-lift camshaft as used in the 261 truck engine and used triple side draft, single barrel, Carter Model YH carburetors mated to a PowerGlide transmission and dual exhaust manifold.

The Chevrolet 235-cubic-inch is known as one of the great Chevrolet engines, noted for its power and durability.

Canadian production GMC trucks used the 216 and 235 Chevrolet straight six engines as their base light duty truck powerplant in the late 1940s and early 1950s in Canada, not USA. The 216 was used from 1947 to 1953, and the 235 was used in 1954 light duty trucks only. Medium duty GMC trucks used US built GMC engines in the 248, 270 and up sizes prior to 1954.

It was optional in Checker Taxis beginning in 1965.[1]

Toyota built the 235 under license as the Toyota F engine from 1955 to 1974.

...and yes, you're technically correct. 600bhp in the 4g vipers isn't quite as much as the new zr1's. still a bit cheaper though...especially used. :)