L88 Superiority

Invetterate

CCCUK Member
All those cars are very impressive! I see they quoted the factory figures for the L88 and the ZL1 Camaro! The latter didn't get off the line well and the Vette was really well driven on every pass. The 442 got a great start and 455ci of torque held it for a while. Always thought that and the Olds GSX were the "sleepers" of the muscle car era. Now all I need to do is find a ZL1 Vette and a lot of money......
 

CaptainK

CCCUK Member
Fantastic video watching all those great cars. A lot of close runs and I noticed a lot of the time the Vette was the winner mostly because they had quicker reactions from the green light.

Now all we need is a video of the L88 vs your Vette Roscobbc. :)
 

Roscobbc

Moderator
I'm guessing a numbers of things 'help' the Vette beat the other cars - A. weight (or comparitive lack of) and better front/rear distribution than the others - B. IRS - C. upper end torque and ability to 'rev-out' - D. an experienced driver pulling 'hole shots' every run. I'm guessing none of them were running slicks. I thought the Olds was actually the most impressive - notice how well it got 'off the line' and how good the front to rear weight transfer was........
 

Mr. Cricket

Committee Member
My red LT-1 in 1975 taken with 8mm now on DVD and came with the car. What a time and place to have been alive! That L88 noise will send me off to sleep tonight

9670
 

Roscobbc

Moderator
Fantastic video watching all those great cars. A lot of close runs and I noticed a lot of the time the Vette was the winner mostly because they had quicker reactions from the green light.

Now all we need is a video of the L88 vs your Vette Roscobbc. :)
Perhaps not as 'far away' from L88 performance as I may have initially thought. This was 2nd of two runs at North Weald a few years ago. Couldn't do any better than that on the day with major wheelspin issues up at about 80mph on the concrete runway surface. Engine was relatively freshly built and the
restrictive exhaust was holding things back over 4500 rpm.20210303_153521.jpg
 
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Forrest Gump

CCCUK regional rep
I'm guessing a numbers of things 'help' the Vette beat the other cars - A. weight (or comparitive lack of) and better front/rear distribution than the others - B. IRS - C. upper end torque and ability to 'rev-out' - D. an experienced driver pulling 'hole shots' every run. I'm guessing none of them were running slicks. I thought the Olds was actually the most impressive - notice how well it got 'off the line' and how good the front to rear weight transfer was........
And one other thing - he’s running a 4:56 diff !!
 

CaptainK

CCCUK Member
Perhaps not as 'far away' from L88 performance as I may have initially thought.
Nice one thanks. :)

I see engine numbers everywhere.... and I was amused that your time of "13.27" was translated in my brain as "1 327" (as in "a/one" 327) - which is what my Corvette has under the hood. I wonder what its 1/4 mile time would be? Obviously taking into account I've not done 1/4 mile stuff before.
 

Roscobbc

Moderator
And one other thing - he’s running a 4:56 diff !!
See what you mean Andy - yes, 4.56 gears on the Vette and.......4.10 gears with auto on the Hemi Super Bee - so yes a fairer match. If one looks in to powerband characteristics of the L88 engine the powerband it is all developed at 1500 - 2000 rpm higher than what would be considered normal for 'street' vehicles and hence the need for lower gears to be in the 'power band'. The Hemi Super Bee presumably 'needs' the lower gear-set to counteract its heavier body, even with an auto transmission. My long ago owned 'drag pak' '71 429 Mustang hds a 4.11 gear and auto........horrible, noisy and potentially dangerous out there on the street - 4000 rpm at 70mph o_O.
 

Forrest Gump

CCCUK regional rep
The 4:56 is great for the strip but difficult to live with on the road. The car looks quite stock otherwise. Stock wheels.
 
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