Initially, this may seem like an absurd question, but hear me out. How much horsepower is too much for a weekend driver? I ask this because I am a new (and proud) owner of aC3, it is my first sportscar, I think it is fast, but I want to go faster. Therefore, I started doing research on how to get more horsesout of the'82. The X-Ram site claims that the many '82's they used as a baseline tomeasure their products improvements only had somewherebetween 140 and 160hp at the wheels.My car will lay a nice patch of rubber and then hooks up. Thisforces me to ask if Idouble the hp, I won't be able to useit toaccelerate faster off the line. Let's be realistic... Our country will be using stop light cameras everywhere in the next decade (so forget about laying twenty foot patches) and you cannot go more than 100 mph without risking having your license seized. That is why I would rather build something that is extremely fast up to legal speed limits and can be usedfortrips less than 200 miles. In terms of traction, there does not seem to be a lot that can be changed on the suspension andtire widths. Am I missing something? Do I need to do more research? Do the Goodyear Eagle GT II's suck as tires go?

 

Suspention and tires do play a big part in gettin'your Vette, or any car for that matter, to "hook up". As far as the "Eagles", many people have their own favorites. I for one, like "Coopers". Don't know about how theydo in the 1/4, but in the twisties they seem to perform quite well. I'm not into smokin' the rubber off my tires, just smokin' the comp in the turns. If I can beat somebody, and never go over the speed limit, the better for me, the car, my wallet, and my tires. ( and "Smoky" leaves me alone )

 

Correction: XRam stated that most corvettes tested had 122 to 128 hp.

This makes me sad. [sm=boohoo.gif]

 

Good thing the car isn't any longer than it is!