Tonight a Porsche Carrera wanted to race me, but I ignored him. My question is, who would have won the Porsche or my C5? I just looked at the stats on the Carrera and it has only 6 cylinders/3.6 L - so I'm thinking I could have easily handed him his lunch - right? Either way, I just refuse to street race. For me, it is way too dangerous and irresponsible.

Thanks in advance.
RJ

 

RJ,

It really depends on the Carrera year and model. An S would be a challenge for a stock C5 but probably not for a Z06. A GT would smoke either.

Here’s a link that I found (on this site somewhere maybe) that shows different models. http://www.supercarx.com/articles/sp...icle_specs.htm

 

Interesting.
Thanks, Riley and thanks for the web site.

Take care, stay safe.
Rita

 

It dpends on the year and model and what your car is, too.

Realize the Carrera has been made for near 20 years so there are all sorts of models.

Late model Carreras (since 2000) have as little as 296 HP and as much as 355. They weight about 3100 lbs (two wheel drive). The 355 HP engine is actually 3.8 liters and a new design, probably underrated - it surely is fast. Some late models have full time four wheel drive which improves handling but adds weight.

My 2004 Carrera (320 HP 3.6 liter, two wheel drive) with Tiptronic (auto) will do 13.5 in the 1/4 mile. Most standard C5s would edge it out in the 1/4 mile. A 6-speed does about 3 tenths quicker - it would probably beat a C5 automatic but not a six speed.

The 355 HP Carrera S models can do 12.7-12.6 in the quarter and would give a C5 ZO6 a good run for the money.

Then there is the GT3 - it looks like a standard Carrera with a few bigger slots in the nose, and most have an ugly full time wing on the back. 415 HP, lightweight chassis. Porsches normally aspirated street racer (and much more fun than the Turbo).,

Porsches are very very quick off the line: almost nothing stock on the street can beat them from 0 to 30. A running drag race is your best bet. And don't race one through the twisties -- they are actually no faster in the curves than a 'vette but a lot of owners have taken the driving course and know how to really shoot the curves: 1 G cornering on the street is damn dangerous.

 

Thanks, Lee, for all this info. I have to get my vette tested. I bought it in February and it seems extremely fast. Don't know what all was done to it other than the pipes. None the less, I guess I don't understand how a 6 cylinder can be faster than 8.

As I said before, I will not street race - it is way too dangerous and irresponsible. Seriously, we were surrounded by other cars. Don't get me wrong, I love to step on it and feel the power, but only in safe conditions.

Thanks again.
RJ

 

A six cylinder can be faster than an eight because: its a very high tech six with every trick in the book: four valves per cylinder, double overhead cams, variable everything, dry sump, 11.5:1 compression ratio, etc., etc., and it's geared perfectly- no overdrive gears - 5 (auto) or 6 (manual) speeds and it will rev out in top gear. And all that in a car that weighs a bit less than a Corvette. 'Vette's have wonderful, lightweight, but relatively low tech engines (two valves per cylinder, a single cam in the block, no variable values of intake runners or anything, with on advantage only: lots of cubic inches.

Both approaches hae a lot of merit, and I love them both.

 

I agree with you Lee, those Porsches do have a lot of tech', but one thing i think you are a little mistaken on is the cam. This has long been a subject for heated debate, but the facts are there. The old-fashioned cam-in-block may be considered low tech, or outdated, but it's in there for a reason. The first is simplicity. Second, you got the fact that, when you press the throttle in one of these pushrod engines, it pulls, and it does it good. In a DOHC engine, you gotta wind it up before it gets in the power band. But, granted, once they get there, it's got plenty of power, but it just takes so much work to drive one of those cars. Now I understand, some people love those cars, and yes, they are nice, but when it comes down to it, a lot of technology doesn't always rein better than good ole simplicity. Like someone else on here says, "Why fix it if it ain't broken?"

 

Thanks so much to Lee and Navy Flyboy for the explanations. But tell me, I can blow the doors off a Boxster, right? Please say it can be done. Aw, either way, I still love my vette. It may not be faster, but I think it looks so much hotter and definitely sounds better. Haven't heard a Porsche yet that has the deep throaty sound like my vette, but then, I haven't heard Lee's Porsche.
No doubt, you have a very special Porsche.

Thanks again.
Take care, stay safe.

 

I do respect and admire the fast Porsche's, in a big way, but I have to say I totally agree with this post. Great post, bro. The one point about Corvette's I hope and pray that GM never changes is the V8, pushrod, front engine, rear-drive setup. In my humble opinion, it makes for the greatest cars in the world. But, I am an old school boy who cut his teeth buildin' V8 Vega's, so it's really in my blood big time.

I will always admit openly that I am biased. Can't help it; you cut me, I bleed bowtie.

But yeh, you've GOTTA respect the Porsche's, or they may surprise you one day when you least expect it. Some of them, right from the factory, are scary scary fast. [8D]

 

I used to design these things for a living, so I will say that I always loved cam in block engines because of the simplicity (which, among other things, means light weight).

But you are wrong, grossly oversimplifying the issue that DOHC cam engines do not have low end torque.

If you take two engines of equivalent displacement (say 5 liter V8s) and build one with a cam in block and the other with DOHC, you can fit the same profiles to both and both will be low-end torque monsters: same profile, same breathing, etc.

But anyone who is going to spend all the $$$ for DOHC is certainly not going to do that. He's going to put a cam profile in there that the cam in block engine, with its pushrods and lifters and rockers, can't possibly follow, one with an really aggresive ramp rate and with heavy springs that (because there are no rockers and pushrod intertia to fight) can snap the valves closed about twice as fast. Net result is that he will get more HP at higher RPM than that other engine can ever match.

But there goes the low end torque. Still, the bottom line, is that now the same displacement DOHC engine produces about 25% more power: you just gear it differently on the street (lower gears for the higher revs) but it still feels like it has no low end torque.

All that said, I always favored the cam in block engine for this reason: those two engines, both five liters, would not weigh the same (DOHCs are heavy) or fit the same (DOHCs raise the engine height up about 4 inchs. Within the same weight and space needs of that 5-liter DOHC V8, you could get not 5 liters, but about 6.5 - enough to get the HP and the low end torque.

That said, the Porsche is pretty spectacular, enough that I can say this: I expect I will never buy another 'vette, I've got one, it's my baby and I love it, but I drive a Porsche every day and its the best thing I've ever driven, and I will probably buy a new one every 3-4 years unless or until I upgrade (I want an Aston Martin DB9 V12 - big displacement and DOHC, just can't afford it yet).