LT1 Based Engine Tech 1993-1997 LT1/LT4 Engine Related

Top speed

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 07-16-2003, 02:04 PM
  #1  
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Red96Lt1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Birmingham, Al
Posts: 2,253
Top speed

I was just wondering what the top speed of a Z28 was. I know it will go 150MPH and it still had a little more.
Red96Lt1 is offline  
Old 07-16-2003, 02:09 PM
  #2  
Registered User
 
FireAm94's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Decatur, AL
Posts: 699
I believe the documented speed is 153....I had my t/a to 154.

Joe
FireAm94 is offline  
Old 07-16-2003, 02:12 PM
  #3  
Registered User
 
ibanez6rg's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 4,579
163mph the speed limiter kicks in, I believe. So around in there, give or take a few.
ibanez6rg is offline  
Old 07-16-2003, 02:23 PM
  #4  
Registered User
 
FireAm94's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Decatur, AL
Posts: 699
WOW....that must be a 2500lb camaro to go 163 stock! You have your legs sticking through the floorboard pulling a fred flintstone? BTW..there is no speed limiter that is 163....the zrated cars didn't have one.

Joe
FireAm94 is offline  
Old 07-16-2003, 02:23 PM
  #5  
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Red96Lt1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Birmingham, Al
Posts: 2,253
Is it a governor, or is it the rev limiter. At that speed in 5th gear you're pretty close to 5500 RPM's.
Red96Lt1 is offline  
Old 07-16-2003, 02:35 PM
  #6  
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Red96Lt1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Birmingham, Al
Posts: 2,253
Found some good info.

http://www.car-videos.com/performanc.../top_speed.asp

And this one is kinda cool. It's a top speed calculator. For all you with lots more mods than me. Everything is set up for a camaro with P245 55ZR16's and in 5th gear. So all you gotta do is figure out how much HP ya got and at which RPM. I thought it was pretty cool. I guess someone was really bored.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jonaa/topspeed.html

it's funny how weight isn't a factor in the calculation. I guess it's negligable for the average car.
Red96Lt1 is offline  
Old 07-16-2003, 02:51 PM
  #7  
Registered User
 
FireAm94's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Decatur, AL
Posts: 699
Weight plays a big factor in top speed from how I understand physics.

Joe
FireAm94 is offline  
Old 07-16-2003, 03:02 PM
  #8  
Registered User
 
Canadian z28's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Toronto
Posts: 230
Does My 95 Z have a speed limiter on it? if so what speed. I heard it comes in at 4th gear doing 4000rpm is this true?
Canadian z28 is offline  
Old 07-16-2003, 03:04 PM
  #9  
Registered User
 
Joe Bellman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Indy
Posts: 373
Originally posted by FireAm94
Weight plays a big factor in top speed from how I understand physics.

Joe
Drag plays an even bigger factor.

My Yamaha FZ1 has 125 horse at the wheel and wieghs around 550lbs with me on it but only does 155. about 4.4lbs per horse.

The Z28 is something like 3,400lbs with about 235 horse at the wheel and it does 155. about 14lbs per horse.

The drag on the motorcycle is horrible, that is why they both go the same speed. Granted, the bike will get there A LOT faster though.
Joe Bellman is offline  
Old 07-16-2003, 03:05 PM
  #10  
Registered User
 
raceryan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Lexington Park, MD
Posts: 176
If your car came from the factory with Z rated tires RPO code QLC, you don't have a speed governor.
raceryan is offline  
Old 07-16-2003, 03:14 PM
  #11  
Registered User
 
ibanez6rg's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 4,579
Yea, you're right. I guess I wasn't going 160mph in a 96SS

A stock Z will get there just give it time.

And how is GM just gonna let cars go without speed limiters?? I'm pretty sure there is one and for some reason people get them raised when getting their PCM tuned. What would be the point of paying money to get it raised if there wasn't one to begin with

Originally posted by FireAm94
WOW....that must be a 2500lb camaro to go 163 stock! You have your legs sticking through the floorboard pulling a fred flintstone? BTW..there is no speed limiter that is 163....the zrated cars didn't have one.

Joe

Last edited by ibanez6rg; 07-16-2003 at 03:21 PM.
ibanez6rg is offline  
Old 07-16-2003, 03:35 PM
  #12  
Registered User
 
FireAm94's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Decatur, AL
Posts: 699
I don't think they went to a 100 mile stretch to get the official top speed. But if you wanna be like that you could probably go downhill for about 200 miles and get a couple more than that. I think we are talking about realistic top speed here...and actual...not your speedo. Tires expand at that speed and you may find out that your speedo reads high or low. You cannot go by your gauges.

Joe
FireAm94 is offline  
Old 07-16-2003, 03:41 PM
  #13  
Registered User
 
KeVMaN's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Modesto, CA
Posts: 646
Originally posted by ibanez6rg
Yea, you're right. I guess I wasn't going 160mph in a 96SS

A stock Z will get there just give it time.

And how is GM just gonna let cars go without speed limiters?? I'm pretty sure there is one and for some reason people get them raised when getting their PCM tuned. What would be the point of paying money to get it raised if there wasn't one to begin with
people that got the crappy ones w/ out z rated tires and the 110mph speedo have speed limiters. Simple tire swap and pcm adjustment and they are the same as the other ones. thats why...

Last edited by KeVMaN; 07-16-2003 at 03:43 PM.
KeVMaN is offline  
Old 07-16-2003, 03:43 PM
  #14  
Registered User
 
OldSStroker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 2,931
Originally posted by FireAm94
Weight plays a big factor in top speed from how I understand physics.

Joe
Nope, weight doesn't play much of a factor at all in top speed. It matters a lot in acceleration however. From physics, F=ma or solving for a (acceleration), a =F/m.

Top speed occurs when power available equals power required. Power required is made up of power required to overcome friction and aerodynamic drag. Except for a little more friction in the wheel bearings, weight doesn't have an effect.

It is true that the a heavier car will take longer to get to top speed, but the speed will be the same...eventually.

Any aero device (wings, etc) which creates lift (or downforce) also creates induced drag, or drag due to lift/downforce. Some guys at Bonneville use hundreds of pounds of lead in the chassis to get the downforce they need to keep a car from lifting. Sometimes this is called "zero drag downforce". It doesn't hurt traction on the salt either. In this case, lots of extra weight helps top speed! One gen 3 camaro with completely stock body did 234 mph. at B'ville with a NA small block. It weighted about 5000 lbs, but had zero aero devices on the body. Those skinny rear tires really bit into the salt!

My $.02
OldSStroker is offline  
Old 07-16-2003, 03:43 PM
  #15  
Registered User
 
FireAm94's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Decatur, AL
Posts: 699
If you wanna do a search on the board you'll find a bunch of posts about the speed limiter and stuff. Fbody.org no longer has the info about it so....

Joe
FireAm94 is offline  


Quick Reply: Top speed



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:25 AM.