2006 Corvette
 

As many of you know I recently purchased a 2006 Corvette coupe. It's a 3LT options car which is the fully loaded version with a transparent roof, bose system, heated seats (for all the winter driving), heads up display, etc. The only real option to add is the navigation, which this car didn't have, just the standard 6 disc changer. Here is a list of the performance and appearance mods the previous owner performed this past winter.

Performance
- 427 forged stroked LS3 shortblock (Eagle rods/crank, Mahle pistons, details and receipts available), 11.5:1 cr
- FAST 102 intake
- LS3 heads
- PatrickG Custom grind cam (239/247, .610/.632, 114+2)
- Comp chrome moly 7.425 pushrods
- TEA dual valvesprings w/ ti retainers
- LS7 lifters
- SLP underdrive pulley
- Monster Stage 4 Clutch w/ Lightweight Billet Flywheel and Remote Bleeder
- Built T56
- Rebuilt torque tube
- Z06 engine oil cooler
- Dewitts heavy duty radiator
- OBX 1 3/4" stainless Headers/Midpipes
- Corsa Sport axleback
- K&N CAI
- Z06 fuel pump assembly
- 57LB FAST injectors
- Stainless brake lines

Exterior
- IForged TE10 18x9.5, 19x11 wheels
- Nitto Invo 275 front, 305 rear
- 30% tint
- RPI Designs Taillight and Sidemarker blackout kit
- Extra set of 4 C5Z rear wheels w/ Pirelli slicks
- Lowering bolts installed front and rear, lowered an inch


There are a few changes I wanted to make to the car, first of all being the nav. I found a crazy deal on a stock navigation head unit for $300 including the entire bose amp and speakers. I should be able to sell the 6 disc changer and bose setup for at least $300 so basically a free upgrade.
Here is the base unit:
http://www.dsmstyle.com/photopost/da...bose_front.jpg
And here is the nav installed, took about an hour since everything was plug and play:
http://www.dsmstyle.com/photopost/data/500/nav.jpg
Nav in the heads up:
http://www.skyhighphotos.net/Corvett...s/image645.jpg

Next up on the list is the exhaust. Right now it has OBX 1 3/4" headers and 2.5" X pipe and exhaust, which people tell me is too small now that the motor is a 427. The other issue is that the car has a loud drone at 1500-1700 rpms which is pretty common for aftermarket exhausts on these cars. Chris Carey recently posted a vid of the dual mode mufflers they're installing on Evos, well the same thing comes stock on the z06 cars. They have vacuum actuators that open and close 2 of the 4 exhaust valves and makes it a straight pipe under high load. So I decided to buy a set of 3" z06 mufflers. Again, I'll be able to sell the Corsa Sport exhaust for more than I paid for the z06 mufflers and it will be quiet at cruise and really loud when I want it to be. Eventually I'll get some larger headers and mid pipes on the car too. I'll post vids of the "mild to wild" exhaust when I get it installed.

The other upgrade I plan to do in the next few months is Z51 swaybars. $200 for the Z51 front and rear kit from GM which greatly reduces body roll and improves handling according to reviews.

Possible future plans:
102mm TB and MAS to match the intake manifold
Port the intake manifold and coat it satin black for a stock look
MAYBE some better flowing heads, but this is a long ways off, over a year at least
ZR1/Z06/GrandSport widebody conversion and wider rims/tires

Pics:
http://i322.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1303841109
http://i322.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/DSC00984.jpg
http://i322.photobucket.com/albums/n...0/DSC_6439.jpg
http://www.dsmstyle.com/photopost/data/500/vette.jpg

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Targa top is secks! Love the car man, I'm jealous! Any ideas as to why it made a little less than you expected?

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

:wank: JIMP

That nav is bad ass!

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Looks mean!

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

That car is incredible

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Yummmm

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

YES T TOP FTW! Looks awesome man.

What kind of power does it put down...traction problems? :) I know my dads stock c6 has traction issues not sure how bad modded ones get.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

???

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Holy Shit that thing looks nice!

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Badass dude! I'm sad I didn't get a ride at the dyno day; you were giving plenty though.

Oh, and you left out the part about how it sounds like a rawring freight train at WOT! :D

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

T is for Targa maybe?

Car made 475hp at DB with the stock air filter and running a point rich at 11.5:1. We suspected it was also missing a little with the stock plugs and wires, so I went a step colder and gapped them down from .055 to .045 and got some nice MSD high temp wires. I also had the o2 issues fixed at Doug Rippie this past week and got it retuned with the K&N air intake that came with the car so now I'm guessing the car makes in the low 500's. This is still about 20hp lower than it should be because of the small exhaust that's on the car, I'll get that figured out in the next month or so. If I get aftermarket heads, TB, porting intake, etc, I'm probably looking at spending $4k and high 500's for power. Not ready to drop that kind of cash for quite some time.

It does have a pretty big cam in it, 15* of overlap which makes idle nice and lopey but a bitch to drive in rush hour or parking lots. Or really anything under 1500 rpms and light throttle is jerky. The Monster stage 4 six puck grabby clutch doesn't help either, it's actually somewhat difficult to drive at first.

It has obvious traction issues in 1st, and in 2nd on a hard shift or at high rpm from a roll. However, the 305 wide Invos do pretty well compared to the stock runflats in 285 width from what I've read.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Yeah, I'm not sure where the t-top reference came from, they haven't had those since 1982.

Mod list looks awesome, I'm starting to think a C6 is in my future, probably stock. I'm actually a little sick of modded cars. Cars are so good from the factory now, that modding just isn't what it used to be. Or maybe I'm just getting old.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Gangsta ride!

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

holy smokes...still rippin' with 305s in the rear! looks badass man.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Congrats. Got to see this at the dyno day as well. Very mean looking. I love all black C6's

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

It depends on what you are doing. I wish I'd bought a $10k track car and a truck/trailer instead of the Evo. I would have been much better off.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

What fuel are you running? Will 93 support 11.5:1 ?

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

You have a hell of a car, Andrew. Very awesome.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Sitting in this thing, it felt like a tank. Hopefully I can get a ride sometime! :)

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Very nice on the power, great place to be especially with how light the car is.

Never mind on the t top...I am retarded :)

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

I have sucky gas in Iowa, the best I can get is BP 91 octane with no ethanol. It runs about 22* of timing and 12.3:1 AFR at peak torque and around 25* of timing and 12.6:1 AFR at peak HP up top.

I'm sure my 11.5:1 compression is quite a bit lower than most cars here running 8.5:1 plus lots of boost, probably making an effective 20:1 compression ratio (or at least high teens). The previous owner just about converted it to e85, but with the annoyance of the cold start in the CTS-V I just can't do it in this car, especially with how much it makes on the 91 gas.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

It's N/A :)

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Fucking sick! My boss and I have been on CL all day for the past week or two checking used vettes out. Very nice choice sir!

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Fucking amazing car, don't worry about the numbers obviously you found an issue with the sweet obX stuff.

FYI I'd hit it.

Targa is the shiet.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

OBX makes a nice set of headers for the 3v mustangs, but corvette, 2010 camaro, 5.7 and 6.1 hemi cars, Stainless Works is by far the best I have installed.

~John

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Sweet looking car! and pretty nice numbers on shitty pump gas

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Nice ride!

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

I took the car on the BIR short course last weekend during the proving grounds, and I'm already addicted. I'm looking for a some MAM events if I can fit them in this summer, as well as a two day event at the Iowa Speedway with the Corvette Club of Iowa in August.

I found a set of Z51 swaybars really cheap and also I got my 3" z06 x-pipe and bi-mode exhaust in the mail. I took off the OBX x-pipe and Corsa exhaust and found out the z06 x-pipe spaces them out about .5" further apart at the headers. So I either have to get a set of z06 headers on the cheap or modify this x-pipe to fit.

For now the car is on jackstands, waiting for the swaybars to get here Tuesday to install them, and then deciding what to do about the exhaust. Pretty much everyone has complimented the sound the car makes, but I can't stand the drone at cruising speeds.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

I'd say modify your x-pipe to make it work with the headers. It should flex enough to match up with them, weather or not you'll be able to do it by hand I'm not sure. You'll probably have to find some way to pry them.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Last night I got the z51 swaybars on, and wow they are huge compared to stock. It took me a little over an hour to install these, all the bolts are super easy to access, great design.

C6 Base: 25.5mm front, 17.5mm rear
C6 Z51: 31mm front, 25.6mm rear

Here you can see the original rear bar at the top, the new rear bar, and the new front bar which is huge:
http://www.dsmstyle.com/photopost/da.../swaybars1.jpg

Here is the old front bar compared to the new front bar:
http://www.dsmstyle.com/photopost/da.../swaybars2.jpg

Unfortunately it's raining today so I haven't been able to test them, but everything I've read says they make the car feel more planted. Maybe I'll get a chance to test them out this weekend at the autocross in Marshalltown.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Let me know how it goes at the Marshallbahn!

Gabe's gonna be there with the Stratus, lol.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

I've been getting an annoying "service charging system" warning lately, turns out my car doesn't like the 1 step colder plugs I've been running. Installing new stock plugs tomorrow, hopefully it makes the car run a little better.

Still debating if I can race on Saturday, I have to work a bunch on Friday night and Saturday, hopefully I can still go and beat my previous time.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Hmm, What do the spark plugs have to do with the charging system?

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

They send off a weird signal I guess. If you look at the vette forums there is plenty of info on how the NGK TR6 copper plugs give off a weird pulse that messes with the computer. Stupid new cars and their high tech computers.

Unfortunately I couldn't race today because I had to work until 6am this morning. Work FTL.

Edit: got the TR5's installed, and the car runs great! Feels like it pulls a little better, and overall driveability seems slightly improved. Also no more service charging system warnings at every stoplight which is awesome.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Turns out new stuff is pretty touchy compared to some junky ford crap! lol.

glad you figured it out.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Evos hate anything but stock plugs too.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

That is one hot ride bro!

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

nice looking c6 man. congrats

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

Well it's been a few weeks and still no "Service Charging System" warning so it looks like the plugs did the trick.

I bought an almost brand new (500 miles) z51 shock/spring package from a newer vette that will bolt right onto the car. They will be shipping Friday so I should have them next week sometime, and I plan to install them before the cruise and the HPDE event on Oct 3rd at BIR. It's going to be a crazy fun three days of driving in a row.

Re: 2006 Corvette
 

I need a ride!!!