Chronicles of SneakySnakes | Vol III

[Serpent]

I think the light weight wheels and two piece rotors did the trick.

Also, my route home I drove through Tejon Pass (over 4100ft elevation) and when I got passed it (back down to lower elevation), the outside temps were about 96F.

How are you liking the Gen V?
Ever miss the IV? I never got to experience the IV.

 

[Teal Terminator]

Congrats! And love, love, love that color!

 

[mooch29]

Yellow brakes ftw

 

[paintless302]

Recent birthday dinner with the other half and some friends;

Few snaps after some soap 'n suds;

The old lady and I headed to Texas A&M airfield for some auto-x with the TAMSCC.

Its always super fun to cruise together, I'm very lucky to have my other half be as excited about tracking/autox/etc as I am;

Andy and I at the line;

Auto-x was extremely fun, as usual, and it was very interesting to be able to go back n forth between the Viper and our C7. The first thing I learned was that my oem Corsas have absolutely had it--they are just heat cycled out. Felt like I was on an ice-skating ring most of the time. Came out driving the car like I was used to driving my old gen 4 on R888s and ended up spinning the car on the first session. After they got some heat in them things improved slightly but you can just tell from the driver's seat the grip isn't there.

Stepping out of the Viper and into the C7 for a lap makes you understand what makes these cars polar opposites from one another. Forget the power differences, out here, it means nothing. Immediately you notice how numb the steering is in the C7, its lifeless. There's weight to it, but it doesn't communicate what the contact patch is doing at all, and its nowhere near as direct in feeling as the Viper. I think the vette may also have a slower rack than the Viper which seems to exacerbate this. I set off in the vette and in the first corner I'm thinking two things; I feel like I'm sitting ON the car rather than in it, and the steering feels "sloppy". I prod the brakes and while full pedal the car seems to slow just as strong as the viper, there is zero initial bite in the first inch or two of travel, and you have to be IN them to get something in return. The Viper has strong initial bite and the brakes come on immediately, there is no sponginess in pedal travel, maybe the fluid in the vette needs replacing? There are things however, that I preferred in the vettes dynamics over the viper (suprise surprise). For instance, the vette seems to communicate when you are approaching, and at, the adhesion limit. The car, while lowered, still has body roll, and this helps during slalom for me to work with the chassis to understand exactly which contact patch is loaded and how I can manipulate the throttle and steering to keep the car's motions smooth. I would akeen it to dancing with the perfect partner, you just get into this rhythm and there are no surprises from either party about what's going on. When the rear starts to come around, it doesn't snap around, its very progressive, almost playful, and you can easily dial in yaw with the throttle. In the Viper, the limits are much higher, it almost beckons to pushed harder and its grip grip grip until there isn't. There is no body roll in the Viper, the rear snaps out and takes quick hands to reign back in, and the car just overall doesn't communicate to me when I'm approaching the adhesion limits like the vette does. I think there is two reasons for this, number one, the Vette is on brand new Super Sports, while the Viper is on shit 5 year old tires; also, I think the Vettes electronic diff does a REALLY good job at putting the power down mid corner and makes me feel like I am much better driver than I am. In short, I think there is some software wizadry going on in that diff that makes me think I'm doing more than I really am. In the end, the Viper on a fresh set of tires would wipe the floor with the vette, no question, but I was running the same times in the Vette, as I was in the Viper that day.

 

[paintless302]

Oh and Lia is getting hella good! She is so smooth out there, even with all my yelling LOL.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXd9GuQFEq-/?taken-by=sneakysnakes

 

[AustinSN]

Awesome write up.

Pads also make a huge difference in initial bite. I can't tell from the pics but is the Vette running CCB?

 

[ZYBORG]

Nice photos!

Would have been awesome if the C7 would have been a Z06.

 

[AustinSN]

Nice photos!

This is an autocross course.. Comparing times from LS, isn't going to give you any sort of reasonable idea on how they compare on something tight and technical.

Not saying you are wrong for the ultimate outcome and the Vette would be significantly slower, but that's a bad bench racing lol.

 

[Serpent]

Less power is easier to control, that's why the c7z is a handful on the track. For track purposes I would stick with a GS over the Z. I like the z too, but don't want to deal with heat issues and extra weight.

Alex, autocrossing these cars do not do it justice. Need a road course to really open up. My brother and I grew up on autoX, went to shifter karts and enjoyed road courses more. Would love to see your gen V at cota. What exhaust are you running? I got ARH mufflers and plan to remove secondary cats. Wish I could do long tubes, but don't want to get pcm or deal with smog.

 

[ZYBORG]

This is an autocross course.. Comparing times from LS, isn't going to give you any sort of reasonable idea on how they compare on something tight and technical.

Not saying you are wrong for the ultimate outcome and the Vette would be significantly slower, but that's a bad bench racing lol.

C7Z06 is faster than non ACR vipers on the road course but I wonder which would be faster around an autoX....

 

[paintless302]

Awesome write up.

Pads also make a huge difference in initial bite. I can't tell from the pics but is the Vette running CCB?

Nope. Just a M7 base model Z51 car;

 

[paintless302]

Nice photos!

Would have been awesome if the C7 would have been a Z06.

While I have a daily and toy, she has to make do with 1 car for both roles. C7 Z was just too much for us to spend on a daily that'll be "run into the ground". It's also probably too much car for her, I think the C7 is the perfect amount of car for her currently. (Of course I would love a C7Z instead of a base model).

Less power is easier to control, that's why the c7z is a handful on the track. For track purposes I would stick with a GS over the Z. I like the z too, but don't want to deal with heat issues and extra weight.

Alex, autocrossing these cars do not do it justice. Need a road course to really open up. My brother and I grew up on autoX, went to shifter karts and enjoyed road courses more. Would love to see your gen V at cota. What exhaust are you running? I got ARH mufflers and plan to remove secondary cats. Wish I could do long tubes, but don't want to get pcm or deal with smog.

I'm not a big auto-x guy, I enjoy myself much more on a road course. That being said, auto-x is DIRT cheap in comparison and a good way to feel the cars out with zero risk. I like to slide in some auto-x and drag days between the track events because its cheap fun. Cant wait to take this one to COTA, but I will be mounting a fresh set of tires first.

I'm running Belanger longtubes, hi-flow cats, and Corsa catback. I will be getting rid of the Corsas though and going to a Belanger catback as I miss the sound of the old car.

C7Z06 is faster than non ACR vipers on the road course but I wonder which would be faster around an autoX....

I think TA 1.0 and 2.0s may have something to say about that

 

[ZYBORG]

While I have a daily and toy, she has to make do with 1 car for both roles. C7 Z was just too much for us to spend on a daily that'll be "run into the ground". It's also probably too much car for her, I think the C7 is the perfect amount of car for her currently. (Of course I would love a C7Z instead of a base model).



I'm not a big auto-x guy, I enjoy myself much more on a road course. That being said, auto-x is DIRT cheap in comparison and a good way to feel the cars out with zero risk. I like to slide in some auto-x and drag days between the track events because its cheap fun. Cant wait to take this one to COTA, but I will be mounting a fresh set of tires first.

I'm running Belanger longtubes, hi-flow cats, and Corsa catback. I will be getting rid of the Corsas though and going to a Belanger catback as I miss the sound of the old car.



I think TA 1.0 and 2.0s may have something to say about that

I hear you. A girl in a c7 is pretty badass already. Bet she gets lots of looks in that thing.

The TAs are very close indeed... definitely a driver's race for most folks.

 

[Serpent]

^ difference is tires, if the TA had sport cup 2 and not shitty corsas, I think the TA would be a 1:32 car. Not taking away for the Z. Almost bought one but luckily found a '15 for the price I wanted to spend on a Z 2LZ package.

 

[paintless302]

Stopped by Viper Exchange for some quick service;

First I wanted to check the oil consumption, drain the oil, cut open the filter, and make sure we don't have any debris. I have put around 2k miles on it since we rebuilt the top end, so i figure its a good time to check on her health. I also sent off a sample to Blackstone for analysis.

Oil levels look great, with no additional oil added since the last change;

Alien spaceship

Look at all that MEAT!! Still can't wait to get rid of these tires though!!

Draining and inspecting;

Cut open the filter and checked through each fold, it was clean (don't mind the errant stuff on there that's from the towel);

On the re-fill we decided to step away from the factory fill 0W40 and go for a heavier 15W50. I drive the car harder than most and live essentially on the surface of the sun, nice to have some additional viscosity at the upper end of the envelope.

All buttoned up and Morgan adjusted a few things that were bothering me;

The side sill to hood alignment was slightly off so we adjusted both sides to be perfectly flush, and then we pulled the door panel off to camber the window ever so slightly (which solved my issue of the window sometimes no engaging into the rubber seals when opening and closing the door).

 

[PhoenixM3]

Hate it? I cant get enough of it

If you wanted to do something serious it would need to come off, which is what they do when they pull motors, heads/cam, etc. No real issue with access for bolt-ons.

Agreed. The hood is boner fuel.

 

[paintless302]

Last 2 weeks have been quite a ride. I was on vacation in Yellowstone the week of the Hurricane's arrival (watching the full eclipse), and since I was out of cell range 90% of the time, didn't really know too much about the storm until I arrived at the airport last friday morning (the hurricane was scheduled to hit that evening). We immediately headed home, tried to stock up on supplies (local stores had already been gone through like the world was coming to an end), and decided to move the cars up from the lower level garage to the 2nd floor. Our apartments are built on the bayou, but sit on a slab thats higher than pretty much anything in the surrounding area. Even the lower level of the garage is at least 10ft above the maximum bank of the bayous. I assumed that there is no way in hell the water would get that high, I was wrong.


Kids huddled together on the upper level;

The first night the storm hit, the bayous were already over capacity and had flooded the local park and all of its trails.

I'm standing on the lower level of the parking garage looking out behind our complex, the water was already over the treelines of the lower ditch (about 30ft deep), but still a solid 10ft from the lower garage.

I came back downstairs to check on things around 2am, water was only a foot or so below the lower garage level. At this rate I started to worry about the cars even on the second level.

Woke up the next morning to further flooding. Bayou was near overtaking the lower bridges.

PS. This is what normal bayou level looks like from inside the park. Note the height to the pedestrian bridge;

North feeder was completely underwater, as were many vehicles, and the surrounding neighborhoods had taken on feet of water.

Water level had crested the lower level garage and was continuing to rise. The water had also had its way with the auxiliary water pumps for the complex (which some genius placed in the lower level), so our community was now without any water.

 

[paintless302]

Our neighbors to the east were faring worse. Their complex was older, and in the floodplain, they lost electricity and water almost immeadiatly, and started taking on water;

Rain bands kept pummling the city for days;

With no end in sight, myself and few other neighbors with toys started to worry that even the 2nd level could flood, so we decided to "build" some insurance into our position. I moved all the cars to the highest point on the upper level of the garage, and we scoured the property for something we could place the cars on top of. It was also at this point I realized that the storage closet holding all of my spare parts, pressure washer, leaf blower, jack, tools, etc was flooded on the lower garage and inaccessible. Lucky me.


We ended up stealing cinder blocks which were used in landscaping our garden--they'll get over it. With no real jack, and a collection of shi*ty scissor jacks from all the neighbors, it took hours to get the cars up. We got it done in the end, and had a slightly more positive outlook. If they flooded now, it wouldn't be for a lack of trying.

 

[paintless302]

Rising water levels overnight;

Checking on the cars the next morning, flood waters were around 4ft below the upper level garage;

Overall the next week or so was a combination of helping barricade things around the complex, watching police helicopters hunt looters from our roof, and watching coast guard Dauphines pluck people off of their roofs. Luckily the power remained on for the first 7 days (although it would later be turned off by centerpoint as there was an unfortunate loss of life in our neighborhood due to electrocution), but we had no water. We ended up hauling water from the pool to our units every morning, boiling it, and using it for household tasks and personal hygiene.

As flood waters built, you can see on the far end of this pic, the feeder walls collapsed into the beltway, using it as run-off, and flooded the beltway like a bathtub.

This genius ran through a cop barricade, being chased by a cruiser, was barreling down the feeder to the high water. I said to myself, surely he will slow down to traverse the high water. He did not. Truck flooded out right as he was making his exit. He would of gotten away too, if he would have just took it easy.

This was around day 5 or 6, the storm had passed but the overflowing local reservoirs were actually causing the flooding to increase locally;

 

[paintless302]

So we drank the pain away;

Neighborhood watch;

Chinooks were flying all over the place, here you can see a fleet of UH60's (there was around 5 of them), circling around while being in-flight air-refuled by a C130.

Another Blackhawk

FEMA, DEA, and FBI arrived around day 6 to "voluntarily" evacuate the people remaining from our complex. We still had power at this point, so we decided to stick it out;