Corvette: 2002 Firebird Trans am w/ WS6, short throw Hurst

Will this car eat a '95 LT1 6sp on a curvy road? Straight road?
Consider the drivers equal. Just curious. I've been driving Firebirds
ever since 1986. I traded in my teal '91 for the 'Vette I have now.
'91 and '92 had the ultra cool front end on the Firebirds. Later
inverted and stolen by Thunderbird.

I think the last Firebirds were super nice. Really got separation from
the Camaro's IMHO. I just couldn't do the $35,000 for one.

cPGevas

OldSchool wrote: 

*first off - the 325 hp rating on the Firebird is a lie. It's a Vette
LS1 in all the important parts (cam, heads, intake, etc.)*

Assuming equal drivers:
Straight line - for the first 1/4 mile I'd put my money on the TA.
I ran a 13.41 in my 01 WS6 on street tires, and with drag tires, a lid
and a K&N it's run a 13.12 (and a 12.18 on Nitrous.) The cheesy solid
axle design can launch quite good (until you blow the guts out of the
rear end...)

After that - the gearing in the TA will redline in 5th at about 160.
The Vette should be able to pull another 5-10 mph, but it would be
behind for quite some time.

Curvy road? The Vette has IRS, the 'Bird has a solid axle. The Vette
came with Eagle GS-C tires, the 'Bird with Eagle F1's. I think the
'Bird might even have bigger brakes (12" disks front and rear) or very
close.
If the road is REALLY cuvry, I'd say the Vette would slowly but
surely pull away from the TA. If there were corners with long enough
straights, I'd not be so sure - the brute HP of the TA might catch the
Vette.

*caveat: If either one of them has upgraded the tires from stock,
I'd pick that one.*

The Vette is the BETTER sports car, but the Firebird <sniff> offered
about 90% of the performance for about 60% of the price.

Also, never assume a Firebird/Camaro is stock. It's probably not.

Ray
--
80 Trans Am
01 Trans Am Ram Air
No Vette (yet)
real email "myname"@rollingviolation.com (I hate spam)