Despite hearing and reading the rumours over and over again about the all-new, 5.5 litre, naturally aspirated high revving V8 Chevrolet was putting in the upcoming C8 Z06, I am still completely awe struck by what Chevrolet has done and sticking to a naturally aspirated V8 against all odds. Please take a moment to welcome the most powerful naturally aspirated production V8 the world has ever seen (at least mainstream production). The title previously belonged to the now dead SLS AMG, which had AMG's legendary 6.2 litre V8 making 622 hp and 468 lb-ft of torque. The New Z06 eclipses the horsepower figure with a whopping 670 hp at a scarcely believable 8,400 rpm (with an 8,600 rpm redline). Despite the high revving nature AND the smaller displacement (5.5 litre vs 6.2 litre for the Merc), torque hardly suffers with a healthy 460 lb-ft of torque, only 8 lower the the bigger displacement AMG engine. At a time when AMG, BMW, and even Ferrari have abandoned naturally aspirated V8s, and af...
I never thought I'd ever run Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2's on my 2012 Boss 302. The cost is astronomical and they are supposed to last the least of anything comparable. So how did I end up with (nearly) fresh Sport Cup 2's? A complete fluke. I came across a lightly used set with only a few hundred miles and no track time; 305/30/19 takeoffs from a GT Performance Pack Level 2 (GT PPL2). I knew my 71R's were getting very worn before the season started and likely wouldn't last the whole season, even this short one. The price was far better than a new set of RE-71R's, a little more than half, and local Time Attack rules (Canadian Automobile Sport Clubs) recently made 180 and 200 TW tires equivalent, meaning no PAX or PIP point penalty for going with 180 TW tire like the Pilot Sport Cup 2's. I have been very curious about how PSC2's compare to RE 71R's but I stayed away due to their being painfully expensive and, up to last year, their 180 TW rating would ...