Kevin Helmintoller is a big fan of red, if you hadn't noticed. He's also a fan of GM, which Vette Editor Jay Heath and I saw when we rolled up to his Richmond, Va., home. Lined up in the driveway were five bright red GM performance vehicles: a heads/cam 2004 SSR, a heads/cam 2005 GTO, a 436-cube Mallett 2001 Z06, and a brand-new, bone-stock 2006 Z06. Even Kevin's tow rig is bad: a supercharged Gibbs Avalanche!
These hot rides and their owner were ready for the 30-minute trip to the track for a day of racing. Kevin, who we would soon find out is a pretty good gear-banger, had invited us down to Virginia to sample his goods on the 1320. "Come down and we'll hit the track. We'll drive 'em hard--if they break, they break," he quipped. We think we like this guy.
This caravan of red rockets made its way to Richmond Dragway, a scenic strip east of Richmond proper, where General Manager Johnny Davis was waiting for us, VHT at the ready. The track was quickly prepped and we were ready to go. We made a couple of passes in everything except the '01 Z06, and out of respect for Kevin and his high-dollar, mostly stock drivetrain toys, the stick cars were not powershifted. Kevin turned in solid times all day long, and our times and Kevin's were usually only separated by a good tenth or so.
Out of all of Kevin's vehicles, the 5.3-liter SSR was the mildest. Of course, "mildest" didn't exactly mean mild, as Garwood, N.J.-based Cartek had worked its magic on the red roadster. After the heads, cam, bolt-ons, and drivetrain upgrades, this SSR was transformed from a 15-second dog to a solid 13-second hot rod.
Racing the SSR was a breeze: crank it over, turn off the center console-mounted traction control, and throw the 4L60E into Third. Behind the waterbox, the Vigilante converter and 4.10s meant getting the radials nice and smoky was an afterthought. There was enough stick to the track that going nearly WOT off-idle meant no tire spin as the SSR lurched forward. After that, the Cartek horsepower took over, and even though it auto shifted a little soft, I was able to coax a 13.76 at 98.90 mph out of it. Earlier in the day, Kevin rumbled to a 13.72 at 99.62--and out of six runs that day, the ET varied by only eight hundredths.
Next up in the pecking order was the 2005 Goat. This thing was making pretty good power, thanks to Cartek's head/cam package and goodies like Kooks' headers, high-flow cats, an ASP underdrive pulley, and a full-on dyno tune. However, Kevin started out easy, since the drivetrain was dead stock and we weren't looking to shred it this early. Although the LS2 is a formidable engine from the factory, the GTO's extra poundage requires a bit more power to feel fast. Thankfully, mid-400 rear-wheel numbers, or about 100 more over stock, did the trick. Big K made several passes in the Goat on street tires, and soon became confident of the factory drivetrain. He was able to whittle the ETs down from mid-13s to 12.90s before breaking out the drag radials and popping off a solid 12.80 at 109.84.
When my turn came around, I kept the DRs on and did a hellacious Second-gear burnout to gum up the rollers. I'd had enough seat time in the new GTO to feel comfortable there; with the crappy stock shifter replaced with a B&M unit, it was all the better. I pulled up to the line, revved to 3,700, and sidestepped the clutch. Though it was late in the day, Richmond's starting line held, and the built LS2 sang past 6,400 before I made the gear change. Even without powershifting, there was a ton of power on tap, but the DRs held fast. Two smooth shifts later, I sailed to a 12.30 ET at 112.19 miles an hour.
The '01 Z06 is the most serious member of Kevin's stable: a 436-cube mill built with Lunati, Eagle, and JE goodies. Atop this serious short-block are equally radical Cartek heads, and a lumpy cam too. Simply put, this C5 was built to haul ass, and that's exactly what Helmintoller did.
An evil cackle, emitted from the 3-inch Stainless Works exhaust, let us know when the C5 was about to make an appearance. That note changed to a high-pitched scream in the waterbox, as the slicks were given some heat. Once at the line, Kevin worked the delicate balance between getting the 436 off the line smoothly and blowing the tires away. Although his initial runs were 11.20 and 11.10 at 126 and 128 mph, respectively, the next two were a 10.96 and--for the best run of the day--10.93
Words fail when you try to describe the beauty, the sound, and the furious performance of GM's newest supercar. Creating 505 horses from 427 cubic inches, and saddled with only 3,100-odd pounds, the 2006 Z06 will drive a sane man into a gear-banging, tire-smoking frenzy. That is, if you can overcome the sheer intimidation felt when viewing this animal head-on. If the Z06 were any more evil, it would have horns.
As this was Kevin's very first time racing the C6 Z06, we hung back and watched him get accustomed to the car. Apparently that didn't take long, as his very first run produced the best dead-stock pass of the day: 11.87 at 120.61. He made two more hits--one in the 13s and a 12-flat--and parked the beast.
The C6 Z puts down a sick 450 horses at the rear wheels dead stock--a number us LS1 lovers thought was huge a few years ago. On its 325mm Goodyears, this could pose a problem; up to now, I hadn't had any seat time in the new Z06, and I wasn't planning on wadding up Kevin's. To that end, I felt that a three grand clutch drop and smooth power application would be key to getting the Z off of the line without a bunch of wheelhop and a wasted 60-foot. And as I wouldn't be powershifting the Vette, I'd also avoid any dicey change of direction drama with a big 1-2. Yep, I had it all planned out...
After a self-indulgent Second-gear burnout, I let the Z06 roll to the line and selec--damn, shifter's a little awkward--selected First. Pre-Stage is lit, let up on the ultra-light clutch to get staged, and dial in 3,200. When the tree drops, a smooth clutch drop and breath on the gas gets me out quick--LS7 screams--Jesus, this thing revs fast--First to Sec--WHERE'S SECOND GEAR??? AWW, COME ON! This supercar has a super-vague shifter ... oh, quit cryin' and own up to it--I blew it.
Blew it First to Second on the first run, then amazingly, blew it Second to Third on the next. But as much as I'd like to blame the shifter alone, Big K was able to change the gears no problem. I think my pea-sized brain was having a hard time finding a middle ground between a balls-out powershift and a granny gearchange
Now completely frustrated and a little psyched out, I repeated the same burnout and launch procedure and gingerly massaged the gearbox when the LS7 was ready--which is RIGHT NOW. The big mill revs so violently in First that the 7,000-rpm redline tach can't even keep up; I thought the C5 Z06 revved quick, but the 427 is in another league. I found Second--then Third--and Fourth. Hallelujah! After babying it down the track, the Z rewarded me with an 11.91 at 121.65, and I backed it up with an 11.93 at 120. As weak as I felt those numbers were, and as eager as I was to improve them, I found the new Z06's weak spot: the soft clutch didn't much care for hot-lapping and required a substantial cool-down period or it was smoke city. Not wanting to waste Kevin's $70,000 ride, I parked it.
Ever fearless, Kev used that downtime to bolt up a set of drag radials. We weren't sure how the drivetrain would respond to 'em, but there was only one way to find out. And just as was the case on street tires, his best time was the first one: an impressive 11.73 at 124.14 miles an hour. The extra grip allowed a little more launch rpm and less wheelspin; even so, hot-lapping was too much for the Z and the following run was a 12.14. After a final cool-down period Kevin once again heated up the DRs and staged, and the Z06 streaked to an 11.78 at 123 and change, and finally an 11.81 at the same mile per hour. We both knew that there was more on the table, but it would have to wait for another time. This Vette is, by far, the sickest stock GM that I've ever driven.