Could I go faster?
 

Is there any advantage to short-shifting the car in order to go a tad faster? The 03 S engine hp peaks @ 6,250 and the torque peaks @ 4,300. Wouldn't the optimal range be between these figures? The redline is 7,200rpm and I frequently hit 7,000-7,200. Is it still faster to take it to redline when wanting maximum thrust or is short-shifting the best way?

If you shift too early you might fall in low on your torque curve and hurt yourself. When you shift, you still want to be in a good rpm band to prevent lugging your engine.

If I want optimum acceleration I typically would shift at around 5k RPM. Why would you ever bring your car to red line?

Stryke, If you shift @ 5,000 I don't think you ever see your engines true potential. The box's hp doesn't come until 6,250 in my s, maybe even higher in non s models. Really the engine doesn't even start to pull hard until about 4,000rpm. Why not let the engine rev? You wont hurt it revving to 7,000 + as long as its warmed up.

I believe that at 2,000 RPM you are at 80% of full power. These cars have an awesome power band. Shifting at 5,000 RPM I think allows a smoother transition of gears with less stress on the clutch. I never race my car. It doesn't mean I don't accelerate fast at times, but I never race. During normal driving I shift at around 3,500.

Take it to the redline. These engines torque out pretty linear and any slight dropoff in the last say 500 rpm is made up by being 500 rpm higher in your next gear.

These engine rev so well. I drove Hondas before and they are supposed to rev as their specialty, but somehow they always feel like they are holding back and working too hard near redline. (Hard to describe, but maybe you know what I mean) The Boxer just feels normal at all speeds, makes those great sewing-machine sounds. ;)

Stryke, another thing is that you don't really get 80% "power" at 2,000 rpm. Torque, maybe, but not horsepower. Much more "work" (in the physics sense of the word) is done close to the redline.

The power band is decent down low in the s, however after driving my dads 00 m-5 around a few days I realized it not as strong down low as I thought. That thing pulls hard from 2,000 all the way up to 7,000. Starts from 3rd are not recamended, but not a problem, I found this out by accident. IMO, I don't feel much pull from the boxster s engine until after the 4,000rpm mark as it is not a real torque monster. I do race on the street occasionally, but only if there is no one around except me and the other car. I never race in heavy traffic. It feels good to put z28's and stang gt's in their place when they ask for some race action. Once I upgrade to 300hp, vettes beware.

You think a stock S will beat a Mustang GT or Z28?

There is a point where more RPMs do not accelerate you faster than the loss of time when shifting to the next gear.

Example: you and the nissan sentra with the fuzzy dice on the rear view mirror are racing to a big tree up ahead and you could go to the redline in 3rd and get there or shift to 4th. The fastest way would probably be to redline it in 3rd.

When "race" shifting I like...
shift 500 below redline and "power shifting" gets me thru the gears quicker. If you've ever redlined and had the limiter kick in you feel really ghey when the pretty girl in the 1982 Fiat Spyder passes you...not that this has ever happened to me :-)

A fairly inexpensive upgrade would be a lightened flywheel.

power shifting/

pro: partially engaged clutch so power is always on the gears
con: i would assume a much shorter clutch...can't think of the word "pressure plates"?

flywheel/

pro: everything
con: $$$

a plate that rotates in/near engine and part of the clutch assembly (i believe) and when lightend will spin quicker faster allowing you to accelerate faster. It does not add any HP.

I think if you have a lift it could be taken out and replaced or machined. I'd love to get pricing on this if anyone has done it.

I'd love to get a lightened flywheel as well, but I heard the install is involved. Stryke, I have walked two gt's and one was modded with an intake, exhaust, and shorter gears. Both were the latest model of the Gt as well. I haven't raced a newer z28, but I did go against a mid 90's version and had no problems whatsover. I have a 03 box s which, as you know, has slightly more power than the 00--02 version. Additionally, I have 0 lux options on my car, so it light for a S. I do have the 18" carerra light wheels that shave 24lbs off the stock 17's and xenons as well as bose and painted hoops. Thats it. No cruise, heated or power seats. Suprisingly, a fully loaded box s weighs 200lbs more than a stripper. I checked the manual. M/T clocked the 03 box s as follows: 0-60 5.3 sec, 1/4 mile in 13.7 sec@ 102mph.

I guess all my options, 18" Turbo wheels and 225lb. body don't help in that area! :(

Bit of a difference between a Mustang GT and a late model Z28, 225 hp for the Ford maybe and 285 hp for the bowtie. Seen many of them run on the street, so do good and some don't.

Late model GT's run a 4.6L V8 that has 260 hp. Strangley enough, that is what a 03 S packs hp wise. You must remember though, that the Gt weighs approx 3,500lbs and a lightly optioned box s weighs well under 3,000lbs. That makes for a significant advantage in the box s's favor when performance of any kind is measured. Lighter is always better when it comes to sports cars. Even the newer z28s that pack more power than a box s would have would have its work cut out itself in a drag race against a box s because it weighs about 3,500lbs as well. Weight is just as important when determining accleration as hp, and of course the box s would mop the floor with both those cars in any kind of handling or braking test. But, I'm sure I'm not telling you guys something you already didn't know.

Good day.

Does anyone know how much hp a LT1 powered z28 has? Is it 285? I know the Ls1 is the vette engine and some z28's have this as an option, but the hp has been detuned somewhat to around 315hp or so.

I use to drive a 94 Z28 that had from the factory 285 hp. The later built SS models came out with more power, they had different levels of power and 315 hp was a common one.

Back to the original question in this thread, you may want to look at this earlier thread on a similar subject: http://www.986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=1042#post1042 .

Happy shifting!

Thanks for that link Donv, that question was very similar to mine.