I spent quite a bit of time driving my old roomate's '69 Z28 with the 290 hp/302,he liked to drink and I liked to drive. (lol).
As I remember that car it didn't really come on the cam until close to 6000 rpms,it really liked to wind but didn't have much low end.
You could kill it trying to smoke the tires if it wasn't on the pipe,hit 6000 rpms though and let go with the clutch it would be up in smoke.
At the same time I had a '69 with a 427/4 speed,in a straight line it was a lot more fun and if you wanted tire smoke all you had to do was mash the pedal.

 

Yea it was a purpose built motor. A professional driver on a road course would not let it go under 5500 RPMs during a race. It really did not run well in "normal" driving. They stalled easily and hated starting on a cold morning. If you ask around to a bunch of old time camaro guys most of them had a first gen Z. They all seem to remember how fast it really was but most forget why it is they sold them after a year or two. It is also why GM never thought they would become popular and they pushed the bigger SS motors. That was my point. The big blocks output more energy from stop to speed in a much more usable range but a snap shot of HP can show a different story. That is why I wish there was another measurement that reflected that. Something that would list acceleration. I guess something like a rocket, At full throttle you get "X-Y" of thrust.

The current system can be confusing. I have been thinking about a new V6 camaro for commuting. On paper the V6 I was looking at is 323 HP and 3700 lbs. My GTO stock is 350 HP and 3695 lbs. On paper these are very close cars. But in the real world the GTO is almost 1 second faster in the 1/4 mile and 20-30 MPH faster on an unlimited top end. We are car guys and take these number with a grain of salt but you get some young kid that know little to nothing other then the specs and he is going to make a misinformed decision base on what marketing wants you to think.




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