So I use my lunch break to jet down to the bank to deposit my check (no full-time job yet, still working contract). I'm taking the tollway and I see this convertible C5 coming up behind me. He's on the gas a little bit. The car is silver, and it has an odd hood...not funky, just not stock...had a hump in the middle. But, I soon forgot about that. I sped up a bit so that if the guy tried to pass by me (I was in the 'fast' lane) I could go with him. He does, and I do. The guy is seriously over 60 years old, completely bald, and looks like Telly Savalas. His plates read "MAGLV" but I couldn't figure out what that meant. I just track at his speed and we cruise up to 120ish before traffic gets in the way...neither of us were more than 70% throttle. Since the guys old I'm not trying to get in his face and get him to run me, plus there's traffic.

The guy puts his hand out and motions for me to "c'mon!" I pull up next to him, but there is traffic. I get behind him and follow him through traffic. He pulls across 2 lanes (not swerving) while on the throttle so I give chase. I expected to come up on his butt and have to let out, but I was only right with him...he gained maybe 2-3 feet. I chalked it up to the fact that he dropped before I did and I had to give chase. So, I pull up next to him again, I thought I'd give him a wave or a nod or a smile...he looks over at the car, points to the wheels and makes a "ick" face. Then he slams it down a gear or two and I hear this WHINE from his engine. I was taken back for a second, then crammed it into 4th at 90-ish and ran with him. He gained maybe 1-2 feet on me. I was sorta dissapointed that I didn't gain on the guy...what was the deal? Is my car really not that fast? He exited right after that. I'm cruising, thinking, "Was that vette really supercharged?" It didn't sound like a centrifigal blower, but more like a roots or other type...but I wasn't sure what to think.

I knew that I had never heard an LS1 sound like that. I did some research when I got back to the office and found that there is a Magnuson supercharger for the C5 that comes with a painted hood (in stock color) and it happens to look just like the hood this guy had. Here are the links I found:

http://www.dynotech-eng.com/ls1_ls6_magnuson.htm
http://www.tbyrne.com/c5/c5newprods.html

I wish I had a chance to run him from a lower speed...everythiing we did was from high 80's and up.

 

What I think is really cool is the fact that he probably had no clue your car was supercharged, and he's thinking to him self, "wow, that s2000 is a pretty damn fast car!"

 

The funnier thing is that both of us were probably sitting there thinking "Please, you don't realize I have a supercharger do you?" before we raced.

 

A C5 has about 350 hp, no? So even a supercharged S will only have about the same power as a stock C5. If he's boosted...shouldn't be much competition if he's trying.

And I believe "MAGLV" would probably be mag-lev or magnetic levitation.

 

From the looks of that supercharger set up you should be pretty happy you kept it close Wes. Almost 500 RWHP in a car that only outweighs you by around... what, 550ish pounds? I'd be interested to see if you can find him again for some runs from a dead stop and off idle.

 

My recently installed final gear set counts for a bit more than just having an SC.

 

Haha, I know that 'MAGLV' Vette. I raced him on HWY 6 between I-10 and HWY-290...

On that one bridge (if you know the area you know the Bridge), I was clicking past 4000rpm in 5th gear (~135mph)... The Vette was already 4 car lengths ahead and still pulling strong.


Kudos to whomever can guess what car I was in.

 

That's a great place to stretch your legs.

 

Fair enough...I don't know much about your car.

 

This is not a flame or insult, just an observation:
Your supercharged S2000 with gearing work would be a good race for a stock C5 Corvette. However,(IMO) I just don't think your SCed S2000 would walk with a SCed Corvette, Vert or not. A Magnuson supercharger will put around 460 to 480 HP to the RWs on a Corvette. Defeating the supercharged gain of the S2000.

Sounds like you had fun and that's all that matters.

Post Script: By now means am I saying that the C5 is a superior car or that the S cannot hold its own