Show Stopper

"How fast is it?"

Those immortal words are often heard while pulling into the local hangout or topping off the tank at the corner gas station. Sure, lots of cars can nail you to the seat at full-throttle, but can they also stretch those tendons attached to your eyeballs during a full-on aggressive braking maneuver? Our bet is that most can't. But we wanted to find out. In the real world, you'd better be able to bring that high-performance bruiser to a very quick stop if you don't want to shorten your ride in an embarrassing fender-cruncher.

Just as it takes intense tuning, the right parts, and good driving skills to click off a quick e.t., a similar effort is required to master short stopping distances. As any of the CHP faithful knows, we thrive on cars that can do it all, so every year we round up a wide representation of high-performance cars and meet at Los Angeles County Raceway (LACR) for our 0-100-0 shootout. The shootout took place in the middle of February and featured nine victims, or should we say candidates, ranging from a low-budget Nova to Z06 Corvettes. This year's fleet of performance iron featured the full range of front disc/rear drum to four-wheel-disc-brake cars, plus an '02 Z28 and two Z06 Corvettes with antilock four-wheel disc systems.

Testing, Testing

This is a run for the numbers, and we used a Stalker Radar system to collect the data. Dan Palmer and Chan Martinez from Baer Brakes traveled from Phoenix, Arizona, to run the gun, which measures and downloads the time and distance each car travels from 0 to 100 mph, and then from 100 mph to 0.

All of the CHP 0-100-0 tests were performed as the car accelerated through the quarter-mile, well past 100 mph. After the car passed the quarter-mile finish line, the drivers stood on the brakes and the gun measured the distance required to stop. This method removes driver reaction time and measures just how many feet the car requires to brake from 100 mph to zero. Our test kicked off after some intense moments as we waited for the rainy skies over Palmdale to clear. After the weather improved and we completed the drivers' meeting, it was time to make some noise.

Under the Radar

Jason Pecikonis volunteered to be the first to try out the track with his Z06 Vette. On Jason's first run he pulled off a mid-13-second pass and brought his Vette to a stop in less than 400 feet. After the track warmed up, Jason would be back to put a little squeeze to his Vette and make his Baer-equipped four-wheel disc-brake system work a little harder. Next we saw Bill Mapes fire up his bright-yellow '69 Chevelle. Bill's Chevelle features a hard-running Ed Taylor-built 406ci small-block. To transmit that power, Bill relies on a reworked TH400 fitted with a Gear Vendors overdrive unit to keep the Chevelle's engine speed down on the freeway. The 12.25:1 compression, AFR 210 aluminum heads, and 4.10 gears helped the Chevelle easily pull off several mid-12-second passes. With this much power on board, Bill knew he needed to have adequate braking so he installed a Master Power front disc brake system. At the far end of the track we watched as Bill put his Chevelle into short-stop mode without lockup or drama.

John Snee from Vortech Engineering brought out his Vortech supercharged '02 Z28 with ABS brakes. He made everything look easy as his F-body pulled off several 13-second passes and stopped deeply in the 300-foot range.

Next, Editor Jeff Smith fired up Project Moby with its HT383 and Stainless Steel Brakes Corp. (SSBC) Force-10 disc brakes. Just two weeks earlier, Jeff pulled the white Chevelle out of hibernation at Tim Moore's shop for the 0-100-0 shootout. With zero engine or chassis tuning, Jeff had the Chevelle running well, and it easily made the 50-mile trek to test day at LACR. Jeff's A-body accumulated several 12-second passes and low-400-foot stopping times. If you followed last year's Bolt and Go series, then you'll remember our '72 Nova. Bob Mehlhoff brought the Nova out to see not only how quickly it could run to 100 mph, but also how well the stock brakes worked. With its 8.5:1-compression 350 Goodwrench engine, some selected pieces from Holley, and a little shot of NOS nitrous, Bob squeezed a high-12-second run from the Nova, pulling down a respectable 416-foot stopping distance from the factory front disc/rear drum binders. Baer Brakes brought its '02 Z06 Corvette and had Editor Smith pilot the car down the track. An LS6 engine powers the Vette with help from a Vortech supercharger. Of course the latest brake hardware perches at all four corners. Behind the front wheels you'll find Baer/Alcon Extreme-Plus six-piston calipers and 14-inch rotors. At the rear, the Vette sports Baer/Alcon Pro-Plus four-piston calipers and 14-inch rotors. Jeff made several back-to-back passes down the track, collecting numerous 12-second e.t.'s and the shortest stopping distance of the entire event at 312 feet.

James Stark brought his V-8-powered S-10 pickup to our event. With its flame paint and lowered suspension, it drew plenty of attention, but the 305 just didn't have enough steam to accelerate to the 100-mph speed requirement on the quarter-mile track due to some fuel-delivery problems. Editor Matt King of Car Craft magazine overheard our 0-100-0 plans around the water cooler and asked if he could join in on the CHP excitement. We agreed, and Matt drove his 11-second Rat-powered Nova out for the day. With its World Products Merlin 509ci big-block crate motor, it easily pulled off several 11-second passes. At the end of the day, Matt had a best corrected e.t. of 11.51 at 115.96 mph. And with the Nova's >> SSBC FX2 Force-10 two-piston front calipers, the big-block Nova pulled down a respectable low-400-foot stopping distance.

Terry Zupan braved snow and sleet from his high desert home to travel two hours to LACR with his '70 Camaro. Because of the inclement weather, he thought it best to load his Camaro onto the back of a trailer in case the roads to LACR became too treacherous. With wife and kids along for the fun, the team made it safely to the event.

Terry's Camaro has a very healthy Beck Racing Engines 383ci small-block ("Strokin' It," Apr. '03, pg. 92) with Dart Pro 1 215cc aluminum heads, a Crane Cam with 248 degrees duration at 0.050-inch lift, and a two-stage Nitrous Works system. The Camaro easily pulled off the quickest e.t. at the event. Terry understands that fast cars need excellent brakes, so he replaced the Camaro's stock brake system with drilled and slotted rotors, performance pads, and new rear linings from Raybestos. Terry spent all day tweaking his Camaro to get from 0-100 mph as quickly as possible. Finally, with a big two-stage hit of nitrous, he mustered a very impressive 10.92 at 132 mph. This lighting-quick pass propelled his Camaro to 100 mph in just 609 feet. Combined with his stopping distance of 428 feet, his car was our clear 0-100-0 winner with a total acceleration and deceleration distance of 1,037 feet.

We'd like to thank all the people who helped us make this year's 0-100-0 Shootout another amazing success, not only because of their enthusiasm, but also because nobody spun out or broke anything--not even a burnt spark-plug wire! Everybody had a great time and we learned a little more about what it takes to turn a fast passer into a great braker. Ultimately, it's not nearly as easy as it looks.