Corvette Fanatics Tampa Bay Posse - THE THREE AMIGOS

THE Tampa Bay Posse is a uniquegroup of Corvette fanatics. The organizationhas no dues, no monthly meetings,and no officers. What they do have isAndrew (Drew) Haynes, the informalleader of the Posse. Each member wearsa red T-shirt with a slogan proclaiming:"Will ride . . . even if there is nowhere togo!" The Posse works via a phone chain.Drew will spot an upcoming Corvetteevent and notify members of the date,time, and location. He picks a meetingspot and whoever shows up caravans tothe event. It's a simple concept but has an amazing outcome--members drivefrom all over the state to ride with thePosse.

Three of these Posse members are thesubject of this story: Chris Napolitano,Craig Nicholson, and Tyrone Payne. Possemembers call them the Three Amigosbecause they all share common traits.Each owns a Corvette, and they arealways trying to outdo each other. Craigwas the first to buy a C6 Z06 in October2005. His black beauty was a hit with thePosse crowd. Chris was next when hepurchased his Velocity Yellow '06 Z06.

As Craig's delivery date neared, heconvinced Chris and Tyrone to caravan upto Georgia with him to pick up his newhot rod. The story took a different twistwhen he suggested stopping by MTIRacing in Marietta, Georgia, to get theircars "tuned." MTI Racing's owner ReeseCox is no stranger to hot-rod Corvettes.Reese was a former crewchief for theMorrison Motorsports Corvette team, andhe successfully drove a C5 in theSpeedVision GT series. His MTI RacingCompany is responsible for producingmany of the South's fastest Corvettes.

CF was at MTI Racing when the threeZ06s pulled into the parking lot. It wasquite a sight to see the yellow, silver, andblack Z06s parked in a row. After quickintroductions and a tour of MTI Racing'sshop, Reese and his crew went to workinspecting each car. Chris' yellow Z06 wasfitted with American Racing's 17⁄8-inchlong-tube headers, Random Tech hi-flowcats, an x pipe system, and a Corsa Cat-Back exhaust. It was showing 6,492 on itsclock. Tyrone's '07 silver Z06 had LG ProLong Tube 13⁄4-inch headers, Random Techhi-flow cats, an x pipe system, and stockexhaust. In addition, Tyrone had added anaftermarket air-intake system, and his Z06had 3,217 miles on its clock. Craig's '07black Z06 was completely stock and hadcovered a whopping 91 miles since itsdelivery.

When the inspection was completed,all three cars were lined up for baselinedyno tests. Tyrone's silver ride was firstand, with the hood open, produced454.2 RWHP and 449.5 RWT. Reeseclosed the hood and tested the caragain, and the number fell to 424.5RWHP. This 29.70hp loss was because ofthe aftermarket air intake that drewmost of its air from under the hood, notoutside of the car. Always remember,when your car is on the highway, thehood is closed, not open. You shouldalways dyno your car with the hood inthe closed and open positions becausethis determines your intake's efficiency.Chris' car was next, and it produced453.7 RWHP and 451.8 RWT. With thehood closed, Chris' factory air intake costhim 11 RWHP. Finally, Craig's new blackZ06 pulled 400.9 RWHP and 385 RWTwith the hood closed.