KBS911

Don't know about the Z06, but I drove a new Z51 Corvette for all of about 15 seconds at the Chevrolet Sebring event last weekend. I was very impressed with how nimble the car felt and how smooth the power was. Good visibility. I had 2 C5 Z06's and never drove a C6, but the new Vette was pretty impressive. Much better fit and finish than the older cars. I'm not cancelling my GTS by a long shot, but was pleasantly surprised none the less.

maxpowers

I've wondered about this myself. The problem with the car "reviews" I've seen is that all they do is compare lap times, acceleration, braking, etc.

Why aren't there any reviews where they actually talk about what it's like to own the car and how they feel to drive day in and day out under normal conditions. It's interesting to see how they behave going down the track at 130 mph+, but how do the sound systems, navigation, and other tech compare? How is visibility? What about ease of parking and trunk space? How much fun are the cars to drive at 35 mph? How is the clutch feel and the throw of the gearshift? What about pedal and steering feel?

Why aren't there reviews that talk about the options you might consider in each car that talk about what you get?

worf928

Not in my sig is a 2002 Z06. I've driven it and C6Zs on the track and on the highway etc. The '02 is my track car.

I agree 110% with this. The C5Z and C6Zs are great track cars. And you can have a lot of fun with them on the streets at low speeds because of the paradox. However, after an hour, I want to get back in any of the Porsches.

The paradox is due to the progressive transverse leaf spring design. As long as the 'vette is suspended like a horse buggy the paradox will persist.

The C7 is a big step up from the C6 (while the C6 was an updated C5) and I can see myself in the market for one in a year or three once *I'm* as good on the track as the C5Z is.

hoppah

One thing that Chevy can never fix on the Corvette no matter how much money they spend is the dealer network. One thing I definitely hated is spending $75k (or what would have been $115k for the new Z06 I was contemplating) on a car and then come in and get treated like I spent $15k on a used pickup truck. Chevy dealers have no idea how to treat premium car buyers. There are exceptions, but as a rule if you replace a Porsche with a Corvette, the most glaring issue you're going to discover is the massive difference in service and service delivery.

H.

jimbo1111

Very true. The dealer experience must be noted. BMW wins hands down though. Ive own all three variants over the past few years. Porsche, BMW and Benz. While they are all relatively great. BMW kicks it up one notch.

ChoyV

In general, most Porsche, BMW, Audi and Benz dealers give great service. The assumption is that you bought their auto from them which is already in a premium price. Maybe in SOME Chevy dealers, they don't know what auto you bought from them. It can be the C7 or their lower model. Unless they see you driving the C7 for service.

Hurricane

There is a lot of truth to this although in my experience, my local Chevy dealers were pretty good. One other thing to consider - $70 annual oil changes at the dealer! Major service at 50k miles and 100k miles, maybe $300-$600 each....

While I enjoy the amenities at my Porsche dealership.....there is no question that service at a Chevy dealership for a Vette is much, much less expensive. If you don't mind having your car serviced alongside a Chevy Spark (although I had a specific Corvette technician).

jimbo1111

That isn't quite true. The aforementioned dealers spend quite a bit more on impression. There is a higher standard that is achieved and it shows. No matter what Chevy you purchase the dealer experience pals in comparison. Ritz Carlton vs hotel 8.

hoppah

I'm speaking specifically of the treatment you receive in the service department, where they absolutely know what car you're driving. For most car owners, nearly all their interaction with the employees of the car company from which they've purchased their vehicle will be with the service department at the dealership. It's really critical as a source of overall impression about the company and vehicle. Over time, a crappy experience in the service department can really erode your passion for a car or the brand. And a good one can bolster your passion, even if the car itself is objectively less reliable. Note: I'm not saying Porsche is less reliable than Chevy, I'm saying the impression you get from the service department at your dealer can, over time, really affect your feelings for the brand.

H.

BenDiem

^^^hoppah,

Spot on with everything you posted! It's the main reason why I sold my last ZR1 (previously two C6 Z06s before that) for a 991.

The service experiences for me at a couple of Chevy dealerships was significantly less than stellar.

I suppose I kept comparing my service experiences with my two other vehicles with that of the Chevy dealerships, and there is absolutely no comparison.

I'm not bashing the Corvette (best bang for the buck, bar none), I'm just stating a fact that the service experience is just not up to par with what I'm used to.

As soon as Chevy gets this part of ownership experience up to speed, I may very well buy another Corvette, to share garage space with my Pcar.

Cheers,

B

FrstPorsche

Don't get either. Get a GT4 if you can and be done with it.

lunarx

GT4 is a Nice Option!
Are they sold out or still available for ordering?

Maybey if Chevy gave their employees a $9500 bonus, they would treat customers better, in the service department.

Also, no question that Porsche employees are the cream of the crop, which helps improve the service experience.
Better chance that your car will be treated with due care at a Porsche dealer vs a Chevy dealer.

It seems there are other cars in a much higher segment, than their dealer network.
Ford GT, Dodge Viper, Nissan GTR, Acura NSX, Lexus LFA...

Axxlrod

They are long gone.

hoppah

It occurred to me that this might be a fitting place for this piece of semi-fiction.

*******
The Tale of Cal Fornay

Poor Calvin Fornay found turning 59 very difficult. He was losing the battle with the grey and his silvery sideburns were surely the cause of the snickers and sidelong glances from his much younger co-workers, clacking away on their cell phones with their Tweets and Facebooks. Calvin had felt strongly the need to show them he still mattered, that he could still contribute, that he was one of them. He didn't deserve to be ignored by the younger office women. He was still a man!

Calvin decided to express his burgeoning midlife crisis, so long kept in check by his fear of his wife. Once a beauty queen who herself was feeling her age, taking it out on Calvin who never made it to the CxO position and the attendant prestige she had so hoped for. Her bitterness was a daily agony for Cal.

Cal wanted that used Ferrari he could just barely afford. But he knew his wife would have his ***** - once so big and full of testosterone, now withered after years of nitpicking and bitching - in a cup if he did something so impractical. So he bought himself a Mercedes AMG SL. The salesman told him it was the "Baddest Car on the Street." Calvin would show those punks in their hot rods who was still the bad boy.

Calvin took his wife out for a drive in his new prize. He had not yet had a chance to break the news of what he paid for it, so he wanted to show her how awesome and practical it was before letting her know of his new $1500/month car payment. For his surprise demonstration of the car's capabilities he decided to humiliate the dirty black Corvette up ahead, the one with the blacked out windows. This would be just perfect! He'd get a chance to look like a stud to his wife, justify his expenditure, and put that redneck in his place all in one blast of his finely tuned German-built masterpiece. He slid into the Corvette's blind spot, sure the idiot driving it didn't see him, and prepared to make his move. Cal was going to blow right by this loser before he had a chance to even find his gas pedal.

Cal's wife was nattering away about some clothing or decorating idea and completely unaware of his plan. She experienced a moment of shock when he went from apparently listening to her to flooring the accelerator and hunching over the wheel like a madman. The car leapt forward and began making a lot of noise - but not as much as that dirty black car they were next to. After an instant's hesitation it barked and then began a banshee howl as it pulled away and steadily moved farther and farther ahead. It dawned on her: her idiot husband was RACING the black car - and getting his *** kicked! Was he trying to kill them both? She looked at the speedometer and noticed that they were just passing 120MPH (God only knows how fast the noisy black car, now vanishing in the distance ahead, was going). She looked up at Cal's face and saw the mix of utter humiliation, defeat and frustration there, and instantly knew what was going on. She became very angry and started shouting at Cal: "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? YOU IDIOT! SLOW DOWN, JESUS CHRIST YOU ARE SUCH A JACKASS, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY I MARRIED YOU, YOU ARE A COMPLETE FAILURE!!!"

The combination of the shock at how rapidly and completely the dirty black Corvette slapped down his new Merc and the sudden and virulent assault from the passenger seat shattered Calvin's confidence. He let off the accelerator and with his surrender to the 'Vette went the last of his fading manhood. As his wife shrieked at him he turned, in that fateful minute, into an old man. He would keep the Mercedes - the remnants of his pride would allow him that. But his days as a stud were over. He went from talking about the "big promotion" to talking about retirement, and his wife began cheating on him with the chief mechanic at the Mercedes dealership.

*******

Although I didn't know the driver's name or his situation either before or after our unfortunate race, I did watch his wife go from happily yapping away to shock and screaming at him, and saw him collapse in defeat. It was hilarious. The rest is obviously an invention.

H.

charliec

I had a zo6. corner to corner i went as fast as it could go. But it was not very well built and after a year lots of rattles showed up, my T-top blew off on the interstate ( big problem), and I hated the run flat tires. Back to the P car.

Bull.....2015 is the first year that the Z06 has a removable roof. What a dick.