With all apoligizes...I did not mean to sound like "george"..Rohan, had you read my post...It was compairing a boxster to a z06...The comparsion test Did NOT compare a 993 too the z06.....My neigbor took del. of his new z06 today....paid 15k over msrp...I drove his new vette, and then my 98 C4s....I much prefer my C4s....Sorry if I offended you rohan.....and In my opinion....I feel GMC does, and will build a better sport ute than Porsche...Utes are not p-cars.....*hoping I do not have the george stigmata on me*

 

If you would like to buy a car that will smoke the corvette Z06 in a drag race, buy a GMC Typhoon or Syclone. It is around $25-30,000 and it will make your friend cry when he looses to a truck. And the best thing is that you can keep your porsche to cruise on the weekends.

take care,
mani

 

Coming from the 928 world of V8 power and big torque we would race Vettes often on the track. Until now with the introduction of the ZO6 we would romp those guys. In my personal opinion the Chevy small block engine is among the greatest engines ever made and can make power very cheaply. HOWEVER, RELIABLITY???? Hmmm, well once those guys started tweeking on their engines to outperform the 928's on the track we would often see them broken down somewhere on the side of the track.

Corvette has taken a few cues from the Porsche 928 starting with their LT1 like seperating the transmission from the engine and placing it between the rear wheels for better weight distribution, they installed an active version of the Weissach axle in the rear to keep the car from swapping ends so often. The overall handling of the Corvette has been improved and they have closed the performance and handling gap with Porsche by considerable measures. They are now rather nimble performers.

The ZO6 has launched Corvette into an entirely new class of performer. I have heard from close friends that race bored and stroked 3000 pound stripped down 928's at 500+ horsepower that the Z06 is a real "handful" on the track, but bear in mind, as someone indicated earlier, the brakes still positively SUCK! Just take a look inside those big honkin 18" Chevy rims and find those traditional tiny rotors and with no devices to help the cooling process (no cross drilling, not even slotted rotors). It's actually quite laughable, however the smart Z06 driver already knows this and has improved the braking ability of the car.

All summed up, after considering the Z06's improved performance and handling characteristics and watching these cars just romp our Porsches at the track I wouldn't count on catching one of these in even a 993TT unless you are a really GOOD driver or they roll off the track into brake fade oblivion.

Just my personal observation and opionion. Bang for the buck the Z06 is a scortcher!

 

What is the problem with the Z06's brakes? Is it a fade problem? I have not heard of this. While I am the last one to like to quote the auto rags, M/T lists the 60-0 distance of the Z06 to be 5 feet less than the 01 911 turbo and 4 less than the Carrera 4. Was equal to a 99 911. I have driven both a 911 C2(95) and a Z06(01) but I didn't get a chance to really test out the brakes. I think the comparison with the Boxster was made as the Z06 lists for 1000$ less than it, 10,000 less than the Boxster S and about $25,000 less than the average 911 Carrera. 2002 Z06 will have 405HP/400Tq. Track comparisons are tough unless you know the drivers are fairly equally skilled. I have been to the track (not counting the dragstrip) only twice and waved a race prepared Miata by me in the twisties of Laquna Seca that was driven by a very experienced driver! I think it made his day!
By the way, I have put air deflectors for a 911 on my GTS to help cool its front rotors! Wish I had the calipers and all...

 

Jeff the stock brakes on the Z06 are probably very suitable for all around daily driving and even several laps around the track. However, take it around the track for the length of time you would normally swing a 993 or 996 or even a 928 and you will find after about the eight or ninth lap of "hard driving through the twisties" the Z06 will need to pull off the track or begin taking cool down laps. I personally witnessed this the last time I saw a Z06 on the track at PIR. In fact, the driver of that ZO6 that particular day happened to be a SCCA champion driver of some sort.

After a final cool down lap the Z06 called it a day while the Porsches, Audis and Bimmers finished the day.

Oh believe me, I don't take much credit away from the Z06, dollar for dollar this car is hard to touch. However, the brakes are the one flaw I noticed. Additonally, I suspect that the test results of 60-0 was conducted under normal and much less demanding operating conditions. What would the test results show provided the car had been driven hard for a while and then required to do a 60-0? How would it stack up against Porsche braking then? I don't completely trust the published results of many of those magazines. I prefer to see the real world perfomance and measure it from there.

p@

 

P@
I agree completely about magazine test results. Most of the test drivers have little to no experience in the car they test. I think they must all drive Hondas! They listed my 97 GTS as 12.9 in the quarter yet on my third trip out to the strip I was able to pull off a 12.2! The 60-0 testing is more designed to test real world emergency braking not sustained road course racing. That Z06 driver must have done more than overheat his brakes if it took him our for the day. Did you find the S4 brakes were a big improvement over the stock 928 brakes? I have always liked the 928s....

 

Yea Jeff, I saw your time at the drag strip in your Viper on your web site. Very impresive! Especially when you can get down in the 12 second ranges at more than 110 mph.

I upgraded the brakes on my 928 to standard 4 piston Porsche calipers which are pretty much the same thing as the brakes on your 993. The stock 85S brakes were actually quite good as far as brakes go even at that time. However the real advantage is the cooling. Which when tossing a 3500lb Porsche around the twisties can get awfully hot. Additonally, with all that power running down the straights at neck snapping speeds ( I am sure you can appreciate that in a Viper) stopping that beast puts a lot of heat demand on the brakes too. The 4 piston S4 brakes or the larger Big Red 928GTS brakes make a considerable difference.

 

Thanks Pat,
The Viper was not designed to be a drag racing car and thus is pretty poor at it. With 118 mph in the 1/4 most cars (mustang/camero) should be in the mid to high 11's. The IRS and high rear end gears (3.07) hurt it but it is a good car for the track.
That was a mean looking 928 you had...