Scott_in_Houston

BobPorsche996,
Wow, do you know Nick Berry (nberry) from some of the other boards?
You 2 are cut from the same cloth.

That being said, I do agree that the stereotype of a Vette is a hindrance for me as well, but the C6 has broken down a lot of that for me. I still like my TT WAY WAY more, but the C6 is the first Vette I don't think of as 'cheap'.
The new Z06 is going to be a world beater.

1AS

Clearly a lot of room for many opinions. It's always nice to be treated well by valet car parkers, but the day I make that a priority will be the last day of life as I know it. If cachet is what you want, than used Diablos or 600 series Benz's are the direction to take. If it's driving satisfaction that is important, then let's stick to dynamics. If it's cost of ownership, let's stick to numbers. Like fine wine, you can always get something a little better for a lot more. True afficionados get the most value they can.
The downsides of the C6 include steering isolation, quality of interior materials (better but still GM tainted), styling (personal preference), and the fact it is "American" (deduct 100 points).
If you look at the ZO6 engineering, you will be impressed. The chassis is strong, the materials are lightweight and sophisticated, the low weight is striking, the engine building process is near-competition level, the electronic enhancements are extensive, and all dynamics have been addressed in terms of footprint, weight distribution, braking, gearing (62mph first gear), creature comfort is enhanced, and upkeep costs are negligible compared to our brand. I think it will withstand track use- and far better than a 996, and won't need aftermarket coil-overs. Porsche can't stand on any brake laurels after the PCCB fiasco.
In 2002, I picked a ttX50 over a ZO6, and (used 550)Maranello after driving a standard tt. If I were to make the decsion again, I'd take the new ZO6. Value, rather than cost, enters into my thinking. But the greatest factor will be the driving dynamic. The reluctance of Porsche to stand behind track-related use is also a factor. Lastly, think about cost. If you buy a ZO6 for 65K estimated and sell it in a year, I doubt more than 20K will be lost. That is not atypical depreciation on a tt with only half the amount of money tied up. (the other 60K gets to stay invested) If you drove a ZO6 for 100,000 miles, 50K might be lost. If you did the same on a tt, it would be far more. I will be very curious about the magazine tests and my first drive opportunity. Personally, I think Porsche has been outdone. Having owned 5 Porsches and 2 Corvettes, I think my ratio is about to shift. AS

RWO

I love it. It's an impressive piece of engineering, a lesson for Porsche...

Roy

fast1

What's most important in a performance car? Is it power, handling, steering feel, braking, mystique or all of the above. The TT without question hits the target on all counts, but we are talking about a car that can easily sell for $140K. The C6 Z06 has the potential to hit most of the criteria with the exception of mystique. A 500 HP engine in a 3K lb car should provide unreal acceleration, and with 500 lb/ft of torque, the Z06 will blow away almost any car from a roll.

I have to confess that I've always been intrigued by sheer power, so I'll give the Z06 a hard look, especially if the price will be around the reported $65K. So I suppose that puts me in the red neck category.

Scott_in_Houston

it won't be anywhere near $65K for a while. My retarded dealer near here tried to sell me a base C6 for $70K! lol

They'll have tremendous mark ups on the Z06's for a while. What's cool is, this car will be available in a couple of years for near orless than $50k.

rss997

Before any of you put Porsche to bed for the Vette just wait and see what reliability and long term performance issues arise from the new vette...

I think we will see some major problems with it so hold your horses there Porsche bashers....

IT IS STILL A GM CAR AND THAT IS THE BOTTOM LINE FOR ME!!!

gabbagabbahey

No way will the Z06 be sold new for anywhere near 50K in a couple of years; there are too many extra's like Mag roof, AL frame, dry sump, carbon fenders, tweeked engine etc built into its raw material costs. Perhaps 60K down the road if it starts at 65K, but they can only make 6,000 or so I've read a year.

What long term reliabilty issues has the relatively simple C5 suffered, ala 996 RMS, to make the new Z06 a worry? I think for track fun, this car will be a hoot and wicked fast.

mtb968

I've heard so many different stories on price - When I looked at a new C6 in Sept. the price was sticker, no more (3-4 week delivery). I cannot imagine the Z06 will sell for over sticker past 3 months after the first real deliveries. In September, the dealer was selling new 04 C5 ZO6's for $10k under sticker.

Tbred911

Given it's aluminum chassis and improved materials the winning criteria for the Z06 will be how good the steering "feels" and whether it inspires confidence in the corners and the quality of feedback it gives to the driver... 3 points Porsche has excelled on and nobody else could manage to capture except the Acura NSX.

If they can do it then look out!!!

Benjamin Choi

Facts are facts.

The old Z06 was more than an equal to the 996 Turbo at the track and absolutely spanks it at the auto-x. Which means it absolutely bitch slaps any N/A 996 save for the GT3/2.

The new Z06 is superior to the 997S and will be competition for the 997 Turbo if they come out with one. The new Z06 is an absolutely amazing car and so was the C5 Z06. The regular C6 is on par with the 997S which means it bitch slaps the regular 997.

Now, when image and interior come to mind, that's where it loses big time with me. Otherwise, I have mad respect Chevy's Corvette engineering team. Nice work, fellas!

Tbred911

well... the point I was making was in "feel" not measurable performance... I don't know if it "bitch-slaps" anything... personally I think somebody needs to bitch-slap YOU!!!

gonz911

What the heck? Wow. Who cares about the new Mitsubishi looking Vette? Looking at the thing makes me want to itch. If you like Nascar, well then go buy the thing. The body styling on the thing look cheap. Okay, it's got muscle, big deal. It look like a lot of horse power wrapped in some plastic. I don't know how anyone can compare the precision engineering and quality of a Porsche to cheap stuff like that. IMO it's been at least 4 decades since they've done anything exciting. Perhaps they should've followed Ford's lead and done a retro-vette -- now the old school Vettes are something else! Lastly, if you look at a lot of the domestic and Japanese stuff they pretty much seem to copy German engineering. I mean if you want to talk about horsepower, most people who can afford any of these cars can have something powerful built that handles well for a lot less. So what are we talking about here? What's this "bitch slapping" stuff anyway. What a dolt!

kristap

Two words on the Corvette, 'leaf springs'

KJM3SMG

Forgive my ignorance, but after watching that Top Gear episode, I am curious as to why exactly are leaf springs so bad besides being an old "technology" ?

I mean the Corvette handles pretty well.. so if it's doing the job well why not?

pstoppani

So what? There is a good reason they went with those transverse leaf springs. Read up on it before you criticize it.

Oh, and those leaf springs have been good enough for the last 4 years in SCCA T1 to beat all comers, including GT3's which have some sexy coilovers.