Zed Oohh Six Test Drive
 

If you come from GT3 Stock you might like this review of the Corvette Z06 Its a primary track adversary.

Well I went to see if I might want to put a Z06 in my garage while I decide what my Porsche future is going to be.
IF You have been in 911s for awhile like me or you like small nimble cars
you will immediately feel out of place in a Z06. The car is huge. I have only driven ONE Dodge viper and that was years ago (2004) but all the memories came flooding back. Its truck like. Unless you feel claustrophobic in a 911 youre going to feel like youre in a Truck. Now that truck is fast and its nimble for that size but its an affront to all your Porsche honed senses. If you enjoy 911s and you find yourself 911 less, the Z06 is not going to be a satisfactory replacement. Also there is no throttle snap off the bottom. It feels like there is ALOT of throttle throw and you have to push the accellerator down alot and THEN the Z06 takes off. Plus even with this 85000 car and full leather, I still got the idea I was in a CHevy. It felt very similar to my Duramax allison diesel. THe environment was Chevy. Plus the salesman all smelled liked they smoked and the car smelled that way and the Z06 was dirty.
Not only that but I felt like I was in a strip bar inside the chevy showroom. Just didnt feel comfortable. It just felt cheesy in there. Its half the price of a new GT3 and it felt like it. I never got the idea that I was in the top of the line or the top of the food chain type of a car. There was a reasonant rattle in the 1K RPM range coming from the exhaust. Like my sons 95 Dodge pickup truck.
I do love the sound though. the exhaust burbled on decel and over all it sounded great.Someguys say my C63 has the best exhaust sound but the Z06 has the best V8 sound I have heard. The seats were easy on my back but I could see you would be using every thigh muscle you have to stay put when driving hard. No support. Even though the whole car had a BIG feel to it, the cockpit was crampt. THat was Viper like too. I got caught every time I got in with my left foot under a panel on the left floorboard. I like the more airy cockpit in the Porsche.
All in all maybe the best bang for your buck and you get ALOT of car for the money, but even my AMG felt smaller and more nimble when I got back in the car.
The last thing was that they didnt even come close to getting serious on the deal. The salesman turned me over to the salesmanager and I know what Z06 are going for. I know that that 08s are going for 58 and 09s should be in the high 60's and they wanted 80K for it. So It was a waste of time. Its a great car in the 65K range, its Fast but not any more than a TT or a GT3 under stress.
Porsche guys wont like this ride.

dude, i told you so....
now you bow to me, LOL.

you dont feel comfy in strip bar?

just get a TT or GT3 and be done with it.

I have no Z06 experience, but am surprised at the 'big car' feel since it is both significantly shorter and lighter than a GT3.

They are fast but they smell like a new a new SeaRay and their are acres of plastic in front of the windshield

I think its the WIDEness and it has a disconnected feeling in the steering. The Gt3 is like a pair of Nike running shoes the vette was like steel toed longhorn boots

They drive much larger than they are...

Another I told you so! :D

Not sure that's really a "review". Of course I shouldn't expect anything but bashing of another car make on an Internet forum.

It's certainly not a Pcar but neither is it sold at a Pcar price. Corvette's still probably the best possible sports car value available on the market today especially used Vettes.

Dude, I was serious about buying it. Had it met my standards and had the Chevy guys been serious about the deal I would have traded in my 09 AMG right there. I know that my car is worth wholesale about 52-55K. I know 09 Z06 with the 3LZ package is selling for ~70K and you can get a no mile 08 Z06/3LZ for 58.
They Said they took off 9K off this one MSRP was 85 plus 3K in Paint protection. they offered 79.5K and 43 for mine. Now maybe all Chevy guys are bozos like these guys but that told me
A. they werent serious or
B. Didnt have a clue in what they were doing.
I told the salesman exactly what my intention was and he still handed the deal over to the salesmanager. I usually talk to the guy who is going to do the deal. At my Porsche dealer I talk to one guy. At the MB dealer I talk to one guy and he seals or nixes the deal. The Chevy guy treated me like I was a teenager buying a chevy vega hatchback.

On top of that I show up and the car is filthy. There are water spots on the INTERIOR, it smells like smokers have been driving it for months and the back had grass all over it like the owner was taking it to the golf course every Friday. That put me in a bad mood to begin with. I was serious enough that I washed my black on black AMG and vacuumed the interior.
that was ALOT more than the dealer did on the Z06

Plus I am going to buy a 07 TT or GT3 and my budget is in the 80K range. The Z06 is not in their class even as a NEW vehicle (Z06) vs the USED tt or GT3. Given that the Z06s are in the high fifties (08) to 70k(09) I thought if it was as good as a 911 I would buy it and pocket the 15-28K difference for mods.
But its not and I was drop dead serious about leaving my AMG there at the Chevy dealer.

One other thing I left out of the above review is that the shifter felt cheap compared to a Porsche unit.
It is alot easier in force to shift that a GT3 but it just didnt feel like it was an 80K car. Even my AMG felt
like it was a cut above in quality over the Z06. I could see if you havent partaken in Porsche nectar you could be blown away by the Z06. But if you have serious seat time in newer 911s the Z06 isnt going to cut the mustard.

The 85000 reference doesn't make sense to me. The car had 85000 miles?






( ... yes ... kidding ... )

I think the ZR1 could be fun, so I jumped in one (no driving, not even the battery was connected.) The car reminded me of my old Whipple supercharged 2000 model Tahoe 4WD from all but a decade ago (and based on engineering from the 70's.) The ZR1 still had some of the same switchgear and ergonomics. The cabin is just ridiculous ... my first thought (coming from a couple of decades of marketing and product management) was to take each ZR1 from the factory, bargain down the buy price by $10-20K and put every penny into a near ideal refit of the cabin, build quality, fit and finish, excellent components and aftermarket brands, further weight reduction in the body, drivetrain and unsprung components, optional integrated roll cage, fire, etc. ... sort of a Ruf "do over" on the whole car (seats, shifter, steering, dash, instrumentation, electronics, door mechanisms, suspension tune, appearance, paint quality, fit, suspension components and geometry, alignment, pedal positions, insulation, NVH, you name it.) Spend $10M on tuning those problems, distribute and recover that cost over a 5000 unit production run, pull back $10K (from GM) out of each car to defray the higher costs and sell the car at least a tad cheaper ... I'd ask GM to drop $25K and I'd drop $20K of that making the ZR1 about a $75K proposition -- a car that soundly trounces Aston and Maserati, et al.

All that done, I still think the 996, 997.1 and 997.2 GT3's are -- no holds barred -- better sports cars. I still think the 997.2 GT3 and RS will deserve their place in the lineage of the (current) modern day 911's and it will take more than what I've described to put a 'vette in that company.

I've built a couple of GM-derived cars for competing in hill climbs and generally for having fun on the track or the street (in Australia with the Holden brand.) They're great. No question. Emphasis is on outright performance, but unseen compromises take away from feel and precision. "Throw the best raw ingredients into the mix and you're going to cook something satisfying." But unless the recipe has those essential ingredients (which it seems only companies like Porsche and Ferrari continue to use) then the final dish lacks the taste and satisfaction to the palate of the driver.

I agree Adam. Its a great car in any other context. But in this one with the 911s as the bar, it falls short.
The 3LZ had the full leather interior but the interior still screams SILVERADO!!!!!!

wow.all that and the battery wasn't even connected...
to all zr1 bashers i say check the car's Nurburgring lap time...GT3? :bigbye:

Paul:

and you did not even comment on the seats which will torque your back on a trip of any length. As I mentioned in an earlier post it is the weak point of the C6 series Corvette (had several until I just coulc not take the seats any longer). As you stated the vette is not in the Porsche class unless straight line launch starts are what gives you a thrill. Plus it is a chevy and will be worked on by who ever in the shop is next on the list. ave you driven a new C2S with PDK and the sport plus. I am really enjoying mine.

Also, tire noise and engine noise were very distracting and lots of heat from the drive tunnel.

HA!! Good one!! :cheers: