C5_Z06

I have a C5Z06 with the full T1-chassis setup. I use the car on the track and on the street. I'm quite happy with the setup since it perfomrs quite well on the street AND on the track while still providing reasonable comfort level. Car sees maybe 20% tracktime and 80% street use. No racing tires, only street tires used (Michelin PS2).

I've never driven a C6Z06 but all reviews praise the chassis setup. A questions the the ones who have tested both setups, how do they compare on the track and on the street? I'm quite found of my current car with the T1 setup but the extra power of the LS7 is temping, hence the question. Obviously the engine is quite different, but how do the chassis compare, T1 C5 vs stock C6Z06? Any input is appreciated.

turbo50mike

I had a C5Z with some T1 tidbits, and went to a stock C6Z. All I can say is DO IT.

My Corvettes sees the opposite of yours - 80% track, 20% street, but the C6Z is such a GREAT street car that does an OUTSTANDING job on the track. It seemed like the more I made the C5Z better on the track, the less drivable on the street it became.

The C6Z is fantastic - Great handling, great power, great egronomics, fantastic ride over all types of roads, and lots of great options - i.e. - Heated seats, Nav, XM, bluetooth, HomeLink, etc, etc...It's a great car; You could literally drive it on a daily basis, then just bolt on some slicks or R comps, throw on some good pads, and hit the road course.

Do it.

95jersey

Had a C5Z with all the trimmings and a HOT cam making 425rwhp. I had better stuff than the T1 guys are allowed. The moment I drove a bone stock C6Z it CRUSHED my MODDED C5Z in ALL aspects. It was like my C5Z was not even a Corvette in the same class. While the HP numbers from my cammed C5Z were not too far off from the C6Z, the acceleration of the bone stock C6Z made my previous car look silly.

It is the best thing money can buy for $45k give or take (used one). I wouldn't personally buy new...there are too many garage queens waiting to be taken.

Only downside....cost to run, tires, brakes and expendables are twice if not 3 times the price. Also, if you plan to cage, not a good idea with aluminum frame.

I have said it and will say again, anyone with $40k burning a hole in their pocket should buy nothing other than a used Z06.

Do it and don't look back. Best experience you will every have short of a $300k Ferrari (or maybe a ZR1).

turbo50mike

**Cough, Cough** Or a Lamborghini.

OKsweetrides

Or... what about a LS7 in a C5Z?

sperkins

It's a personal preference thing and that's it. If you're willing to spend +/- 50 THOUSAND dollars for a car that makes loads of torque and revs until tomorrow and that's what you want - then I say go for it.
If you want to go fast (per the stopwatch), develop the car you already have and save a chit load of money. A purpose built well setup T1 C5Z is a lot of car and will out perform a stock C6Z all day every day with equal drivers at most tracks.

Bill Dearborn

Your T1 setup is limited when you use street tires so you aren't getting the full benefit of the mods you have installed. When I got my 08 Z it took me a couple of track days to get used to it. I went from a C5Z running R compound tires to running on worn EMTs. My lap times with the new car were as good as the C5 with the R compound tires. I wasn't cornering as fast as the C5Z but the increased speed at the end of the straights made up for that. The C6Z is a very fast car. The big advantage is all of the torque available when accelerating through and out of a turn. 427 cubic inches really does make a lot of mid range rpm torque. 20 plus years ago I used to have Big Block C3s but forgot what that kind of torque felt like. It also has long legs. With a 7K rev limiter you can hit 123 in third and close to 160 in fourth although if the straight is long enough to give you time to shift you get going faster at the end if you shift around 6500.

Bill

AU N EGL

at $20,000 to buy and install. May not be the best option.

your C5Z and the $20,000 would make a great down payment on a C6Z

but if your going to get into W2W racing, the C5Z and that $20,000 would make a heck of a NASA ST2 car.

redtopz

It's interesting to hear from 2 guys who have owned and driven both on the track and who both agree that the C6Z is much faster than a modded C5Z. That is what I would expect.

However, what I have personally seen at the track is more in line with Sperkins statement. I have not seen stockish C6Z's at any of our local tracks turning faster laps than T1 C5Z's or coilover C5Z's on similar tires. Could be fear of pushing the car as hard due to the risk of damage to a more expensive car. I would think the gearing and torque would be HUGE advantages and would knock several seconds off at tracks such as Laguna Seca and Thunderhill. I would love to drive a C6Z on the track and find out, but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.

gmccreary

I have both a 09 C6Z and an 01C5Z. I bought the 01 C5Z purposely to use as a track car. I've driven both on the track and the C6Z is a monster but the cost of consumables is prohibitive. I'm completely satisfied with the C5Z.
If you want to spend lots of money go with the C6Z.

96CollectorSport

For what the OP is talking about doing 80% street/ 20% track on street tires, the C6Z is definatly the car to have. Yes the C5 in T1 trim is a lot of car but he's not in T1 trim he has the T1 suspension and is running on street tires. (I'm kind of suprised the car doesn't push horribly) A well set-up and driven T1 car will give most C6Z drivers a headache on most tighter tracks but on a big long track like Road Amreica bye bye the C6Z is gone.
Once you start modding the cars it's a different story, the OP didn't say he wants to go W2W or TT, he wants to do HPDE's with street tires and wants to know what's the best dual purpose car (not the best race car) So for someone who is running a street/track set-up on street tires the choice is a no brainer - C6Z.

fatbillybob

T1 cars are very fast today. The lap times with good drivers are amazing. At WSIR I think the fasted C5Z T1 car was 1:27 or 1:28 At AAA speedway 1:48's and those times were without the new brakes. A T1 car is not cheap.

donor car +
adjustable shocks $3-5k
headers 1.5 k
brakes 3-6k
wheels 2k/set
T1 kit 3k?
HD radiator?

95jersey

I call BS on T1 cars being faster. Let me just say this, if at C5/6T1 car were REALLY faster than a C6Z06, the C6Z06 would be allowed to compete in T1...period, no questions asked. You can't compare full prepped race cars to street cars with a harness bar and some R compound tires slapped on by some novice. Also, these T1 guys who are posting the best times in the country are light years ahead of even us most dedicated weekend HPDE/Time Trial warriors. These guys spend more $$$$ for one race than I do all season. Also the C5 platform has been around for SOO long those guys have them dialed in perfectly for each individual track and conditions of that day. They are also running engines and RPM at max power and going through multiple engines in a year and new tires every race (A6's not R6's).

So of COURSE lap time records are going to be set by the top T1 guys (who probably should be pro's anyway) in cars they have been racing for 10+ years with proven data. If you made A C6Z legal in T1, it would dominate (which is why they won't allow it).

Also, the statement about folks wanting to keep their $75k Z06's in good condition and not pushing to get the last 10/10ths is completely accurate. Most guys running C6Z are not W2W diehards, but weekend warriors looking to stretch their legs. I run TT's in my and set a lap record at NJMP in a C6Z06, but even though I was pushing hard, I wouldn't EVER want to loose my car to win some stupid plastic trophy, I will NEVER NEVER push 10/10th's to win anything (apparently I didn't need to). I ran on some old R6's with 1/2 tank of gas (93 octane) on a 2 year old allignment, stock motor, and a set up done for a generic race track. I know Phoenix guys can set up your car to run fast at a specific track based on data they have gather over 10 years.

If T1 guys could run a C6Z, they would and they would have the b@lls and money to drive the thing like it should be...

I think the point to the original thread, that I wanted to make is for a sweet low mileage Z at $40k, I would pick that over anything but all out national T1 competitive racing.

Besides...doesn't a GOOD T1 car run $40ish anyway???

1ED1

What kind of times will a C6ZO6 run at CMP, VIR, Summit Point, NJMP Thunder and Lighting and other tracks? What are the mods?

C5_Z06

Thanks for all the input guys! I really love the way my C5Z06 handles after upgrading to the full GMPP T1 setup. Car was really transformed with much imporved steering responce and overall feedback from the road/track. Even on street tires it's neutral and easy to drive fast, atleast the way I'm driving. Before doing the upgrade I read that the T1-setup is supposed to be "kidney busting" but to my surprice it's quite ok. I did a 3000 mile roadtrip including the Alps and the Nürburgring this summer without any major issues.

Obviously the C6Z06 is a much faster car but my original question were more in line with how a C5-T1 chassis compare to a stock C6Z06 chassi. How does it "feel" and behave on the track and on the street? Would I need to upgrade the chassis of the C6Z06 to get the same level of performance as a C5-T1 setup (on street tires)? All magazine reviews are really prasing the setup of the C6Z06 chassis, so I was keen on getting some real world feedback from those of you who have tested both.

billy25us

I drive a t1 c5 frc and when I first bought the car I shared it with a friend of mine so he could see if he liked the hobby. Well as you could guess he did and he just bought a brand new z06. We took both cars to CMP and I hurt his feelings. His z06 would pull me in the straights but I could out brake and corner him. It translated to about a 5 second difference a lap. He was on street tires but did have carbotech pads. As soon as we got back he bought a new set of ccw's mounted with r6's. We are going to vir next weekend and it will be interesting to see how the new z06 with r-compound's stacks up.

dsanders

I agree I think a C6Z will take a T1 car if they have the same tires but are still comparable, if you are going to keep it streetable I would definitely go C6Z, but if you later decide to go W2W go with a T1 car. I have never owned a C6Z but have driven student’s cars and would love to have that much power in my T1 car.
Now to respond to the amount of money you guys think the T1 guys spend. I am not starting anything I just think that these rumors scare people away from T1 thinking we all have Tucker like budgets. Out of the 40 T1 drivers that ran SCCA Nationals this year I think maybe 5 or 6 spend a crazy amount of money and only half of them are actually at the front at the Runoffs. I did quite a few years of HPDE before I went W2W and can say that I am spending about the same per weekend. Most of us are not going through multiple engines a year and new tires every race. I only bought a couple of sets this year and saved them for the races that damn Heinricy guy showed up at. I am now putting a new bullet in after running the last motor for over 2 years. I just want to set the record straight so the guys thinking about running T1 don’t get scared away and try and get new blood in this class because it is one of the coolest classes around that you can run on a smaller budget and be competitive.

OKsweetrides

That's a lot of cheddar for the swap! I'm coming in at about 60% of the cost for my swap.

But I already have a C6Z It takes me to and from the C5Z :p

Nowadays though, a C6Z makes a *VERY* compelling case for a casual weekend warrior.

In my opinion, they are fundamentally the same, just that the C6Z starts higher up the ladder and so it offers a lot of benefits that are attractive to a much wider range of enthusiasts.

Jason

I've driven both. Give me the C6Z for a dual purpose car every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

95jersey

Remember, the C6Z not only has more power, but has many of the benefits of a pre-modified track car. When I got my C5Z, to make it track worthy, I had to buy a new radiator, oil coolers, bigger brakes, wider tires, stiffer suspension, bigger sway bars and so on.

The C6Z comes with a bigger radiator, standard oil coolers (oil, trans and diff), dry sump. The springs and sways are VERY close if not the same as T1. I did not have to spend a dime on cooling or upgrading parts to make the car trackworthy. I couldn't imagine the cost of adding tranny and diff coolers and dry sump to a C5Z.

Right from the beginning when I went from a C5Z to a C6Z, I found I could drive the car faster much easier. It took a lot less effort and was much more composed. To get my C5Z to handle the way I wanted, it became unmerciful on the street and drove like a dedicated race car. The C6Z handled just as good or better than my modded C5Z, but drove smooth like a Caddy on the street, was quiet and could actually be driven to and from the track and beat everything there. It is a MUCH more refined car. Also, I don't think T1 is "kidney busting". I think it is actually still too soft.

The only negative thing I can say about OEM C6Z suspension, is since they stiffened up the springs to near T1 spec, they softened up the bushings quite a bit to offset the additional spring rate and make the car more compliant on the road. This unfortunately makes the car feel a little vague compared to my C5 (which had poly's). I complained initially when I got the car, that the car felt a little like a boat moving around under itself at high speeds. It didn't affect handling, but it provided less feedback than I was use to with my polyurethane C5Z. It was just a strange feeling that there was too much rubber between the chassis and the suspension. From my experience with poly's (creakin and cracking), I vowed not to put them on my C6Z. The way I got around this was by putting in a set of coil-overs with a stiffer spring rate. It got rid of MUCH of the sloppyness, I felt with the OEM suspension.

So in the end, my point is by the time you spend $$$$$ modifying your C5's, you could have had a low mileage garage queen C6Z with 90% of the mods you originally planned anyway (power, suspension, tires, brakes, coolers). For the HPDE or even TT, the C6Z needs little to nothing to handle track duty.