froggy47

OK so I am over the GT3 thing. But it's still time for a different car for 2012 race season.

The 2 cars in the title can either be bought for about 50k, the Z with maybe 10k miles on it. Barely broken in.

Amazing value for the GS, but 75 more ponies & lighter wgt for the Z.

The dilemma is that my main "recreation" use is autox and the GS tranny "seems" to put the car in a sweeter spot than the higher ratios of the Z.

Either will be on a6's & change the shock pkg & not much more.

Your discussion is welcome.

acrace

I think that a more definitive answer will be available August 31st, after Super Stock runs at the Solo Nationals. Strano and Thomason in Grand Sports and Greg Lloyd has really run well this year in an '08 Z06.

I went through the same situation a year ago when I wanted to buy a C6 for autocrossing. Like you, I already had a C5 Z06. I don't know if you plan on keeping your C5Z. I wound up getting a C6 Z06 and kept the C5 Z. My reasoning is that the Grand Sport has only one real advantage over the C5 Z . . . the bigger rear rim width. Power to weight is pretty close (7.5 lbs per HP for a C5 Z and 7.3 lbs per HP for a C6 GS - both in "autocross trim"). I thought that the C6 Z would have potentially more upside, with the understanding that it may be more difficult to drive.

However, if I could keep only one 'Vette for autocrossing, I would've wound up with a Grand Sport. I believe that it would be quicker for a wider variety of course configurations and would be easier to extract maximum performance.

But I have to admit . . . I really enjoy my C6 Z. It's really an awesome car.


Al Chan

froggy47

Thanks Al,

I was talking to GT last Sunday when he rolled out the GS at the Q. Bone stock except for sticker DOT slicks, if anyone can get it set up in a month he would be the one, it'll be an interesting nat's. Then add in the "proposal" to add all those uber cars to SS.

No I will the sell the z16, too many cars not enough garage space. I do very much favor the frc body over the hatchback.

I did research the ratio's & GS is the same as c5z. No wonder it's good on tight autox courses. Track would be another story. I have tried to keep up with c6z on tracks, futile, unless the driver is a noob.

I don't know GL, has he won at nat's?

acrace

Greg has not won at Nationals. I believe that his best finish was 3rd in ASP a few years ago. His car did win the Pro Solo Finale last year (Matthew Braun driving) and this year Greg has won the Blytheville Tour as well as run an extremely close second to Sam at the Toledo Tour. He's really stepped up his driving this year and he's worked hard on developing his car.

TMyers

I would think the GS would be the better Autocross car. The only reason I say this is that all C6's are traction limited. The GS with the same tires as the Z06, the power of a standard C6 and the tranny of the Z51 makes it IMO the best C6 autocross car. Now if I just had the cash to buy one. Oh well.

TedDBere

I'd go with the GS in autox. Couple of reasons.

1. Better gearing for autox.
2. Same fender lips as the C6Z so you can get bigger tires on it...particularly if you decide to move up to ASP. You wont crack the lips and wear the liner in ASP like the C5Z guys do. (Tires width makes a big difference)
3. No aluminum frame to worry about when you take it out on the track.

I still think the C5Z can win, but it's a "boring" car to the top aliens running and it doesn't have a warranty anymore. Look what Wynveen did at Nationals last year...with a cone! You don't see many drivers anywhere winning a national trophy in a class of 60+ drivers while they are carrying a cone.

I bet if you put Braun or Strano in Wynveen's well setup C5Z you wouldn't see as much interest in the newer C6 varients. IMHO. Don't forget the GS and the C6Z are both wider than the C5Z too, you have to be a really good driver to take advantage of the width difference but when measuring to the thousandth of a second it may make a difference.

davidfarmer

I love the LS7, but I'm a track guy. If the wider spread of the Z51 trans puts you in the right gear/rpm/speed range for your courses though, sounds like it's a no brainer. As stated, you are tire limited, so the extra power may not matter at all.

Let me just add though that the extra 400rpm of the LS7 will get back much of the speed (in a given gear) that the Z51 box gives you, so you really don't gain that much overall.

Datawiz

Wouldn't the power and lighter weight of the Z06 offset any gearing differences between the two?

For me, it's a no-brainer to run the Z06 because I run a LOT of faster autocross events, including the Bay Bottom Crawl. My local venue typically sees speeds well in excess of 75 mph. In that case, the C5Z's and the Grand Sports get hosed because they run out of gear and need to add shifts to 3rd.

Considering Braun was able to jump in the C6Z and win the pro this year says a lot to me.

TMyers

Setup correctly the C6Z is a beast. We do have a Katech C6Z that is very fast and it is setup right. On the other hand at our venue, which see's speeds maybe to 60mph I out run all the stock SS class with my F55 C6. The only mods are Z51 sways, poly bushings and R888, not the best autox tire. IMO Kumho XS or Bidgestone RE-11 are probably just as good or better. Next year I will have a set of A6's and larger sways I think.

Some of this could be driver but most of the other people have more seat time than I do, this is just my 3rd full year. What I really think though is I can put down the power, or think of it as a lack of power easier than the C6Z folks and not get in trouble as quickly. The GS would let me put down even more power because of the wider tires.

froggy47

It seems to me that the taller gears of the c6z would make it easier to drive on an ax course rather than shorter gears of GS. In terms of putting a little too much power out the rears & getting too loose.

About 2 or 3 times a year I end up bouncing the limiter in 2nd briefly due to the short gears in my c5z (which are the same as GS) so that's another case where the c6z would have the edge.

This is a tough call.

Datawiz

Fly into Florida this fall and beat the snot out of mine.

Remaining 4 events:

Sept. 4-5
Oct 1-2
Nov 12-13 (State Championships)
Dec. 3-4

TMyers

Our faster drivers sometime also hit the limiter briefly with there C5Z's. But they do get the power down faster than the C6Z. They don't have the brute torque.

Ah, the hell with the GS or the 2010 Z06, get the Carbon and be done with it. I love to spend others peoples money.

acrace

No A6s or V710s in 20" sizes for the Carbon.

TMyers

Damn, I never thought about that.

froggy47

Carbon rocks.

acrace

froggy47 - Going through old posts. What did you decide to do?

froggy47

Hi,

I am going with a c6z, but not really looking that "hard" yet. If I saw a 2lz with a color I like (black or the dark gray, not yellow or red) I'd pick it up.

There a still a few items on my to do list for the c5z to make it handle better, so I am still having fun with it.



For National autox the Lotus took top honors anyway & I would not buy one of those. Not many GT3 trophies either, but a few c5's were up there.

autoxer6

C5Z was in the lead day one, and the driver left about 0.3 sec on the table. Day two, the top C5Z was right there with Strano. So it's hard the say the C5Z isn't a top contender.

The Lotus is the car to have on a course with 30+ slalom cones like day two had. (thats stating the obvious...)

I road with Strano on the T&T course in the GS, it felt powerfull, but heavy. I do think it is has an advantage under braking with the better ABS. Overall, it doesn't seem to be much of an advantage. I did like the interior though!


Chris Shay

froggy47

I still love my c5z but I tend to be the "plan ahead" type & I can see getting hit with some $$$ bills to keep it running in top condition. Parts on the (early) c5's are starting to go unavailable & then it takes a while for the aftermarket to decide if they'll refurbish/remanufacture the parts.

Same with c4's.