I thought I would post this here on the C3 Corvette forum just to provide some information / comparisons / my experience. As many of you know, I have a 77 Corvette Coupe I spent 4.5 years restoring, body off, built better than Chevy built it. I have driven it for four years, 5000-8000 miles a year. This year I have been grounded because of the 406 SBC fiasco that I documented here. A month ago I decided to trade in my 2015 Ford F150 for a 2006 Corvette Coupe as my daily driver. I have been driving it every day since,....and today my wife and I spent the afternoon and evening out cruising the beautiful backroads of PA. It inspired me to post this thread........a comparison opinion......spoiler alert for those who don't want to read all of it........I put the 77 above the 2006 in almost every way.

1977 Corvette, Code 66 original orange color with black interior, factory manual Borg T-10 transmission, with a Gen 1 SBC 406 cubic inch, AFR head, torque cammed engine. Have not dynoed it, but probably 400 HP, 400 ft lbs torque?? StainlessWorks 1-3/4 inch headers into 2-1/2 mandrel bent exhaust. I have all Bilstein shocks, with VBP composite rear springs, all Moog steering and suspension parts. Bairs built 355 rear end. Its lowered to a 27" wheel height all around, with 17 inch Torq Thrust Wheels,....and Nitto555GT tires all around. Factory Manual steering and manual brakes.. No airconditioning or emission garbage. Car weighed at 3250 lbs full tank gas. The car is a pure blast tor drive, better than ANYTHING I have ever driven. I absolutely love the car.



2006 Corvette Coupe 3LT - 13,500 miles when bought last month. Factory six speed manual transmission, completely bone stock car. 6.0 liter, 400 HP, 400 lbs torque. Weighs around 3300 lbs. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL paint color I have ever seen on a car - Daytona Sunset Orange Metallic. I have not modded anything yet......maybe Christmas present will be Borla ATAK or ? exhaust system. The car has the Z51 option, which has bigger brake rotors, stiffer sport suspension, and a revised gear ratio that provides more RPM in 1st, 2nd.....for better acceleration.



Now.......the comparisons.

- The 2006 is obviously a much higher tech car......LS2 engine, fuel injection, computers, sensors, airconditioning, fancy FOB keys, push button start, heads up display, power steering and brakes, and the Tremec transmission so many C3 Corvette owners seem to want to put in their C3. MY 77 is as simple as a car can come......more than even when Chevy built it. Manual brakes, manual steering, manual transmission, manual windows, NO airconditioning,....and in fact, I disabled the heat system. Its an engine and driveline, four wheels and a two seats......Cool

- Big perspective......the 2006 is a car that I can drive anywhere, anytime. I am not worried about rain or snow. This is, and will be, my daily driver. The 77......will only see rain when I get caught by accident in rain. I put 8000 miles on it last year without ever getting wet.....so it does not slow me down, I just have to be careful about when I drive it. The 77 will NEVER see snow, or even dry salt laden roads. I jack up the 77 in the winter, full wipe down and wax the BOTTOM of the car.....it still looks like the day I finished the restoration.

- Comfort level - IMO....its a tie. The driving position, and seat comfort, between the two cars is almost identical. My wife and I have driven the 77 all day long, and the factory rebuilt seats are as comfortable as anything I ever sat in that long. I could drive to California in it. My truck, her Camry suck. The 77....all day long. The 2006, same comfort level....with only a slight advantage in the the upper seat side bolsters are adjustable for pinch, and once set right, keep you nice and tight on the twisties. The steering wheel position, the shifter position on both cars are identical in every way. Perfect positions for me. Gas pedal and clutch pedal....same on both.

- Power - The advertised power on the 06 is 400 HP, 400 ft lbs torque. I am not sure what my 406 is....but desktop dyno is close to the same. Once VortecPro finishes the 406 rebuild this fall,....he will be dynoing it and I will know. I suspect with his cam choice, and fixing all the previous builders mistakes, the engine will be noticeably stronger that it was last year when I put the 8000 miles on it. What I CAN tell you is,......the 77, with last years 406 in it.......would accelerate as fast as this 2006 does.....believe it or not. Now.....to qualify this.....I do NOT slam the gas pedal to the floor, or drop clutches, or shift at MAX RPM on either car. Its not my style, I do not abuse my machines. So.....the comparison is based on the same techique on both cars. Not sure about what would be different if I did push it to its fullest extent. But what I notice about the 06 is that it starts to perform at a higher RPM level.....where th 77 is moving forward faster with less RPM....which is what I wanted it to do, and how I spec'd the cam. I think the 06 would be a faster car without question.....but as for low RPM acceleration, the 77 kicks it. THIS IS ONE BIG SURPISE.....I really thought the 06 would noticeably be better with all its fancy stuff......but its not. It makes me even more happy with my SBC 406 in the 77.

- Handling - As for the handling......driving this 06 has been a very very suprising revelation. Given all the technology applied by 2006, in the C6 generation, I expected that the car would handle like its on rails, with the wheels, tires, and suspension it has. And it does....but again to qualify how I drive the car......I am driving mostly on two lane twisty roads in the back country of western PA, sometimes spirited.....not always good pavement, and mostly in the 55-60 mph speeds.....NOT any higher speeds.......maybe occasionally a straightaway punch to 90, but very rare. So given that reality......it is not very demanding on a car to do so. Most cars today will do ith with ease....making a Corvette nothing special. BUT HERE IS THE BIGGEST SURPISE OF ALL......my 77, with the suspension and steering I have installed.......drives the twisties every bit as well as the 2006!!!! I am shocked, and pleasantly surpised. It makes me appreciate the 77 more than even. Even with all the fancy technology and updates, the 06 is not better than my 77. Very cool revelation. The 77 with its manual steering and brakes is WAY more fun to drive, because there is tremendous feedback into the steering wheel.....the road speaks to you. The faster you go into the turns, and the tighter the turns, the wheel effort increases...i.e. feedback, and forces you to concentrate on driving the line. The C6....it does have some feedback, its NOT a Cadillac,....but is no where near the sensation. Its like a fine precision instrument...you can use your fingertips, in very small movements, to drive it harder....the 77, both hands on the wheel and lots of movement,......but ultimately, both cars take the turns the same. I like the 77 feel better and is probably THE most significant feature that makes this car the fun car it is....for me. The C6 is just too easy.....therefore, boring.

- Sound - its a bit unfair, because the 06 has stock exhaust now. Once I buy the Borlas, I think it will be fair. The 77 is pure muscle car sound, the 06 with factory mufflers......can't hardly hear it. With the Borlas, the 06 will be a screamer, and my thought is that they are "different" sounds.....but both very very cool. I believe that one reason some of us like good sounding exhaust is that even if the car does not perform like a race car,.....it sounds like one....so sound is what matters. I know it matters for the Harley crowd,....and it matters to me. The sound of the engine and exhaust in acceleration and deceleration is very important to the joy I get out of the car. I think wiht the Borlas, I will like the C6 more than with stock exhaust....even if it doesn't help one bit in acceleration.....it will just be more fun to drive it. I don't have a functional radio in teh 77, and have never turned the radio on in the C6......the music I need comes out the exhaust.

As for all the other "sounds" of the cars.....I drive the 77 with T-tops off and windows down almost exclusively unless I get caught in the rain. There is a fair amount of wind noise....which I don't mind. There is alot of wind in the car. As for the 06, I drive it mostly with the single piece top ON, windows down, and its very quiet. Today I took off the top....and its very similar to the 77.....but probably less wind inside the car.

- Lineage - What I have learned since owning this 06 is how Chevrolet was diligent in retaining what a Corvette actually is, at least between the C3 and C6 generations. So much of the C6 is a minor evolution of the C3. I really like that Chevrolet did that. The riding position, the way the steering wheel and pedals fit, the seat angles and comfort levels, the view out over the hood (bigger humps on C3....but still noticeable humps on the C6). Its all Corvette. I am very pleased with the C6, especially because its just a slightly more modern version of the C3. In my opinion, the C6 generation is the closest of all generations to the C3 in styling.

Now,.....some may disagree with what I have written. And truthfully.....it depends on how you use the cars. I think if you pushed both of these two cars to much higher speeds, the C6 would handle it safely and better, where the C3 may be pushing its limits of safety and performance. But, when driving the streets at responsible speeds....all that extra capacity in the 2006 is totally irrelevant and useless. It is truly useless when you have capacity that you will never use.

The 77 is raw and simple, and if I could only have one of these cars....it would be the 77. Its simply too much fun in its raw and simple nature.....and frankly the sound of the 406, with the higher RPM it runs with the 355 rear end and 4-speed transmission make it a noticeably different beast than any modern car I have owned or driven. The C6 is just more civilized......but as a result, less fun. But,....it serves a purpose for me.....I got rid of the F150.....a big, wobbly beast with a disgusting POS automatic transmission. I hope I never have to own another automatic car the rest of my driving life.

One last comment on the Tremec transmission in the 06. So many guys here on this forum rave about how much better the Tremecs are than the original Muncie / Borg 4-speeds. Based on all the love for them, I expected more out of it. Frankly, the Tremec is notchy....the shifter has alot of spring tension in it. It could be described as "tight", but I don't find it anything special. WORST part is.....it makes alot of noise in this car. Its widely talked about on C6 forum, the sound of "marbles" in the transmission...i.e. racket, noise, gear lash, whatever you want to cal it when not fully accelerating / decelerating / i.e. neutral load, is very disappointing to me. I expected better out of modern stuff. My Borg T-10 makes none of this nonsense noise. The factory shifter has lots of play...you can move the shifter around some,....but with very little effort, I can find all four gears very easily......not notchy, no noise, and I have never missed a shift. I am replacing the Borg with a Jodys Transmission Autogear M23 four speed,......which at a minimum is a stronger four speed to handle the new 406.. Interestingly,.....Jody installed a 2.99 First Gear ratio, which is almost exactly what the 06 has with the Z51 option. So owning and driving this Tremec transmission has NOT convinced me that it woudl be a good install in the 77.....in fact its the opposite......I now would never consider it. The fuel mileage benefit is also irrelevant in the driving I do. I rarely get the C6 into 6th gear, except on the interstate. I don't drive the 77 on the interstate very often. My 77 gets about 17 mpg......I have not checked what the 06 gets.

Cool coincidence.....it appears I must like Orange cars!!!

Lastly........I am restoring a 69 Corvette convertible, with a VortecPro 468 big block and Jodys M23 four speed......BLACK!!!! How will this one compare? I predict it will be better than both of them!!!

Bottom line..........I am still a C3 Corvette fan first. The 06 experience has NOT changed that one bit....in fact, it proves MY 77 is every bit as good a car, and I have made it that way. Very happy to have achieved that. Think about that.......owning and driving an almost new 2006 C6 Corvette has shown ME that a properly rebuilt 77 is actually a better, more fun car to drive. PERFECT!!!!

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I agree with a lot of what you said, I am also a C3 and C6 M6 owner, both are convertibles. However my '72 only puts out maybe 250 BHP at the rear wheels. But it does have power steering, power brakes, and a T5 manual transmission. I don't have the ***** anymore to drive my '06 to its full potential, but it's fast, smooth, reliable, comfortable and safe. They both sound awesome, my '72 has long tube headers and glass packs, the '06 has an NPP system which I keep open most all of the time. I also agree that if I could only have one of these cars, it would be my '72. Why, because it drives very easily (PS & PB help), it's not nearly as wide, the shift action is better, it gets more attention, there's nothing like looking over that long hood and swooping fenders, its pure simplicity, no smog checks, and I'm not afraid of breaking anything.

 

Nicely written!

 

With Mark doing your engine Im sure it will rip!
C6 has some torque management dumbing the feel down some so people dont kill themselves in it...and a flat powerband to boot
Doesnt feel like youre going as fast as you are is what I mean. When the C5s came out I test drove a vert 6 spd..salesguy was a friend of mine so when something fun came in...lol
Kept wondering "wheres the beef"? Looked at the speedo and crested 90...just not peaky thats all.
When everything is working right the C6 does quite a bit real well..but its the electronics that keep me away from it. Transaxle also-
Its all in what you like...something about the older iron just appeals to me more. Nothing like the feel of a well adjusted Muncie with a Hurst Super shifter!

 

Sold my 2007 Z06 because:It was a pretty car, Velocity Yellow and best looking of the generations after the C3. And 7000 RPM in any gear is very close to seeing God in all his glory.

I am now discovering all of the foibles of the C8's. C3 is still tried and true and good old fashioned fun.

thanks for your long post CP!

 

I had a 07, 6 speed, magnetic ride control.
Just not the same experience.

 

State of the Art vs Nostalgia

In 1969, I was 22, married with one kid, and in the military. As much as I would have liked to have purchased a C3, I couldn't afford it and our life was too transient. In celebration of my retirement in 2007, I ordered a C6, my first Corvette. I really enjoyed the power, comfort, and style but there was a nostalgic void in my gut. I flew jets for a living with takeoff and landing speeds anywhere from 160 to 190 mph. I discovered my need for speed via automobile was not that great of a pull. My nostalgia kicked in. I sold my C6 with only 3300 miles on it to a friend and then purchased my '69. As I now begin to think about passing this car on to the next new C3 owner, I am glad that nostalgia won out vs state of the art.

 

Hopefully the 406 in your C3 is rebuilt to kick the C6’s *** and will be number one in every way!

 

C3 vs C6?
Easy for me!
C3 is mine, C6 is my brides!

Admittedly the C6 out handles the C3.
I did make some minor mods so my C3 is quite a bit quicker than the C6 so pucker faster does go up fast in the 69.

Each car has its place in our family! We'll just keep both! LOL!
Scott

 

I could sell my 73 and juuuuust squeeze into hot C5, or base model C6 territory. I like speed, handling, reliability, sound, and no problems. The new car is an absolute no-brainer. But... i just cannot do it. Gonna build a 69 coupe to do everything better. I'm done with new cars. Anything with factory FI, OD, or a computer is new.