OK. Sooo I found a 2002 i'm starting to look into. I seen a few things

A. Wheels. Some are alcoa and some are speedline ( any diffrence ? )

B. Shifter linkage or forks. I always see written 03 and above are steel ? and never what 02's are made of ? any worries ??

C. The car just was fresh from auction and said "keys, books, pump on block" on the rear window... I am curious to see what this means... I'm sitting at work at my desk so figure id include this little bit to it.

It has tinted windows ( looks profesionaly done ) and an aftermarket shifter **** from what i could tell. not sure about the internals. The car did have some type of "sticky" resedue around the trim ? my guess was it sat out side for a while and buit up crap from rain water.

Anything I should look extra closely to ? The car looked from my opinion good. It wasn't cleaned up yet, a 02 silver z06 sat next to it ( the car i was going to look at ) but I'm a yellow fellow so she won my heart in .3 sec

 

OK Doc, here is my input on your questions:

1) I have had my 06 Z06 for 4 weeks now and no problems after 1700 miles.

2) I live in Southern California so my experience in cold weather driving is limited.

3) Like you, I take care of my ride - it was clay barred and has 9 coats of Zaino already. The car rewards such care by earning compliments and turning heads wherever you go. I've even had people ask if they could photograph the car.

4) Regarding the Terminator - my handle here is "EX terminator" I just sold my heavily modded '03. After $13,000 in modifications you may be able to call that car a sports car. But it's honestly more like a "muscle car" the reason being that after getting the Z06 (a Supercar) the Cobra seems sluggish and top heavy. Keep in mind that most of my mods were for handling (e.g. Subframe connectors, coil overs, Brembo brakes, bushings, bump steer, etc. etc.) The car was lowered approximately 1.6" below stock ride height.

BEFORE:


AFTER:


The C6Z06, stock, runs away from my Cobra, I've been on cruises with the new owner of the Cobra. My former Cobra has 500 HP. It also weighed like 1,000# more. While it would run away from older, stock Z06's I can't say how it would fare in handling with the older Z's because I haven't driven an older Z. Before being spoiled by the C6Z, I would have said that the Cobra handled extremely well.

The Z06 gets much better gas mileage than the Cobra did.

The Z06 is much more fun and much easier to drive.

 

I currently own both the 2002 Z06 and a Cobra vert. Driving the Cobra feels like a economy car compared to the vette. The Cobra is my wifes car. She takes my Vette every chance she gets.

 

 

I drive my 01 daily with a big cam and a bunch of other stuff. The car gets 30 mpg on Interstate and is not bad to drive at all. I get lots of looks with the exhaust sound and cam lope.

 

i have had several people tell me their in town & hwy mlieage... either it is me, or their must be a problem with my Z. my aver fuel number on screen seems to always range around 11.9 - 14.9

i don't really do alot of hwy driving, probably more around town and street races etc, and sometimes i let it run to warm up and move some oil around if it sits... maybe all those things together are keeping my aver mpg down so low?

 

Daily driver here as well. I'm in Hawaii (on Oahu) which sounds like paradise to some but, when it comes to our road ways, is far from it.

I drive a 40 mile round trip daily. That's through traffic, drivers with no SA, horrible roads (lots of pot holes & patches), rain as it's always raining somewhere around here, salt air, and big rigs that drive around with their loads uncovered (lots of road debris).

So far the only warranty work I've had done was for a leaky driver’s side window sill. There have been other anomalies but most are probably overreactions to normal "Vetteisms" due to my lack of experience with the car. One thing's for sure, she runs strong, gets great MPG, and so far has been as reliable as anything I've owned before. As far as appearance goes, my car is parked outside 24-7. I do cover her when I can but sometimes it's just not practical. I wash & quick detail (Zaino Z6 & Z8) often so the finish is holding up nicely, most folks can't believe the car is 3 years old.

I love my Z and plan on getting another one sometime in during the next few years.

Welcome & good luck with your quest!!!

A'hui hou,

Mark

 

I've been averaging 27-29 on hwy and 24 combined if I keep my foot out of it. At worst around 19 combined when getting on it more. I imagine if I was just driving in town it would be less.

 

Same here, drive it everyday unless it is snowing, then the YukonXL comes out to guzzle some fuel. Never had a problem with the Z other than the syncros and shift forks replaced under warranty.
Like meadowz06 said, just change the oil and maintain her. I also manage an avg. of 27-28mpg, including a few +100 mph blasts on the highway on the way to the office. I could avg. 30mpg being good!

 

If I wanted to be "good" I would have bought a Prius! j/k

Aggressive driving, including WOT freeway access, I get 16.5 around town and 24 hiway. I can't "be good" I have too much fever, and the car is a month old. Maybe in a year or two... Not!

 

I live in Vancouver, Washington and drive daily to Portland, OR. About 40 miles round trip. My big problem is the gravel/sand on the roads in the winter that are eating up the area behind my tires(the yellow wheel well paint) and the area in front of and below my black Z06 brake air intake vents. I have thought about getting the areas repainted and covered with 3M clear, like the front of my car. No other problems, just a lot of looks. I put on my XM receiver, cruise control about 2 miles over posted limit and sit back and enjoy the sound of my Borla Stingers. If any of you know how to take care of my gravel/sand problems, please send them along. R/ Dankus Z Fly Navy.........

 

I use my 2002 Z06 as a daily driver about 45 miles round trip, probably 38 to 40 is freeway. I used to have a '93 Jetta before I got this car last August. This is the list of problems I've noticed compared to driving a regular POS commuter car:

1. My job sucks. I used to hate my commute, which made me appreciate my job. Now it's reversed. As soon as I get to work I'm not waiting to leave work, I'm waiting to drive the car again.

2. I have less personal time. With all these people always talking to me, telling me how nice my car is, cool car, wow that's your car I was wondering who's that was, that thing is awesome - Asking questions, how fast does it go, is the gas mileage crappy with all that performance, does your wife let you go out alone in that car, etc, etc...

3. Paying attention to my driving is harder to do. With all the returning waves and acknowledging the thumbs-up people give me, head nods, checking out chicks that are checking me out. I might not be as safe as if I was just driving a commuter car.

4. This car causes me to battle with myself to do the right thing. I have to constantly restrain myself from spinning the tires every time the traffic creeps forward, charging every turn or freeway entrance, testing my limits for how long I can leave the cruise control on as I approach freeway exits. It's like some kind of "responsible adult" test every damn second.

Other than those things, I refuse to allow my 80lb dog in the car(actually I don't think I'd allow any kind of dog in this car, except me), so I kind of miss him while running errands.

You have to decide if you're willing to put up with these burdens of daily driving a Z06 or other Corvette.

Good luck with your decision,

Dog

 

Nice!

I completely agree with #4. Restraint, control, composure, strict adherence to the posted regs of the road...ACK! Every corner is an opportunity to let Active Handling do some work.

-Jay

 

It's a great daily driver. Could be a problem if you "unexpectadly" get caught in a snow storm! Happened to me in our '86 vette! Had to abandone the car on the way home!

 

Great post Dog! I can relate on every count, but I doubt that I have your restraint.

Speaking of Dog - this is a DOG - 240 lbs worth! And he can't fit in the Z06 - and I'm not willing to diminish the structural integrity of the car by making a Targa out of it! Even then I don't think he would fit in the passenger seat. I'm not about to test it... For dog errands and to go to the vet we use the Navigator.
Samson:

 

I'm debating using my 2000 FRC for a DD (70 mile round trip to/from work. )
She has 39k on her so far, hate to "rack up" mileage, but I'd like to use it more (Getting tired of using my '94 Accord as a DD!! ) Thats about 35-40 mins one way, alot of saddle time, gotta make it more interesting!

 

I already have 3,000 miles on my C6Z in one and a half months. I bought the car to enjoy it, I'm sure you did the same. I say rack 'em up with wreckless abandon... Enjoy life.

 

People ask me often what gas mileage I get on all my cars when im filling up. I tell them I have no idea nor do I even care. They look at me like im crazy.

If I cared about gas prices and mileage I surely wouldnt have 9 cars and a $1200+ monthly gas bill and thats all pleasure driving only.

 

i agree, i have kept the miles pretty low on mine by switching cars for what i need and where i am going that day. and, since we get snow here, it sits when the ice and salt are down. but, if the weather is good, i say drive it to work. i ran up way over 100k miles on one of my C4's and only ever had the occasional regular car repair and maintenance.

 

I drive mine 65 miles round trip every day. No mechanical problems. Its a great drive, I dont believe in garage queens.