Fancy covers are available, I made one from a 24' x 26' piece of fiberboard, cut the corners to match the hole, covered it with cheapo carpet from Pep Boys and put a couple pieces of velcro hook on the underside edges, total cost about $10 and about an hour of time. Looks great and fills the hole...

 

aprsr--That's good thinking and good work. I may do the same thing. A little Velcro is all ya really need. The latches are overkill and something of a PIA.

 

:rolleyes: The Z06 is a race car, why in the heck would they give you a cargo net? I sure as he!! didn't need to pay ANY more $ in order for chevy to include a cargo net. And get rid of the HUD? Are you nuts? I can't remember the last time I looked at the actually instrument panel. IMHO the HUD is fantastic! Once you drive one you'll see the light.

:seeya

 

Don't delude yourself. The Z06 is NOT a race car. I know race cars. This is a street car. Driven on the street. Meant for the street. 99.9 percent of all Z06s are driven on the street 99.9 percent of the time. And those drivers put stuff in the back. And it sloshes around until it finds the Helmet Hole.

As for the HUD, I know it's a useful feature....but it weighs more than a cargo net. For that matter.......if you have HUD, shouldn't GM delete the gages? That dash panel costs big money, and it has to weigh several pounds. After all, since the Z06 is a "race car".....why have the "street car" gages?

 

I have to tell you, I just got my Z06 and I am very disappointed with Chevy on some of the small details. The trunk is very weak, and the proliferation of websites selling $350 partitions and $99 cover's for the compartments just goes to show how lame it is for a $51,000 car not to come with these items.

You wanna save weight? Throw them in your garage when you're at the track that weekend. The other 40+ weekends and 50+ weeks that even the avid racer spends in the car on the STREET could be spent with a little CLASS in the back.

I am debating whether to quiet the thing down with one of the partition kits online, or build one myself. Same for the compartment covers.

That wasn't a weight savings, that was a $ saving move.

While we're talking about lame quality on an expensive car - anyone know where to get factory sport seats for sale?

I need to find a wrecked, black interior sport seat Corvette at a salvage yard somewhere!

Then I could scrounge the compartment covers, cargo net and attachment thingees and seats and make my Z06 as classy on the inside as my 2000 coupe that cost $7,000 less!

 

You forget that your Z06 will demolish your 2000 coupe in every measure of performance unless your coupe was heavily modded. I agree the stuff we are talking about was driven by cost savings and not really weight. But they did spend big $$ on a titanium exhaust to save a few pounds.

Bottom line, I agree that there are a few rough spots on the Z06 that could have been addressed, but the performance is such that you have to expect it and shouldn't dissappointed. If you want a car that has great fit and finish AND performance equal to the Z06, you have to step up to the 911 turbo at it will set you back $110K.

The Z06 is not a real race car either, but it is GM's best attempt at packing in the biggest possible performance bang for the buck in any car ever sold in the last 20 years. I do agree that the items discussed could be dealer installed options but I think we should all be happy that we can still buy a $50K that can run with $100K+ exotics all day long.

I'm personnally glad GM didn't spend the dollars in such things and instead focused the whole budget on engineering more performance, handling and traction out of the cars (LS6 engine development, titanium exhaust, lighter wheels and great supercar tires, amazing road grip...).

I'm personally happy that the compromises happened in areas that are easily and inexpensively addressed (like crappy headlights and lack of interior finish) rather than in powertrain and handling areas that are much more expensive to modify and don't usually deliver great results without major warranty and reliability implications (or huge expense to do it right like LPE).

As far as I'm concerned, if you want all the amenities, buy the coupe! In 5-20 years, when I still hope to have this car as part of a collection, people won't notice the lame interior, they'll talk about the car that could run with the best of the best for half the price. Car's interiors ALL look old and tired with age wheras the exterior styling and the engineering of the car's powertrain, suspension and braking systems are enduring traits IMO.

I've been in older Italian and German exotics (like Ferraris and Porsches) and vettes from the 60s, and even though the vette interiors STINK IMO, there is no denying the visceral appeal of their 427 and 454 big blocks to this day. I don't notice the stupid radio with 5 mechanical station memory buttons when the I got WOT...

Just my opinions! :cheers:

 

Some thoughts. You mention the budget - what was the budget? Seems like with the convertible still costing more than the Z06, they had the headroom to include compartment covers for the back of the car!!! <grin>

And the stuff I am talking about, for the most part, is available on the coupe. So what is the budget worry? You either order it as an option (sport seats for example) or don't. BUYER'S choice.

Nothing new to design there, or with the telescoping steering wheel and such.




[Modified by Tom Steele, 8:50 PM 6/27/2002]

 

:D The Z06 is the closest thing to a race car thats been advailable from a domestic factory... I'm amazed that Corvette was able to get the Z06 by GM's lawyers and into the market place at all ! The Z06 doesn't need any FOU FOU STUFF..... if you want to "cruise" with all the options...get the coupe or convertible.


;) If you road race or track your car.... with slight mods these cars will run down the Bimmers and Porsches...all day long! If your serious about fender to fender road racing, just check the SCCA T-1 results on the SCCA FORUM. All the hot shoes are in Z06's except for Archer's Viper, and we think he's getting Factory support!

:D Where else can you get a car for $ 50 grand that will keep up with the European sports cars.... and if you go easy on the mods.... you still have a factory warranty. A full blown race car without mods its NOT, but you can track it right out of the BOX....and with mods the Z06 is competitive with anything close to its class.


[Modified by trumper Z06, 10:17 PM 6/27/2002]

 

None of the items mentioned is "OPTIONAL" on the Z06.

My 02 came with NO covers or Cargo Net.
The covers were $169.00 and the Cargo Net was $20.00 froma fellow Vette enthuiast.
The partition we will want is 360 cool ones from the Corvette Forum Mall.
The DESCENT license plate cover was $235 bills....Corvette Forum Mall.
The Tail Light Grills were over $200 Georges...Corvette Forum Mall.
Another 200 plus for fairly nice sill guards.
$40 for the "CORVETTE" decal to go on the passenger side and the steering wheel decal.
$159.00 for the stainless "CORVETTE" for the front and rear.

ALL of this stuff would probably have added $50.00 to the cost of the car if added by GM.
And maybe 10 lbs to the weight.
Do I LOVE my Z06? Yes.
Do I think GM should have added these things to my Z06? Yes.
Am I dissapointed with my Z06? N-U-P-E !!!

 

If all you are talking about is making some of the coupe options available in the Z06, you have a good point as long as they are dealer installed options that are added on at the customer request. Otherwise you end up in situations where every car on the lot has the option package, like it or not (and the extra $$$). If you want one without the options, you have to order it and often can't bargain as hard on price.

In terms of budget, it is not just the development budget but the fact that the car would end up stickering at $55,000 with all the extras they could add on. If the car stickers too high, the marketing folks get involved in cost cutting measures to make sure they don't 'overprice' the target market and, next thing you know, brake rotors are a little thinner, the alternator a little smaller, the exhaust isn't titanium anymore.... you know where I'm going with this. They target a price range for marketing reasons and will usually stay within it. If they have to cut to get there, they do and I would rather see where they are cutting than not have it be immediately apparent.

I also really like the fact that you can buy 'just the performance' unlike in the BMW or Mercedes lines where you have to get all the lux items for more power and they charge you a S*** load in the process. It would be nice to be able to buy an M or AMG car without some of the extra weight and cost of all the luxury options that become mandatory with that 'trim level'. That's all I'm saying.

I just don't want the Z06 to become a car that weighs 150-200 lbs more and can't be bought for under $55-60K because of a better interior, navigation system, great sound system.... The coupe is plenty fast and better suited to serving as a GT car than the Z06 which is closer to the street legal race car concept IMO.

:cheers:

 

Bertrand, Tom, Vetnut--you all make good points. Cost is most likely the factor for the Z not having some of these items, not weight. And "cost creep" certainly can happen. In fact, I wish the Z was more "ala carte", like my 2000 FRC was. When I ordered my FRC, I neglected to check the "courtesy light" box...and when the car arrived, there was no underhood light and no trunk lights. The wiring harness connections were there, so I spent another $75 to buy all the parts so I could see stuff at night. I did check the cargo net box, but the center hole cover was standard. But I was able to get the car I wanted. In fact, even traction control was an option, as was AH. I choose TC, but not AH, as I wasn't comfortable with the technology yet.

Bertrand's comments about GM putting $$$ into performance instead of higher-end interior goodies makes sense. After all, once upon a time there was this bloated thing called a 1978 Silver Anniversary Corvette. 25 years later we can buy a rocket sled that's missing a cargo net and a center cover and isn't very posh inside. But the AC works good, the dash and HUD works good, and the suspension, brakes and drivetrain ain't too bad, either.

I'm not gonna nitpick the Z. I'll go buy a center cover and a cargo net and a trunk divider (and a shifter!), and otherwise enjoy the ride.

I'm surprised the Z can be had with the memory package (minus telescoping steering)....that doesn't seem to fit with the "race car" image. In fact, it seems to me that the Z should have an "AC delete" option, although that might be a mess, engineering and production-wise.

 

I guess I have to side with some of the other folks. I guess GM COULD have made some of those items avaliable. Although I'm not sure about taillight louvers though...

COULD, but didn't... Not saying thats wrong. Good or bad, just stating what are the facts.

As for the holes in the back. The big one in the back in the center holds my Simpson helmet bag perfectly. Personally I don't see why Gm didn't delete the hole and make the rear end cover prettier. It would look better

As for groceries. I have loaded the Z full of them on a couple of occasions. I haven't noticed a problem.

I really never intended to use the Z as anything other than a cruiser / racecar. Since I worked in an automotive trim shop for several years I could fab covers or any other doo-dad I so desired for almost nothing. I have not, because I haven't really seen a need.

I understand that any folks use their Z as more of a daily driver, and some of these things may be preferable in that case. For me they are of no value, so I prefer that Chevy put as little in there as possible.

But thats just me...

 

I have no cargo cover at all; there are t-pins in my 2001 Z06 for a net, but no net came with it. Chevy wanted $100 for a net, which was nuts. I went to my Saturn dealer and got the same net through our salesperson for $36....same damned net!!! It fit in the pins provided, and it absolutely great. Rides right up against the rear fascia so heavy stuff in the net stretches down into the wells in the rear. Worth its weight in gold (well, not at $100!!). :chevy :D

 

J-Rod---good points.

spawrtan---thanks for that very good info on the cargo net. I had no idea it was $100 from Chebby. I might just try to keep my cargo net when I sell the 2000. And thanks for confirming that the Z comes with the T-hook thingies.

 

Jim.

Well said. I seem to have ruffled a few feathers with my remarks, but the three sentences above sum up my attitude pretty well.

 

Tom--You're forgiven. After all, in your first post to this thread, you did say you were disappointed in Chevy because of some "small details", which is really all we're talking about here. I happen to love the cargo net, but it is a small detail compared to the 405 HP, etc etc etc.

But you never knocked the important stuff, like THE WHOLE DARN BADAZZ CAR! :cheers:

 

Thats why I bought the Acura.