My '02 Z06 is a daily driver April thru early November, then i dig out whatever "winter rat" i currently have. Yes, the car will get dirty and, if you are a dedicated shiner, that will either drive you crazy or wear out a lot of car wash gear each year! Still, most people buy these cars because of how they drive and you can't experience that looking at a clean car in the drive or garage. I now have 91k miles with a number of track days and trips all over the country - don't want to be saying "shoulda" later in life.

 

I DD my C5Z for about 5 years b4 investing a ton of capital to transform it to it's current state... Now it is a weekend car... Is your GT paid for? IF so, perhaps you could find a higher mileage Z and finance..? Is that an option>? Then you have the best of both worlds... Just my .02

 

I've owned both a G8 GT all bolted up 130,000 miles on it and a 2004 GTO also bolted 80,000 miles. I can say they're very nice compromises between practicality/comfort/size/fun to drive factor. The LS2 GTO and the G8 can be made very fast for the weight, the G8 handles extremely well and brakes unreal - not just "for what it is" - period. As I stated, the G8 GXP is as close to a "perfect" daily driver for the auto enthusiast when equipped w/ the 6 speed manual as you can get for the dollar. I wouldn't put the old gen CTS-V in that category - it is heavier, slower, rattles, and has a number of weak points the biggest being the rear end. The new ones, well they're awesome but $$$

Camry? Doesn't belong on that list!! If you're going to go japanese and fun to drive bang for the buck IMO is the V6 accord coupe w/ 6 speed manual, or (if you can find a used one they're very very rare) - Acura TL w/ AWD and a 6 speed manual, best stick I've ever driven personally.

Again - I just don't see the C5Z as a good DD if you're being honest to yourself. Sure, its a helluva lot of fun to drive, but it lacks so many creature comforts that are standard nowadays its crazy - bluetooth and CUPHOLDERS being the tops on my list, you don't have those nowadays (particularly in a manual car) in your DD it can be an aggravating commute. I have a dog, a doberman, even if I lived in CA if the C5Z was my only car now way could I bring her w/ me, but she fit great in my G8 and would fit fine in your mustang back seat or GTO etc.

I dunno, this is a corvette forum so you're going to have some bias, I just want to be honest here.

I have a 2014 GMC Sierra crew cab 4x4 as my DD, and I wish I just kept my G8 GT sometimes because it could make me grin almost as much as the Z, in fact it sometimes had me grinning more, course putting the smack down on 5.0's who don't know what the hell the G8 is can be very fun lol

 

...CTS-V tested better than G8 GXP and GTO in most categories.

2009 PONTIAC G8 GXP
Base price $39,900 (est)
Price as tested $41,500 (6M, est), $40,800 (6A, est)
Vehicle layout Front-engine, RWD 5-pass, 4-door sedan
Engine 6.2L/415-hp*/415-lb-ft* OHV 16-valve V-8
Transmission 6-speed manual
Curb weight (f/r dist) 3969 lb (52/48%)
Wheelbase 114.8 in
Length x width x height 196.1 x 74.8 x 57.7 in
0-60 mph 4.5 sec
Quarter mile 13.0 sec @ 109.6 mph
Braking, 60-0 mph 117 ft
Lateral acceleration 0.90 g (avg)
MT Figure Eight 26.4 sec @ 0.70 g (avg)


Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...#ixzz2vlGzr5jo

2005 Cadillac CTS-v 2005 Chrysler 300C SRT8 2005 Pontiac GTO
Powertrain/Chassis
Drivetrain layout Front engine, RWD Front engine, RWD Front engine, RWD
Engine type 90* V-8, alum block and heads 90* V-8, iron block/alum heads 90* V-8, alum block and heads
Valve gear OHV, 2 valves/cyl OHV, 2 valves/cyl OHV 2 valves/cyl
Bore x stroke, in/mm 3.90 x 3.62 / 99.0 x 92.0 4.06 x 3.58 / 103.0 x 90.9 4.00 x 3.62 / 101.6 x 92.0
Displacement, ci/cc 346.0 / 5665 369.8 / 6059 364.0 / 5967
Compression ratio 10.5:1 10.3:1 10.9:1
Max SAE net horsepower 400 @ 6000 rpm 425 @ 6200 rpm 400 @ 5200 rpm
Max SAE net torque, lb-ft 395 @ 4800 rpm 420 @ 4800 rpm 395 @ 4000 rpm
Specific output, hp/liter 70.6 70.1 67.0
Weight to power, lb/hp 9.7 9.9 9.4
Redline, rpm 6500 6400 6500
Transmission 6-speed manual 5-speed automatic 6-speed manual
Axle/final-drive ratio:1 3.73 / 2.09 3.06 / 2.54 3.46 / 1.97
Suspension, front; rear Control arms, coil-over springs, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, load-leveling shocks, anti-roll bar Control arms, coil-over springs, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar Struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar; semi-trailing link, coil springs, anti-roll bar
Brakes, f;r 14.0-in vented disc; 14.4-in vented disc, ABS 14.2-in vented disc; 13.8-in vented disc, ABS 11.7-in vented disc; 11.3-in vented disc, ABS
Wheels 18 x 8.5, cast aluminum 20 x 9.0, forged aluminum 17 x 8.0, cast aluminum
Tires, f;r 235/45ZR18 93W; 235/45ZR18 93W Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar EMT 245/45 ZR20 99Y; 255/45 R20 101Y Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 245/45ZR17 95W; 245/45ZR17 95W BFGoodrich G-Force T/A
Dimensions
Wheelbase, in 113.4 120.0 109.8
Track, f/r, in 61.1 / 61.4 63.0 / 63.1 61.8 / 61.8
Length, in 191.5 196.8 189.8
Width, in 70.6 74.1 72.5
Height, in 57.3 57.9 54.9
Turning circle, ft 36.1 38.9 36.1
Curb weight, lb 3875 4190 3765
Weight dist, f/r, % 55 / 45 55 / 45 54 / 46
Seating capacity 5 5 5
Headroom, f/r, in 39.0 / 36.9 38.7 / 38.0 37.3 / 37.3
Legroom, f/r, in 42.4 / 37.0 41.8 / 40.2 42.2 / 37.1
Shoulder room, f/r, in 56.6 / 56.2 59.4 / 57.7 59.7 / 51.7
Cargo capacity, cu ft 12.5 15.6 9.0
Test Data
Acceleration, sec to mph
0-30 2.0 2.0 2.0
0-40 2.8 2.9 2.8
0-50 3.8 3.8 4.0
0-60 4.7 4.9 5.0
0-70 6.0 6.1 6.5
0-80 7.5 7.7 8.0
0-90 9.2 9.6 9.6
0-100 11.1 11.7 11.9
1/4 mile, sec @ mph 13.1 @ 109.8 13.2 @ 108.1 13.3 @ 107.5
Braking, 100-0 mph, ft 317 317 341
Braking, 60-0 mph, ft 111 113 121
600-ft slalom, mph 66.8 67.3 63.6
200-ft skidpad, avg g 0.90 0.88 0.85
MT fig-eight, sec @ avg g 25.6 @ 0.72 26.3 @ 0.70 26.1 @ 0.68
Consumer Info
Base price (incl dest) $51,295 $39,995 $32,995 (est)
Price as tested $51,295 $43,295 $34,280 (est)
Stability/traction control Yes/yes Yes/yes No/yes
Airbags Dual front, front side, f/r head Dual front, front/rear head Dual front
Basic warranty 4 yrs/50,000 miles 3 yrs/36,000 miles 3 yrs/36,000 miles
Powertrain warranty 4 yrs/50,000 miles 3 yrs/36,000 miles 3 yrs/36,000 miles
Roadside assist period 4 yrs/50,000 miles 3 yrs/36,000 miles 3 yrs/36,000 miles
Fuel capacity, gal 17.5 19.0 18.5
EPA mpg, city/hwy 15 / 23 14 / 19 17 / 25
Range, miles, city/hwy 263 / 403 266 / 361 315 / 463
Recommended fuel Unleaded premium Unleaded premium Unleaded premium


Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...#ixzz2vlH94URs

 

Looks pretty even to me, w/ the G8 being the newer platform, better engine, bigger etc. I'm not against the CTS-V either, its just older and has been known to have rear end issues, wheel hop, cheap interior, looks dated, etc.

Also - keep in mind the test data on the CTS is w/ the car wrapped in goodyear supercar tires while the G8 has bridgestones - big diff. Believe me, it is a better handler. For some reason the G8 GT w/ the non-brembos tested better 60-0 - as low as 109'

Either car would make a great DD tho

 

Ah I missed the stock tire disparity, yeah that makes a big difference.

The main issue with the G8 GXP is they cost $30-35k used. CTS-V costs $15-20k. GXP is not worth the extra cost.

I actually looked into buying a GXP last year because I really like them, but the prices are just too high. (I ended up buying a 2006 Audi S4 Avant instead. Less power, but infinitely nicer car - which I of course sold when I needed some cash and bought the 2005 Pontiac Vibe GT to replace it)

 

Well after some giving it some thought, I decided to keep the Mustang (which I really do love). It is a year old and I only owe a little over 10k on it. Once I pay it off by the end of the year....then I will look for a nice decent Z for play.........You guys have been a great help. I put back my Steeda CAI and uploaded the 93 octane tune again...I love that SCT tuner. I will post a couple of pics so as to why you can see its so hard to let the Mustang go as much as I love the Z.....

 

I daily drove my 02 Z for 2 1/2 years with no problems. For a while I was commuting over 100 miles round trip daily and enjoyed every second of it.

 

I just got a C5Z and was going to sell my Mach 1. I'm having second thoughts about selling my Mach...

 

Where do you put your coffee?

 

That is a great looking GT..... I am told that the Auto's are faster....

 

In my stomach so it can later come out my ***

 

I saw a 2013 Roush 5.0 in a parking garage at the Galleria Mall in Dallas last weekend. It was red and had the Roush chrome wheels. It really stood out to me and I had to do a double take when I saw it. I don't know why it looked so good but it just did.

 

I'm late to the party here, and my opinion might not have been much help anyway... but here goes, in case someone does a search and could use it.

I have owned my '02Z since new. I bought an '09 GT500 new awhile back. Lightly modded the GT500 (FRPP suspension kit, TVS blower, etc). It was putting out 575rwhp.

But as far as comfort, handling, braking... my '02 Z06 is a far better car. And while people bash the C5 interior ad nauseum, it has better fit and finish than that '09 GT500.

I realize your car is a '13, so it is nicer than my '09 was. But the Z is a much more capable car for a driving enthusiast...outside of drag racing...and has a much tighter feel to it. Again, as you have already noted, it is hard to compare a 3100lb 2-seater to a 3600+lb 2+2... they are different cars from the get-go.

 

Nice looking Stang!
Late to the party but...

If you have the itch, scratch it. Go ahead & buy a C5Z and own them both for a while. Give it say 3 months to decide which you like. Why not?

Personally I am not a huge Stang fan - they're just too friggin huge for me. The Vette is not small but the Stang looks like a hatchback truck... to me...

On decent roads the C5Z suspension is nice, and aftermarket suspension makes it even better. Yes it rides low... so be careful & don't go muddin! Yes the stock seats suck - so get some Corbeaus or something & sell the stokers, net maybe $500 in seats. Not terrible!

We have 4 people @ work who daily C5's and C6's; one of them a C6Z. now this is N Texas so roads really aren't bad. Even through the winter with mild ice & snow, the kept on cruising. And they get around 25mpg (not sure about the C6z)

And if you buy a Vette - you just entered the Club and I'll wave to you. Sorry I can't wave to all the Stang drivers, I need to use that arm occasionally for other purposes

 

I completely agree. The C5Z interior is well above the S197 Mustang interior. I don't understand why everyone bashes the C5 interior? I remember how impressed I was with it when I bought mine last year. It made my SN95 Cobra interior look cheap!

 

Fit and finish and comfort/practicality are 2 separate things. While one could argue the fit/finish of the C5 is decent (although I'm on the fence on that one) - the comfort/practicality is not there. A DD car is expected to not only function as a sports car, but give some normal day to day practicality as well, there is very limited storage space in the C5 Z cabin, stuff will just slide around in the trunk, I reiterate - it doesn't really have a cupholder, who doesn't drink a coffee/beverage while using a DD??? It is loud wind/road noise, its difficult to get in/out of, its exteremly low to the ground.

A Mustang - while not ideal for practicality - is MUCH more practical/comfortable and user friendly than a C5 Z, and I don't even like mustangs!!!

 

I do understand where you are coming from... and this is why personal preference/driving habits, even body type, play a huge factor when making a decision like DD ability.

I don't DD my Vette anymore. Ok, I said it...for the sake of full disclosure But, I also work out of my house, have a short commute wherever I need to go, so I _could_ if I needed to. In fact, I'm not sure I even really have a DD... Vette gets driven as much as my CTS-V or work truck.

And I admittedly do not know about the '13 Mustang. But in my '09 GT500, it was tougher for me to get in/out of the car for one simple reason...the seats do not automatically retract when key is pulled. I'm short... 5'7". I sit closer to the steering wheel than most. Getting out of the GT500 was a royal PITA for me... long doors, seat up too close to steering wheel... really needed the auto retract feature. My 12yr old Vette has this and it works great.

As far as stuff flying around in the back... yes, in stock config that is correct. Get a partition and it isn't so bad...but now we're not talking about stock-for-stock vehicles. And for me personally, I don't need a cupholder... the cupholder in the Mustang wasn't great, either and any type of aggressive driving and you're wearing whatever you were supposed to be digesting anyway.

Just gotta drive each. I like the idea of buying the C5Z and holding onto the Mustang, even if just to see what is best for the driver.