Hey fellas. I've been chewing on this one for a while and figured what the hell, maybe I'll grab some opinions from you guys. This is a pretty simple, "what would you do" topic.

The scenario is this: I have a Subaru BRZ that I've been tracking and daily driving since 2013, and have a 640rwhp 01 ZO6 that I've been building since 2009. My current C5Z sees a lot of street use, some dragstrip, and a lot of 1/2 and 1 Mile shootout events. I have plans to bump it up to 800rwhp for 200mph in the 1 Mile. It's not ideal for it to be on a road course.

So, I've grown tired of the BRZ and it has a ton of tiny problems that add up to it being annoying to drive on the street. It's fun on the track, and while I've gotten pretty good at making a slow car go fast, I definitely would like a bit more power coming out of the corners. I'm selling it, so now I need a street/HPDE replacement. I don't need a daily driver any more, bought an XTerra earlier this year.

I've been looking at getting a GrandSport or a C6Z for a couple months. However, I'd need to grab a small loan...and I don't want to finance it. I test drove a C6Z and was, oddly, underwhelmed. So I started considering another C5Z. It seems strange to have two of the same car in my garage, but they would also be built for two different applications. In comparison to a C6Z/GS, it would be cheaper to maintain, cheaper tires, cheaper to insure and register, no loan, $15,000 or more less...etc. It wouldn't be good either way I, but I can write off a $20k car much easier than a $35k+ car if all goes very badly on a track some day.

So....that's it. Two C5Z's with two totally different applications in mind. What would you do? Grab the 2nd C5 or get a C6Z anyway?

 

Wow man, decisions,decisions. Given that you have the gift to mod cars, I'll go with the C6Z and give it its specific application package, that way you have two vettes but different style to keep things interesting. Otherwise you might loose touch with the C5Z body style after a while on my humble opinion.

Regardless, good luck either way you go, I wish a have couple vettes sitting in my garage waiting for me to race them !!!

 

The '02-04 C5Z is an amazing car out of the box. You can score a 70k mile example for about $15k.

 

Right, I see this all the time. One person scores a Z for a killer deal and then people think every car is found at that price. I'd jump on one for $15k...but I haven't found any. Best one I could find reasonably close is 150mi away (52761 zip), an 01 for $19,600 with 46k miles. I'm sure I could talk them a little lower. Finding one for $15k or so would be a straight trade with the BRZ, and would be fantastic.

 

01-04 Z06 is a great car...dont let 385 hp fool you or the supposed burning oil, mine was flawless until it blew up!

btw yes, get another c5, I have another one that is a driver and sees autox while the c5z is the drag race beast with 1000hp

 

You can do a lot of mods to a C5Z compared to the price of a C6Z. If you can find a very well maintained, lower mileage C5Z in your budget range (remember, you didn't want to have to get a loan for a car), then go for it. The C5Z is a great car.

 

I'm not in your exact scenario, but we have very similar taste, so maybe I can help. I started building my 560rwhp LS7 C5Z back in 2008 and use it for all purposes. It has 82k miles, gets a ton of street/daily driving, track days, 1/2 mile events, roll events, etc. Also, I owned a 2013 BRZ for 4 years as my 4-season daily. Great little car, just tune and exhaust. Like you, eventually got bored of the slowness, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the 86 twins.

Since my fiance has a 2012 Grand Cherokee we can use to haul stuff, I decided to go nuts and give myself a car payment again by trading my BRZ for a 2015 GT-R, which is my new daily. Since you have a truck, you don't need the AWD, but it is honestly a super comfortable and practical car. As anything beyond a daily, I find it hard to recommend to Vette-owners since it is such a different experience and obviously far above what you are looking to spend. Is is literally the opposite experience of driving a modded C5.

For me, I like the change of getting in cars that are very different from one-another. I think having two C5s (or even two Vettes for that matter) would get boring to me personally. That said, for a track-day special, I think the C5 will serve you better than the C6Z. If you get the C6Z, I think you'd end up wanting to make it your street car, then turn the C5 into the track car. The C6Z with it's low end torque and added comfort is just a really nice road car, so nice in fact, like you said, it can feel underwhelming coming from a modded C5.

Best of luck!

Bill

 

Yep, it sounds like we are on the same page. Having the two cars was always nice since they were completely different. I've given it a lot of thought and struggle to find anything in my budget I enjoy as much as the Vettes...so I figured I may as well just run with it.

The C6Z was nice, but it just felt...softer. It was an 06', and suppose to be the most aggressive of them, but it didn't feel as raw as the C5Z. Maybe I've forgotten what a stock C5Z feels like? I'd really like driving it on the street more, a lot better creature comforts. But the price difference is huge.

The GTR's are amazing. I rode with an instructor of mine a while back in a track only version with a lot more power, no interior, and lots of aero. Plus a lightly modified street GTR at an HPDE at Road America. They were a blast.m

 

I love my c5z bit having two of the same model c5 would make things kind of boring imo, I would get a C6 GS if I were to get a 2nd vette. If not Id look at other performance cars, I really like the new camaro SS or 1LE's, or would go to the darkside and get a 5.0 stang. Those would make more practical dd's to me.



.

 

Definitely a good time for performance car buyers, tons of options these days!

Unfortunately, there isn't much out there I'm interested in. I've been in the newer Mustangs and Camaros and they just aren't for me. I get the appeal, but they are huge cars, heavy, etc. Since I don't need a daily driver, practicality isn't really a concern. A Cayman S is the only other option I've seriously considered.

 

I would go with a Cayman. I personally think that the C6 was the ugliest Corvette ever built.

 

If $100k is nothing to you. Get some more options, if you want to break the 100k ceiling.

 

Sounds like a good idea to me. Best of all worlds. C5Z's are such a great value for the $$ it's hard to beat.

 

Huh?

No Cayman is remotely close to $100k, even new. But...I'm talking about used cars here...budget is about $35k max.

 

I believe...

He who dies with the most toys.....

Wins!



Don

 

My C5 is SuperCharged, and has very comparable power to yours.
I've long thought, that if anything pulled me out of my C5 (which I love and drive daily), it would be a late C6 GrandSport, which I'd immediately take out to Andy at A&A Corvettes, and tell him to SuperCharge it.

Anything, with that LS7 in it is of no interest to me. Unless it's had all the mods done to keep it from grenading! Even then, I think I wouldn't risk that.

Don

 

I had to LOL when I read this.......


Shakey

 

I had the same reaction. 'Flawless' and 'it blew up' just dont belong in the same sentence. Lol

 

The C6Z will be my next Corvette. I couldn't live with the fixed roof and limited trunk space of the C5Z. The C6Z is fixed roof, but at least it has the larger rear area.

I barely have room for one Corvette with all my other toys. I couldn't imagine having 2. But I have a wealthy friend who has at least 3 built toy cars currently. An R8, a GT-R, and he is working on an STi right now. All 3 are built beyond imagination.

He didn't flinch to drop $25k on the transmission for his GT-R because it is rated at 1200hp.

I don't have these issues.

 

Seriously, you don't know?

https://www.edmunds.com/porsche/caym...cat=affiliates


I left lots of options on the table, and didn't start out with the GT4, which starts @ $96000 or so.


PS, if I were a rich guy, this' what I'd get. Astonishing performance for the displacement, and Porsche quality.