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Just to put things in prospective I’m not a Z06 Owner but do drive a C5, I hate to admit it but I’m old enough to have owned Corvettes in the Sixties. I have owned small and big block corvettes and other GM muscle cars dating back to a 59 FI car. The reason for the bio is to qualify myself not as a professional driver but to indicate that I have been exposed to many cars.
FIRST MISTAKE: When ZO6’s first hit the market I read all the posts and books regarding performance etc. Well I was impressed but though my C5 is quick how can a Z06 be that much faster, it’s a beefed up LS-1! This vision was burst when a friend purchased a ’02 Z06. I was asked if I would like to drive it, we all know what my answer was to that, so I drove it. WOW it was everything that I read plus more, very fast; handled like a dream well you guys know what I’m talking about. He asked if I thought it might beat one of my old Bog-Blocks? It would out power it, out stop it, out handle it etc. It could have done all of that with the AC on, a CD in the deck, on hand on the wheel and get 25mpg doing it. The other thing is that it could stop when it was done. I guess the only thing missing was the out of control feeling you get in a 460hp big block, you know that terrified can I keep this thing going straight feeling.
SECOND MISTAKE: My friend not being totally sane decided to have a pro-charger plus a few other mods installed on the car. He asked if I would like to drive it and that it was really really fast. Here is where I made my second mistake; I said how could it be that much faster? We took it to the track and gave it a try, clocks we not on so I don’t have times, It was a nightmare in 1st/2nd and 3rd and which point I gave up. The out of control feeling that I talk about above was back, the car is **()&(*^ing unbelievable. He needs to do some suspension set up and get some street slicks and the car will run in the 11’s ????.
I can sum up this letter, and it’s non-bias because even though I’m a Corvette guy I don’t have a Z06, ZO6”s RULE-WOW-YIKES.
Yeah I feel the sameway I test drove a z06 yesterday and wow. I too didn't think it could be all that much better than my coupe but I was sure wrong :D Now I'm planning to get an 04 Z06 :cheers:
Amen to that, brutha'!. Now if you really want that "out of control" feel even in a stock Z06...just deactivate the active handling and begin WOT shifts. Make sure you have plenty of road.
I felt the same way when I drove my friends '01 Z06 just a few weeks off the showroom floor & bone stock. All I could say was wow. I'm currently on a moddest search for one myself. I love my LT4, but it can't hold a candle to the Z06. Especially a boosted one. That's just scary fun! :yesnod: :chevy
Yeah I feel the sameway I test drove a z06 yesterday and wow. I too didn't think it could be all that much better than my coupe but I was sure wrong :D Now I'm planning to get an 04 Z06 :cheers:
I can relate to Rick-M. My first encounter with Vettes was in high school. My best friend as a Senior had a 67 427 (his dad had money). What a rush that car was. It was unbeatable. As theyears passed, I always wanted to go back to a big block vette, but over theyears the gas crisises in the 70's, family priorities kept me out of Vettes until I had bought my 84 and later my 95. (both were great cars)
Last year I bought my 02 Z06, and it has been 1967 ever since, even every day driving to/from work. No regrets- glad I waited for the real thing! Recommend you drive your dream while you can.
The fact that it is so "under control" is what I find scary! To this day, I figure that if it gets "out of control" I'm going to be history. But then again, AH may save the day.
I don't want to find out. She is plenty quick, fast, etc etc. That's for sure.
My 73 at around 400 hp plus a 150 shot is a handfull to drive. The Z with all the gadgets turned off, does nothing but go fast. I think by the time it warned you, it would bite you.
Rick - was that Craig's EB Z06? It yes, we had a blast at Thunderhill the 23rd of November. I was driving the 03 EB Z06 and was on the track with Craig. I can tell you, I have had twenty (20) corvettes, still have my 2000 Mag Red Vert., the Z car is a blast just going to Starbucks. Next track day is Sears Point, 2 and 3 January 2003, anybody that would like to go for a ride, look me up there at Sears.
I have to agree, I've owned big blocks in the past but this thing is fast and mine is the '01 and still stock, you guys with the newer ones must even feel a little more :cheers:
I can't believe how many mustangs, camaros and trans-am's try to make me get in to it, in the city limits, even had a chevy pick-up the other day playing around thinking they could hang with this car :lol: I've been letting them slide :blueangel: for now, let me get a good shifter, litte better air flow and then :smash:
Later, Jeff :D
Yea....my 03 Z06 would blow my 99 FRC into the weeds! I can't believe how freaking fast this car is. It's a rush everytime you floor it. That 400 ft lbs of torque is amazing and the curve seems pretty flat throughout the rpm range. I love this car!!!! :cool:
My 03 Z06 is my seventh vette, dating back to my first, a 427 CI '67. I have had two other C5's. I took a Z out last summer. Although my dealer would not let me drive over 3500 RPM, I could immediately sense that the Z was a different car.
It is an amazing car. Right now, with snow on the ground, it is sitting in the garage. Crap.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.