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First Corvette, first manual

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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 05:32 PM
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Default First Corvette, first manual

Hey everyone,

Been driving an 06 Mustang GT for about a year and a half now, and no surprise it is falling apart and rattles like a mother.

So ive decided to upgrade, and the only way up i could see was a 'vette.

So im buying an 05 Z51 coupe 6M, PR, 45k miles, w/ an Excelsior Stage 4 Heads and Cam kit pushing 500+hp on a custom tune for...

$26,000

Guy is an older contractor, barely drives it, babied the hell out of it. Its such a great deal, and i figure if im getting a z06 equivalent so i should get a manual. Problem is, i havent driven one for 2 years, and that was for a month on an 02 Audi TT.

My question is, how forgiving would you guys say the clutch is for a car like this? And, have any of you seen problems with heads and cams kits on these cars, i figure their safer than forced induction.

Let me know, and ill have pics up saturday or sunday after i buy.

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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 05:47 PM
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Congrats and you will love your first Vette
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 05:52 PM
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I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'forgiving', but...

The C6 clutch is not as easy to drive smoothly as some others, and I've owned more than 25 cars with manuals. The take up of the clutch is rather sudden, and the electronic throttle makes it more difficult to judge how much to feed in. That said, you'll quickly get used to it, and the clutch is pretty sturdy.

Enjoy.

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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 05:55 PM
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Enjoy your new car!

I haven't heard of a lot of clutch failures, but remember, no matter how finely engineered something is, there's always someone who comes along and figures out how to destroy it in no time:

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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 05:57 PM
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Congratulations. Just remember to put the tranny in reverse before shutting it off.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 05:59 PM
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Originally Posted by LMB-C6
Enjoy your new car!

I haven't heard of a lot of clutch failures, but remember, no matter how finely engineered something is, there's always someone who comes along and figures out how to destroy it in no time:


That was not the tires...
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 06:04 PM
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Sounds like a lot more than $600!!
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 06:12 PM
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On the video...What a "Jackwagon"....ugh

As for the clutch, when I first got mine it took a couple of weekends to get use to it and I hate to say I'm not silky smooth yet as I have been on the other 20 cars I've owned with sticks...to include a 4th Gen TA (which you would think would be close, but it not).

In short, I find the C6 Manual to be a little more challanging to have perfect rolls from a start...but, I'm sure like anything with practice makes perfect.

Good Luck and enjoy!

Last edited by JKbride; Aug 3, 2011 at 06:32 PM.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 06:26 PM
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Originally Posted by rhcpfreak7
Hey everyone,

Been driving an 06 Mustang GT for about a year and a half now, and no surprise it is falling apart and rattles like a mother.

So im buying an 05 Z51 coupe 6M, PR, 45k miles, w/ an Excelsior Stage 4 Heads and Cam kit pushing 500+hp on a custom tune for...

$26,000

Guy is an older contractor, barely drives it, babied the hell out of it. Its such a great deal, and i figure if im getting a z06 equivalent so i should get a manual. Problem is, i havent driven one for 2 years, and that was for a month on an 02 Audi TT.

Too funny, the tune gets him a Z06 equivalent. Yea, he definitely drives a Mustang.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 06:42 PM
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I would suggest you run a GMVIS report at any chev dealer using the VIN to check the service history and recall status for this car before you complete the deal. Just take the VIN number to Watson Chev or O'Reily Chev service department and ask them to run the VIS for you.

A car with 47K miles is no garage queen and with the known battery DBS problems, top delamination and rear end weakness of the 2005 I would also suggest you have a dealer check the car over before you complete the purchase. Could be very costly to find the problems after the purchase.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 07:18 PM
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Originally Posted by rpm94
Too funny, the tune gets him a Z06 equivalent. Yea, he definitely drives a Mustang.
Hmmm, looks like the heads and the cam play a part also.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 07:25 PM
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Ya know, if that was all their was to getting more horsepower out of an engine without sacrificing reliabilty, the engineers at GM would have made simililar decisions. Your not getting a Z06 because that model is lighter than the base model, has a larger displacement engine to give you additional torque as well as horsepower, comes with larger wheels/tires, etc., etc. 45M miles on a souped-up and "tuned" engine is easily equivelent to 90M miles on a stock engine because everything is overstressed from the engine through the entire drive train. My advise is to buy a stock Vette. But to answer your question, no the manual transmission is not that difficult to drive, and once you get accustom to it you will probably enjoy driving a real sports car rather than a make-pretend one with a four-speed automatic torque converter transmission, which is what was offered in 2005.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 07:25 PM
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Originally Posted by rpm94
Too funny, the tune gets him a Z06 equivalent. Yea, he definitely drives a Mustang.
nice reading comprehension


anywho, most of the problems on this forum stem from modded vehicles, not sure the best route to a new C6 is to buy a modded one, no matter how "babied" the car has been. Just a thought
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 07:30 PM
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Why buy a higher mileage modded car when the stock vette has more than enough power.

If you add 5 K or so to your purchase you could get a nice 08 with less miles.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 07:42 PM
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I can smell that clutch burnin' from here.
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 07:55 PM
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Originally Posted by 06 C6 vert
Why buy a higher mileage modded car when the stock vette has more than enough power.

If you add 5 K or so to your purchase you could get a nice 08 with less miles.
No car ever has enough power!
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 08:34 PM
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Originally Posted by wazslow
No car ever has enough power!
Even compared to a Rustang?
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To First Corvette, first manual

Old Aug 3, 2011 | 08:36 PM
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Originally Posted by laconiajack
Ya know, if that was all their was to getting more horsepower out of an engine without sacrificing reliabilty, the engineers at GM would have made simililar decisions. Your not getting a Z06 because that model is lighter than the base model, has a larger displacement engine to give you additional torque as well as horsepower, comes with larger wheels/tires, etc., etc. 45M miles on a souped-up and "tuned" engine is easily equivelent to 90M miles on a stock engine because everything is overstressed from the engine through the entire drive train. My advise is to buy a stock Vette. But to answer your question, no the manual transmission is not that difficult to drive, and once you get accustom to it you will probably enjoy driving a real sports car rather than a make-pretend one with a four-speed automatic torque converter transmission, which is what was offered in 2005.
Another pile of rubble by the master!
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 08:40 PM
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Congrats on your vette, enjoy
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Old Aug 3, 2011 | 08:50 PM
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Originally Posted by laconiajack
Ya know, if that was all their was to getting more horsepower out of an engine without sacrificing reliabilty, the engineers at GM would have made simililar decisions. Your not getting a Z06 because that model is lighter than the base model, has a larger displacement engine to give you additional torque as well as horsepower, comes with larger wheels/tires, etc., etc. 45M miles on a souped-up and "tuned" engine is easily equivelent to 90M miles on a stock engine because everything is overstressed from the engine through the entire drive train. My advise is to buy a stock Vette. But to answer your question, no the manual transmission is not that difficult to drive, and once you get accustom to it you will probably enjoy driving a real sports car rather than a make-pretend one with a four-speed automatic torque converter transmission, which is what was offered in 2005.
I didn't know that I had a make pretend sports car, thanks for pointing it out to me.


Originally Posted by Racer
Another pile of rubble by the master!
Laconiajerk sure knows how to make friends doesn't he ?
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