If 100k+ is in the budget, I'd say the ZR1. If 68-75k is in the budget a Z06. 50k-60k GS. It's all on what you can afford. I can't say I've heard anyone complain their car performs "too well". So match I want power, with this is my budget - and pick one

 

The GS is really the only C6 that does not easily overpower its tires. This can actually be a good thing in many situations.

But for you Id suggest a Z06. Even a base will light them up easier than a GS.

Another alternative is a GS with an EForce.

 

Unless you're into drifting I don't see more than a brief fascination with lighting-up your tires....it's not exactly conducive to going fast. IMO you can light 'em up with any stock (manual-shift) Corvette but it takes a little effort. Under 'normal' circumstances it's not like you can simply press-down on the accelerator (at a roll) and get endless tire spin....you'd have to do some fairly serious modifications to do that. The ZR1 would do the job but the Z06 would be my choice for many reasons (for what I do with my car naturally aspirated power is preferred). BTW I run with all kinds of mostly modified P-cars at the track. I don't know about tire spin but many Porsche's are quite fast. That said at the end of each sesson I'm glad I'm driving a Corvette.

I hope your expensive tire budget comes from road racing and not just from smokin' your tires.

 

If $ are an issue, find a low miles Z06 and use the savings for some bolt-ons.

 

Thanks for the excellent responses. You seem like a pretty friendly group. Sometimes the Porsche crowd can be a bit hoity-toity.
It's not that I want to sit and spin the tires and inhale a cloud of smoke.....but that I want a car that is powerful enough to do that if I so choose. I would have never thought the Porsche wouldn't be fast enough for me - it is, on a road course, or on great twisties (2012 GTS Cab, 6mt, 408 hp), but I made the awesome mistake of attending a Bondurant Z06 course last winter, and I haven't been able to get the torque off of my mind since then. Even though those cars get pretty beat up, the drivetrain was awesome!
So, I'm wondering if the GS will feel the same around town, low-end, or if I need to somehow find a way to get into the Z06. The easy answer is that I need to drive a GS and check it out for myself. I tried. Yesterday I went to my local dealer. First the salesman asked me if I was ready to sit down and talk about buying one if they took one off the showroom floor for me to drive. I told him I didn't know, but that I sure as hell wasn't going to buy one if he didn't let me drive one first. So he said he needed to ask the sales manager, who was actually pretty cool and agreed to take one out for me to drive, no problem. But there was a probelm.....he couldn't get it started. While he and a service guy were messing around with the car, trying to get it juiced enough to start the motor, my salesman regaled me with many awesome facts about the car such as: it's so fast, I think it can go 0-60 in like 2.5 seconds. Maybe 2. When he asked me why I needed a manual I told him it was because I love the feel of being able to control the car with the gas pedal and clutch. He told me he knew exactly what I meant, and that he agreed it felt sooo good to be able to bring the car to a stop by shifting into a lower gear. And then he again told me how fast it was: So fast that, when his friend gave him a ride in one, he was pinned back in his seat the entire time. Seriously. It was that fast.
By that time I'd been waiting for about 15 minutes, so I told them I'd try to come back this week-end to drive the car.

 

Agreed. Its the perfect mix.

The ZR1 offers more performance & better brakes, but costs alot more! For a guy that just wants to "spin his tires", wants some big torque and is already use to the handling of a Porsche 911. The Z06 should fit his needs perfectly. If its a newer 911.. chances are he can do an even trade or possibly get some money back on a older Z06 with low miles.

 

You are a much better man than me. If it was me I would have told that salesman to STFU and get away from me. Then I would have told his manager not to hire monic individuals who spout off crap they have no idea about. He is a typical retarded sales guy who knows nothing about the product he is trying to push.

I wouldnt deal with that sales guy anymore and I would make him feel about 2 inches tall in the process. I would pick someone else.

 

If you are buying used go with a 6-speed car and have some 4.10s put in the rear....all the smoke you can want even if its an LS2 or an LS3 car.

 

Actually it was pretty funny, and it was a beautiful evening, so I just sat back and watched the show. I deal with pretty serious crud all day long, so it was good comic relief. And if I thought any of the other salespeople would have been better, I would have asked to change in a heartbeat.

 

Dont blame you there.

Perhaps you should say "Since your sales staff is so incompetent I would like to get the commission that a sales person would get from selling this car and have it deducted from the price."

I had a similar thing happen when I was bike shopping years ago. It was a Honda 599 and next to it was a CBR600RR. They sales guy says "Yeah, this 599 is every bit as fast as it has the same engine just without the plastics so it wont go quite as fast top end but its so much cheaper without the extra body work." I simply said "No, its not." His reply was "Dude, I sell these things for a living and I know my products inside and out." From there it was on. Just a visual inspection showed the engines were different.......

Most people I let go unless they tell me I am wrong. If I am going to look at bikes I research them inside and out and the same with cars.

 

Great minds think alike When I bought my 05 (A4) the dealership also had a (6M) ...but I knew I'd be spending a LOT of time at the 1/4 mile track (Been Drag Racing since 1966 ... (Yep I'm THAT OLD)

I used to race a D/A Camaro 8.03 @ 171 mph in the 1/4 ... Grin from ear to ear except when I had to spend $$ to repair it...

 

I recently watched the end of the American version of Top Gear (I think that was it) and they were testing cars for the burnout king. The Z06 beat out all of them including the Viper. They measured the length of the burnout.

I have a base 2008 convertible with the Z51 option and it will turn the tires easily. If i were buying another vette it would be a Z06. Good luck.

 

It really doesn't take much power to do a long burnout. It's more related to the tire, the road surface, and driver skill.

Back in the 50's it was all the rage to create long tire marks on the road. I managed over 800' with a '53 Pontiac 122hp straight 8 automatic. Quite a few others easily surpassed that distance.

Maximum acceleration is usually obtained between 0 and 1% tire slippage.

 

If you can find a used 2011 or newer, get it. X pipe crossover makes it sounds better than prior years. Tons of torque!

 

At 50 I needed/wanted more power also ,so I went with the Z. I only wish I bypassed the C6 coupe.If you want to spin the tires keep the OE Goodyears but imo theres nothing like hooking up for a dead stop with a good set of Michelin PSS,s.

 

With way more $$$ into mods than I care to admit, I recommend getting the COW Booster if it's acceleration you want to feel. Changes character of car completely. When I forget to activate it on start-up (changing mode to TC off), I can tell on the 1st application of the throttle no matter how slight.

 

So, I drove the base mt yesterday. It was powerful, and felt good, but didn't have the raw power that I'm after.the ford dealer said he'd order me a 2013 shelby at sticker. Any reason why I shouldn't strongly consider this option, at much less cost than a Z06?

 

This isn't the place to ask that
if you want to keep it and not trade every couple of years a vett is the only way to go

 

i'm 65, and have spun plenty of rear tires on the vettes i've owned...but , what a waste...
sorry, but i want to stick..seen many a novice vette owner loose it!!
running soft kumo's on the rear of my c6 csc...sticks great, but to each his own....

 

gee, i bought my Vette for handling too not solely for the power and part of the fun of handling is to come into a turn, scrub off some speed and haul out of that apex with a judicious input of the power pedal..... and the LS7 does offer great balance and more of the power part of the fun... however the GS is by no means dissatisfying

You can't go wrong with either really, after dinner I often took my GS out to a favorite nearby country road and had as good a time driving through the S curves as I used to with my old Lotus... best way to "scrub-off" some of the day's concerns