forg0tmypen

Yesterday I went down to Stingray Chevrolet and they had a used white ZR1 on the lot. It was sitting outside in awful shape, dirty, paint was scratched and scuffed in various areas, etc. etc. Inside was even more of a mess. It was also a base optioned model, with no memory seating and little else. But, it still had that massive engine and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

So I start it up, sounds good. Not as loud as the Z06 at start up, doesn't idle as rough either. I let out of the clutch slowly in first gear and the car just easily and smoothly putters along. Nice. The Z06 is very jerky in this area, it doesn't like speeds below 10 miles an hour. As I'm driving around the lot in first gear its very apparent the car doesn't mind low speeds.

I come to a stop sign and make a right turn onto an open stretch of road and I begin to get on it a little bit. The car just climbs in mileage. I shift to second gear, and I'm doing 70 miles an hour easy. Feels like I'm going 10MPH. This would be true for the whole test drive. The car just effortlessly climbs in speed.

After a few more times mashing in the gas pedal and some spirited 5K shifts, I return to the dealership and pull back in. My first impression is its not as "raw" as a Z06, but is definitely faster. But not so much so that I would spend another $20-30,000. No way. After having driven a base coupe, Grand Sport, Z06 and ZR1, I feel like the Z06 is the best overall package in terms of raw sports car and visceral sense of speed. I also think the gap between the Z06 and base coupe is ever so slightly larger than the gap between the Z06 and the ZR1. But I'm most likely splitting hairs here.

Now I realize I'm not even 1% of the way to pushing this car to its limits, but I drove it as hard as I drive my Z06 and it preformed only mildly better in the "shove you to the back of your seat feeling". Obviously that is a subjective area to rate a car in, and I have no doubt that many people would disagree with that.

Just for ***** and giggles, I also test drive a 2012 Z06, right after I got done with the ZR1. I wanted to sit in the new seats and feel how the T60 transmission felt with the LS7. Shifting is much smoother for sure. The throw is slightly lessened which I liked. I think the gearing was also changed because the power felt like it was in different areas at different gears and RPMs. Maybe just my imagination. I obviously had a fun time in the 2012 Z06. It had that same jerky idle at start up, rocked back and forth when trying to baby it around a parking lot at 5-10MPH etc. etc. The visceral feel of speed was there, of course it was slightly less than the ZR1 but it was there. The new seats do NOTHING more than the old seats but they look better. I wasn't impressed at all. Most likely its my body type. I'm 6' 150lbs. I was previously considering converting my seats but now I'm not going to bother with it unless a conversion kit falls in my lap for cheap.

Overall, nothing I drove, not the ZR1 (1ZR) or the 2012 Z06 (2LZ) had me leaving the dealership wishing I had a different car. In fact when I started up my 06 Z06 and during so fun romps on the highway, I realized I had almost 90% of the car of a ZR1 and of course all of the car of the new Z06. I was scared that I might get a little voice started in the back of my head convincing me to get a ZR1 at any cost, but the exact opposite happened. There was even a guy on the lot who wanted to sell me his ZR1 for my Z06 and cash. I wont be giving him a call. (if you're on the forum reading this, sorry I like my car too much )

BigMike NY

Very interesting read, thank you for sharing!

ZO6 or ZR1, your still driving one of the fastest cars on the road in the country!

mwvettec5

SPOT ON !

VetteVinnie

It's funny because that was my impression when I went from my 2003 Z06 to the 2006 Z51 Coupe. The C6 was too docile in comparison. It took a C6Z with heads/cam to finally get that "raw" feeling back that I had with the C5Z.

Reading your posts makes me think I would not be happy giving up my current Z06 for a ZR1, although I do love the ZR1s.

titletaker

Disagree completely, but I guess I'm a little biased. ZR1 sounds ten times better than Z06 once you get the baffles open and the supercharger winding. Never get tired of hearing the beast come to life. While you may not be able to get the true feel for the power difference on the street, you can see/feel it on the track.

mirage2991

what people forget is that the feal of a car and how hard it accelerate deminish as you go faster. For instance when you go from a 13 sec car to a low 11 sec car it's going to be a massive difference, but, when you go from say 11.3 to 10.8, you will hardly notice the difference, despite that it would require quite a bit of power increase.
A few years ago i gained 30rwhp on my bbc camaro, it all came in at about 5500-6000 rpms, lost 3lbft only and i couldn't tell ya with the butt-o-meter. Motor sounded a bit healthier on top end but i was a little disapointed... until the dyno sheet stated 30more whp... and thats on a 600fwhp motor...
moral: when you are fast, to go faster require more hp yet doesnt feel much more.

walhan_qtr

T60??? you mean TR6060 or is this a new transmission for the 2012??

09Z06pj

OP, based on your description of the test drive, the overall condition of the car, and the totality of your writeup, I have concluded that the ZR1 probably needed a tuneup. More than likely, it had a disconnected plug wire (or two).

jbp8653

Yup, I had ZR1 fever a couple of months ago. So instead I took the money I would of spent to trade up from my 09 Z06 and built a pool With the change left over I am thinking of sending Z06 to either Lingenfelter or Katech. Alls well that ends well

Turbooo2u

And remember that there is only 2/10s difference between the two in a quarter mile drag race. Probably tough to tell the difference.

Larry Gonzalez

Thanks for your review on the test drive of the ZR1, I found it very interesting.
At some point I'll probably do a test drive on one my self, but do agree with you and Evil427 as far as the "raw" feeling of a Z car vs a non Z.

LEAVINU

Actually .3 or so secs on stock tires but .5 secs on DR's.

(ZR1) Fartpipe= 10.2@135mph
(Z06) Ranger= 10.7@130mph
Both on DR's and note that mph difference. The LS9 is a freight train up top by comparison. Just keeping the facts straight folks.

You know one thing I've noticed too is that Z06 guys are the only ones I see trying to justify their ride/purchase/whatever over another Vette model. I never hear of base guys driving GS's and making comparisons to back-up their decision to buy a base, or GS guys driving Z's making comparisons to then back-up their decision to buy a GS. What's with you guys?

triblk6spd

But.....10mph!

Random84

I think it has more to do with "many Z owners have the means to upgrade, and are thus curious about the differences" moreso than any actual car envy.

This kind of talk is more suited to General Discussion and the GS vs Z06 threads, IMHO.

LEAVINU

Can't argue this is the case for yourself, BUT I doubt this is the case for many. Not like anyone would come out and say it so we'll never know factually now will we.

Pretty sure many of the GS cars cost pretty close to what some of the older Z's were going for new too. So many GS owners would have the same "means" you speak of.

Turbooo2u

Actually if you crunch the numbers from the past 4 years (which I have done), the average from the automobile "rags" works out to be 19/100 sec in a quarter mile. (less than 2 tenths). A recent test had the difference at 2/10s, same driver and day. Many of us here on the forum still can't figure out why the ZR1 isn't faster than it should be. It was even slower by SEVEN car lengths than the Z06 around the track in the April R&T test of all the Vettes. Take a look at the new Lambo tested this month in R&T. About the same power-to-weight ratio than a ZR1 but WAAAYYYYYYYYY faster at 10.4@139. The 638hp figure just doesn't add up.

Turbooo2u

Fartpipe is listed (with slip) at 10.424 on DRs.(see ZR1 section, Feb 2012). And I think he just switched back to a Z06!

andy82

Plus you have the right color as well, so why change it

OnPoint

I've had both. Love both the Z and the ZR. Turbo, that test involved the short track at SM - the radical loop, where the Z does in fact have an advantage over the ZR, b/c it's a bit lighter and more "tossable". The ZR shines where it can stretch its legs and leverage its hp and torque advantage. That's why you see it on top on the larger tracks. You see it at the end of the 1/4 mile for example with the trap speeds, and the ZR continues to pull hard on up from there. Standing mile speeds are 12 -14 mph diff b/n the two bone stock.

Not that any of this really matters at the end of the day. They both are great cars. I enjoyed my Z, and am loving the ZR. Whether the price diff is "worth it" to somebody to move from a Z to a ZR is a purely personal and subjective question only that person can answer.

What I'll tell after having both, there really isn't a wrong anwer to it. The current Z and ZR are the best Corvettes the world has ever seen. Bar none.

I have no idea how C7 is going to top these.

LEAVINU

Mag drivers probably suck as bad as the majority of any performance car owner when it comes to extracting 99% of what any car can do. I thought the reason for the fast list was to get a better understanding of what these cars can do when driven to the limit. Most anyone has realized at some point that the mag test results are poor reprsentations for any car; I surely have.

Fartpipes "slip" for the 10.2 run:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...135-35mph.html

As he has openly stated he is moving back to the Z because of financial comfort NOT because it's a better car/performer. Your mention of that surely isn't insinuating otherwise I'm sure!