2K3Z06

The base C7 as fast as a Z06C6. It would be nice, not very likely. IMO, GM charges a lot of money for the Z06 option. To outperform it with a base model, makes you wonder why they are charging so much extra.

Aozora

From what I understand, which is very little,
the '01 c5z was 385hp, '04 c5z was "rated" at 405hp though it is actually higher than they claim. The base '05 c6 is 400hp and .4 seconds slower from 0-60.
One could say, if history is any indication (or the simple fact that the competition has raised the bar) a 500+hp (0-60 in 3.9) base c7 is likely.

Just my thoughts.

thebrander

It's very likely. Simply throwing in an LSA would make it significantly faster without increasing the price much.

The LS7 and aluminium chassis make the Z06 so much more expensive (low volume production).

The C7 will raise the performance bar for everyone... once again.

LS1LT1

MachAll 2005

My projection:
Initial intro of the C7 will have the same power train including engine as the base C6 ... so performance improvements will be via a reduction in weight (if anything significant)...... GM's effort on the C7 is on the interior and info-systems .. with limited effort to "re-skin" the body on an all aluminum frame to be used on all C7's.

Significant gains/improvement will be in year 2 and 3 of the C7 improved engines, transmissions, etc.... and when they will bring in more carbon fiber, wide bodies for the ultra performance versions, etc.

LS1LT1

I don't know if I agree with that part. Though it has happened before (1968 and even 1984) I don't think this brand new introduction will have the exact same LS3 in it as the current base and Grand Sport cars.
It might still be a 6.2L LSx based V8 but there will enough significant changes/power increases made to it to give it's own designation/name I bet.
Your other projections/ideas seem like possibilities though.

Jinx

Won't fit under the hood. It also adds a chunk of mass to the car, and pushes the weight distribution forward.

I'm confident that GM can do better. Maybe not 550hp, but the base model doesn't need that much yet, and what power they do add can likely be done for less cost, size, and weight than that supercharger.

SanDiegoBert

Of course, GM can do better. The real question is, will it?

Additionally, someone mentioned carrying over the same drivetrain as the C6 Coupe. That is a nonstarter. Doing that will kill loyalty sales, and most early adopters.

thebrander

No I believe it will be a new DI 6.2L engine (501.4 HP ). I was just pointing out how easy it would be to get to over 500 reliable horsepower by simply using an existing engine (but what hood are you talking about? and why not push the engine back a little further since it's a newly designed vehicle and chassis?... just brainstorming here).

I think the primary goal is to put something out there that every C6/C6Z owner would want to trade up to. It really wouldn't take much after you satisfy those who care so much about the interior. A base C7 that looks better than a C6Z that is equal to or greater than the performance of a C6Z would pull in a new customer base while keeping the old.

Jinx

Any hood, including the ZR1. The LS9 cooler is lower-profile than the LSA. And C7 isn't really a new vehicle and chassis; they can't really push the engine lower than LS9 and pushing further back doesn't really help, even if they could. And while the LSA is easy, it's also costly and heavy; the N/A DI engine is right.

GM has traditionally been pretty conservative on that front. They don't need 500hp to get C6 owners, they just need something that's new and improved. The C6Z owners will wait for the C7Z.

.Jinx

Chicago1

I thought that was hero run for the zl1. Most are in the mid to low 12's with that pig. That 11.9 hero run came from GM using DR and don't tell me they cut that 1.6 60ft with the stock factory rubber.

Too-Fast

LS1LT1

No, that's not how it went.
There is some confusion surrounding that and I really wish both GM and those that wrote these articles were more clear on the subject.
The 11.9 passes (achieved with both the manual and automatic test cars) were done on the bone stock factory OEM tires. And the weather conditions that day were not favorable to great 1/4 mile times either. I don't think they cut solid/consistent 1.6s, I believe it was a high 1.69 and some 1.7s which can (and has) been done on stock tires in other cars with less power.
Now this is where the confusion/misunderstanding comes in, they were also testing drag radials on both cars that day (both 18" and 20" sizes) and did go even quicker on them, but those 11.9s were achieved in bone stock trim:

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1...-the-11s-video

A manual transmission ZL1 turned in a best run of 11.965 seconds at 117 mph, while the (theoretically faster) automatic ZL1 delivered a time of 11.936 seconds at 116 mph.

Both cars ran on the stock Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar G-2 tires, not on drag radials. In fact, Chevy is quick to point out that using drag radials may produce a time of under 11.49 seconds, which would require the addition of a five-point roll bar to run on NHRA-sanctioned tracks.



Another thing...there's no such thing as a "hero run". Either the car can run the number or it can't. Doesn't matter what "most" run because that could be the driver's fault, not the cars.
If someone runs an 11.9 and on the very next pass they get excessive wheel spin and the car suddenly runs a 13.5 that doesn't automatically make it a 13 second car...it still ran the 11.9 and that is what the car was capable of with that driver in those track/air conditions.
Bone stock (yes, right down to the tires) Camaro ZL1s will be hitting 11.7s (or quicker?) at over 120mph in the 1/4 mile before the year is over, you can almost quote me on that.

EVL JAKE

If you look at the 2 time slips in the vid, the 11.9 passes has a 1.6 60'. They were on a tire. The best times I've seen from a stock ZL1 is mid-low 12's. Yes the base C7 will destroy a ZL1.

LS1LT1

See above.

Chicago1

+1 anyone thinks they stock tires are cutting a 1.6 well I have some magic dirt to sell you. Not even a vid of it just a statement that's why the vid shows them swapping to DR with a Z06 wheel. I don't want to turn this into a pissing match but reality is well reality. 11.9 with DR's but mid to low 12's is what it's running here are some official numbers popping up.



We are talking Z06 territory now.

A zl1 barely beats a c5z and we are talking about 10 year old technology. It can't beat a ls3 car so what makes anyone think it will be faster then a C7?

LS1LT1

I never said it was capable of beating a C7, in fact I even CLEARLY stated in my very first post in this thread that it hasn't even beaten a base C6 LS3's best ET (yet).
But I have to give the Camaro ZL1 the credit that it's due and it DID in fact run an 11.9 on bone stock factory tires regardless of it's sixty foots.
I'm sure there were some 1.6s accomplished on the drag radials that day as well but again, the one (just one) 11.9 time slip in the videos shows a 1.698 not a 1.600 (big difference there, and I do agree that a 1.60 is not probable for a car of that power/weight to achieve on stock tires but a high 1.69 and a 1.73 (as the other 11.9 time slip reads), though not easy or common, is possible with a great manual driver).

It's all right here in black and white (and red ):

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/05/04/2...11-93-seconds/

*UPDATE: We've placed a call to Chevrolet inquiring whether these times were recorded on stock tires, as the press release indicates, or on drag radials. We'll add another update as soon as we hear back.

*UPDATE TWO: The times quoted in the press release – 11.93 for the auto and 11.96 for the manual – were recorded on the stock Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar G:2 tires. According to Chevrolet, the team knocked about a tenth of a second off those numbers with the Mickey Thompson drag tires.

EVL JAKE

I saw it and I'm not buying it. Look at the video GM released and pause it on the time slip. 11.9 with a 1.6 60' which is impossible on a goodyear. Also how does a stock stalled auto cut a 1.6, I need a 3600 stall to do that on a mickey thompson.

LS1LT1

No, actually it isn't.
The car has 580hp, launch control, the tires are 305mm wide and aren't exactly the ultra hard rubber compound of a 1997 C5's runflat either LOL.
Again it is rare but there are even a few stock Corvettes that have cut high 1.6 sixty foots on stock Goodyear run flats as well, 1.7s are more common though.





Well for one, it doesn't, it cuts a 1.73.
The 1.698 (again, that's practically a 1.7) sixty foot and 11.96 pass was from the manual car, not the automatic car (which ran an 11.93 on the aforementioned 1.73 sixty foot).
As you well know, a manual transmission with a clutch allows for a sort of 'infinitely variable' stall speed, one can leave at almost any RPM that they choose (within reason) in order to maximize their launch. This was done a prepped drag strip as well don't forget.

You may not be "buying it" but that is what they're claiming emphatically and as one who has done A LOT of drag racing/test passes with stock/bolt ons only cars on all different kinds of tires/track surfaces, I do believe what that their claims are very possible/probable too.

prinzSD455

I dad a conversation with a shuttle bus driver in San Jose a few weeks back who still thought Corvettes were only good for straight lines. I gave him an education on Corvettes to bring him up to speed and let him know Corvettes can beat Ferarri and Aston Martin on race tracks. The public at large is still woefully uneducated when it comes to the capabilities of modern Corvettes.

Just doing my part in educating folks.