Gary '09 C6

ZoratZ06

on que....

Perhaps he shoulda mentioned the C6Z as the best Corvette ever "as long as you pray you don't have a valve guide issue" (or maybe an axel issue on the 2006's)

But hey there weren't any real problems with the C6Z, it was all just a SMALL group of owners uneccesarily complaining about an issue that affected less than 5% of owners...Gosh this is all starting to sound familiar...Why didn't they tell C6Z owners about these problems BEFORE they spent all that money...? All that testing and the factory had no idea about these issues...hard to believe...and it took them 3-4yrs to get a handle on it and fix it?? Wait, this is sounding familiar again...And around and around we go...where we stop no one knows...

Just move on man...You're a joke. You don't even own a C7 and all you do is complain about it. Grow up time...You'd get more sympathy if you owned one, tracked it and had problems...but you don't and you don't...I think you get kicks looking for overheating threads just to comment on...sad.

vtknight

First you are wrong about your GTR facts. Not that there aren't issues with GTR's - there are - like any car. I don't know where you are getting your "leaks" info from, or "total break downs" but super hard tracking can produce higher oil temps. That said a simple oil and trans coolers actually works in the car unlike any of our cooling methods we have because our engine bay is magma hot and with no circulation. Second is - not only did Nissan address the transmission - they fixed it. They got alot of heat about launch control and no warranty. A bad circlip and the launch control tuning for LC1 (too aggressive and caused wheel hop) was changed. They proudly rolled that out - LC with warranty. You do not see the failures you did all the way back in 2009. Those failures are old news.

What is different about this GM issue - and other Nissan and even other GM issues - is that this is a DESIGN FLAW with the C7 Z06 - not a parts or tune issue like the C6 Z06 (valves) or GTR (circlip and launch logic). The C7 Z06's engine bay does not vent heat quickly enough to prevent the engine bay from cooking everything inside it. We thought the "new hood" would alleviate that for the 2017's - and previous owners - but it turns out it just makes room for the taller lid of their "new" SC (tilted brick for cylinders 7 and 8).

Trying to deny that this car was marketing as anything except their most track capable car ever is a waster of time. There was Nurburgring material. Tadge went on and on about how quick it was on a track on their proving grounds - already quicker than the ZR1 etc. NBR testing for a lap time that never came.Yes it IS a street car as ANY car is that is on the market for consumer consumption (GT3RS, ACR, GTR etc). But it's intention was as a track car - as it (the Z06) has always been.

It's a silly argument. GM knows there is an issue. No one can argue this point anymore.

5thGear

Google GTR transmission overheating and you will get a decade worth of threads. My friend dropped 6k on transmission cooling, oil cooler and intercoolers. Nissan didn't fix it.

GT3 does have oiling issues. Porsche swapped engines on every single GT3 in 2014 due to engine failures. Still oiling issue is not fully solved. Even in 2015 some GT3 owners lost engines at 100 miles. Sh*** happen.

ACR, I have seen couple of ACR's at two different tracks and neither was able to complete a track day. One overheated, another was spitting differential fluid (not to mention the driver seat came loose) I believe Viper forum closed the threads that brought up engine failures.

My point, all cars have their own problems and need speciality aftermarket upgrades if driven hard.

RBK

+1

"Real Life" is how something is "packaged".
All these words suggest that either most here are delusional and/or cannot read the English language, or GM gave the "impression" of something less than true. Pick a winner. Best

sunsalem

Par for the course.
The Viper Forum relies on Dodge for its existence.
Criticism of the car is, generally, prohibited.

vtknight

I agreed with you that all cars have their issues. I also agreed that GTR's can overheat. I stated Nissan fixed the transmission functional issues - not the heating issues. The great thing about your friends 6K - is it is both a good value and they work as intended. I don't need to google it as I have owned a GTR since 2010 and it presently is an Alpha 16 build. The difference with my C7 Z06 is that is has a DESIGN flaw (and I will keep capitalizing that until it is understood). I currently have a CR primary rad, GM secondary rad, oil cooler, heat exchanger/intercooler, 160 billet thermostat, oil catch can and upgraded lines. Unlike your buddys setup, these mods don't work for me - not because they aren't good - but because the engine bay does not circulate heat out of my engine bay fast enough so it becomes a molten oven and boils everything inside of it.

Bill Dearborn

Again track capable means what it says. Track Capable not track ready. All Corvettes are track capable. As for the C7Z being the most track capable Vette yet that may be true as well. The C6Z was the most track capable until the C7Z came out. However, it had an issue with its brakes which meant if you wanted to run hard on the track you would need to get better calipers and rotors. It also had an issue with the power steering hydraulics which meant early death for the power steering system. The C7Z seems to have reduced the brake issue somewhat and with the electric power steering and a small plastic duct sticking out of the bottom of the car to throw cooling air on the motor seems to have reduced the steering issues to close to zero. The cooling/overheating issue is hit and miss. I run my car hard and I know of others who run their cars hard and do not overheat. Others have had some issues. It isn't black and white. I do know in my particular case the car is the most track capable Corvette I have driven since I started doing HPDEs in 1992. I reduced my lap times by around 6 seconds a lap just by purchasing this car. That is nothing to sneeze at. Has it ever overheated? NO. It hasn't come close to overheating, even when driven in ambient temps in the low 90s. Would it overheat in ambient temps in the high 90s to low 100s? Maybe, but more than likely not assuming a linear increase in engine temperature if ambient temps climb by 10 degrees with engine temps going up the same amount. Coolant temps in that case would be in the mid 230s and the oil temps in the mid 280s. I was happy to have my 86 and two C5s down to those engine temps. My 08 C6Z did better at cooling. It would run all day in the mid 90s with coolant temps in the mid 220s and the oil temp sitting at 260.

As for ways to resolve cooling issues I remember riding with one of my instructors back in the 1990s who had a fully raced prepped 88 Corvette Challenge car and when I asked why the heater was on he said it helped cool the engine and if his engine was happy he was happy. It was like riding in a baking oven.

Bill

b4i4getit

Oh yeah that will go over really well with some people. Take a bath on trading in your A8 for the M7. Its only money after all. What is especially nasty is nobody was warned in the brochures that the A8 is not meant for the track. I don't recall what page in the brochure is was mentioned or that the track must be less than 86 degrees, etc. They go to great lengths to mention how the A8 shifts faster than the Porsche PDK. Hey wait a minute the PDK works at the track but apparently the A8 does not. Complete disclosure from GM. Not a chance.

FastestBusaAround

That and the fact that that forum is run by and frequented by morons. I was a member there and left within a few months. Truly a blind bunch of idiots and fanboys there with no clue as to the real world.

FastestBusaAround

I have heard about the claims as far as the A8 shifting faster than the PDK...and obviously, they stem from those who DON'T actually own both. I own a 2016 Z A8 and a 2016 991 TTS. That claim is complete and utter bullsh!t. The PDK is faster in all cases.

b4i4getit

Much the same here in my opinion. The more you complain about problems with this car the more the deniers chime in to say you are wrong. Seems like nobody wants to make GM accountable for a product that was not ready for prime time.

OnPoint

People need to drop the partisanship and deal with the reality. Here is our present state of reality:

1. The Z has marginal heat management and can be overheated when pushed on track. This is fact, and has been abundantly shown.

2. The M7 fairs better than the A8 with heat management.

3. GM knows there is an issue and is working to improve it.

4. None of us knows with certainty if GM's changes will cure the issue, and we won't know for certain until next summer. We also won't know until then if the improvement will be limited to the M7, or if the A8 will get noticeably better heat management.

5. LG Motorsports has a package that fixes the issues, and appears proven to work.

6. We don't know what, if anything GM will do for owners of '15s and '16s.

7. Owners of '15 or '16 having heat management issues on track have the following as their current choices:

a. Wait to see if the '17 changes solves the issue, and if it does trade for one.
b. Wait and see if GM retrofits their '15 or '16 (and unknown who would pay that), if the changes solves the issue.
c. Install the LG Motorsports solution and run all day.
d. Get a different sports car.

These are the facts. Folks can bicker back and forth all they want in the meantime, but the above is our current reality.

QUIKAG

The one MAJOR reason I don't have a C7 Z06 and still have my C6 ZR1 is the C7 Z06 has an even worse heat management problem on track than my C6 ZR1 which isn't exactly great either.

It was really stupid on GM's part to not at least offer a "track package" option that included better cooling systems. I absolutely love Corvettes and I love the C7 Z06 too, but taking them to the track on a warmer day is an exercise in frustration.

My GT4 is slower than my ZR1 on track, but at least it can run at 100% for an entire session even in hotter temps. Wish GM would step up and give us a GT3-grade Corvette. Charge us for it. You might be surprised on the take rate. Even poseurs will buy one to have a "race ready" Vette.

Dellrose

Geez OnPoint, you are.....well....on point. Your summary is complete and accurate, but what forum fun is there in being that? Couldn't you at least toss in one insult? Call someone or a group fanboys, waxers or deniers for Pete's sake! It is going to be difficult if you and some of the other board members operate with a level head to keep beating this topic all the way to China.

You sir, are way to rational. No wait, you're a funaphobe!

There, see how it's done?

OnPoint

JoesC5

I suggest the OP read the 2015 owners manual. He should go to the index(page i-11) where it lists "Track Events and Competitive Driving 9-5".

There he will find 6 pages of instructions on preparing the "most track capable" Corvette for the track. He will not find one sentence that says "it will be necessary to modify your Corvette with aftermarket parts(ie: larger capacity radiator, add a duct to funnel air to the power steering motor, holes cut in the front fascia to feed cooler air to aftermarket heat exchangers for the supercharger's intercooler to run your Corvette on the Track or in Competative driving.".

C7/Z06 Man

Don't know if a 1.5X second 60ft time at the drag strip works out to be lower than a 0 to 60 mph time of 2.95 seconds on the MPSS tires but I got a strong feeling it does.

The GM stated time of 10.95 seconds in the 1/4 mile has already bit the dust.

Bill Dearborn

It doesn't say track ready does it!! Again track capable isn't track ready whatever that means. Ask 100 people what track ready means you will get 100 answers. Ask 100 people what track capable means and you will also get 100 answers. My C5 and my C5Z both overheated when on track. Oil temp would go above 300 degrees. The C5Z hit 319 oil temp which is 1 degree less than overtemp. That was on a pure stock C5Z. The thing is those cars out ran their contemporaries and the C7 Z outruns it's contemporaries as well.

When you hit the track given equal drivers you will probably be driving the fastest car on the track. Right out of the box with the settings GM provides. If you back out of the throttle a shade before getting to the braking zone for a corner, use the car's low rpm torque/hp instead of running lower gears through a corner you will still probably be the fastest car and also not coming close to overheating. I am running the fastest lap times I have ever run with my C7Z and not overheating it. What that means to me is I am driving the most track capable Vette I have owned since 1972. My interpretation of being track ready includes having more brake cooling, a brake system with lower consumable cost, a roll cage, a 6 point or more harness system, real race seats, window netting, etc, etc.

Bill

sunsalem

LOL...well done, sir.