Kyflyer

This thread appears to be growing legs! I am fairly new to corvettes, I bought my first one in 2013, a new C7 stingray, and it has been a great driving car, so much that we took it on Route 66 and it was great fun, but we swap out cars about every other year and I was really quite taken with the Z06, and more and better performance has always been a great excuse to move on up. I began shopping for a Z06 when I took our stingray in for service after our trip and was looking at the Z06s on the dealer's lot. He had 58 corvettes on hand and I think there were 12 or 13 Zs. I really liked the appearance of them and 650 HP and 650 FT LBS of torque was too much for me like to the moth to the flame. We saw a beautiful Watkins Glen Gray 3 LZ and that was all she wrote! It's in the garage now on a gray and rainy typical winter day in KY. We have schedule the Ron Fellows course for next month and I have been compiling a list of questions to ask and this one will be at the top of the list. There have been several posts regarding alignment issues from the factory and also the degrees of the camber, toe in, etc. And, some changes made by these individuals seem to have improved the situation, but possibly not resolved it. It is important as these cars are built to be very fast and they are a bargain at the price if they perform adequately. I love the Z so far, but have only babied it to reach the first service which I did in a couple of weeks. It got my attention on the first drive home, but it was not the car's fault, driver ignorance was the culprit. I hope I have not made a mistake with this beauty! Time will tell I suppose, but this thread has really been an eye opener! Caveat emptor!

Dfwz06

Drive around on drag radials or be prepared for the side step it will take.
When driving on my MT et SS it behaves, because it doesn't brake the tires loose , but any other tire and lookout.

BearZ06

This whole thing reminds me of the C6 Z06 valve guide issue that had so many staunch defenders saying it did not exist. How did that one work out?

Kyflyer

As a precautionary item I will ask my dealer to check my alignment as a courtesy service. I just finished my review of them and gave them high marks, so far they have been great. Maybe I should have waited, but I really think they will accommodate me. Absolute paranoia is total awareness.

rikhek

Be aware a good number of dealers don't even know the rear caster is adjustable and do not have the digital angle gauge and mounting adapter to set rear caster. I would also provide them the exact specs you want it set as provided by Mike Levitas/TPC Racing.

If you don't, they'll probably just say yeah, it's within the WIDE range of acceptable measurements published by GM. It can be at +1.0 degrees on one side and -1.0 on the other and this is deemed acceptable to GM as it's within the "range".

I'd make them show me the gauge AND have a good discussion with the alignment tech. I tip my guy and he gets it spot on. You have to trust the tech on rear caster as no alignment machine has provisions to measure OR print out what it's set at!

pkincy

I am confused. The words "violently steps out to the right" means to me that the rear end snaps around to the right. Yet that video of the red car shows the front end diving to the right or the rear end stepping out to the left. Which is the problem? And if it is not consistent than I go back to thinking driver error.

So far the biggest difference in C7Z to C6Z or ZR1 is the mechanical vs EDiff. Has anyone gotten in a safe place and tried to replicate the step out with the EDiff slippage up on the dashboard?

Kyflyer

I have saved all of this information and printed it out to take with me to Ron Fellows and ask them what they do with their Z06 alignments and what settings they use as well. Thanks for the heads up on the rear alignments. I most likely not be driving the Z before then, or if I do it will be calm driving due to the crappy winter weather here.

thebishman

Perhaps someone mentioned it earlier, but why doesn't every M7 car on a drag strip not end up in the wall when power shifting from 1st to 2nd to 3rd? After all, many of them are run with OEM tyres, no?

My point: IF there was something intrinsically wrong with the design of the car such as an E-Diff issue, wouldn't they all do it?

Bish

Kyflyer

Not necessarily, but the general consensus is that it is improper alignment from the factory although the differential has been discussed as well. The alignment issue if in fact that is what it is is a quality control issue.

mtaylor

So essentially have the dealership verify alignment when you pick up the car

Kyflyer

It sure wouldn't hurt and if they don't you can hold that over their head as a deal breaker. If enough pressure is brought to bear GM will eventually do something about it.

Edwardz

If you live in Kentucky where do you plan to take it to have an alignment done. Many dealers don't even know there's two drain plugs , so do I trust them to do an alignment. I'm not trying to diss any dealers because they really don't service a lot of Z 06s. If you think a private message would be more appropriate I would appreciate the information.

Kyflyer

I edited this post as I responded harshly to Edwardz post which was an honest question. I misread his question and took it for a slam of Kentucky dealerships and my post was inexcusable. My apologies to Edwardz and other forum members.

Dfwz06

The track is prepped, not slick like a street. Big difference there

ronsc1985

No the big difference is no crown, Dragstrips are fairly flat with a slight grade to facilitate drainage.

At the point most people are going from 1st to second the track prep is pretty much non exixtent especially on test and tune days. These people are not running on a NHRA national event prepped track, That plus street tires quickly destroy any track prep by peeling off the thin rubber coating which is actually what provides the traction.

The traction compound's function is to stick rubber to the track surface. That is why you see track equipment pulling old drag slicks over the sprayed surface.

spearfish25

I find it interesting that everyone blames an element of unpredictability as being a flaw rather than a trait of a car. Allow me to explain. Let's say the C7Z is a more difficult car to drive at the limit. It's touchy. It's tail happy. It pulls to one side if you lead foot the accelerator like a Mustang driving hero. But it's a fantastic super car that lays down formidable lap times.

Race cars are notoriously difficult to handle on the limit. Any Formula 1 fan has seen how quickly those cars can snap oversteer and plant their asses in a wall. That's what they do. It's not a design flaw, it's the reality of driving a scalpel on its knife edge.

Perhaps this is just a trait of the car rather than a fault. I'm sure an original Ford GT40 is a wicked nasty bitch if you plant the go pedal when shifting into second. Yet Ford made a world class Le Mans winner.

pelotonracer2

I'm not buying it. But if what you say is truely the case, then this car sucks, period (as a street car). I've driven cars with much much more power (200+ hp and 150 pft more power) and I've never seen or felt anything like this before ever. It caught me by surprise. I can see issues at the track with tail wag and other finicky B.S. as you apply power exiting corners and such but in a straight line, the damn steering wheel shouldn't rip out of your hands and cause complete loss of control VIOLENTLY. In a way, this issue reminds a little of the torque steer on my modified MS3. Only thing is, this isn't a FWD car. heh. In the past I've been able to modulate throttle and alter steering to keep a car going straight (or in the direction I want). The only thing that "fixes" this issue in my case is to immediately lift throttle OR leave all the nannies, including traction control turned "ON".

This could just be a firmware issue with the stability control (I've heard that even when it is "off" it really isn't). Any electronic override application of brakes might cause this to be more pronounced. All I know is that my personal experience with more powerful cars says this issue is more than "driver mod". Like I said earlier, my supercharged 630hp Lingenfelter C5 Z06 didn't do this "thing" and neither has any other vehicle I have ever owned, sans FWD with a lot of power.

ernhart333

"THE RACE CAR THE WINS" is NOT "notoriously difficult to handle on the limit". Thus the reason Formula 1 and Nascar teams have testing time and practice time prior to race day. This time is NOT so the drivers can learn how to drive. This time is for teams to do their best to hit a setup for the track to get the "notoriously difficult to handle" out of the car.

"The car that is "notoriously difficult to handle" must be driven with caution and NOT pushed to it's limit (just as the beef we have with the C7 Z06) or it ends up in the fence (again, same situation we have with the C7Z)

With that said, for almost 6 years I have been pounding the hell out of my C6 ZR1 on the same roads, with the same tires, and with the same power as my C7 Z06. It's NOT acceptable that my C7 Z06 will not allow me to drive it as hard as a car with 6 year old outdated technology?

In your words, "PERHAPS ITS JUST THE TRAIT OF THE CAR"
I agree and obviously everyone looking for answers, also feels that perhaps this is a trait of the car, but why?

ElCid79

Can someone post a video of this? I have never experienced any unpredictability with mine. However, I am running continental tires.

BearZ06

See post 117 above