fatsport

This car is the best track Corvette ever, and an awesome straight line performer and civil comfortable daily driver. But it's also the heaviest. Does power and aero make low weight irrelevant? Or does the car have enough carbon fiber to lower it's weight down to close to the Z06?
Anybody weigh there car yet?

rob62

Snorman

I thought it was only about 50# heavier than a C7 Z06.
In any case, the performance is there so who cares?
S.

johnglenntwo

Curb weight
3,347 lb (1,518 kg) (Base)
3,444 lb (1,562 kg) (Z51)
3,523 lb (1,598 kg) (Z06)
3,560 lb (1,615 kg) (ZR1)

racerns

While it has been discussed before, it is really not the heaviest Corvette. The mid to late 70s C3s came in at over 3600 lb curb weight and they only had 180hp base.

johnglenntwo

The narrow steel railed Ring has missed the light weight 720s.
The C7 has already at least survived it!
And Tadge said.....

RichieRichZ06

They are heavy piggies, but they don't feel like it when driving. Road course, which is what the ZR1 is designed to be good at, isn't effected as much by weight as auto cross. I doubt the ZR1 will make a good auto cross car in stock trim.

Racingswh

I am curious which car you feel will be quicker with you driving it on a road course, your C6Z in it's current config or the C7ZR1?

Are you getting a C7ZR1?

RichieRichZ06

I would think my C6Z will be slightly faster in it's current state, but we will have to see once some good drivers get them and hit the tracks. I am willing to bet the ZR1 will be a helluva lot easier to drive fast. My car often feels like riding a bull on ice.

We are not planning to get one, at least not in the near future. The C6Z and Wifey's C6 ZR1 keep us plenty happy.

meadowz06

Weight has gone up. My current C5=3258 lbs.

juanvaldez

Weight has little/nothing to do with top speed.

johnglenntwo

1. CCB
2. Cooling
3. Dry sump
4. Fiber big aero
5. Fiber wheels
6. 550RWHP Cammed-up

Other lightening! How? Where?

SBC_and_a_stick

Went from 3,524lb C7 Z06 to 1,350lb car. Weight is everything. I will never drive anything else on track that's not open wheel. Driving is about having fun and driver involvement, took me a few cars to realize it fully.

The street is a bit different because you might be interested in having a roof and some practicality in a car. Even so, do we really need two seater cars to be heavier than 2500lb? I'm keeping my eyes open for Lotus to bring the Exige over.

The C7's do sound good and look good, so that might be worth it itself but it's a different car than a razor sharp 1350lb to 2500lb scalpel.

juanvaldez

And the ZR1 is lightyears faster than your C5Z in every way! I am a big fan of the C5Z, BTW.

village idiot

Weight is still very important. It's just offset by improvements in tire, powertrain, are and braking over the years. It's not like physics changed- weight is still weight. It isn't plowing into turns, slow in the straights and stopping from a mile out like a 3500lb car would have been in 1987 because it has much better, wider tires, a lot of power and carbon ceramic brakes.

racerns

But it will effect how long it takes to get to that top speed. I am pretty sure most of the discussion in this thread has to do with road course performance which weight will have a big effect.

I think a well sorted C6Z track car with full aero and ~530rwhp will still be slightly fast than a stock C7 ZR1 on track. Example: Poor-sha's lightly modified C7 Z06 Z07 on Pirelli slicks: 1:57.5 at VIR Full. Gill Smith TT1 C6Z on A7s: 1:53 at VIR Full. It will be interesting to see what a stock or near stock ZR1 can turn at the VIR Full course.

DoctorV8

Irrelevant to what exactly? As mentioned below, if VMax is your game, then weight is less of an issue. If we are talking roadcourse work, weight is still one of the biggest factors. Although the modern C7s/Vipers/Huracans of the world are impressive on a road course thanks to adaptive suspensions, trick aero, and near race tire levels of grip, if they were 500 lbs lighter, they would be in a different stratosphere.

That's why my current favorite streetcar for the track is my 720S at 3200 lbs with a full tank. It's next level stuff in terms of a car you can daily drive and beat on track, thanks to the full CF monocoque....but put it on a tight course next to a Radical, and it might as well be a '76 Fleetwood Talisman.

My point: Weight matters. Big time.

village idiot

Weight also drives up consumable costs. Everything is bigger ($$$) and wears out faster. Aside from just making it harder to stop and turn the car because it's heavier, being heavier "adds energy." Imagine a section where your exit velocity going into the straight is what your entrance velocity needs be going into the next turn. Effectively, your brakes have to take out all the energy your engine makes going down the straight (less drag). The longer the engine is making 500hp, the more energy it's going to pump into the car that the brakes need to take out. More weight = slower = more time at WOT.

IE: It takes longer to get down the straight at WOT while the engine is still making 500hp so when you get to the end, you have (for example) 2 more seconds x 500hp = a lot more energy for your tires and brakes. An racecar making 500hp at the end of the straight after 5 seconds will have a ton less energy than a 500hp semi that has been WOT for 20 seconds.

You also need to slow down to 50, instead of 55 mph, because the car can't carry as much corner speed. It also means you're WOT longer so it's harder on your engine, makes more heat and uses more gas and more wear and tear and etc. Weight is the devil. One of my goals is to remove a lot of weight. Li battery, gyrodisc rotors, forged 18" wheels, and a few other things should have me 200lbs down.

KnightDriveTV

If the rest of the automotive world wasn't heavier with it, I'd say you'd have a point. Fact is though, minus few exceptions (miata), everything is heavier. In the relative world, Corvettes are still fairly slim.

When you want a damn near racecar with leather interior, making 755hp in California SMOG rules and infotainment for 120 grand...that's what it weighs

SBC_and_a_stick

Heavy cars overheat tires so while we consider modern heavy sports cars fast they are faster in a relatively narrow operating window. Well driven, a Cup 2 shod supercharged C7 will overheat the tires in just a few laps. The other downside is that you must run harder compound to have a tire that doesn't fall on its face at 200*F. Best compounds are fried at 160*. You can reach that in a lap with a supercharged C7.

Heavy cars destroy tires. Cup 2s delaminate for example. So you may run a session on great rubber but for the next you might be missing your entire tire tire center and have cords showing. Vipers' Kumhos simply rip off the wheel. That's even worse. Look up the efforts to set a Nurburgring time, they tore off at least two tires in life threatening scenarios.

Heavy cars heatsoak everything really, not just intercooler temps, air temps, oil temps, brake fluid, trans fluid, lsd fluid, even shocks get tired.

I would not be surprised if the LT5 lasts 1/4 of the race hours an LS3 would. Not all power is created equally. Say what you will about small block advancements, I don't think architecturally is improved enough to handle twice the torque.

I still think C5 and C6 Z06s are better track cars though slower in optimal conditions.

That said there are benefits to how the C7 ZR1 goes about its business. It's far faster for acceleration from a roll which is commonly needed in day to day driving and would shine in top speed runs.