Z07 VIR time is ridiculously quick

Rob that is the course with the infield of about an extra mile added. Not often used and I've never run it but the mags use it

 

Correct. It's called the "Grand Course" and it's a little over 4 miles long. Car and Driver uses the Grand Course for their annual Lightning Lap test.

Himmy

 

Whoa that is absolutely crazy. Track config is the same as was used in last c&d test so 918 time is valid here. Mero is amateur driver who set ring time for zr1 in past. Is z06 really going to set ring record? Under 7 minutes? Hoping it beats the phony nismo time at least

 

If you wat6ch the videos and read the articles you see the auto car is the fastest. The advice given to the drivers fir fastest timesis to just floor it comming off the apex and let the computer sort out how much power to add.

So the driver is spreety much steering the car, and decidign where to brake, the computers to the rest.

Not to say stick Zo6 cannot be configured to drive like a proper anlogue car, but a lot of track lap times these days are computer tech driven to a great degree, at elast witht he vetet you still have the option.

Still is not the fundemntal reason why w ebuy fast cars and track them for the sheer experience and skill of it, what is being lost in this generation of cars in the name of paper speed. Next gen with self drive steering(the only missing link) will be able to plap perfectly with the driver as a passenger, how relevant will those laptimes be.

 

Boxer, I know I give you hell for it all the time, but please, could you just give a quick proofread your posts?

This was done in a car with a manual transmission, and has to be very impressive lap. Any definitive comparison would require laps done the same day, so you would be certain conditions were the same. And my big question is if this pace could be sustained for 10 continuous laps.

There is no doubt that the Z06 is one of the worlds best GT cars. And it is an unbelievable bargain. I just don't know whether it could really be used as a track day car.

 

GM needs the good publicity at the moment, all over the forums is talk that the Z06 has weak legs at speeds over 130 mph. People tried to dismiss the videos of it losing to the 2014 Viper but now the Hellcat is shown to be faster in roll races also. It just does not add up, the Z06 should be quicker on the street than what has been shown.

 

Friend in the know says ring time is going to quiet all criticism
Exciting

 

Yeah, WTF? That last one was a mess.

 

What does the ring time mean if the car is getting slapped on the street by the competition? I am a Vette Owner and I cannot believe how the community is turning against the car. I do find it strange that the top speed of the C7 Z06 is about the same as a F355?

Hellcat vs Z06...if this is legit than the Charger is going to really be something else!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qLYvNjoLR0

 

Different cars for different purposes. Chrysler seems good for roll races. I like z for curved tracks. We will see how it works out over next track season and media comparisons

 

7 LeMans wins should have quieted criticism

 

Hasn't done it for the Viper.

 

What an impressive car. Have to really hand it to Chevrolet--especially at that price point.

Anyone have lap times on the same track for hyper cars. Say the P1 or 918?

 

OK proofread posts from now on.
No doubt with a manual from what we read the new vette is a great machine, for one pretty much everyone praises its steering, this in an era where the germans and italians have lost the plot as to steering feel.

To me the design is simply stunning, objectively speaking if the C7 was the new ferari people would hail it, if the F12 was the vette people would call it derivative and watered down.

Maybe the "problem" with the C7 is it tries to be all things to all people, on one hand a Gt car and the other a track machine, ferrari for one has the 458 and F12 to split the differences, plus the C7 is essentialy derivative architecture which has plusses in terms of development/refinement, but cames with a weight penalty..

That happens when you essentialy take C5/6 architecture and stiffen it, even using aluminun for the frame, cf for body piecs weight went up. Then to balance handling and be able to put the greater power down the engine weight had to be moved more towards the rear, the only way to do this in reality was to extend the wheelbase out front thereby shifting the percentage of engine weigth back.

A stiffer car, more resolved suspension, these are great bits, and the C7 is a car that benefits from essentialy being developed and evolved over 3 generations and 15 or so years. But the price is also weight and now conflicts in terms of the motor.

On one hand Gm wants cylinder decativation, on the other we want apparently mega power in track vette, at elase betetr paper numbers than the C6. High revs was ditched from what we read late in the game. The supercharged motor seems like a stopgap effort, almost like well lets just take the upcomming Zr1 caddy CTSV motor and drop it in. Weight well porche and the others are heavy too.

So we have the question as to what vette lap times would look like on lap 10, all that weight having an effect on tires, and questions about the motors ability/tuning to sustain power over multiple laps. Can w esee a stupendous laptime at nurbering, sure, chip the motor and put near slicks on it, but then what woudl another car do witht he same tires.

Not taking anything away from the vette, in 2015 it is the most excting and stunning hi po car you can buy from any nation. Maybe the limits of the c7 were not worth spending the extra $$$ to overcome, because that $$$ is already going into the mid engined vette.

So look at the C7 ZO7 as an ultimate street vette that is Ok for a couple of hot laps, ie what 99% of users may use, or imagine they may use the car for. The hot track vette is still being developed its going to be the mid engined one, hopefully it will also offer a stick, along with lighter weight and a stonking motor for driving pelasure.

I think Gm has been pretty clear that A) the C5/6/7 architecture has been streteched as far as the laws of physics allow, and B) if you wamt sustained power from the C7 supercharged motor there are chips to do this at the expese of warranty.

Now Chryco does not loose power on the hellcat, it also does not have cylinder decativation, or need a chip or void the warranty, so we can criticise GM here. But assuig the motor is not really weak, I have no objection to a chip, pretty much every car these days is runnign severly compromised tuning and should eb chipped to run properly..

Me I just look at what the C7 has delivered, in fact even the C6 ZO6, and see that there is a team at GM who really knows what it is doing when it comes to performance cars, even the z28 demonstartes this.

Hopefully they have the budget and freedom to make a really great mid engined C8. The fear is bean counters inetrefering, and marketing insisting on adding crap because old dudes who buy vettes to cruise at 65 mph want crap.

I was in FL for two weeks saw lots of c7 crusing 65 either in the right lane or the left, none in the middle lane, WTF. Kinda sad when your fastest car on the road is you in an old equinox, and that is over 3k miles of road trip. The cliche about the demographic of vette buyers appeared to be true in 99% of evttes I saw, actualy 100% but maybe I missed one.

So yeah maybe GM could have made a lighter better mtoored C7 ZO7 and maybe they just decided that the $$$ required would go where it would be best used and thta is on the C8, heres hoping.

 

At this point, tires and driver are THE huge factor for a single lap.

Lets see what these cars look like at lap10.

What times would a viper do with vette tires?

 

Why are you concerned with lap ten? 10 consecutive laps is useful if the car is going to be raced and none of these are in stock form. However, they could be run in time trials in stock form...

 

Hello, a big concern lately is that the computer turns down the HP after some laps for reliability which has been a heated debate as of late on the ZO6 C7. Also brakes would be at full temp by lap 10 too.

 

Oh come on don't spoil the fun. I'm dyin' to find out what "be able to plap perfectly" means?

 

10 consecutive laps matters to those of us who track drive the cars for 30 minutes per session. A little drop off in pace is understandable, especially due to tires. But if it overheats and has to be short shifted every 4-5 laps, that is annoying. Right now on Corvette Forum they have a few track reports, Laguna Seca, Road Atlanta and Homestead. Ambient temps were pretty low and cars driven slowly at LS and Homestead (think MX-5 Cup pace). RA had some laps with pax and street tires about 5 sec off pro driver's magazine hero laps, so pretty quick and in 40s ambient oil was 257, H2O 210. If temps go up proportionally with ambient, an 80s day may be marginal.

I am still in wait and see mode, but I think the initial swell of negative reports has subsided.

 

Read the April Mt where they test the z07 against the Nismo Gtr.
After one fast lap the computer is dialing back the power on the z07, and the car reportedly also getting too hot after just one hard lap.

At this point months into production and numerous tests this cannot just be a break- in anomoly. The zo7 has greater skidpad numbers brakes later and has less weight, yet it gets smoked by the GTr. The reasons are the GTr is faster acclerating down a track(pdk) and puts the power down sooner out of bends. Yeah the vette may be more fun and feedbacky on street, but my guess is after more than two laps the gap will grow significantly due to heat soak.

The article also sated that track mode is too stiff to drive even on track.

Yeah for one lap a z07 may take aGt3 just barely, after that its going to be no contest.

As appealing as the z07 sounds, ultra stcky tires and stiff suspension make great paper numbers, but may lack on track. Yes the suspension can be run in softer mode, but there is still the motor issue.

Lest call it what it is, this vette is a super appealing street car, like an aventador, but its a zr1 folks not a z06, its not a street absed track car. It needs to be lighter, and have a track motor, not a heat soak heavy supercharged motor. Maybe a z06/7 with aftermarket chip wont suffer power dialback, and we can see its true potential for more than 1 lap.

In any event all these tests point to the relevance of 10 lap tests and how nearly irrelevant a single lap test is, well actualy its totaly irrelvant to any type of track use.. If manufactirers are going to be sellingn street/track cars, they need to develop cars that can legitmatly do the track part. By all accounbts a z28 can and the z07 cannot really. What we have is a z06/7 chassis with a sort of zr1 motor. A motor due to supercharger componants is too heavy for what it is(pushrod V8) and suffers from crippling heat soak.

 

just tracked a regular vette among 2 new z06's. my base bette had the a8 trans and it is not track capable. overheated immediately at 300 degrees and was also slow shifting. guys with the z's had sticks so no problems there but were complaining about other issues. didn't want to pry for details while they were upset but must agree z might not be best for heavy track users.

if my base vette had a stick and z51 pack it would have been great. Then add some aftermarket mods like a body kit, headers, etc might be way to go for track rats. probably faster than a cayman gt4 and 30% less $