Is there any Ferrari that can match a Corvette in performance?

All these posts and you still don't get the point. Amazing.

We do not give a hoot what they do in a drag race.

What we care about is how they drive and the sensations they deliver while driving.

Sit in and drive any Vette with the same model year F car and then tell me that raw acceleration is all that matters.

I can eat Filet Mignon and I can eat a Big Mac. The Big Mac is cheaper, I can get in about a minute of ordering it, goes down quicker, and gives me nourishment.

The Big Mac deserves more respect for what it is because it's inexpensive, it makes you full, and keeps you alive.

Isn't that what we look for when deciding what to eat?

 

Absolutely, I love my Ferraris AND my Vettes

I do much prefer buying Vette parts though

 

And I have had all 3! A Gallardo with a few tuning upgrades is fast....at around 100k...

 

Most anyone on this forum respects the Covettes performance. GM did a great job creating a car that will perform when asked. I don't think anybody denies that. What Ferrari does well is craft an "experience" that you feel when you drive their car that is IMHO unparalleled. Part of this experience is being in a car that every other driver isn't. That and the plasticky interior are where the Corvette falls short.

As far as $100,000 new vettes.. you new honda is now over $30k. New fcars are over $250-300. Used both drop on the used car market. So I'm not sure price is a good metric..

Do you want it for the performance or the experience? If the former you're probably going to be disappointed. The latter.. you're going to enjoy it...

 

Your measure of performance seems to be based on accleration and stability at speed.

I dont think you should get a ferrari, or it puzzles as to why you would want one, what ferrari offers are not things in your own words you understand.

When I was young I had a 1980 camaro z28 which on paper was faster more stable etc than a 69 lotus elan. Two completly different cars. the Z28 would be great for a road trip.
On any twisty mountain road, lets use tail of the dragon as an example the 69 elan with its wimpy 4 cyl engine and slower 0-60 would be infinitly more fun, more rewarding and proabably faster.

Btw 150 is legaly speaking very fast but actualy not that fast and well within the capabilities of many cars which would be stable at that speed on an open road, inlcuding any number of newer volvos.

On a track you might not ever do more than 140 down a straight, but how fast are you going through the bends and how balanced is the car, what is the feedback, or do you just care about ultimate grip.. As stirling moss once said the straights are the boring bits between the corners.

On the street any of these cars is going to be way faster than can be deployed around any bend, so its all about relative speed on the roads you drive.

I do agree that after a V8 chev a 8cyl ferrari may feel wimpy, lacking in torque which is something you are used to. Get either a TR which will be way more exotic than a vette but still have good punch or a 550 maranello which is close to what youre used to but will pull harder at higher speeds, will still be stable yet rewarding to drive and exotic in a way that a vette is not.

BTW I went from a vette many years ago to a 12cyl ferrari. Mine was a 91 Zr1 and I went to a 512BBI as that was the reasonable priced 12 cyl ferrari at the time, and it still had punch. the V8s basicaly didnt go compared to anything I was used to. Now I appreciate many more aspects of driving at speed than what vettes have offered. I have tried all the newer vettes along the way, and frankly besides accleration and grip they are lacking and not really that much fun to flog down the road, even though they are really fast.
Along the way my tatses have grown and I also got a lotus elise which by your measure is not fast, is certainly nervous at high speed, but at LRP its faster though all the bends than any vette by far, and yes I have to work hard at it, but that just makes the reward that much sweeter. On the street there is something to be said for balanced controlls and everything working as it should, something to be said for havign to work a car to get your speed as opposed to holding back.

A 550 is really the car for you, then as your tastes mature and you come to appreciate wine as much as beer you can move on to something mid engined. You definatly dont need to spend over 100k 550's seem to go for 75 K and a 512 Tr should still be under 100k. Just remmebr to plan on putting asside 2-5k per year to keep your ferrari running in tip top shape. Get used to waking at 7am on a sunday for no reason other than the car is calling you to drive.

 

I suggest a carbed 512 Boxer...

My whole company collects Corvettes, I am 'odd man out" with my carbed 308GTBs.
And we don't drag race...although I have run at the Texas Mile event.

I have a 1994 Trans Am also (154MPH...stuck to the road, as you say..)

But folks here are being very honest that it's kind of apples to oranges.....short of the Ferrari Can Am 7 liter car (one made and mario said it flexed too much), the history is built around response and handling, not big bore ground pounders.

 

Great post and I agree, the 550 is the best all rounder.

 

A simple answer to the question above would be yes, there are several, but they are pricey. Can any Ferrari more or less match a 2013 Z06 with a 7 litre engine in it? Talking 0-60 and 1/4 mile? How's about an F40 which did both in about the same time with 2.9 litres 26 years ago.

If you're talking about a 2013 ZR1 with a supercharged 6.2 litre engine, well the whole current Ferrari model range actually, although the slowest car they make this year is 0.2 seconds slower than a ZR1 to 60 so perhaps I'm exagerating. Most are faster though.

They are all far more expensive though.

Being a tad more sensible (because I can be sometimes), Corvettes are all well and good but it's not all just about the numbers. If you want to get a car for a good price with brutal performance then it sounds like you've got one already. A Ferrari is likely to be totally different. Why not go for something like a really nice 355 that'll be great fun through the twisty bits and plenty fast enough on the road. Totally different to drive but loads of fun.

 

Based on the OPs follow up:

Equivalent cars cost a lot of money. The Ferrari V8s still are lacking in displacement. A Ferrari cannot compete in giving a Corvette experience. They are just too different.

Buy a Ferrari at your own risk, it will likely be a huge waste of money for you and very disappointing.

Dollar for dollar I don't think any car on the planet gives a Corvette experience better than a Corvette.

 

I had a 360 CS a few years back. Not sure what they are going for today, but the 360 CS was breathtaking. I didn't expect such a performance jump up from the 355.

If you can find one for the price you need, I would think the CS will give you a better driving experience than any Corvette. But that just my opinion. (I have driven a lot of vettes.)

 

Drove my friend's new ZR1. Boring.

He still has the ZR1 but also bought a 458 Italia. He always has 8 cars in his collection.

 

Quite a few actually.

 

There is something about Corvette that makes it seem that way. They can out perform pretty much anything on the road but seem a little soulless. The interiors are a huge part of it. Huge. Sitting in a 599 compared, top to bottom and back to front fine Italian leather. To die for. Can't beat the sound of a Ferrari. The gearing on my vette leaves something to be desired, particularly shifting out of 1st. I don't drive a stick (I know), so I'm sure the ZR1 experience is much better. The vette is easy on the eye, and a thrill here and there in cornering and acceleration. But you take take a 430 for a spirited drive never passing 3rd gear and every second is spine tingling.

 

Regarding Corvettes vs Ferraris, as many have said, totally different car (not driven a ZR1 mind). But a Corvette is all about the performance and actually there's loads of cars that can stay with a Corvette on performance, some at that price or less.

If you're talking straight off the line performance, I'm not putting US cars down (flame suit on) but in the UK we have 2 production cars that'll monster a ZR1. A Caterham R500 Superlight is quite a bit quicker but it's on the same planet. It'll also beat a Vette round any track without a 5 mile straight. The new Arial Atom is on a different scale compared to a Corvette - about a second quicker to 60 (yes you read that right). Or a bit more pricey how about a Noble. Then there's a GT-R R35 which'll give a Vette a run for it's money round any track but is faster off the line. Till some nutter soups it up with some daft over sized turbo then it's gone (or in little pieces at the side of the road).

Someone earlier said something about giving the Corvette the respect it deserves, or words to that effect. I do, it's a quick car, and there's only something like 25 odd current production cars on the road which are quicker than their quickest model if you're talking about the numbers.


Ferraris are more expensive than Corvettes, no surprises there. So taking a new Corvette's performance and price and going back through Ferraris till you find one at the same price means you're going to go back a few years and it's simply not going to have the punch. But that's not what Ferraris are about, is it?

Anyway, I'll leave you all to mock my plucky little British sports car examples and continue to think that there's nothing on the road that can stay with it. In case any of you have never been in an Arial Atom before though, I managed to find a vid with a stock Arial Atom against a Callaway Corvette. I think the Vette is the little white speck in the distance at the end of the race. And I thought Callaway made quick Corvettes? must be my mistake

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj9MAApLdDs]Top Gear - Great Britain VS Germany - Drag Race - YouTube[/ame]

p.s. Much of this is tongue in cheek, not to be taken toooooo seriously.

p.p.s The new Atom is quite a bit quicker than that one. If it's all about the numbers go give one a go.

Nos

 

I own a C6 corvette and it is a heck of a car from a numbers standpoint. THat is where the difference ends. I also own a 550 and i would stay that or a 575 would be as close as you could get . THe 550 has lists of lowed torques similar to a corvette power wise it feels very similar to a corvette but the 550 is so much more it has a fit finish that is far above the corvette. You can buy a 550 for well under 100K and have enough left over to maintain it for a few years. THat would be the way to go.

 

All along I've been speaking of modified corvettes. You can easily crank a vette up to 700hp crank for under $10k. There really aren't loads of cars that can compete with that.

 

3.5 litre supercharged v8 Atom in totally stock form is 0-60 in about 2.2 seconds. Fancy a bet power to weight is 1000bhp per tonne so what, twice what a 700bhp Vette would have? And I know a guy with an R35 that (he says) kicks out 800BHP. The neon doesn't do it for me though!

All of that said, the Atom costs more over there than they do here.

You can soup any car up if you want to enough. A company in Europe (Koenig) does a conversion for my 348 to blip the power up to 520bhp. Not tempted. It's not all about the numbers

 

My 360 was the first ferrari I ever rode in and the first I ever drove as I drove it off the delivery truck. Granted, when I bought mine I bought it because it was a Ferrari and I wanted that experience of driving over the Ravenel bridge here in Charleston with noise of the exhaust and the feel of the car in my hand. I've never been a "performance" guy and the car for what it's got.. is more than I can ever handle. What I do love about it compared to my Boxster is this sense that like a fiesty italian woman.. she's going to slap me any minute.. so I have to be respectful. It's less forgiving than the Boxster, and I like that because an idiot who doesn't appreciate the car or its feel is going to crash it.

Blowing a quite a few grand on a Ferrari only to discover it's not the car for you is stupid. They can take time to sell.. And coming from a car with alot of low end torque, a Ferrari might not be as intuitive as you think.

What I would do is if you can get a test drive and you're willing to pay for it, take one out for a day or a few runs on the track at one of those driving experiences. If you can't manage that, go to a local cars and coffeee and try to meet up with some local 360 and 550 owners. See if they can take you for a ride in their car. If you're serious, they likely will. This will let you get a feeling for the car(s).

 

That's not a reasonable comparison. In the nearly 30 years I've been modding my rides, nothing has ever been cheaper and easier to mod than Chevy. Nothing. I could strap my ass to an ACME rocket and go faster than an Ariel, but that's not really the point I was trying to make.

 

Sorry, was just commenting on the fact Vettes will out perform almost anything on the road, hence the comparison with something they don't come close to, even in stock form. You're right though, different car, different in every way. The GTR is a better comparison as they are allegedly very easy to tune. There are several packages out there that tune them to 1500bhp and beyond for not silly money. The top bhp GTRs are around 2000bhp now but that just gets daft. Getting the power down must be interesting but I've seen a GTR that'll do 30-160 in a fraction over 3 seconds. Totally street legal. Now thats punch.

But I'd have a Corvette over one any day....... and a Ferrari over a Corvette.

 

If you want something that will have incredible performance for less, why not consider something like a Rossion or Noble? GTRs are probably the fastest car for the money. You don't buy a Ferrari just on performance figures alone. They have souls. Corvettes do not.

 

We are definitely at the ragged edge with RWD. At 600hp, I can't keep hooked up on street tread without dry 100+ degree pavement. GTR is definitely THE bang for the buck winner in acceleration. Even worse interior than my vette. But yeah, AWD and DCT are going to blow the doors off RWD and 6spd.