2015 Corvette Z06

Sometimes, first is not the best idea. I could wait another month or so.

 

I'm going to wait for the 2nd year so any kinks are worked out and the demand premium comes off the cars. Depreciation bad enough without paying MSRP. They will be giving these things away after a year. Patience..... (My F430 and M5 will have to soothe me until then)

 

The new Z looks to be the real deal. As an owner of three C6s (2006 Z-06, 2010 ZR1 and 2011 Callaway GS) all of which have been bulletproof reliable/durable and tracked and street driven, I'm looking forward to the C7Z which the engineering team seems to have taken the good from the C6 big dogs, applied lessons learned, improved the interior and installed competition seats.

Can't wait to get one.

#3 on a larger Corvette dealer for one at MSRP. I'll take it in that Tiger Shark Grey with a black interior.

 

According to C&D the z06/7 is going to weight soemwhere between 3600-3700 lbs, so I guess lightness is not part of the plan.

Its very hard to add lightness, porche went wth tech over lighness for the new Gt3 and the vette seems to have gone the superhcarging rote over lightness. I am sure it will post some quick laptimes and have great brakes and even better tires. But 3 min of hard lapping and all that weigth has got to take a toll. Seems like the new Z06 id more of a ZR1 replacement.

Of course I do expect a 800hp Zr1 somewhere int he future.

At 3800lbs for 75k and with a NA motor the Z28 seems to be not such a bad deal given the vettes weight.

 

3700 pounds? No way. With driver and fluids thats near 4000 pounds......

 

It'll likely be around 3500 lbs which will be 150 lbs heavier than the ZR1.

 

150-200lbs more than a c7 z51

 

They will crib on paper "better handling" because the tires will be stickier and the suspension more resolved and power is up significantly. Of course for multiple laps my money would be on the lighter car. But paper spec seems to sell these days and the z06 will have paper spec, same as Gt3.

I think what some of us want is a lighter weight very rugged simple feature vette. According to C&d the valve deactivation on the new motor wont support high rev NA applications, so once you go supercharge for power instead you add weight, and if you considder the C7 already has CF and a aluminum frame the Z06 is going to weigh more than a standard C7.

For a lighter than previous sportscar it seems the lambo huracan has shed some lbs and BMW are claiming 3300 lbs for the new M3/4. All of which makes me wonder if after the gap between the e36 and the new M3/4 the bmw is not about to become once again the euro trackday car of choice.

Seems like the new generation of big bruisers are either adding lots of tech, power and weight to go fast, while some are adding lightness. You have to wonder whther its budget, sales clinics, or maybe just that people who can buy a 100k car are of an age where manufacturers think comfort and techno features are "the" thing. Or all of the above.

The "z06" is now a sub corvette brand, not a very limited niche product. When vette sales begin to taper off, we may well see the versions we desire. Meanwhile how great is it that the vette sells in the numbers it does. I am Still wishing for the Mid engined vette alongside the front engined one, at one point this was mooted as it would use most of the same componentary, like motors transaxle suspesion etc. If ford could build the Gt I dont see why Gm couldnt do a mid vette as well, but what do I know.

 

The development team has already stated the new Z on its first time out broke the ZR1s record at Milford proving grounds. That's before they've had a chance to fully tweak their set-up. It was literally the first time they took it out on the track.

I think folks will be surprised at how well the new Z handles and performs with the new e-diff and advanced PTM system, even if the car is marginally heavier than the ZR.

 

And the aluminum-framed C7 Stingray weighs more than the steel-framed C6 Coupe.

 

No doubt that the new Z will outperform in numbers ......but the weight...
The feel of a light car on the track is coveted by me and many others, often
above pure numbers and track times.

My 04 Z06 was barely 3100# with a tank of gas....they used thin glass, TI
exhaust, no power seats, almost no sound deadning, etc.
That car "felt" so good. Even after the C6 Z was out, some instructors
at Spring Mountain liked the turn in more on the C5, and how it felt.

Yes drove a ZR1, was it faster, of course, but felt ponderous to me.

I know that marketplace and demand kept GM from doing a NA "Track Pack"
type car, with some of the niceties taken out of the C7, and a bump in
hp, with some bigger steel brakes, too bad as I would buy that car.

 

At 100 thous circa U.S dollars the car will be a bargain. You are making too much of it. If you want a light car pay 60 thousand more and get a used high mileage scud - but pay a penalty for tracking it. What 2 seat car out of the wrapper are you going to find with this level of performance at this MSRP?

 

Umm a used c6 Z06 a 997.2 Gt3 any seriously boosted Lotus, for 40k you can get a tracked our e36 BMW that will lap faster.

What do you define as performance, speed you can never use on the road? 3 spectacular laps of a track before the tires start to fade?

For someone who does lapping, relevant performance is the ability to consistently lap without overheating the brakes or loosing the tires, a pointability a communication from the car at the limit, that takes amongstr other atributes light weight, and so far the C7Z does not appear to have that attribute..

A Nissan GTR can turn in some blistering laps, just not all day. If Chevy says the Z06 is the track ready car, those who track feel it should be a whole lot lighter than it appears to be. In fact I wuld bet that those who track their cars would happily trade say 100hp of the C7 Z06 for 500lbs even if the 0-60 became worse, because on track 0-60 is an irrelevant metric.

A great street car out the wrapper, decent for driving to the track and tracking should be close to or under 3000lbs, things were headed in that direction with the prior gneration of fast track style street cars, now the trend seems to be reversing.

 

I believe I said 2 seater out of the wrapper,,,, my ViperACR at 650HP has killer Perforamce (with bolt ons/tune) but its not a MY 2015.....we are talking about 2015.

 

Not likely considering the base coupe's curb weight. Maybe 3500 lbs if that to account for the heavier tires, supercharger and cooling stuff. Of course with 650Hp who cares?!

 

Ok if you are talking track capable, possibly a rossion. But yeah out the box you need to get to 150K, but he point is none even at that price range none of them are light and suffer the same problem from excess weight regardless of price. Unless you get the new radical street car 150k, that will smoke evrything you can think of on track.

The Z06 seems like a great bragging rights car, and no doubt will turn a few epic laps, even if the cermaic brakes hold up the tires will wilt and supercharging on a hot day, no matter the intercooler will affect performamnce.

It basicaly reads like an epic road car, truly epic like an aventador but there are no roads to use it, so its back tot he track. The previous Z06 was NA and had a lot of unique and clever weight saving measures 3150 lbs, it was seriously track optimised, and stil needed soem mods to really run hard on track. GM has apparently abandoned this light simple approach and gone for more tech and more power, this will turn a few quick laps before something wilts. Imagine instead say 525 hp and 2900lbs, what would you rather drive on track day after day for a few years.

If you read how the ls7 was designed and why. you really get the sense of inner drive within a company to hit goals, this new car seems of the same mold as the new GT3 a sub brand within the brand, easy for anybody to drive, designed to turn out epic paper numbers. I am sure its a great car, just maybe not a great street/track car. Mass is mass.

The Vette guys on c6 Z06's tell me you are lucky if pads last 1 day, sometines 1/2 day, on my lotus 15 days later the pads are maybe 1/2 gone. Tires heat cycle out before they are done. That is 1950 lbs. Yes a vette is going to be haevier and faster but every lb adds up in the end.

If Maserati builds a turbo V6 on the 4C platform then maybe we will see the 450hp car that weighs 2800lbs in the low $100's, but otherwise yeah lots of lardasses out there. That is the false path blazed by the GTR, tech overcoming weight. Power and tech instead of clevr.
Better to build ones own.

From what I see so far, my impression is that the Z06 is an aventador type car for 100k.

 

Re-read, absorb, and note that what I value and stated is vastly different than what you value.
Never said it is not the performance bargain, old news and nothing new for Vettes, they always have been.

 

So much talk about wanting lightness for track day cars! Why didnt anyone buy elise when they were still for sale here? Lotus currently has a nice 350hp/2500lbs track special for about $100k. Not too many takers for that one either. Bottom line is people SAY they want lightness, but never buy it so cant blame manufacturers stop making them

i have elise and gtr and i much rather take gtr to track. Can get back and fourth in comfort while having all the performance and safety i need. Despite loving lotus and driving it every sunny day i can, it is too uncomfortable to take to the track and once there its too slow and fragile.

 

Exactly right.

Much like the demise of the 3 pedal Ferrari, everyone talked 3 pedal but 9 out of 10 ordered F1.

Jimmy

 

i was one of those 10%ers that ordered a 6 sp manual 430......no one seemed interested when it came time to sell,but then maybe it was because it was yellow

many talk a good game,few follow through it would seem

 

Trade it for a used Exige S--that will help with the slow. FWIW, my Lotus has never broken, but it does run out of steam at 125 mph, but everything that gets by me on the straights I can usually reel back in through the twisty bits. And as had been said, pads and tires last a very long time.

But what I love most about my Exige is the communication from the steering, the front tires, and the entire chassis. To me, that is what makes it a blast to drive on the track (and one of the things that makes it a real chore to drive home from the track).