I'd have to say MikeSRT hit the nail right smack on the head. GM finally did 2 things for the oh-so-common Vette: they stole some Ferrari styling and did the front-end up sporty & sexy AND they stuffed some serious horsepower under the hood. Let's face it, it's hard to deny the stats...performance is performance, yeah? But....(and we all know this is coming)...it's still just a Chevy. Sure, the Z06 is the hot new go-fast on the scene....but it'll be a flash-in-the-pan fad that dwindles to mediocrity in no time. Throw a stick, you'll hit a couple vette's...they're EVERYWHERE. I'd do the Vippy....sure, every little punk will run upto you and tell you how the Z06 will hand you your ass...but who cares. The Viper isn't as common, it's a bit more evil & sinister and it'll hold it's value better. The recent Car & Driver dogged the Z06 as compared to the Viper too, so it's all relative. The ony thing to add is that most all Vip-owners I've chatted with will agree that the 10-banger isn't an ideal daily-driver. I think it just depends what you intend to use this car as. Just my last 2-cents, I hope & trust you OWN some real-estate before blowing coin on go-fast toys...if you are that far along at 25, I'm proud of ya!!
What's an oval track? Drag strip? That's for premature ejaculators. The Z06 is a sports car, dude: brake, turn right, accelerate, brake, turn left.
It's obvious by your posts (AND YOUR SCREEN NAME ) that you'd rather have the Z06. Sportscar purchases are pure emotion. If you do get the Viper first, trust me, you'll do nothing but notice and compare it to Z06's EVEN MORE. The $$ you lose in the < 6months you own the Viper will offset some of the Z06 depreciation hit now. Do yourself a favor. Buy what you really want! If you're totally concerned with the Z06 depreciation, wait 6 months to a year and then get one.
LOL!!! Very true C6.... Anyway, i would have to go with the Viper only because i own a brand new one and i love the hell out of it. Its so beautiful i find myself going out to the garage and starring at it from time to time.. The new Z06 is bad-ass and i am dying to race one (stock vs. stock) But for the numbers your showing, you could get a viper and put a bolt on *paxton* and blow the doors off of a brand new Z06 instead of it being a close race... Also, you have the uniqueness, of what is, a viper..... You can see two or three vettes a day where i live... where as, you'd be "lucky" to see a viper a month...
an oval track is a track, that is oval.. Dragstrip is for people that enjoy going fast in a straight line, like myself. I did not realize that every person who buys the Z is obligated to track it but hey, thanks for your useful response
I know, I know. It sure seems that way, doesn't it? But that isn't the case, really. My forum name is what it is because i was 100% sure on the new Z, but I am not anymore. My Z06 (2001) lease is up in April, and i need to get another car. I can just drive my dd for another 6 mths to wait for the depreciation hit for the new Z, but come on, you are telling me that if you were a car guy and your lease is up in the very beginning of the spring that you have the power to wait? i don't. idk, i am just confused. I know what I want, but I guess neither car has it all. I just thought that posting might help me decide, or make it easier.
True, but there is nothing to brag about when you beat another car in your sc'd car. I do agree though, you won't see Vipers as much, but I also think that you wont be seeing the 70K Z06 around too much either at that price.
100% of the guys I ever met who talk down on drag racing couldn't do it for crap. Nobody pushes it to 10/10ths on the street, other than 10/10ths acceleration. Being skilled in squeezing max acceleration from a car is a handy skill. I dusted many a faster car in a slower car by knowing how to drive it. Then again, for folks who are sunday drivers and like to think they *could* go fast *if* they wanted to because they drive a car made by the same company that also makes the car of their chosen favorite racer, I can see how having to prove they can drive could be a turn off. Its like how the guys who talk about how many women they have dont really have any at all
Fair enough. The one universal point is that the Z would make a much better daily. If it's to be your only car that is a big consideration. ..........and yes, I can wait but I couldn't when I was 25.
Of course not.. Thats why i said "i would love to race one stock to stock." No sense in racing apples to oranges unless your a moron..... What i was saying is simply that you can get a Viper for a much cheaper price then a brand new corvette and make some mods (with the left over money) if you so desire....
Thanks everyone for your input. This is what's going to happen. My heart was set on the Z06, but after some thought and talking to papa, we both came to the conclusion that financially, the Viper is th better buy. So, what I am going to do is get a long test drive in an srt. If it is comfortable (doesn't have to be as comfortable as the Z06, but must be bareable) and it does not get too hot like some stories I have heard, then I will get that car simply because my money is more important at this time and, well, you can't look too bad driving a SRT.. Thanks again for everyones opinion, I will bring this thread ttt again when I purchase my next car in the spring and I will keep everyone updated on what choice I went with.
Listen to me carefully. Unless you go from a "dig", the Z06 will not beat the Viper. On a roll of 25mph or over, where 99% of all street action takes place, the Viper will win every time, with equal drivers. Now at a strip....the Z will turn in about .2 of a second better, with equal drivers. Just take out the 3.07 gears, and put in the 3.55's, and you win every time. Not on the top end though. You will top out at about 178 with the 3.55 gears.
I would put my money that the viper will definately be sold for 25-30k at some point and for the record i would take the corvette in a heartbeat.
Hey s.e. Like I said, i talked to a few owners with both and they all admit the Z is quicker. Did you not take the car to redline when you drove it? Where you in the proper gear/rpm when you went wot? If you floored it at the beginning of 2,500 rpms you will not feel the car go. I don't mean to question you like some kind of guy that doesn't know how to drive, but I just don't see the Viper pulling on a Z06 from anywhere. The car puts down higher numbers in the dyno (rwhp, not rwtq), weighs 200 lbs less, has a 1K higher redline, has better gearing and has better aero with a higher topend. I am telling you, driver for driver, right gear for right gear, the Z will win everytime. Do you know "Treynor"? He is one of the three owners that admitted that stock for stock the Z is quicker, and I would say he is more of a Viper guy. There was a race of a Gallardo with a Tubi vs. a bone stock C6 Z racing, and the Z walked it. And on the Viper forums, a guy with a SRT with smoothtubes and K&n's said that his buddies Gallardo would pull on him from a roll, yet, the Z walked this thing by 3 cars and was still pulling when they let off. Try taking out the Z and the Viper and put them both in 2nd at 60 and take the race up to 160, redlining every gear and then tell me what car will be ahead.. Like I said, the Viper is awesome and I am about 90% sure I am going to get it due to the financial reasons, but, that wont take away from the Z and it being the king of the hill, for now.
I said the Z was quicker from a dig. That is it. In your example above...the Viper wins every time. I can only speak from actual experience. I only believe something when I have done it on my own. Don't take stock in what other people have to say, including me of course. Drive them both, then you tell me. Good luck to you. PS The Ford GT is the "King of the Hill" at the moment, in terms of US auto makers. The Viper was King for 10 years, now the GT. It will spit the Z06 out of one tailpipe, and the Viper out of the other. The 2nd and 3rd place losers don't count anyway. The Z06 is King of the Hill in the bang for the buck race however.
You guy have to quit throwing around phrases like "spit it out the tail pipes, It will take it in a heartbeat, king of the hill". These cars are so close in peformance that we should say, "I like the looks of the Blue corvette better than the yellow viper, but the red Ford GT looks better than the blue corvette, Etc". Get my point. There all fast.
You'd have to build one of those because the didn't exist until 01. Vette is just a Vette. On your way to the kitchen for a midnight snack you don't peek into the garage and turn on the lights to catch a quick glimpse of your Vette. Buy the Z06, realize your mistake and then get the SRT10. 04 Z06's are selling in the mid 30's and you'll be able to pick up a used C6Z in a few years at that price also.
Thanks everyone... Decision already made. I am getting the Viper. I just can't take the fact that I am gonna be the sucker to take that huge depreciaition hit on the Z and lose a ton of $. My $ is more important right now. Now I have to find out about an 03. vs an 04...
