Thinking about selling my C6 Corvette Z06 for a 348...

Keep the Vette and when the time is right add the ferrari, thats what I did and now I have both!

 

First unbiased statement I've heard so far..........................

To compare a 348 to a vette let alone a C6 ZO6 is next to nuts.

Twisty roads.........The Vette would eat the 348 for breakfast to say the very least....


Acceleration........It would have 2 car lengths on you without breaking a sweat in second gear...


I don't know what you guys are thinking here but I really believe that somebody sold you some good stuff to smoke......

The Vette is far superior...


I still don't like them though! Buy the Ferrari

 

Know the feeling! 99GTS Viper and 355!!!!!

Awesome as hell!

 

First off, for those of you who have never owned a C6 Z06 and are bad-mouthing it, I respectively submit you do not know what you are talking about. Elitism and denigrating others cars just makes you look dimb (combination of dim and dumb) and uninformed. Dino- Any time you want to "race" a C6 Z06 with a competent driver at the helm, he will kick your rear-end over and over, regardless of the road. You are in serious self-worship if you believe what you said. But then, Dan Gurney in a good modified mini-van could kick either of our rear ends on most roads.

I traded a 2008 Z06, and earlier owned a 2006 Z06 (plus 3 C5 Z06s), for a 2004 575M last summer. Maybe I can put this in perspective for you about what I missed after the trade. The Corvettes are the equivalent of the military term "wooden round". What that means is you get it, fiddle with it, beat it up, and nothing needs to be done to it at all, it just works. Load and fire. My last five Corvettes had no problems, repeat no problems. No warranty work, no extra trips to the Chevrolet dealer, nothing. Change the oil and filter once a year, change the air and fuel filters way more than required, because that is what you are used to doing, and drive. Starts every time, runs like a locomotive, and, in the case of the C6 Z06, the odds of seeing a faster car on any given day are very slim. An even match for a 600 hp Viper or a twin turbo Porsche, neither of which you are likely to see. As fast as a 599 or Murcielago ? No way, but when was the last time you saw one?

I really miss the remote system on my Corvettes. No key, no pressing a remote. Just walk up to the car with the remote in your pocket, and unlocking is enabled. Climb in, push a button and the car starts. Shut down, climb out (very easy, I might add), walk away and the car locks itself. I miss satellite radio and OnStar and its hands-free independent phone system. Plus all the other available blu-tooth and whatever you want. I miss the dead-reliable tire pressure monitoring system and the 1 "g" run-flat tires, now 1.1 "g" Michelins on the ZR1. I miss having three dealerships in my relatively small city, all of whom can get any part you need in two days through normal distribution channels.

What do I not miss? Seeing five or six C6 Corvettes and a dozen or more C5 Corvettes every day. Joe six pack has no idea of the difference between a C5 coupe and a C6 Z06, so you are just another Corvette driver, of whom there are thousands. The interiors have been improved every year, but are lacking in real panache. On rough roads, the cars like to step sideways, which can be fun, but should not happen. Blame the low frequency response transverse composite leaf springs.

Do I think you should trade your Z06 for a Ferrari 348? Of course I do. The Ferrari will cost more to maintain and have lower performance, but the interior is beautiful, the engine noises are intoxicating, the driving experience is much more involving, and you are almost guaranteed you will not see another car like yours in a month of driving. So go for it and you will be one of the few people who realizes what you gave up, but how much more you gained.

I love my 575M and you will love your 348 or whatever Ferrari you choose.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Terry that was an excellent post.

 

Jerry- Thanks, but now Dino will be after my scalp. Not a big problem, since there is very little hair there anyway, and I was captain of the fencing team.

Corvettes are great cars, but they are not and do not pretend to be Ferraris. They just have Ferrari-equivalent performance in a much blunter weapon.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

that looks very nice and very clean. As long as all the papers are intact, and the PPI checks out, I say go for it. Not a bad price either at $42

 

It looks very nice, and it also has the 355 wheels which is a HUGE plus. I wonder why the last CarFax report was from 2006? Why is there no history on this car from 2006-2009?

 

Most of us are regular people with a passion for cars.

 

My point is that it is silly to compare the two cars from a performance/technology side. Everyone wants to know and have 'the faster car'. Most drivers that I run into are barely competent to attack a road in an 80hp Fiat X1/9, let alone a 300hp Ferrari or a 500hp Vette. Obviously the Vette is going to be faster, and given two equal drivers on a windy road or track, the Vette is going to be faster. The entire argument is ludicrous.

At a recent event I was instructing at, when I was out in the instructor group with my SL55, there was also a GT3, an NSX and a Z06, I was able to catch and pass all the cars except for the Vette.... but we just held station...... until my brakes gave up. For the armchair racers, all 3 are superior performance cars to a Merc, but in the real world, it comes down to the lunatic behind the wheel. My point is that the paper performance doesn't matter, it's a matter of what you want to have and enjoy. Vettes are great performance cars, and I would love to race one in a series, but to live with as a personal car for the street, they are just not for me. Got it?

 

Dino- I got it all along. This post just reinforces it. You are a hero driver and it does not matter much which car you are driving.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Here's an interesting twist: I have a C6 (coupe) but not a Ferrari.

I agree with Terry about what Ingenere was saying. I don't doubt that Ingenere would be faster in his 348 on a proper road than I would be in my C6. I also believe he would be faster on a proper road in a C5 than I would in my C6. He's a better driver. If he drove both cars fairly, I don't doubt Ingenere would be faster on that same road in a C6 than in his 348. Would he have more fun in the C6? No, he enjoys the Ferrari more.

I also think Acemaster's quote from Ferrari speaks volumes. I was once filling up my car and was asked if it was a Z06--I also agree with whoever mentioned that most people don't know the difference between a 1997 C5 coupe and a 2009 C6 Z06. At one point I didn't, either (although at that point I wouldn't have been able to pick a 348 out as being a Ferrari). Corvettes are common, Ferraris are exotics.

The Corvette is a sports car and the Ferrari is an event. The Corvette looks, sounds, and feels like a fast car. The Ferrari has a reputation as a fast car, but really is your best friend. The Ferrari probably gets more attention, but I'm a 21 year old driving a Corvette. I get tons of attention, more than I want, really. You said you're a young man--you've also probably had people look at you and wonder how you're driving a new Z06.

If I were given the option I would upgrade to a Z06 before I would to a 348. I have no doubt that I would feel happier in a 348, but I'm a kid. I'm not really interested in an emotional investment, I enjoy being able to tap the pedal on the right and feel like I'm on a roller coaster. The 348 may be easier or harder to drive fast, may respond more fluidly or quickly to driver input, but the Z06 will drive at higher speeds. These higher speeds require quicker reaction times, and will challenge a young guy's reflexes more.

The Corvette isn't special--the Ferrari is. But I couldn't walk away from the Corvette's torque curve for the Ferrari's charisma and emotions. Just my $.02.

As far as money goes, I got my C6 coupe for $30k in January of 2008. The economy was nowhere near as bad then as it was now. Z06s were not selling any lower than $50, or not any that I saw, and that still seems to be true, from my recent browsings. It's going to happen, though--look at C5 Z06s. I'm not sure how much farther the 348 will depreciate, but I suspect it will bottom out well above where the Z06 is going to. However, I bet that the Z06 will be cheaper to own and operate, even as a DD.

 

I should mention Ferrari maintenance cost is x4 vs the vette and do make sure you put aside $$$ in the bank for the maintenance cost and replacement parts. However, the fun factor outweights the cost.

 

328 is cool car for the 80's... just joking.

Who said you can be on a budget with a Ferrari?! nearly impossible, unless your car is a lawn ornament.

 

Although I have never owned a vette, I did have some seat time in an '07 convertible and I have to say I would own one in a heartbeat. Quick, Good fun factor, nice exhaust note, comfortable, easy to drive, etc. Very nice vehicle, I can only imagine how much better a Z06 would be. Corvettes seem to be an excellent vehicle that virtually anyone regardless of driving expertise would be able to squeeze a hell of a lot of performance out of with very little effort. Having said that, every time I get in my 348, I know this is a car that not just anyone can drive, and or drive well. This isn't an elitist comment, it is plain fact. High clutch effort. Lack of power steering (this isn't a bad thing by any means, the road feel is unbelievable!), to make quick shifts (even without a slickshift) through the shift gate as if it is almost involuntary movement - you actually feel like you are part of the car! The vibration (which by the way is virtually absent from the vette), the sensation of the engine breathing at your neck.

I ask you 348 owners if you remember the absolute first time you shifted into second gear and decided "what the heck, a little more throttle couldn't hurt" and the next thing you know as the sonorous whail crecendos to the point of extasy, the v8 symphony screaming away in complete virtuoso and you could feel the smile on your face increase as the revs climbed up....do you remember that feeling? I certainly do. I was hooked.

The Corvette was fun to drive, an excellent automobile, but I felt like I was the driver. I didn't feel like I was the pilot or part of the car like I do when I drive my 348.

If you feel like you have to justify the Ferrari, you probably shouldn't own one. If you get it (not as in buy one, as in understand what it is all about), then it really doesn't matter what anyone else has to say (save for maybe your wife...maybe)

If anyone has seen the movie "The Foot Fist Way", there is a scene where the main character is selling his 308 to raise funds to pay to have his idol be present for an event. He says to the guy he is selling it to (and I'm paraphrasing here but you'll get the gist): "This is my baby, I can't just sell it to anyone, talk to me, I need to know that you are the kind of person that can take care of this car and you are buying it for the right reasons"

The guy answers something like this: "Well, I've always wanted to have one since I was a teenager, I'm going to have to finance the crap out of it and my wife told me that if I wasted my money like that she was going to leave me....I don't care, I want this car."

Good luck with the decsion!

 

I ask you 348 owners if you remember the absolute first time you shifted into second gear and decided "what the heck, a little more throttle couldn't hurt" and the next thing you know as the sonorous whail crecendos to the point of extasy, the v8 symphony screaming away in complete virtuoso and you could feel the smile on your face increase as the revs climbed up....do you remember that feeling? I certainly do. I was hooked.

As per your quote above, dude,go find your wife or your girlfriend fast!

 

Unfortunately, as much as I loved the 348, I have to agree with this. The 348 is lovely, its a Ferrari after all, and the first of the newer generation. But its just not as compelling to drive as many newer cars. You need to decide what is important to you, if its emotive, few things can make you feel better than a Ferrari and gthe 348 has that awesome wedge look to it, and a wonderful sound track, but if its performance, there are even a couple of hot hatches that could give a 348 a run for its money.

 

Don't listen to these 348 guys. Look at a F355

 

I loved my 348's when I had them but one day entering highway 85' I had one of those Dodge pick-up trucks (RT10?) eat me alive with his torque, I just could not keep up, sadly that was it for me, so I got a Diablo which was a totally different experience. I can understand the huge performance gap between the 348 and the Vette. I guess it depends on what a buyer is looking for, but I can remember that day, quite a humbling experience for me.

 

I keep saying this again and again to other owners I speak with on the phone - the Ferrari is NOT going to be the fastest car on the road unless you are in a new one. What you get with a Ferrari every time you see her, is an "experience". There is history behind the name from Phil Hill to Schumy and of course the man himself. Other Ferrari owners don't care which model you have, they just know you have the passion.

I can sit around and drink a beer with another 348 owner or have a glass of wine with a guy who owns a 330GT2+2 and enjoy both conversations just as much.

I am NOT hacking on the Vette. I will eventually add one to the stable (most likely a Sting Ray), but I seriously doubt I will ever have a better experience than sitting in my Ferrari and just before I turn the key every time thinking, "wow, I am about to start my own FERRARI - this rocks".

If you say that every time you get in your vette, then that is the car for you, and more power to you. If not, peer through the Red Mist and get one. There is nothing like it in the world.

MB

 

How about a thread comparing a 1989 Corvette and and F430 Scuderia?