Z06 handling?

around town its probably easy to drive but when pushed I'm sure it can become a handful. Those writers who complain about oversteer are probably used to driving Camry's

any car w 500 hp & 3000 # or less is going to be a handful to drive at the limit bcus that limit will be very high

 

I actually was almost killed by one... The Automatic in the C6 (without paddles and all that jazz in the first years production) had a nasty habit of kicking down around 30 feet shy of the apex of a corner, just in time to smoke out the back tires (Trax&Eps off) Damn near fired me into a bridge... Now the Manual no issues

(never have driven a cam-ray... )

Viper no issue
Spiker no issue
AM DB 9
Ruf Yellowbird
etc etc etc

 

I have done some light tracking in my 06 Z. I would say it is ok at best. I recently had the opportunity to track my Ford GT, 06 Viper Coupe, and Z. The above order is where I would place them, against one another. A great car for the street no doubt...but needs some work to be a top notch handler.

 

drove a z06 and a 430 on the same day. z06 was a steaming pile of poop in comparison. after driving it and experiencing the quick acceleration and terrible high speed handling,(and low price) i predicted many will perish in this car.

p.s. drove the gayardo too. very nice handler and awesome brakes.

 

Was the Z on run flats?

 

HEY AJ!!! We missed you, man.

 

I have to say that these comments seem to be all over the board.

My experience is based on the trackability of a car and its forgiveness. The Z06 has a wonderful history (with the C5 Z06) of being extremely forgiving on the track and street. The car will rarely get ahead of the drivers skill and most of the time will be saving someone's butt from killing themselves.

The car has some pretty serious understeer (like most high performance cars are aligned from the factory). This can easily be resolved with a good aggressive street alignment, with some camber added and corner weighting. I think that one of the biggest historical weaknesses of Corvettes are the Goodyear tires. Run flats in general suck and add way too much unsprung weight to the wrong places. Goodyear tires are not bad handling as long as you keep them in their sweet spot. Once you push these tires near their limits they will break loose on you with very little feedback or warning (in the seat of your pants or audio feedback). Once they have broken loose it is almost impossible to get them reeled in and under control. Goodyear has not made a decent high performance tire in several decades. I would strongly suggest that if you buy a Z that you get rid of the Goodyears and replace them with Michelin PS2's or Pilot Sports.

Oversteer can be induced more easily than the C5 Z06 because of the added power. That being said, the traction control on the C6 Z06 is much more invasive than the previous generation Vette. Even with everything turned off, the traction control still kicks in. That being said, I spent an hour in a new Z06 and could not find a place where the suspension set and carved without getting twitchy. Whether I was going through quick short turns or long sweeping turns the traction control was always searching and trying to second guess me... which left a very strange kind of feedback in the seat of my pants.

This is a completely different car than my Gen 2 Viper. The owner of teh Z06 summed it up best when he said that these cars had very little in common (versus my Viper). He said that his Z was a good sports car that could be tracked on ocasion; whereas the Viper GTS (with an agressive street alignment) was more of a race car that had been detuned to drive on the street... I couldn't have put it better myself. After driving my Viper the Z owner said that he would never talk crap about a Viper ever again.

The Z06 is a fine handling car for most drivers who know very little about driving. There is plenty of technology in them to keep you alive in your most embarrassing moments. For those who are looking for a driver's car that will let the driver maximize and develop their driving skills, the Z (and probably most modern Ferrari's and Lambo's) are not the cars for you.

By the way, the new sanitized Vipers still don't have traction control in them... therefore your margin for error is reduced quite a bit when compared to f-cars and C6's.

That's my $.02...

Brad

 

I think Viper10 above said it well. As far as the Viper....benign is not a word I would use. I have been tracking Vipers since '93. The current offereing is another excellent reminder of the need for the driver to know what he is doing...and if he does...the car is built to respond. The average Joe will be more able to handle the Z06. It takes care of most of the decisions for you. A seasoned driver will get much more out of the current Viper.

 

The Z is a great street and track car. But the tires they put on the car only accentuate the shortcommings of the car's suspension. It will skip like a rock around uneven corners with the run flats or run craps as the Z guys call them. But put some real meats on the car and it transforms into a much more compliant handler.

 

I really think the whole problem is that run flats. When I drive mine fast around corners it's just a bit numb. Mid corner bumps are not handled that well. It's definately not bad. It's just not as good as a 430, STradale, Gt3 even though it's faster around a track than those cars. It's just not as easy to go fast as they are. I would recommend putting it in competition mode. That allows some sliding without letting you get too far out of control.

 

The electronics will save you if you aren't that experienced of a driver. If you are then you won't have any problem. Mine doesn't scare me at all and I came froma 355 and an M3. Two very easy cars to drive.

 

The Z06 is a decent track car. I know someone that melted the brakes in their first and second times out on the track... as in two sets of them.

The other upgrade to go with (aside from the tires) if you are a serious or an aggressive track driver is Stop Tech's Big Brakes with stainless steel brake lines. They are well worth the money to get a brake that will hold up to the track and give you some excellant pedal feel and modulation.

I was not impressed with how mushy the OE brakes felt on the street. I think that it wouldn't be difficult to overheat the brakes and boil the fluids.

Brad