I know this is in the High-Performance Mustangs section. Just wanted to get some opinions on the new Z06.
So the car magazines are now testing the Z06. Dang I wish I had $65,000 to plop down. 0-60 in 3.5 seconds. 1/4 mile in 11's. Nearly 200mph top speed. You can hit 60 in first gear (actually 59 takes you to the redline, but that's close enough) 0-100 in 7.5 seconds. All of this stock, naturally aspirated and, with a warranty. What a machine. What could a car like this do with a supercharger? Any ideas? I know a alot of people will say this isn't a supercar. Well, maybe not. But come on, for only $65,000 I wouldn't need a supercar.
Seeing these kinds of numbers, and if you could afford one, would you still take a Shelby Cobra over the Z06? Opinions please...

 

Well, I just watched the Edmunds Inside Line video of the new ZO6 in action, and there's no denying it's F-A-S-T...retina-detaching fast. The car was practically FLYING around the track with no effort at all.

The ZO6 will blow the Shelby away - but for more money, of course. Still, all things being equal, the Vette clearly has the superior chassis, materials, suspension and horsepower, so performance-wise, it's the clear victor. Capable of an astronomical 1.04g lateral-grip rating! “Depending on your internal fortitude, that's either enough for some genuinely racecar-like cornering, or too much — threatening lightheadedness and/or blackouts.�

Nuff said.

Which one would I take? Well, if money were no object...but of course, money is ALWAYS an object. And the new GT500 is the first - and probably last - Shelby we'll see in 35 years, so I have to go with the Shelby.

Still, the new Vette ZO6 looks tremendous, especially in yellow...

 

Certainly, the Z06 deserves it's props, the car is a bargain exotic. The Z06 excels in all categories of performance, handling, braking and acceleration. The car deserves respect and hats off the GM for building it and pricing it aggressively.

For me, I'm not a Corvette guy, never have been. Even if I had loads of cash, I'd rather have a full boat Eleanor Mustang rather than a 'Vette. But that's just me.

 

Moving to 'General Vehicle' section.

And yes . .the car is amazing!

 

That car is one awesome piece of machinery!
If I had the moneys, I would go with the Z06... how can someone pass up that performance and experience
But I don't like seeing it in Yellow! :P
I like it with any other color. I dont know why Chevrolet keeps showing the yellow ones.

 

i guess some ppl like banana cars...


::cough::april::cough::

 

its nice, but I liked it better with hide-away headlights...

 

Its erotic, I feel like I'm cheating on my wife just thinking about it. I love mustangs down in my bones, but for 65k I'm in a Z06, people need to give it up for an awesome machine.

 

I dunno, the Vette has just never been my style, and ridiculous amounts of speed wont change that even if it does earn my respect. Also, people tend to look at cars like this as though they were normal purchases made by normal people. I would say that once you venture north of about 50k, unless the vehicle is a daily driver, then most people are using disposable income, money long-saved, or simply spending beyond their means. Most people aren't sitting around saving up 65k for a new Vette or anything like it, so I am going with the sick amounts of disposable income argument as the primary purchasing agent here.

And honestly, if you have 65k to blow on a weekend car, and that is exactly what the Z06 is, then it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to lay down 150k for a weekend car given another year or so. In light of that, had I the money to buy the Z06, I would take a pass and head straight for the Ford GT. The Z06 is fast, but it isn't GT fast, and if you had the inclination a 1000hp GT would be childs play to create. Grrrrr.

 

I love the GT, but to say that the Z06 isn't GT fast, you need to look at the numbers again. I'm confused by your statement that 65K to 150k isn't much of a stretch for people with disposable income. We don't live in a society where you either have money, or don't. There are many people that fall in between. They may be able to afford $65000, but not $150,000. That makes more sense than saying that $65,000 to $150,000 isn't much of a stretch. Again, I love the GT... But what makes the GT that much better of a vehicle. Personally, I put them in the same ball park. The GT is a supercharged vehicle to gain the speed that it has. The Z06 out performs the GT in many categories. I can't wait for a head to head article on the two. This will be very interesting.
A lot of this comes down to whether you're a FORD guy or a GM guy. I'm not that way. Give me a car that I enjoy. And personally I think this car would be one heck of an enjoyable car for only $65,000.

 

understood, but I think its quite a stretch to go from 65k to 150k. Thats more than double the money. and how much of an ordeal do you think it would be to reach 1000 hp with a 427 that has great heads.

I hate how I keep coming off like I'm ramping up this car, but it bothers me to hear so much hating. People need to give it up to chevy for finally knocking one out of the park. I for one would love to have that much performance....(cobra R) for that kind of money. Remember the last Cobra R was 55k from ford, if you could find one for that, and it was a lot less car for 10k less.

 

No argument here ... the 2006 z06 is a sweet ride. I wished they called it something else; the 427 engine makes it a special standout and I think the z06 should of stayed with the C5 series.

I still love the C5s though and they are a good value for a vette purchase.

again; consignment baby; best way to afford a new vette with 3K miles already booked.

OUT

 

The reason your argument on affordability doesn't stand up to scrutiny is actually simple, but a lot of folks never consider it. The problem is not wether or not somebody has 65k to spend on a car, it is wether they have 65k to spend on a car like this.

Frankly, if you drop 65k on a two seat sports car in which you have to yell at the passenger at 60mph, and it isn't disposable income that you are spending, you had either better be single and living it up or you just made a seriously bad economic decision.

If you do have the disposable income to spend on a Z06, then most likely you have a consistent sourvce of disposable income (actually, if it isn't a consitent source then it probably isn't really disposable income come to think of it) saving some of that money over the course of another year or year and a half would likely put you in a position to buy a GT if that is what you really wanted.

To be fair, there are people who will play out the above scenario in order to get in a position to buy the Z06. And, there are people like these who can squeak unto a Z06 who could never afford get into a GT without making a bad decision. But, what percentage of Z06 owners does this kind of customer really represent? This is a very small percentage at best.

As for performance, thus far the Z06 outperforms the GT in virtually no category. The GT has been tested at 11.2 through the 1/4 mile by Motor Trend and 11.02 through the 1/4 mile by MM&FF. At this time the best Z06 time is an 11.5 with the second best being an 11.7.....and those are absolute best times thus far. In 0-150mph the GT has been tested faster than any Z06 has yet to manage with the GT pulling this off in the 16 second range while the Z06 has yet to break deep into the 17's. In braking the best GT times are notably better than the best Z06 times as well.

The only Z06 advantage of which I am aware thus far is in skidpad grip. R&T also mentioned that as fast as the Z06 is on the track it lack the smooth moves and finess of cars like the F430 or GT. I eagerly await a head to head comparo just like you do, largely so that we can end the ridiculous idea that this car will be as fast as the GT is. For the money I think the Z06 is an awesome buy, but I do get tired of people claiming this car is "as fast or faster than" the GT when thus far nothing could be further from the truth.

 

I take nothing way from the Z06, for the money it offers a ridiculous amount of speed. I simply said that I prefer the GT even for the money, and that I do not think the Z06 is GT fast. Until I see something to prove otherwise I will continue thinking that.

Also, I am fully aware that the 427ci LS under the Vette's bonnet could be made to make 1000hp, although it would cost substantially more than modifying the GT's engine to do the same. Given the Vette's price advanatge this is a moot point and I did not state this to incite a monetary comparison of these motors ability to get to 1000hp.

However, I will say that I think the GT's chassis is fully capable of handling 1000hp with ease. In fact.as much has been said by people testing the car on several occasions. And all of this in a car that is by any standard seriously under-tired (by any supercar standards anyway) The Z06 on the other hand seems to be pushed to adequately deal with it's 505hp output even on it's enormously wide tires. test driver Jan Magnusen apparently refused to turn one more "hot lap" around the Ring in the Z06 because the car scared him to death.

Again, I like the Z06 even if I wouldn't buy one. However, people are acting as though the GT is giving you nothing the Z06 is not and this is simply not the case.

 

In the current C/D magazine, Quote "But by almost every performance standard, the Z06 is a supercar. A few days after our trip, we took a Z06 to GM's Milford proving ground and tested it. It ripped to 60 MPH in only 3.6 seconds (I saw a different magazine show 3.5) hit 100 in 7.9 and 150 in 17.5. That's on par with or better than the performance of the $153,345. Ford GT and Ferrari F430. Spending double the Z06's price does not guarantee you'll have a car that beat it." Unquote.

Here's the 5 areas of comparison C/D shows:

Current price: Z06(as tested) $69,995
FORD GT $153,345

Acceleration Z06 0-60 3.5sec Qtr mile 11.9sec
FORD GT 0-60 3.5sec Qtr mile 12.0sec

Braking(70-0) Z06 162 feet
FORD Gt 173 feet

Roadhandling Z06 .98g's
FORD GT .93g's

Fuel economy Z06 16 mpg (29 on highway)
FORD GT 13 mpg

This comparison is in Octorber's issue of Car and Driver. I'm curious though, what are the opinions of a supercharged Z06? What could this car do by just slapping on a supercharger?

 

First, here are some other GT test numbers for you to consider.

1/4 mile: 11.6 seconds
0-150mph: 16.9 seconds

Are these fastest yet GT numbers I just posted? No, of course not, not even close. However, the magazine they came from is noteworthy, it's called Car and Driver. These numbers came from the Megastars comparo in which the GT decmiated the F360 Stradale and 911 GT3 .

So, why weren't these numbers used in the end of article comparison instead of the slower numbers you mentioned above? ( and actually, I believe the numbers they used were the slowest GT times they have yet recorded!) Most likely for effect, it makes a better story to talk about how ridiculously fast the Z06 is and that is what Car and Driver is in the business of doing..making a good story.

Heck, in their review of the Z06 this month (seems everybody had a Z06 review this month) Road and track questions wether or not the Z06 can even take out the Viper, forget the GT. What makes them any less credible than car and Driver is?

What we do know about these two cars.

1: No magazine has, thus far, run a single acceleration test in which their best yet Z06 time equaled their best yet GT time. Not one magazine could get the Z06 to even equal best yet GT times? That is pretty convincing evidence that the Z06 is indeed not GT fast.

2:Only one magazine has thus far turned in a better braking performance for the Z06 than for the GT, and then by a mere 5 feet. Every other magazine has thus far seen better braking from the GT. To be fair braking between the two cars is very close

3: From a handling perspective thus far what little slalom data we have shows the GT to be superior in this respect. The best Z06 skidpad numbers do exceed the best GT numbers, but again this is very close and only one magazine found the Z06 to be faster in this area simply by the numbers.

The numbers are, thus far, stacked against the Z06 pretty heavily.

As for what the Z06 could do by simply bolting on a supercharger, in all seriousness it would likely end up spending a lot of time in the shop waiting on a new motor unless boost was kept very low. The car runs very high compression and the pistons are not forged, this is not a car I would want to try and run a blower on at all without at least swapping out the pistons.

That done, the motor could obviously make impressive hp, but no more than the GT would likely be capable of making with a simple pulley and tune. If you are discussing a full on build up I absolutely don't expect the Z06's pushrod mill to respond as well as the GT's DOHC motor would to a blower. And, with a bore and mild stroke the 5.4L can be punched out to just shy of 390ci, so the Vette's displacement advantage is largely moot.

Finally, while the GT has often been called under-powered no such monikers have been hung on the very high strung Z06. The GT seems to give people the impression that it could easily handle more power, and it's making near 600 actual hp now! IMO a 1000hp GT would likely be as tame as a kitty-cat.....as 1000hp cars go. The GT has a lot of room to expand in terms of larger tires, and the chassis seems to have been built for a lot more motor than it has.

The Z06 seems like it is a handful just with the stock 505hp motor under the hood. Magnusen reportedly refused to turn another full-burn lap in the car while testing at the Ring because it scared him to death. This car has all the tire you can shove under it right now and the chassis is tweaked to the max. 1000hp is unlikely to make it more civil and would probably turn it into a monster....and not in a good way. From what I have seen 1000hp is more than the C6 chassis can genuinely handle and remain a composed car.

 

Again, I love the FORD GT, but not for that much more money. I posted a article recently of how overpriced the GT is. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I can't judge since I'll never own one. Just can't wait for a head to head comparison. My thing is for $90,000 dollars less, I can have a very comparable car. I was just curious what a supercharger could do on that car. As far as stock, I'll take a Zo6, Shelby Cobra, Mustang GT, a Mini Cooper all for the price of the FORD GT. Heck, maybe even through in a Yamaha Road Star...... Just my little opinion.

 

That article doesn't say the GT is over-priced, at least not as Ford priced it. The article indicates that the authors feel several hundred more GT's would move almost instantly if the prices asked by dealers were within 10k of msrp. This tells me that the cars price, as set by Ford, is apparently just fine since that could easily account for the entire remaining 05my production leaving almost no cars on lots.

Unfortunately the largest amount of Ford dealership managers are apparently clueless, and have marked the cars up to a point that people are unwilling to pay. Eventually, this will lead to a backlash and dealers who had hoped to sell a GT for 200k will end up dumping the cars for what they can get. No surprise here, just some surprisingly naive dealers.

The same thing is going to happen to the Z06 and GT500, although not to this extreme.

 

I think people are arguing the wrong things...

Lets clear up two things...

Is the Ford GT or the Corvette Z06 has better performance? The Ford GT is better in almost every catagory.

Which is least expensive? The Z06.

Z06 is a great car and a good value but it is still slower then the Ford GT.

Discusion over.

 

Who cares?

For $65K nothing can touch the ZO6...nothing.

Of course the GT has the overall advantage - it's a mid-engine car.