Got to drive a C6 Z06 the other night - my review and story
06-01-2009, 09:19 AM
#1
Got to drive a C6 Z06 the other night - my review and story THE STORY
As my neighbor was leaving our house the other night after talking to my brother he goes, "Go get your brother and come over the house; I have something I want to show you." So he gets me and we walk over there. He tells us he's got something under a car cover and wants us to try to guess what it is before he takes the cover off. Garage goes up and in about half a second I see it's a C6 Z06 (you can see the scoop on the hood and you can't exactly miss a C6 Vette under a fitted cover
). He tells me his brother just bought it new (2009) and he's keeping it there for him with his own Vette (late 80s, ZZ4 motor with nitrous). The Z06 is yellow, by the way.
We're checking it out and I'm telling him it's basically my dream car but I can't afford one and he goes, "Well you've been in one before, right?" I say I've checked them out at dealerships and car shows but never been for a ride in one. His response is, "Well I'll go grab the key and we'll go for a ride, and you can just drive it yourself."
I played it off cool but I was PUMPED. He gives me the key, I hit the button to start it up and pull it out of the garage, he hops in the passenger seat and we're off for a quick ride around town.
We get out onto the main street in first and he goes, "Give it some gas!" so I punch it at about 20-25 mph. Traction control is on (according to the readout) but the car goes sideways halfway down the road until I let off. ZERO traction in first in this thing and I guess that traction control doesn't do much (it said "ON"...). We get to a straightaway and I drop to third at about 50 then punch it. Obviously I should have gone to second, or even a quick first blip because the gearing is so long but it's not my car, I've never driven one before, and I'm not gonna be the one to wreck it into a tree. Regardless of the low RPM, it pulls strong right up to 90ish where I let off, just getting into the powerband. We swing around another road and I punch it in second this time at maybe 40 mph or so, still a bit low in the powerband but it still pulled strong right up through the gear.
After that we cruised a few twisty roads but I took it pretty easy (evening and we have a LOT of deer in our area), then back to his house. It sucks I didn't get to take it up onto the highway for some real pulls but I was pumped just having gotten the chance to take it for a drive and get on it a bit. After that we talked cars for a few hours and then I went home, a good and unexpected night behind me.
THE REVIEW (things that stood out to me)
Traction: As far as performance goes, that's clearly what this car was built for. It pulled pretty hard even in the very low RPMs and if you wanted to roast the tires, all you had to do was downshift at any reasonable speed or punch it from anywhere in first and the car went sideways. You had to roll into it to get moving in first. That's what you get with such a light car with massive torque and stock tires, though.
Clutch: The clutch was VERY touchy for a stocker, this being the first LS7 clutch I've driven. I've had a lot of experience with clutches, too (stock LS1, Spec 2, 3, 3+, Textralias, RAM Powergrip). This one was very on/off with little room for slippage to get moving. Fairly light pedal feel, though, for what you'd expect behind the monster LS7.
Gearing: The gearing in this car is LONG. LOOOOOOOOOOOONG. Maybe it's just that I'm used to my 4.10s + MN12 trans that allows me to cruise in sixth at 35mph but this Z06 was EXACTLY the opposite. First winds out past 60mph and when I was cruising on side roads at like 40-50mph, I was only in fourth and under 1500 RPM. I never went on the highway but I barely hit fifth most of the time and never got into sixth gear. When I punched it in third, I wound it out to 85-90mph or so and it was really just getting into the powerband.
Interior: As much as I hate to say it, the interior in this car really disappointed me (especially being my "dream car"). I know the majority of dollars spent building this car goes into performance, which kicks ***, but I was still disappointed. The build quality just felt...well, cheap for a $70k car. Hell, it felt cheap for a $40k car in my opinion, and this is coming from someone who drives a 2002 Camaro Z28 for fun and a 1988 Firebird Formula as a daily driver. But I also drive some more "luxury" type cars at work (Jaguar, Volvo S80, etc). I wouldn't say it felt "cheap" in general (obviously much nicer than either of my cars), but I just expected a bit more in terms of feel and build quality. I can say for a fact that my brother's G8 GT and my dad's 04 GTO both have a much higher quality feel to the interior. I would take the interior quality of either of those cars way before I'd want the interior from the C6 Z06. In fact, swap the interior from the G8 into the Z06 and I'd probably be trying to figure out a way to sell my soul to buy one. But I guess that's the price you pay for a $70k car that's basically a tame to wild, amazing gas mileage to amazing performance racecar built for the street.
If anyone has any questions or I'm missing something important in the review, ask away and I'll answer!
As my neighbor was leaving our house the other night after talking to my brother he goes, "Go get your brother and come over the house; I have something I want to show you." So he gets me and we walk over there. He tells us he's got something under a car cover and wants us to try to guess what it is before he takes the cover off. Garage goes up and in about half a second I see it's a C6 Z06 (you can see the scoop on the hood and you can't exactly miss a C6 Vette under a fitted cover
). He tells me his brother just bought it new (2009) and he's keeping it there for him with his own Vette (late 80s, ZZ4 motor with nitrous). The Z06 is yellow, by the way.We're checking it out and I'm telling him it's basically my dream car but I can't afford one and he goes, "Well you've been in one before, right?" I say I've checked them out at dealerships and car shows but never been for a ride in one. His response is, "Well I'll go grab the key and we'll go for a ride, and you can just drive it yourself."
I played it off cool but I was PUMPED. He gives me the key, I hit the button to start it up and pull it out of the garage, he hops in the passenger seat and we're off for a quick ride around town.We get out onto the main street in first and he goes, "Give it some gas!" so I punch it at about 20-25 mph. Traction control is on (according to the readout) but the car goes sideways halfway down the road until I let off. ZERO traction in first in this thing and I guess that traction control doesn't do much (it said "ON"...). We get to a straightaway and I drop to third at about 50 then punch it. Obviously I should have gone to second, or even a quick first blip because the gearing is so long but it's not my car, I've never driven one before, and I'm not gonna be the one to wreck it into a tree. Regardless of the low RPM, it pulls strong right up to 90ish where I let off, just getting into the powerband. We swing around another road and I punch it in second this time at maybe 40 mph or so, still a bit low in the powerband but it still pulled strong right up through the gear.
After that we cruised a few twisty roads but I took it pretty easy (evening and we have a LOT of deer in our area), then back to his house. It sucks I didn't get to take it up onto the highway for some real pulls but I was pumped just having gotten the chance to take it for a drive and get on it a bit. After that we talked cars for a few hours and then I went home, a good and unexpected night behind me.
THE REVIEW (things that stood out to me)
Traction: As far as performance goes, that's clearly what this car was built for. It pulled pretty hard even in the very low RPMs and if you wanted to roast the tires, all you had to do was downshift at any reasonable speed or punch it from anywhere in first and the car went sideways. You had to roll into it to get moving in first. That's what you get with such a light car with massive torque and stock tires, though.
Clutch: The clutch was VERY touchy for a stocker, this being the first LS7 clutch I've driven. I've had a lot of experience with clutches, too (stock LS1, Spec 2, 3, 3+, Textralias, RAM Powergrip). This one was very on/off with little room for slippage to get moving. Fairly light pedal feel, though, for what you'd expect behind the monster LS7.
Gearing: The gearing in this car is LONG. LOOOOOOOOOOOONG. Maybe it's just that I'm used to my 4.10s + MN12 trans that allows me to cruise in sixth at 35mph but this Z06 was EXACTLY the opposite. First winds out past 60mph and when I was cruising on side roads at like 40-50mph, I was only in fourth and under 1500 RPM. I never went on the highway but I barely hit fifth most of the time and never got into sixth gear. When I punched it in third, I wound it out to 85-90mph or so and it was really just getting into the powerband.
Interior: As much as I hate to say it, the interior in this car really disappointed me (especially being my "dream car"). I know the majority of dollars spent building this car goes into performance, which kicks ***, but I was still disappointed. The build quality just felt...well, cheap for a $70k car. Hell, it felt cheap for a $40k car in my opinion, and this is coming from someone who drives a 2002 Camaro Z28 for fun and a 1988 Firebird Formula as a daily driver. But I also drive some more "luxury" type cars at work (Jaguar, Volvo S80, etc). I wouldn't say it felt "cheap" in general (obviously much nicer than either of my cars), but I just expected a bit more in terms of feel and build quality. I can say for a fact that my brother's G8 GT and my dad's 04 GTO both have a much higher quality feel to the interior. I would take the interior quality of either of those cars way before I'd want the interior from the C6 Z06. In fact, swap the interior from the G8 into the Z06 and I'd probably be trying to figure out a way to sell my soul to buy one. But I guess that's the price you pay for a $70k car that's basically a tame to wild, amazing gas mileage to amazing performance racecar built for the street.
If anyone has any questions or I'm missing something important in the review, ask away and I'll answer!
Last edited by PewterScreaminMach; 06-01-2009 at 09:25 AM.
06-01-2009, 11:03 AM
#3
TECH Apprentice
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Hudson florida
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Wow you are a lucky bastard lol. I would love to drive one. My friend just drove a gt500 the other day for fun and he said that the gears in that thing where long as hell to lol.
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06-02-2009, 11:16 AM
#9
I was thinking the same thing. Just never had one this touchy from the get go, even an aftermarket one but I figured as much about the break-in.
06-03-2009, 09:20 PM
#10
On The Tree
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Hey man that's awesome that you got to drive a c6 Z06, that is also my dream car. That's definitely my next car for many years to come! I'm surprised you said you weren't happy with the interior. I was wondering if you were ever interested in setting up a race? We both live in CT, I know you are down for racing from everything I've read on this site. I have a 99 formula let me know if you are interested! That's awesome that you got to drive that Z06, I'm really jealous!
06-04-2009, 09:55 AM
#11
My neighbor has an 08 black one... First day he had it I went over and the keys were in it so as i was sitting in it he came around the passengers side buckled up, and set ok lets go. I'm thinking wow this guy is letting a 17yr old kid driver his vette! Anyway I pulled out onto the main raid and eased the pedal down without traction control... I gotta say I didnt spin a whole lot but once it got into the power band it felt like some fat dude just sat on my chest. It was AMAZING!!!!I didnt take it much faster than 70 but it seemed like each gear I would go into the car still had the potential to pull stronger than the last gear.
I didnt pay attention to the interior much other than the gauge pod and heads up display. However dare I say my dream car is still an 08-up viper!
Dan-
I didnt pay attention to the interior much other than the gauge pod and heads up display. However dare I say my dream car is still an 08-up viper!
Dan-
