After spending years without a Z28, I'm back in the market and looking seriously at a 2001 Z28 M6 with LS1 5.7L. Only basic mods are a lid, cat-back exhaust, and a short-throw shifter (not sure what brand yet).

I took a test drive, and put it in 6th gear while cruising under 40 MPH to see how the engine lugged. There were some rolling hills as well. When I pressed the accelerator, the shifter wobbled side-to-side significantly as I heard the engine lug. It remained in gear, and I didn't feel any clutch slippage when I went into 6th (or in any other gears during my test drive).

Is this normal, do you think? Obviously, this is not my preferred driving method, but my intent was to see how the drivetrain did under low speed load. My last Z28 was a 91. I recall the same "lugging sound" when I tried this, but not the significant shifter wobbling.

I hope to buy this car and be a regular here on the forum. On a side note... 97K miles, very clean body and interior, and $8,500. That's around 5,700 miles per year. Is that a good deal? Especially with this issue (if it actually is one)?

Thanks for your thoughts.

~Steve

 

1st suggestion - don't lug the engine.
2nd suggestion - it may need new motor mounts and/or trans mount. At that age, it's not a bad idea and wouldn't sway me from purchasing an older vehicle.

 

1. I agree... but worth seeing "what's up" when considering a buy, I think.
2. That's good to know. I would likely be making this my daily driver for a little while at least, so I want it to be as dependable as possible.

Thanks for such a fast reply, as well.