So, I took delivery and drove the car for the first time (About a 150 mile trip there and back to another town to get the windows tinted--awesome, F1 Ceramic 30%, turned out great).
My perceptions of the car as a 25 year old, first-time 'vette owner.
Background:
-1988 5.0 GT, TKO500/4.10's, lots of mods, 244whp@5600rpm and climbing (didn't dyno further, they were used to 5.0's nosing under by that rpm, power was still peaking).
-1995 A4 2.73 Trans Am, Moroso CAI. Stock otherwise.
-2001 WS6 M6, bone stock.
-Other non-performance DD's.
Anyway, my perception of my Z06 by system...
...Interior was very nice. It is a 1LZ, and "base", and yet it has dual climate control? Awesome. Interior was a 7/10 for me. The reason for the 7/10 is simply that it looks a bit dated. Had I bought the car in 2006, it would get a 9/10. The extra missing 1/10 is because the speaker causes a bit of resonance in the door panel on some songs with some balance settings on the bass/treble.
Exterior...I love it. It's classic and timeless. I am so glad the 'vette wasn't a retro throw back, and hope it continues to progress instead of regress.
Gauges...easy to read, very good.
HUD...more of a toy, but neat! I never looked at it except when I was playing with it as a gadget.
Suspension...firm. It handled bumps well, but if you are the whiny type, you will probably think it's too rough.
Sound...decent amount of road-noise from the tires. Not out of line for tires that wide, but it was loud. Long road-trips will leave your head feeling slightly "fuzzy", if that makes sense. Again, not a complaint for the car, but if you whine about a sports car that rides/acts like a sports car...
Radio...this is the base sound system, an really liked it. Do not wish I had gotten the 2LZ/Bose.
Transmission...butter smooth. Nothing else to really say here other than it shifts like butter. Very precise. However, the driveline does make noise like marbles in a can at low rpm. Normal, but again for the whiny types, you should have gotten a BMW 525i or something...
Engine...it makes all sorts of noises. I love it. However, lots of people not familiar with the LS series will post "Is this tap normal..." threads regarding it. Only worry if you hear 1 in 16 tapping or 1 in 8 tapping. At idle, there will be a reasonable pause between taps, not a taptaptaptap but more like a tap......tap......tap....then you should post the "my engine is making...." thread. Just my .02 having had the aforementioned cars and the cammed 5.0, etc. The LS7 is like an LS1, except more--in EVERY way. This includes little idiosyncratic noises.
Tires...I know the F1 G:2's are a hot topic. Weather today was around 60-65*, sunny, and dry. The tires hooked great for 1-st gear roll-ons. After I got 150 miles on the car or so, I would take it up to 6-6500rpm in 1st, WOT. IT never spun. The 1-2 shift at that rpm, granny-shifting, would not illicit a tire-chirp. The tires are very good. They were also a bit over-inflated (37-40psi hot), and I need to fix that.
Power. This car truly scares me. I think it is too much car for me to explore the limits of for quite a while. I really don't want to ever find out where I end and in begins . I plan on going to the free racing school offered with my purchase, and taking it very easy with my investment. The car is an absolute monster and makes my LS1/WS6 experience seem like a child hunting cardboard cutouts with a rubber band gun compared to lions in the bush on Safari. I'm smart enough to know what I don't know.
Perceptions of the Z06 by others on the road...most women were snotty, tail-gated, made faces, etc. Some men gave nods, thumbs ups, etc. Some men made frowns, etc. My former roommate was with me, and we are in our mid 20's and so I think part of the "hate" I experienced was because people felt we were "privileged" or mommy/daddy bought the car or something and were bitter. When I parked the car at my apartment to run in and grab something, it drew a small crowd/people came and looked at it. I was in a rush to get it back to the garage, so did not have time to talk, but reception was positive.
All-in-all, the seats aren't bad at all, the interior is great, but a bit dated in appearance, the ride is firm, and the crap roads in Louisiana make it uncomfortable at times going over bridges/transitions. The power simply cannot be tapped on public roads without risk of death and/or jail. The car cannot be driven the way it was intended on public roads, the way it is geared, with the power it makes. It's simply a beast and needs a closed track to enjoy beyond just ambling about.
In short, it's an anachronism in today's PC world full of regulations and rules designed to make self-harm through ignorance impossible. It demands respect.
