New Z06, first experiences...
 

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.
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BAN! :ban:

Just kidding, congrats.

The reason it won't spin the tires in first gear is because the Z06's hold back power at low speeds so that you can actually accelerate without roasting tires.

Not really. I got into it (in a straight line) after it had cooled down into the 40's at night on some less than ideal pavement, and it did spin a decent amount, even with the TC on. I let out before TC intervened.

Congrats man, the car looks awesome :tup:

Congrats, man. Glad you got what you wanted. :tup:

looks awesome man.

so when you droping a 427 lingenfelter in it?

heh 0-200 in 18.34 seconds...do it.

nice chevy ;)

Well at low temps even with the torque management your going to get some wheel spin. The torque management can be disabled with a tune if you want, although it definitely has its advantages for the street.

Vettes are great. The only thing that bothers me is the steering wheel, haha.

Tell that homeless dude not to touch your car!.....I kid, I kid.


Nice ride, congratulations.:tiphat:

What a beast, congrats on finally getting the car you always wanted and not settling for anything else! One thing to note is that traction in first is decent only because 1st gear on the Vette is basically like second gear for most other cars since it is so long. Regardless, the Z06 is nasty!

Thanks all. A lot of people tune these cars, and a lot of people have issues with them afterward. It voids the warranty. I have a 5/100 on the power train and 7/70 bumper to bumper. Don't want to void it.

As to the gearing, I am glad it is so tall. The thing winds out first gear so fast that if it weren't so tall, I would smack the rev-limiter before I knew it.

The 325's out back do help a lot!

Those brakes? They are insane. The dust they produce is insane, too. If you own one of these without the comp-gray rims, you are in for some serious work to keep it looking presentable.

Sweet car. A ride like that doesn't need tuning. I'm pretty sure I'd be very happy with a bone-stock Z06 :). It would be more than enough car for my limited skill level.

Yep, I don't think I'd be doing any tuning to a C6 Z06... doesn't need it!

Congrats! You live in an apartment? Do you have a garage for it?

Nice vette! You are helping to break the stereotype that vettes are for those carrying AARP membership cards.

This makes me hate you even more than before ;) Awesome ride :tup:

Nice review, get some more pics up and a video when you get a sec :tup:

I rode in a coworkers vette once and the thing pulled hard. I was surprised how firm and planted the suspension felt.

sick car dude... I roll with the same car in red to meets in cap tree park out here on long island. And he has LTH, Exhaust, and some type of intake/manifold work. The car is downright ludacris...

His car beat a 700+ hp supra from a roll, embaressed a 2005ish viper, than ran a gt3 right after, sponsored by some PPE race shop, there is a pic of the gt3 in my album somewhere and they were about even... the vette got off of it first and the porshe guy came back all gung ho about winning but in reality it was dead even... You litteraly can hear his car from miles away if he is getting on it... By my house there are also a few guys with blowers on their z06s.. I had a video of an orange one with a charger hitting it from about 25 yards behind me when I was flooring my car, you see his car FLY past like I was standing still and disapear within 5 seconds but you hear it for about 2 minutes..

That car doesnt need a thing to be a performance freak but here by me on long island we have a fair share of them done up VERY nicely, they are very impressive..


congrats dude... money well spent BUT i still woulda got a 2012 GTR :p

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Dem brakes!

looks great man, congrats. good luck with the car :tup:

beat a supra from a roll? DAMN thats like, their terrirtory! :p

Wax the rims, it will help keep that dust off.

BTW...Nice ZO6...great looking car

The LSX engine series is sick from a roll. Tons of power under the curve, and they just don't give up. I remember back when I had my WS6, I killed Z4M's, an NSX, and was dead even with a full bolt-on w/cams 02 GT from a roll, stomed a Challenger R/t, etc. This LS7 feels like my LS1, except...MOAR! 4th gear doesn't give up until 160+mph. I have not taken it there, but this is from what I have read and looking at the rpms, I believe it. The car scares me. It has a LOT of power.

The flip-side is that in traffic and normal driving, it is as docile as my G20. Very tractable. You floor it, and it will scare you. My Dad was literally screaming (has owned modded Harley's, a 'vette, and was building a 289 powered trike with 3 deuces up top). The kid his wife sortof adopted (15) took a ride in the car and was shaking when we got out (Just a quick first-gear blast from a low roll--street-start is supposedly 4.1 seconds 5-60. I don't know. I just know that the thing squatted and the scenery blurred and I looked down and the needle was whipping forward like a watch-hand on crack. All I could think was "I think it's time to shift..." and nailed 2nd and the exhaust popped once between gears and it squatted back down and continued it's manic pursuit of triple-digits.)

Damn, that's a nice Z................06 :tup:

Thanks! I was actually told at the factory to wax the barrels as well. I admit I did not pull the rims off and do that, I will do that when we change tires at some point later, but I have coated the rims in Rejex, the car has 30% F1 ceramic tint, and the entire front-clip, mirrors, and rockers/brake ducts have been wrapped in Venture Shield Ultra.

I love it! You can't even tell it's been wrapped unless you REALLY inspect it. Rejex goes on easy, shines great, and comes off just as easy. I just converted my former roommate from Zaino with it.

i'm sure its awesome. i was actually just making fun of supras... because its always 'lets race from a roll' :p

Ballin'!!! I don't know you, but I hate you.... j/k. I really like that the headlamp housing is not white, adds contrast.

Awesome cars. I've been looking into them a lot. I would have to get a gently used '08ish, though. Next in line is the 370, of course, and the Boss 302.

For 2011, the off-color headlamps are a $655 option, IRRC. I chose black. There are other colors available depending on car color.

Gotta love those supra owners...


Nice Z06.:tup: