Discussion: The Corvette C6 Z06

[pAinTrAin]

http://videos.streetfire.net/Player....4DE59C6BA9&p=0

Thanks a bunch

[nota]

Less weight on rear = more oversteer

Try convincing a Porsche 911 owner

[CdocZ]

Ok, alot of you kinda missed my point. This HAS helped me none the less, but if possible, despite how hard it is, since you almost definitely have to know what it's like driving one.....is it a car that anyone can drive, entirely, or is it still at least somewhat a car to cherish and love, learning it perfectly over the years? I just want to know, because I feel that for a performance car, half the fun is learning the car to a degree where your friend gets in, and gets a semi-decent time, then you get in and beat that time by 5-10 seconds. Is the new Z06 one of those cars where it takes sometimes even 5 years of driving the thing, before you are truly proficient with it, or is it a car like the G35, you get in and it basically performs for you?

[Rockefella]

Ok, alot of you kinda missed my point. This HAS helped me none the less, but if possible, despite how hard it is, since you almost definitely have to know what it's like driving one.....is it a car that anyone can drive, entirely, or is it still at least somewhat a car to cherish and love, learning it perfectly over the years? I just want to know, because I feel that for a performance car, half the fun is learning the car to a degree where your friend gets in, and gets a semi-decent time, then you get in and beat that time by 5-10 seconds. Is the new Z06 one of those cars where it takes sometimes even 5 years of driving the thing, before you are truly proficient with it, or is it a car like the G35, you get in and it basically performs for you?

I don't know if it's necessarily a car you can learn straight away, but I'd say it would take a good year or two to get the feel of. Every car takes time to get used to, so I'd multiply the average time of 'feeling it out' by 2 for the ZO6.

My father once said, it took him 4-5 years to get the 'complete' feel for his car. By that he meant not just being able to drive it well, but to the point of mastery.

[CSL]

Ok, alot of you kinda missed my point. This HAS helped me none the less, but if possible, despite how hard it is, since you almost definitely have to know what it's like driving one.....is it a car that anyone can drive, entirely, or is it still at least somewhat a car to cherish and love, learning it perfectly over the years? I just want to know, because I feel that for a performance car, half the fun is learning the car to a degree where your friend gets in, and gets a semi-decent time, then you get in and beat that time by 5-10 seconds. Is the new Z06 one of those cars where it takes sometimes even 5 years of driving the thing, before you are truly proficient with it, or is it a car like the G35, you get in and it basically performs for you?

Take GM test drivers who got under 8 minutes at the ring driving a regular C6 then take Horst Van surma who got a 816 there. the people who are driving them fast around the tracks tend to be test drivers or race car drivers

[PerfAdv]

Take GM test drivers who got under 8 minutes at the ring driving a regular C6 then take Horst Van surma who got a 816 there. the people who are driving them fast around the tracks tend to be test drivers or race car drivers

Charm and union of car and driver are subjectives you can't really debate to any effect. It might have taken a lot to master the beast the Corvette was until the C5. I can't imagine the C3 or even C4 driven around the 'ring with anything other than bravado or a wing and a prayer.

A good sports car isn't just necessarily difficult to master it has to be able to communicate to the driver what it's doing. Archaic leaf-springs and a flexy chassis don't make for a able partner on any challenging road.

[CdocZ]

I understand you can never learn a car so fast, but for example: My moms G35, is definitely a hell of alot easier to master then a Lotus Elise. Also, the G35 is insanely easy to drive - to master it is what takes awhile. However, you cannot just jump in a Lotus Elise and get even a half-decent track time, or even expect to take it on the street properly for a bit.

Rock, you did however, more or less answer my question:

so I'd multiply the average time of 'feeling it out' by 2 for the ZO6.

[Jack_Bauer]

I understand you can never learn a car so fast, but for example: My moms G35, is definitely a hell of alot easier to master then a Lotus Elise. Also, the G35 is insanely easy to drive - to master it is what takes awhile. However, you cannot just jump in a Lotus Elise and get even a half-decent track time, or even expect to take it on the street properly for a bit.

Where have you gotten the idea that the Lotus Elise is such a hard car to master?

I really don't see the logic. It's compact, it's light, all the controls are light, it doesn't have much power or torque, and from every review I've read it has just about the most beautifully balanced, forgiving and exploitable mid-engined chassis on the planet. I imagine it would be just as easy to master (if not moreso) than a big, wide, relatively heavy and thunderously powerful 'Vette. Just my opinion of course.

[Matra et Alpine]

yeah the "time to master" stuff comes about getting that last 1-2% performance out of a modern car.

An Elise driven at only 95% is still a great experience and fast car

[CdocZ]

Perhaps, Matra, but thats exactly what I am asking about

As for the Lotus Elise...mostly from my point of view, and of drivers like me who have to get used to power-nothingness. No power steering and the lack of all those other things dooooessss make a car a little harder to learn, when your coming from a semi-luxury automatic. So yeah, that was biased, my bad.

[Matra et Alpine]

Perhaps, Matra, but thats exactly what I am asking about

As for the Lotus Elise...mostly from my point of view, and of drivers like me who have to get used to power-nothingness. No power steering and the lack of all those other things dooooessss make a car a little harder to learn, when your coming from a semi-luxury automatic. So yeah, that was biased, my bad.

goo point, CdocZ, I've been taking the "learn" to mean getting the last bit out of it.

If it's just about learning to "drive" then for sure all the things that make a car "soft and gentle" are preferred

I'd rather have to work hard to build muscles to control a non-power-steering car rather than struggle to know what the front wheels are doing with hydraulics/electrics between the tyre and the steering wheel