Chevrolet Corvette (C7) Stingray Z06 2014-

[Ferrer]

Soft top #7

[Ferrer]

Soft top #8

[Ferrer]

Soft top #9

[Revo]

I never thought much of a C7 styling, but thanks to Z06, I have become a fan.

[Revo]

Combine stunning looks with a capable engine and sub $100k price tag - it is perhaps the greatest Corvette ever.

[Revo]

Z06 must be the only car in the world combining manual gearbox with shift paddles on the steering wheel.

Unlike auto-equipped Z06 (in which the paddles are intended for gear change of course) their function in manual car is to engage a rev-matching system.

And, save tooling costs for GM.

[NSXType-R]

Kudos for Chevy for making the C7 so affordable, the Viper is having lots of problem selling for being too expensive.

It's a great automotive rivalry so I hope the Viper sticks around.

[Rasmus]

This car disappoints me. Its propensity to lose power after even the slightest throttle blip, its undersized blower, the explanations offered by GM, and the ridiculous VIR lap time claims relative to the ZR1 have made me look at used Vipers instead.

[Revo]

This car disappoints me. Its propensity to lose power after even the slightest throttle blip, its undersized blower, the explanations offered by GM, and the ridiculous VIR lap time claims relative to the ZR1 have made me look at used Vipers instead.

After that, I just had to look up Z06 lap time around Virginia International Raceway.

I fail to see what is so ridiculous about that time?

[NSXType-R]

After that, I just had to look up Z06 lap time around Virginia International Raceway.

I fail to see what is so ridiculous about that time?

That's strange too, I think it's at top, and it beat a Porsche 918.

[Ferrer]

Z06 must be the only car in the world combining manual gearbox with shift paddles on the steering wheel.

Unlike auto-equipped Z06 (in which the paddles are intended for gear change of course) their function in manual car is to engage a rev-matching system.

And, save tooling costs for GM.

I think that the standard manual Corvettes also have them.

This is good, unfortunately in Europe is a no go...

[Revo]

I stand corrected, all C7s have this shift paddle anomaly.

Z06 is available in Europe, quote from German GM site: ...available to order from December 2014, deliveries will begin Spring 2015.

No EU prices yet however.

[Ferrer]

Oh, I meant not in terms of availability but in terms of making sense. It's fast but it is far too expensive; for what it costs (or it will cost) there will be a good assortment of very interesting machinery available.

For us Europeans, the Camaro does essentially the same but costs about a third of the Z06. By the way, pricing for the Mustang has been announced and the V8 hardtop will cost 44 grand here. Now I want one.

[Rasmus]

Disclaimer: My main reason for being so disappointed is that I don't believe the Z06 is all that GM is saying it is. There are 3 Corvettes in my garages currently. I like them a lot.

Let's get started..

The car is a one-lap wonder. Several magazines and drivers have experienced increasingly slower times lap by lap. It heat soaks bad, and starts pulling timing. GM may say that it's because of emission standards, but really the TVS 1740 blower is vastly undersized, and they're spinning the piss out of it. It's pulling timing to stay safe. I have heard, but haven't been able to confirm, that the reason for going with the 1740 was packaging issues. The ZR1 ran the TVS 2300, and it didn't need to spin nearly as hard to make the 5-6 psi of boost.

As for the VIR time, this is particularly interesting to me as VIR is the closest thing I'll have to a home track. In early 2014 work was done to repave and widen the track by up to 6ft in several, high speed areas. It made for quite a difference in corner entrance and exit speeds and subsequently lap times. It's why you can't compare pre-01/2014 times with post-01/2014 times.

GM related the Z06 lap time to that of the ZR1, using the ZR1 time from before VIR was widened. The actual difference is 4.3 seconds. Taken at face value, this is quite big difference, however, most agree that there's a several second difference in the track improvements alone.

Also, the ZR1 time was set in 2008. The fastest Nurburgring times for the ZR1 throughout its lifespan improved quite a bit due to various upgrades. GM is comparing a first-year car to a first-year car. I believe the successor should be compared to its immediate predecessor in order to judge just how much better than the ZR1 the Z06 really is.

Speaking of the Nordschleife, GM did a hell of a lot of Z06 testing there, but never released a time. While it is purely speculation, taking owner experience into consideration, I don't think it performed as well as they wanted it to. Even now, Tadge Juechter's answer to this inevitable question has been "you do the math". I believe it performed better than the ZR1 in most turns, and I hope that it was enough to offset the loss of power and increased drag down the straights. I think it was faster, but not fast enough.

The 918 being slower around VIR may seem impressive -- and I'm not denying that the Z06 is fast -- but there still is a key difference. The 918 time was set by Car & Driver magazine during their annual Lightning Lap, 25 car round-up, magazine feature. The Z06 time was set by Jim Mero, GM's usual record lap recording, former professional driver turned engineer, after several days of testing. There's a hell of a difference.

Going back to the design issues, GM has publicly stated that the Z06 indeed is pulling a bunch of timing out, but that it's fully intentional. People can unlock the full potential of the car by going for an aftermarket tune -- it'll just void the warranty. I think that's garbage. If I'm buying a 650hp car, I don't want one that is only good for that the first couple of miles.

In closing, the Z06 is much less of a track rat than a street cruiser. The VIR lap time claims are ridiculous because they're comparing apples to oranges. I was set on ordering one, but I am disappoint.

[Revo]

Very interesting read, thank you Rasmus.