C8 ZR1

[moby4dick]

I’ve got a reservation scheduled in Vegas later this month for 20 laps each GT500 and Z06 back to back . I’m really looking forward to hammering them both with a very open mind.

Looking forward to hearing your impressions, also compared to your Mach 1. Also curious if the car has the comp seats, z07, aero.

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[Prodigal]

Looking forward to hearing your impressions, also compared to your Mach 1. Also curious if the car has the comp seats, z07, aero.

I’ll let you know

 

[2morrow]

I saw a Z06 yesterday and I wanted to drive it straight to the track. Hopefully the owner will do the same.

 

[Prodigal]

I’ll let you know

I got rained out today after driving the GT500. Bummer I won’t get them back to back but I’ve rescheduled the Z06 for Sunday morning and added 15 laps in the Lambo STO which I expect to shame both the Shelby and the vette, but for $335k, it better. The Gt500 was fun today but left me a little disappointed. I flogged the piss out of it but couldn’t match my lap time in the MB GT-R. About 5 seconds slower. Rear steer on the Benz was rear advantage and more than offset Shelby grunt on the straights. Old school front engine rear wheel drive felt sluggish thru the turns compared to the super cars. It was definetly faster than my M1 but not so much so that I was blown away.
here’s some pics. If this one shows up for sale, you may want to pass. With 4500 on the odometer, she’s already had a hard life!

 

[Prodigal]

Well, I finally got behind the wheel of a C8 Z06 and can say unequivocally, it’s a faster and better handling car than the GT500. The drive by wire, mid engine, balance, braking all were amazing. It felt so light and nimble thru the corners yet the chassis was stiff and you could feel the power all being put to the pavement. The engine is a screamer. The flat plane crank and track mode open exhaust was music to the ears and the paddle shifted trans was instantaneous. I shifter at 8000 RPMs and the power and pull was awesome. I even felt the driving position and view were better that the mustang. The Shelby had recaros which held my fat ass nicely but the z06 was equally comfortable. The smaller corvette steering wheel had a quicker ratio which allowed me to make the hairpin turn without moving my hands. On the mustang I couldn’t. The view out the front of the corvette was fantastic. No hood and the fenders literally right in front of you. I felt like I could see everything better. My best lap in the Z06 was 4 seconds faster than my best in the GT500. So where does this leave me? Yes the Z06 is a superior car. It’s also close to double what a GT500 could have been bought for (past tense for now). While I woukd love to have a corvette I know almost none of what made it an incredible experience on the track could be used safely and legally on the street. Knowing what it’s capable of and not being able to use it sucks. My mach 1 exceeds what is permitted on the streets, adding more and paying a ton more to get nothing usable other than bragging rights and looks of envy at Cars and coffee each weekend is worth something, I just don’t enough to justify the cost. If I lived somewhere with great weather year round and decent roads, and had time to do some track days, I woukd probably be looking for a new C8 Z06.
As an aside I followed up the C8 with 12 laps in a Lamborghini Huracan STO, jeezus, you want to talk about a raw and brutal race car. It beat me up. Stiffest chassis and heaviest steering of any of the cars I drove. Power was amazing V10 at 8000 RPMs thru a beautiful set of headers straight out the rear fascia of the car. The shifting was so hard I thought something broke the first time I shifted just before the red line. The interior is sparse and minimal. You woukd think for almost $400k you’re get some comfort, nope. Carbon fiber everything and raw power with killer aerodynamics. Head room made the vette feel like moms sedan. Wearing a helmet made getting in and out for me at 6’ anything but graceful. If you have the bag and want the baddest Lambo they offer currently, go for it but ide take the Z06 everyday over it. I was also about .5 second faster in the Z06 than the Lambo. The Lambo was quicker to accelerate and had a higher top speed down the straight but the harder brakes and heavier steering cost me time in the corners. With practice it’s probably quicker than the corvette but after almost 30 laps I was getting wore out, so I’m sure that was part of it.

 

[robvas]

345!

 

[MAGS1]

Well, I finally got behind the wheel of a C8 Z06 and can say unequivocally, it’s a faster and better handling car than the GT500. The drive by wire, mid engine, balance, braking all were amazing. It felt so light and nimble thru the corners yet the chassis was stiff and you could feel the power all being put to the pavement. The engine is a screamer. The flat plane crank and track mode open exhaust was music to the ears and the paddle shifted trans was instantaneous. I shifter at 8000 RPMs and the power and pull was awesome. I even felt the driving position and view were better that the mustang. The Shelby had recaros which held my fat ass nicely but the z06 was equally comfortable. The smaller corvette steering wheel had a quicker ratio which allowed me to make the hairpin turn without moving my hands. On the mustang I couldn’t. The view out the front of the corvette was fantastic. No hood and the fenders literally right in front of you. I felt like I could see everything better. My best lap in the Z06 was 4 seconds faster than my best in the GT500. So where does this leave me? Yes the Z06 is a superior car. It’s also close to double what a GT500 could have been bought for (past tense for now). While I woukd love to have a corvette I know almost none of what made it an incredible experience on the track could be used safely and legally on the street. Knowing what it’s capable of and not being able to use it sucks. My mach 1 exceeds what is permitted on the streets, adding more and paying a ton more to get nothing usable other than bragging rights and looks of envy at Cars and coffee each weekend is worth something, I just don’t enough to justify the cost. If I lived somewhere with great weather year round and decent roads, and had time to do some track days, I woukd probably be looking for a new C8 Z06.
As an aside I followed up the C8 with 12 laps in a Lamborghini Huracan STO, jeezus, you want to talk about a raw and brutal race car. It beat me up. Stiffest chassis and heaviest steering of any of the cars I drove. Power was amazing V10 at 8000 RPMs thru a beautiful set of headers straight out the rear fascia of the car. The shifting was so hard I thought something broke the first time I shifted just before the red line. The interior is sparse and minimal. You woukd think for almost $400k you’re get some comfort, nope. Carbon fiber everything and raw power with killer aerodynamics. Head room made the vette feel like moms sedan. Wearing a helmet made getting in and out for me at 6’ anything but graceful. If you have the bag and want the baddest Lambo they offer currently, go for it but ide take the Z06 everyday over it. I was also about .5 second faster in the Z06 than the Lambo. The Lambo was quicker to accelerate and had a higher top speed down the straight but the harder brakes and heavier steering cost me time in the corners. With practice it’s probably quicker than the corvette but after almost 30 laps I was getting wore out, so I’m sure that was part of it.

Sounds like a really awesome experience. The STO looks badass, I’ve always been a big fan of Lambo. The looks are always killer and the performance is there to back it up. They used to get dinged on reliability but from what I understand it’s a lot better than it used to be

 

[Prodigal]

Sounds like a really awesome experience. The STO looks badass, I’ve always been a big fan of Lambo. The looks are always killer and the performance is there to back it up. They used to get dinged on reliability but from what I understand it’s a lot better than it used to be

I wouldn’t want to have to maintain any of them. I’m sure the Lambo and the Ferrari's are very costly and probably very finicky requiring specialty knowledge and proprietary tools just to work on them. The price of admission is just the beginning. I had a friend who once told me that even a used rolls Royce that is now $60k 10 years old is still a Rolls Royce when it comes to maintaining it. I’m sure it’s equally true with super cars.

 

[MAGS1]

I wouldn’t want to have to maintain any of them. I’m sure the Lambo and the Ferrari's are very costly and probably very finicky requiring specialty knowledge and proprietary tools just to work on them. The price of admission is just the beginning. I had a friend who once told me that even a used rolls Royce that is now $60k 10 years old is still a Rolls Royce when it comes to maintaining it. I’m sure it’s equally true with super cars.

Oh no doubt. I have a cousin that has a Ferrari. He told me the cost of an oil change at one point, I don’t remember exactly but it’s in the thousands of dollars. But I would assume most folks that own those cars know that going in (or they have so much money they don’t care). Luckily (or unluckily) I don’t have that problem LOL.

 

[SheepDog]

For the price of that Lambo, you could have a new Ariel Atom 4 for track days, your Mach 1 for cruising, and a RAM TRX for taking some sweet jumps.

A friend of mine's dad had one of the original Atoms, and there is nothing like it if you are serious about insane track performance, but can also be driven on the street once in a while. It does legit racecar stuff that none of these road going supercars can touch, and for a lot less money.

https://www.arielna.com/arielatom

 

[526 HRSE]

I would imagine had you drove the gt500 after the Corvette, there may have only been a 2 second differential.

 

[Balr14]

The standard Huracan or Audi R8 Performance are much more enjoyable cars to drive.

 

[GJarrett]

I bet it will have a manual, finally but cost 250k or more :/

(And really, I don't think it will have a manual)

Nope (your fine print is correct). According to an interview I read somewhere with one of the engineers on the design team, there's literally no room for the third pedal in it - which makes a manual an impossible option to offer. It would have to undergo a major resdesign of the front end to free up room under the drivers dash to stuff a clutch pedal in there.

 

[shogun32]

It would have to undergo a major resdesign of the front end to free up room under the drivers dash to stuff a clutch pedal in there.

which is just mind-boggling. Why would you CHOOSE to put yourself in that box? It's a fuddy-duddy golf-outing car (historically), so why even come anywhere close to an Italian footbox?

 

[MAGS1]

which is just mind-boggling. Why would you CHOOSE to put yourself in that box? It's a fuddy-duddy golf-outing car (historically), so why even come anywhere close to an Italian footbox?

They’re going after a different crowd with the C8 if you couldn’t tell. The DCT is a far superior transmission to any manual trans and GM’s tune on the DCT is outstanding. Now, are 99% of the buyers racing these cars to use said superior trans to the fullest? Not likely. But GM doesn’t care either

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