motor

RC45 · 10-23-2005, 12:17 PM

A bloke over at the Z06 Forum took his new C6 Z06 to the track and these are his observations of how the stock C6 Z06 compares to his track prepped C5 Z06...

Originally Posted by bpf1970

I thought I'd share some initial observations after day 1 of 2 at Hallet Motor Racing Circuit. First off.... I will be comparing the following 2 setups:

2003 Z06 - Vararam / B&B Bullets / Fresh Hoosier 305.30.18 A3204's at all four corners / Ferrodo DS3500 brakes pads (race)

against

2006 Z06 - Bone stock down to the runflats / 1100mi

Not really a fair comparison but it's the only one I have.

First off... the runflats don't even compare to the Hoosiers. I really felt like I was on an ice skating rink at times. Of course the torque of this car is significantly higher so that may have contributed to the feeling. One thing I can say however is they were relatively compliant and they communicated their limits pretty well.... you know they say a singing tire is a happy tire.

The tires did wear well. I really don't notice much cupping or wear at all.

Well, in my experience, the tires dictate a lot of other functions of the car beside cornering. The major one being braking. The brakes on this car took a bit of getting used to since the initial bite was significantly lower than the comparison car (slicks and race pads). I felt it took quite a bit more pedal effort to achieve about 75% of the braking power. So needless to say my braking zones were quite a bit longer than before. Of course I was carrying more speed into most corners as well.

Now to the power....
This car is so torquey (is that a word?) that it blows your mind. I had a GT-a class Cup driver ride with me and he was impressed to say the least. It accelerates quite a bit faster than the '03 and I eclipsed the old top speed at the end of the main straight by about 17mph. Please keep in mind that my corner exit speed was lower than the '03 so in reality this number would be greater. The power band is between 4100 and 6300 so there was no point of going to redline and when I tried it I think it actually slowed me down some. It was fun trying to apply just enough to stop the rear wheels from spinning when emerging out of the corners (throttle modulation is very important!!) I had a few out of whack moments early on but soon became a little more refined.

Active handling is a little less intrusive than the '03 but it still kicks in when you don't want it to so I turned it all off after the first session. It just wont allow you to trailbrake without complaining.... and I don't appreciate anything complaining.

Ok... the big question... how did the lap times compare? Did the additional power and general suspension upgrades offset the tire penalty?

Yes!!!!! ..... but barely.

My best lap time in the '03 was 1:27:862 and let me tell you I really had to pedal the car around to hit that mark. It's actually not that far off a competitive T1 time.

My best lap time with the new Z was 1:27:838 and it came on the final session. I expect to lower that a bit tomorrow since I consistently beat my previous best with every session. I'm telling you that I truly believe some sticky's on this car would lower it's times by about 3 seconds… maybe more… on this track. If you've driven Hallett you know what I mean as it's a pretty tight and technical track.

Hope you enjoyed the read. Any questions?

gtx28 · 10-23-2005, 12:45 PM

Very cool, I sat in my first c6 zo6 a few days ago. I noticed right off from the front there are wider wheel arches and several changes. The subltys of the c6 z vs the c6 are very beautiful. The z looks so much more agressive in my eyes. I took pics with my cam phone ill post em if anyone wants to see but. It is a cam phone not a camera so pix are not the greatest.