The new Corvette is a great car. But what do other's think?

Over on the Miata board, somebody recently started a poll: What you would rather have- A C-6 Corvette, a Cayman, the new BMW Z4 Coupe, or a Lotus Elise?

The Cayman has 50% of the vote.

You mean like when the Boxsters first came out?!? :eek:

The C6 and C6-Z06 are formidable cars, no doubt. You've got close to super-car performance at a fraction of the cost. It will most likely keep up with the Porsche counterparts quite well on the track. However, the key to Porsche ownership has always been exclusivity, which the Vette crowd will likely never understand. Don't get me wrong - I'm not a Porsche snob. But there is something about driving a German-bred engineering marvel that is put together so well that after 16 years, the car can still be flogged around a racetrack!

That said, the biggest issue with the Vettes on the track is that they are way under-braked. Porsche got it right- build a 500hp-ish car, make sure you have brakes that are capable of haulin' down a 700hp car!

Also: horsepower isn't everything. I had the chance to drive a friend's modified 996 Twin Turbo at Pocono Raceway for a session at a DE. While the power was fantastic, the emotional feeling I get when I drive my car was lacking. Then again, it was a tiptronic ( :rolleyes: ) and it plowed like a pig despite the tweaked suspension.

I think I'd be much happier with an Exige than a Z06 or 997TT on the track! :D But then again, I don't need a powerful car to 'cover' any inadequecies I may or may not have.... :eek:

Let me tell you - I've seen a couple of the pre-production Z4 coupes driving around here (the BMW North American HQ is two buildings over) and that car will give the competition a run for its money. Still has too many creases and angles for my taste, but the overall lines of the car are very nice. (Not as nice as a Cayman...)

-Z-man.

GM going under is perhaps the best thing that could happen to the Z06. Years from now if GM is no more, the car will be even more storied, more rare and more coveted. The fact that parts won't be available will encourage people to actually take care of them instead of beating the piss out of them and the ones that end up in the hands of abusive owners will be the ones that plummet in value. Good specimens will be all the more valuable.

Hmm. If I didn't know better, I'd swear I was building a case for looking at a car as an "investment". I should get that idea right out of my head before I end up doing something I'll end up sleeping on the couch for a month for.

ha! you took the words out of my mouth. i just spent 3 days at vir in a 996 w/ pss9's. had them cranked to full hard all around. yes, the power was nice, so was the speed that you can carry, but the feel was lacking. considerably. and the understeer..... w/ my eyes closed, i'd probably guess it was a front wheel drive car!

to its credit though, going around oak tree, even in 2nd gear, it was impossible to make it lose traction and step out. (this is a pre-SPASM model)

I'd be really, really surprised if the 996/997 cars last much more than 100k miles.

The sad thing for me is that I prefer the looks of the new Z06 to the new 997TT.

Too bad Porsche can't just stuff the new internals into the 993 body shell. Talk about the perfect car. :)

I hear and read this sentiment alot about GM and its future.

From the 2005 Forbes Fortune 500 list

'GM barely retained its hold on the No. 3 spot, while Ford Motor Co. slipped to fifth place from No. 4. GM's revenues decreased nearly one- half percent to $192.604 billion, while Ford's rose less than 3 percent to $177.21 billion.'


When your revenues drop 1/2 percent - its not the time to throw in the towel. GM still prints money - they just are not making as much in the 'Car' division. Gross revenues just a smidge less than 200 billion is doing fairly well.

Even if they only make 1% net income on Gross thats still 2 billion in profit.

Repeating rumors, hear-say, and magazine drivel is useless. Have *you* driven a Z06 w/o traction control? The car is damn fast, and like most high horse power cars, will bite you if you let it get out of shape. The Z06 is a wickedly fast car.

(edited for spelling.)

I'm not a Corvette guy but I like the ZO6. If I had the $ I would get one for the track. I'm sure when those guys are flying by me at the track they are wishing they had an SC!
Dave