Jsut drove the ZO6... - Page 5

Markus33 · 08-25-2005, 08:14 PM

Steve,

Regarding writing for Golf Connoisseur, never thought I'd read this mag since I'm not really into golf BUT, a few months ago there was a great article about Porsche. It covered mostly vintage and enthusiasts but also referenced message boards (PP?) and the current state of Porsche. Was surprised to see the article in that mag and it took a sort of unique perspective for print, and had great quality pics. It was a wonderful article, not sure of the author, and I should have saved a copy. Did you have anything to do with that?

Regards,

Markus
'80 SC Targa

Formerly Steve Wilkinson · 08-25-2005, 08:42 PM

Uh, I wrote it.

Stephan

Markus33 · 08-25-2005, 08:48 PM

Stephan,

Congrats on a great piece! Now to get my hands on a back-issue...

Markus
'80 SC Targa

Vonzipper · 08-25-2005, 11:14 PM

Let's get this back on track for a second. What I find disappointing about the Vette is how the power signs off Way too early, Here you are, right foot bending the floor with a great pull and then.... Gone, power signs off, I had an old girlfriend like that, she didn't last long, Chevrolet just cant get their power band right, what's wrong with torque all the way to red-line?? the only way to drive it is to short shift and when I see Craig in his turbo or Jack in the BB2 I'm going to need all that I can get.

Anyone think about the rear suspension?? It Sucks!!

Just my two cents....

Formerly Steve Wilkinson · 08-26-2005, 03:39 AM

Yeah, it's hard to imagine how they win the GT1 class at Le Mans four times in five years with such a pitiful car (since we are talking about the ZO6, which is basically a street-going replica of the LM car, not the C6).

Tell me again where the 911s were?

Stephan

911-32 · 911-32's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Formerly Steve Wilkinson
Yeah, it's hard to imagine how they win the GT1 class at Le Mans four times in five years with such a pitiful car (since we are talking about the ZO6, which is basically a street-going replica of the LM car, not the C6).

Tell me again where the 911s were?

Stephan

In a different class being raced by privateer teams

I am on your side Stephan, but you picked a bad example with that one !

RallyJon · 08-26-2005, 05:09 AM

"Golf Connoisseur"? Oh dear.

Stephan, maybe you should have a resource where those of us who enjoy your writing--but don't spend enough time in doctor's office waiting rooms to find all your articles--can read all your stuff in one place?

Formerly Steve Wilkinson · 05:14 AM

I'm aware that they were in a different class.

So you think the factory could have beat Chevy by running 911s in GT1? Those GT2 teams might have been privateers, but some of them got close to factory-level support.

stephan

Jims5543 · 05:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Formerly Steve Wilkinson
Jim, you have a major hate on the Corvette, which you've voiced twice rather strongly in this thread, and it seems to have something to do with your being beat by them in autocrosses because, as you saw it, the rules were sandbasgged in their direction. Which has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the car is any good and everything to do with whether or not you resent the car.

Stephan

Actually, I beat them pretty soundly. Even when I was being handicapped by the rules of the class. I have season points trophies for ASP to prove it. I was beating them with a 240 HP 2700 lbs car (at the time) while they were in 400+HP (plus intake and exhuast and cams) 3200 lb cars. I would just barely beat them but a win was a win.

Once I jumped to BP and got me my 460HP they could not come close to me.

I do not AX very much anymore. I did an event back in June and was pretty rusty, I had not raced for almost a year before that. Here are the pax results to prove I am not BSing you. Normally when I am not so rusty I am battling the #89 car for FTD. He beat me by over a second this day.
http://www.cfrsolo2.com/2005/2005_06_26%20ircc%20points_pax_.htm

The reason I get to drive lots of cool cars is because I sponsor and organize Autocross driving schools. I have put together 5 schools so far and hope to do more over the years. I usually put them on breaking even or at a loss but its o.k. I love to expose people to the Autocross sport.

I don't hate the Vette I hate the hype. Plus Corvettes seem to be magnets for untalented drivers, maybe even dangerous drivers who have no business driving such a powerful car. Every time there is a bad wreck in the SCCA a vette is involved. If you do not beleive me say so I will do some searching and show you pictures and videos. I can think right off the top of my head of 4 instances that are well documented online.

We lost our Florida stop on the National tour because a vette lost control and hit 2 course workers 100 feet off the course!!

What GM is doing with the C-6 is sweet from a gearhead point of veiw. I dont mean to take away from that. All the hype gets old after a while. Its still a bad ass car, no doubt about that. I look foward to seeing them at our local events.

Rot 911 · 08-26-2005, 05:25 AM

My opinion, the Z06 is the best bang for the buck. On the other hand I am curious to see if it depreciates as fast as the stock Vettes. Didn't I also read that it is smaller and lighter than a new 911?

Formerly Steve Wilkinson · 08-26-2005, 06:04 AM

At 3,130 pounds, the ZO6 is a tiny bit heavier than most 911s though one pound (!) lighter than a Carrera S and substantially lighter than the Turbos. the ZO6 and C6 are both a little over an inch shorter than 911s though the wheelbase is way longer (105.7" versus 92.5").

Stephan

Craig 930 RS · 08-26-2005, 06:32 AM

To truly get back on track - Steve haow about expanding per my previous post:
Steve -

I know there are 'rules' for disclosure of info prior to a certain magazine release date --- but do you have any pictures or any other subjective info you can give?

87porsche9113.2 · 08-26-2005, 07:06 AM

I am a 17 year old boy and just got to drive the brand new Corvette for my birthday (it was my dad's friend's car) i thought it was very cool. when we pulled up to stop lights all the girls would wave and say hi while there boyfriends would give us a jealous look the only thing that i really like was the sound of a big beefy american V-8 and the straight line acceleration. but when we got home from our hour long drive the friend left and my dad and i hopped into our porsche 911 and i was comparing notes in my head as we pulled up to stop lights and all the girls would still wave to me and say hi while there boyfriends would still give me jealous looks and i notice that the 911 gets a lot more looks cause it is so rare in our city, the corvette will after a while be a common sight as all the old farts waste there money and get them as far as the 911 performance goes it is the best in pretty much everything cornering, acceleration, speed, and getting as many number as there are girls (already got 32 within the past two months)

J P Stein · 08-26-2005, 07:17 AM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jim Cesiro
[B]Actually, I beat them pretty soundly. Even when I was being handicapped by the rules of the class. I have season points trophies for ASP to prove it.

Sure, I beat some of them also.
Looking at your PAX results leads me to believe your a pretty damn good driver and with a BP car you should soundly whip an SS car....as I should with an FP car.....but my driving sux.

Get a national level driver in a Z06......
I had one of those jump into my 914 at a practice event
recently. After a quick tour of the 901 shift pattern in the lanes, he went a second quicker....on his first pass and this was a very short course. He wasn't even working, just showing me his line. I didn't give him another chance to see if he could meet or beat his time his time in his 06...a second quicker still.

AX is about 60% driver, IMO. We have many 06 drivers who show up in their new cars & get whipped by 100 guys....seldom do they return. Autocrossing a high power to weight car takes LOTS of practice.

It's only when you get to the top level of the sport do you find which is the best car in a given class or across classes. Local stuff is nearly meaningless in this regard.....IMO

tchanson · 08-26-2005, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by rdane
Also heard from the sales manager about the "new" limited edition ZO6 already in the works.. only something like 150 being built with 600+hp and similar torque numbers. Only one reason is the word from GM...to own the Ring.

That would be the long rumored and often reported (or furiously leaked by GM flacks) Blue Devil project. Reputed to be 600 HP with supercharger, 2900 lbs, $100K plus. (GM also made much hay out of their suspension testing of the Cadillac CTS-V at the 'Ring as well..which still doesn't make it an M car.)

I've seen the standard C6 Z06 has on display at several race venues this summer. I think the subtle fender flares are the best addition over the base car...that, and trimming down the hideously large butt of the C5 cars.

Tim

dd74 · 08-26-2005, 09:23 AM

Stephan - what are your thoughts about the Z06 as a used car? I just can't see spending new car prices for it, but used might be a different story. Is there any way to guess what the ZO6 will cost in about five years? Just a ballpark figure is what I'd like to know. My guess is something like $20,000-$30,000.

Formerly Steve Wilkinson · 08-26-2005, 09:58 AM

My fears about buying a used ZO6 is wondering how thrashed it had been in its previous life. I think people who own cars like Turbos and F430s are reasonably nice to them, but I wonder about ZO6 owners... Can't imagine what the used value will be. Chevy is not gong to artificially limit production--the only limitation will be production capacity, since it uses the same tooling as the C6 and there's only so much of it--and they're talking about roughly 7,000 a year, so there should be plenty of them around five years from now.

Stephan

nixter · 08-26-2005, 10:10 AM

I'm 6,4 and sport a faux-hawk hairstyle. No Z06s for me I guess! Actually I don't really fit in my P-car unless my hair is really short. I actually had to go back to my hair stylist and tell him to shorten my hawk because it didn't fit in the posrche! hehe.

Nik

gerry100 · 08-26-2005, 10:25 AM

One factor for used prices may be the uniqueness of the z06 engine peices.

The early 90s ZR1 "king of the hill" used values suffered a lot becuse of the unique. out of production engine ($ 25K plus option!). The car is a collectible, but buyers got real nervous as the mileage accumulated .

"exotic" machinery that has been flogged would scare me, unless it was a Porsche because they like it.

D Hanson · 01:54 PM

Corvette could not make an attractive car so they just copied the hell out of Ferrari. There are a few parts of the car that have the Ferrari styling cues, but overall, it is butt ugly. The front end with the Ferrari style lights and hood scop ala 550 or 575 and the 430 wheels all look kind of nice. The side vents ala 456 or reverse 355. The rear end of the car and from the middle of the door back is not good. It is funny how little creativity Chevy has.

The only good thing about the Vette is that this will definitely put pressure on Porsche to step up. Porsche's infamous little 10 to 20 hp bumps and here there to spice up a model line during mid series will not make it any more. They need to bring out the big guns now.

To stay competitive, Porsche needs a GT3 with over 400 hp and the 997TT needs to have over 500 hp (without power package) or Porsche will start losing sales once the "newness" of the 997 model wears off.

Porsche surely has a real exciting line up scheduled for the end of the 997 series. Their marketing strategy is the best in the business when they can get away with it. The competition has steeped up (Ferrari is coming out with a Dino introductory level, the Gallardo is driveable, AM V8, 350s and 355s are getting cheap, Lambo 6.0s cost less than my TT cabriolet, and the list goes on and on) so now it is time for Porsche to be a trend setter as opposed to just keeping up with the competition.

Competition is good and we the consumer will benefit from it. I am glad to see the Vette posting good numbers, but I will never buy one until they make it somewhat attractive looking.