Blue Ridge Runner

As a long-standing PCAer and 911 driver, on 07 Feb I took "Museum Delivery" of my first ever Corvette...a Victory Red/Ebony Z06...
With 1000 miles now on the clock...here are first impressions:

1) Exterior... Compared to my Seal Grey Cab, the Z06 has much more "street cred"...if the number of turned heads, cellphone photo's taken, and hot pursuit 180's by the kid's are any indicator...of course, that could be due to the "Arrest Me Red" color and the Competition Grey wheels....The quality of the paint is in a word...MIXED...goes from Bentley Smooth to Florida Orange Grove Rough...Both rear quarterpanels have more orangepeel than Sunkist...the other body panels fall between the two extremes...I am told that wetsanding will fix the issue...This vehicle would never pass final paint inspection at Honda.

2) Interior... No comparison...GM needs an Interior Designer bad. The black plastic is hard and the alumalook doesn't have the fine metallic finish that we are now used to as Porsche customers...I know, different $$$ say the apologists...but if Honda can do it in the Civic...why not GM in the 'Vette???

3) Chassis & Drivetrain...Here is the Good News...!!! IT IS FAST...I was advised to follow a "break-in" procedure and I did (sort of)...The Competition Mode lets loose the Beast and it is quick and forgiving. While not an accomplished racer nor autocrosser, I can appreciate handling, braking, and that sense of security or impending doom (whichever)...and this Corvette delivers...

In brief summary...In any review of the Z06, value is mentioned..because it IS a value. The vehicle is let down by poor standards of execution and an unneccessarily cheap-feeling interior. If GM would keep the mechanicals and do a GranSport Corvette in carbon fiber, paint it correctly, do an analog interior...I "might" buy another Corvette....BUT...NO CAR can replace my 911...and that's been true since my first Porsche...a 1976 911S.

Sunshine

Side by side pics would be hot! Congratulations on your new Vette!

texas911

Nice! Congrats. Yea we need pics!

Blue Ridge Runner

Lori, Texas911....
I guess I have to have my RennList member # to upload a picture...currently on the road until 06 March...my member number is "in the file" at Home...sorry...

Deanski

Being a former Vette owner (1969 L-88) I can tell you that paint even today is of poor quality. I had to do one owners car not too long ago to correct the orange peel. It involved wet sanding and polishing. Used very fine paper (2500) Uni-Grit to ultra fine (12,000) by Micro-Mesh to resolve, then polished with a very light polish by Menzerna of Gemany (PO85RD) with a finish pad. Results were night and day and it now looks smooth as a mirror. Labor intensive, but done correctly, it can result in perfect finish. Find a high end body shop to do the work if you're not up to it or do not possess a polisher as well.

As for the new Z06, dove one prior to my C2S order. Found it very fast, but steering felt like a large vehicle, kind of reminded me of a Mercury or Lincoln. Not great on feel or response, but sure is fast as all hell and reminds me of my L-88 in torque! Also tire noise was loud. After running it with the salesman, opened the hood and the smell of fiberglass or other plastic melting type smell was very stong. Another owner has experienced this as well. Wondered if it was going to burn on the lot it was THAT strong.

You're correct on the interior, which was horrible! For such a car and to mae it look and feel like that inside was a crime! Another reason I went to a "P" car.

I'm not bashing the Z06, just my findings and I do really liked the amount of HP/TQ this new Z06 has. To me it's an L-88 in new wrappings AND it has a radio! (L-88 had radio delete when your ordered it) Exhaust sounds were fantastic and true to the car.

The new exterior look is much better, more aggressive in style. No wonder heads turn as it rolls by. Just the look AND the noise can attract quite a few lookers!

Enjoy the new toy and by all means, get that paint fixed. Be careful as this car can increase speeding tickets very easily!!

Regards,
Deanski

MHC2S

I've been unlucky to have owned a few GM cars back in the 80's and early 90's. To be blunt their paint sucks. I even had a new '91 Vette not the greatest car I've ever owned either.Way too big for a sports car, feels like driving a boat compared to any P car.

djantlive

Interesting comments regarding paint quality. I've not had any paint complaints with any new cars, domestic or foreign. When seeing Z06 at autoshows, I didn't notice any paint defect either. If you have complaints about the paint, would warranty cover it?

Also civic's alum paint job is horrible and looks very plasticky.

How do you like the Z06 seats? One of my gripes about C6 is the springs in stock seat bottoms. The Z06 seats don't have this issue.

Just out of curiousity, what kind of MPG are you getting? Not that it matters but I'd curioius how it compareds to stock C6.

Dave I

Nice write up, very interesting. What are the Chevrolet dealers getting these days for the Z06? I got a few price quotes earlier via e-mail and they were all several thousand over msrp...just wondering if they're still getting over sticker or if reality has set in yet.

OCBen

It would be pretty naive to think they would use a typical car that rolls off the assembly line for autoshows without first doing the required extensive preparation to turn an ordinary car (read: with typical defects) into a flawless show car beauty, especially a showcased, hyped up car like the Z06, or any other high end new release.

For econo-boxes, wash & shine will do. No paintwork treatment such as colorsanding to remove orange peel is needed.

eilig

I wet-sanded my '93 ZR-1, and like said by others, the difference was night and day.

Having a bit of seat time in a Z06 myself, I too was amazing how cheap feeling the interior is. And the seats -- they are horrible.

At least the interior of my ZR-1 feels a bit more quality. And the seats in the ZR-1 are far superior to those of the new Z06. Now, if the ZR-1 could only go on a diet and lose, oh, about 600 lbs!!

Blue Ridge Runner

djantlive:
RE Z06 Seats...I am a large guy...only 6-1...but 250 lbs....they could be longer in the seat...my legs lack support toward the knees...back support and bolsters are fine.
Re: Mileage....Drove 420 miles today...averaged 25.4 MPG...simply amazing for a 7 litre motor (dare I say 427 cu. in. since GM doesn't) of 505 HP.

DaveI:
I had put a $1000 deposit down with my local Chevy dealer 15 months before the car was finally delivered. He is a multiple store Dealer but not a major Corvette outlet...so...his first allocation was about six months into production...I paid MSRP.

Thanks to everyone for their comments....
Ed

SciFrog

IF the package was as nice as a Porsche, it would also have the price of a Porsche. You get what you pay for (ie great performance but ugly interior/exterior and poor finish quality).

JohnnyBahamas

So Ed, I'm in the same situation though my Carrera S is a coupe. I am undecided as to what to do with my '06 Z06... how long do you think you'll keep yours?

MMD

Yeah, I can't stand how cheap feeling/looking/being it is. The sticky "image" of the muscle car also sucks. IOW, if they changed the look, the name and the interior materials and design I *might* buy one.

One thing is different, I don't look down my nose at guys who have the new ones. The older vettes still get my mild contempt for being gold chain/hairy chest machines.

Blue Ridge Runner

JohnnyNarcosis:
I have called my Porsche Dealer and indicated my interest in a Turbo...so...delivery on that car would require trading/selling the 997C2S Cab and the Z06...I will keep the Z06 mileage below 5000 to preserve value...even though the "pipeline" should begin to fill up rather quickly and by Fall...MSRP should be the normal starting price for negotiation...
If I had a player before then, I would move on the car.

BTW...Why can GM engineer Satellite Radio in the Corvette and not Porsche in our coveted 911's??? (plastic body maybe)....