New Z06

[Joseph T.]

Are the new Z06 cars on the road?

I saw a red car w/black hood stripes, Z06 badges and a small back wing.. fly by me yesterday.

Maybe just a personalized car?

[Joe L.]

Re: New Z06

Joe-----

As far as I know, they have not been released yet for retail sale. There may be some "factory cars" out there, but I doubt that any have hood stripes or a rear spoiler.

[Craig S.]

Re: New Z06

I didn't run up to see it, but there was one at our SW Chapter NCRS meeting a short time ago from the Mesa proving grounds.....see pictures on our site....Craig




SW NCRS Z06 Preview July 9

[Jim T.]

Re: New Z06

Thanks for the great pictures Craig. What is the story about the valve in the exhaust?

[Duke W.]

Re: New Z06

Production of customer orders is supposed to start this week, but I have not heard that it has actually started. Shipments will probably not begin until about mid-August as the first couple of weeks of new builds are usually placed on quality hold until everyone is satisfied that the build specs and quality are up to par.

Latest info is Jan Magnusson cut a 7.42.9 at the Nurburg Ring (and got airborne in the process bouncing back in the air after the first touchdown), which is 0.1 second faster than a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, which I believe is basically the car raced in the ALMS (an not street legal for the USA). The '04 Z06 ran 7:56. and a '06 Z-51 coupe ran 7.59.

Magnusson's car was a showroom stock example with production tires. It was done before 8:00 AM on a day last month, and no doubt the car was dialed in, but everything about the car was within production spec.

The auto mags should have full road tests in their September issues, which should be out about August 1 - less than a week from now.

When you get into the low 7:40s at the 'Ring you're in the rarified atmosphere of some very expensive exotic cars. The Z-06 at $65K is just awesome!

Duke

[Craig S.]

Re: New Z06

Jim - you can thank the SW NCRS Chapter for the pix.......and I wasn't there due to other commitments that day.....so I can't comment on the valve in the exhaust. Last year we did have a preview of a mule C6 at Gary's house that Jim Contes brought over from the proving grounds and it was really interesting to hear his input as he is on the engine development team and specializes in the hot running evaluations for the team. He was not there this year....he just drove the car over and picked it up later....Craig

[Duke W.]

Re: New Z06

The valve opens up at high throttle and revs to create a less restrictive flow path. Less backpressure - more power. (The exhaust piping is 3".) I think Ferrari Maranellos have a similar setup.

Since this realm of throttle and revs are not part of the EPA noise test procedure, it's legal, and the exhaust won't drone at cruising speed like a lot of aftermarket systems, but it should have an authoritative bark when you're working in the upper half of the power band.

Duke

[Rick A.]

Re: New Z06

dealers can start placing "allocation orders" for the new Z06 tomorrow - what that means, if a dealer has any allocations for the First Quarter of the 2006 run, they can place the orders starting tomorrow.

as an example, Maxie-Price has an allocation of SIX for the first quarter, so they can place orders for the SIX Z06's. Supposedly, the cars will not be delivered until November.

[Duke W.]

Re: New Z06

They ordered July/August production allocations last month.

Duke

[Gary Bishop]

Re: New Z06

I read somewhere that they are still having issues with the body fit and colour matches with the Z06 and there are constraints.

[Duke W.]

Re: New Z06

Eyewitnesses at last weekend's ALMS race at Sears Point report that Dave Hill stated: "Z06 production will start before the end of August", which would mean sometime this week.

I haven't heard any reports of body fit problems, and Z06 colors are a subset of coupe/convert. colors, most of which are carryover.

BTW, '06 Z06 models will be going down the line with '05 coupes and converts.; '06 coupe/convert. production does not start until about September 10, which is later than normal as model year changeover has been in late June in recent years - just before the two-week plant shutdown.

The big change for coupe/convert. is replacement of the A4 with an A6 with full auto or manual operation via buttons on the steering wheel. It will be interesting to see if this is an extra cost option. Last year the manual was standard with the A4 optional at no cost. In the C5 era the A4 was standard and the M6 was extra cost.

Z06 will only be available with M6.

Duke

[Clem Z.]

word has it that the 6 speed auto

will not be available at the start of 06 production as the preliminary specs to the dealers do not list the 6 speed auto

[Duke W.]

Re: word has it that the 6 speed auto

There was a list of '06 Corvette RPOs in the Z06 order guide - this PRO list was all '06 Corvette RPOs, not just those available on Z06.

One is MX0 "6-speed paddle shift with automatic modes". That was the only automnatic listed.

I haven't seen a '06 order guide for coupe/convert. yet.

Duke

[Clem Z.]

Re: word has it that the 6 speed auto

i am waiting also for positive info as i have a buyer for my 05 precision red coupe because the lady loves the color but i am not going to bite the bullet if i do not see something new that i like. the GM tests on the GM powertrain website show that my 05 with the A4 and the 3.15 rear gear is quicker than the 6 speed auto with the 2.56 rear gear and there are no rear gear options. they are going of milage and emissions with this setup. it shows it is quicker than the A4 with the 2.73 rear gear

[Don 42616]

Re: word has it that the 6 speed auto

Clem, I have a 2002 & am curious if a different rear end gear ratio was available. Don