When I was first invited to Virginia International Raceway to testdrive the new Z06, I couldn't wait. I had been waiting for that phone call for months, especially since we had followed the first Z06 down the line in Bowling Green last February. While testing Corvettes is part of my job description, this trip was going to be special in more ways than one. I was one of about 15 journalists on the first wave of testing the car, over two days. The first day would be driving the car on the highways and byways of Virginia and North Carolina, followed by a full day out on VIR. What a deal!
After arriving in North Carolina on an afternoon flight, I and several other journalists quickly loaded our gear in a GM SUV and headed for Virginia International Raceway. we had dinner and then were taken to our motel rooms at the Lodge on the VIR grounds for a good night of sleep. Yeah, right! Just thinking about driving the car the next day kept me awake to all hours.
The next morning we all met at the Plantation Clubhouse for breakfast and then went outside for the predrive briefing. The Corvette Team was introduced, and a brief overview of the new Z06 was rendered. Tadge Juechter, Corvette assistant chief engineer, discussed some highlights of the building of the Z06. He told us the new Z06 was developed hand-in-hand with the C6R Corvette. In fact, the first production Z06s were being built when the new C6R was debuted at Sebring earlier this year.
One of the key components of the car is the specific aluminum frame and magnesium front cradle. Tadge said when the car was in the wind tunnel, racing, production, and aero dynamist teams, as well as both design teams, would make suggestions to the stylists for the best combination of what worked and looked good.
He also said Chevrolet wanted the Z06 to have a substantially better power-to-weight ratio than the standard C6. They were able to reduce the curb weight of the car in spite of the addition of performance content. They also improved the weight distribution of the car, which was difficult due to a carryover in car architecture. They actually removed weight off the front axle and added weight to the rear axle, thus achieving a perfect 50/50 balance. Since the car would be sold globally, the aerodynamics have been drastically improved to keep the car stable at autobaun speeds in Europe, with an overall top speed of 198 mph.
Tadge also said the brakes had been upgraded substantially in comparison to brake packages in past model years. The new brakes accounted for an additional 30 pounds added to the car. the unique differential in the Z06 was designed from scratch just for the car and carries a larger ring gear and a differential cooler. the new larger tires and wheels help get all the horsepower to the ground. In fact, Goodyear developed proprietary technology during the C5R program that is used to manufacture the rear tires on the Z06.
John Rydzekski, assistant chief engineer for small-block engines, then covered all the bases on the new LS7 engine. Of particular mention was the new Z06 induction system, which has 20-percent lower restriction than the LS2. The composite intake manifold is also new and uses a huge 90mm throttle body. The intake uses a more direct approach to the intake valve. He said one of the unique features of the new LS7 cylinder heads is that the intake ports, exhaust ports, and combustion chamber are all 100-percent CNC machined, which is unheard of (until now) on production engines. Due to larger, lighter titanium valves, the air-flow path has increased 40 percent on the intake side and 26 percent on the exhaust side. A higher lift cam with revised rocker-arm ratios is also new for the LS7 engine. The new exhaust manifolds (shorty headers) and bimodal exhaust system work together to give the car a 38-percent back-pressure reduction. He also touched upon the new two-stage oiling system, which allows proper oil ventilation and the separation of air and oil. The dry sump system added 18 pounds to the car. Bottom line-the new LS7 is basically a race engine in a production Corvette.
Dave Hill, Corvette chief engineer, then took the reins of the discussion. He stated that with the driver onboard, the Z06 now has 50.2 percent of the mass of the car on the rear of the car, resulting in a final weight of 3,120 pounds or 6.2 pounds per hp. past all the technical aspects of producing the Z06 as a supercar, they also wanted to allow the buyer to really enjoy the car on an every day basis. They wanted to provide excellent occupant space, good visibility, comfortable supportive seating, superior cargo capacity, satisfactory noise management, and luxury-car interior features. the new aerodynamics give a confident feel at speeds the earlier Z06 did not have. The new stability system is powerful, yet not intrusive. Chevrolet validates their cars to 24 hours at racing speed, with the Z06 having more than 1,500 flat-out laps at eight different tracks around the world. For the first time, the Z06 was developed in collaboration with the C6R race team professional drivers. Dave then finished up his segment by going over the new interior and exterior finishes for 2006.
We were then informed we would be having several Corvette Team members riding with us on the different legs of that day's driving experience. I first paired up with Corvette body systems engineer Ed Moss. He has been a part of the structure development of the new Z06 from its inception and would be my navigator. The first Z06 I drove was a base car with no options. Ed said the decision was made at Chevrolet to slip all the mechanicals of the car under the base price of the Z06; they added the specific exterior components later. They had to design new fenders anyway since they were increasing the tire size. He stated they could have done the hood in carbon fiber, but decided against it to keep development costs down.
After I had driven about a mile, it became apparent the Z06 was a car that would demand respect from the most discriminating driver. The car was a dream to drive, with interior noise almost negligible. The car shifted flawlessly. The steering was tight, immediate, quick, and perfectly adjusted for a car with this much horsepower. The power was overwhelming right out of the chute. I have driven lots of cars with lots of horsepower, but this ride was something different. Let's call the car a mildly refined animal.
After about four miles, I finally got comfortable enough to stand on the car a little bit. While I still had the traction control on, I stood on it, and the acceleration was incredible. The car pulled straight and true with almost no tire spin out of the gate. As I wound the car out and shifted to second, the legal limit came quickly in about 4 seconds. The bimodal exhaust note was now louder inside the car, but not overwhelming. The only car that has ever impressed me as much as this car out of the hole was a '65 1000 HP-injected street rocket. Yet this car was as docile as a pussy cat when driving it normally. In fact, if it wasn't for the gross amount of power under your right foot, you would think you were driving a standard C6. While the ride is much stiffer, it is not as harsh a difference between a standard Corvette when compared to the earlier Z06s.
One of the highlights of the car is how comfortable the interior is. The bolsters in the seats keep you comfortably placed, but are soft enough not to be intrusive to your ribcage like many other supercars. The lumbar support is much improved, and the seat position is dead-on. The instrument panel has been redesigned with new tach and oil-pressure gauges. I wish the Corvette Team would upgrade the interior appointments and get rid of the overabundance of cheaper-looking plastic inside the car. They have upgraded the radio knobs and some of the finishes for 2006, but it needs to be improved further. By going to the new three-spoke steering wheel (in all '06 models), the gauges are easier to see when the tilt is adjusted correctly. The car had no rattles at all, which was very surprising. The more I drove the car, the more addicting it became. I had a hard time finding a limit to the car while still following the traffic laws of the land. The car has plenty of range between gears, which allows a more flexible driving experience in almost all conditions. The car has a ton of torque. In real-life driving situations, the car is very forgiving at the most opportune times.
Later that day, I was able to spend some driving time along the Blueridge Parkway with Dave Hill, who had taken over the navigation duties. I asked him when the development on the '05 Z06 began. He stated, "about four years ago, in 2002, after we released the 405HP Z06." I asked him if four years was the normal development time for a car like this, and he answered, "It was pretty fast with a car with this technology. We actually have been working on the aluminum structure for longer than that. The conversion to the 7-liter engine happened partway through, so that was the latest big change to the car. In order to meet the target for 500 hp, we had to agree with marketing to move the car up-market a bit, but still be able to produce the car in the volumes we want to sell. This is a lot of technology coming together in one car, but it has been a more successful startup than in 2004 or 2005. We spent an enormous amount of time perfecting the way the systems in this car work together. Since January, when the car was first shown in public, I feel like it has been very well accepted by the Corvette world. We worked with the whole enterprise team because we want to deliver great value, but we also want to be a volume player in our segment of the market. While we may share parts with other divisions, say like a radio that looks and works good, who cares? The parts that are important to be Corvette parts are totally Corvette parts. I feel like the Chevrolet and Cadillac brands now have some momentum and some credibility. People can see that both brands are winning brands. There is lots of good stuff happening at Cadillac and Chevrolet."
Dave had an important conference call at the end of the day, so we took the lead of the other Corvettes, and let's just say no grass grew under our tires on the way back to VIR.
The next day was track day, and I couldn't wait to try the car out with no speed traps to worry about. Johnny O'Connell, C6R driver extraordinaire, was there to brief us on the track's layout and nuances. After the briefing, we took a ride in vans around the track at slow speed to familiarize us with the track. We then got in our cars and followed Johnny around for 2-3 laps to adjust our approaches and track lines at a slower speed before getting a green flag to be on our own at our own pace. This is where it got good.
Once the track personnel said go, no matter how fast I drove the track, the car was ready to forgive my mistakes instantaneously and at any angle. The car stayed flat through the tight corners and, even with quick overcorrection in the steering wheel, the chassis recovered quickly and without fail. I probably took at least 15 laps at high speed, where on the 4,000-foot back stretch, I reached an excess of 135 mph several times. The car continued to accelerate effortlessly on this part of the track. Following the back stretch was a series of descending reverse curves called the Roller Coaster, well named to say the least. Here the car plowed through each segment with no trouble at all. The massive six-piston front/four-piston rear brakes never heated up, and there was no fade whatsoever from any of the serious driving I dished out. The "real" front and rear brake ducting gets high marks from this journalist, keeping the rotors cool all day long and under severe conditions. The seat bolsters now earned their keep on the track, keeping my derrire firmly planted in the seat for the next tight apex. With the traction control on, it is virtually impossible to wreck the car unless you have suicidal tendencies or you happen to totally lose control at speed. Over and over again, the car performed flawlessly. I gave the car all I had and more, pushing the envelope with each lap, and the car seemed to be asking for more speed, daring me to try the next curve faster than ever before.
For the final lap of the day, Johnny O'Connell took me out on the track to show me what I couldn't do, at least not yet. I am sure he gave me the 65-percent, keep-the-journalist-safe ride, but it was plenty wild enough to prove to me that probably less than 1 percent of new Z06 owners will ever come close to touching the true potential of this incredible car.
Now the real challenge for those of you who can buy this extraordinary machine (starting at $65,800 including destination and freight charges) will be finding one to buy. At press time, the full allotment of Z06s that are to be built for 2006 have already been sold; the waiting lists are long; and the scalpers are now at full throttle. I have been told by GM sources that since the 7-liter engine is hand-built in Wixom, Michigan, under a much slower production timeframe and strict build parameters, this may prevent GM from increasing production to meet the demand. Basically, they can build more cars, but not enough engines. Hopefully, this engine shortage issue can be resolved somehow, and the Z06 will become more readily available at a dealer near you soon.