Z06 on Fifth Gear tonight
Discussion
I watched TG Episode 2 from the BBC website yesterday, the programme shown last night (Sunday 21st) was episode 3 I think and didn't have the Z06 in it.
It got a reasonably good review, but Clarkson said that it is great as a track car, but not on public roads as the ride is terrible, the engine sounds like a bag of spanners and has terrible driveline shunt, you can't put the power down on the road, the gearbox is out of a tractor, and the tyres are very noisy.
Well, over the last 2 weeks I drove my girlfriend down to the South of France and back in mine, covering over 2,000 miles or so. As you may have seen in other posts I've also drag raced it, and experienced first hand how it performs around a circuit, when I tested it with EVO magazine. And I'd beg to differ from the curly haired one.
The gearbox itself is fine, but does need a better shift (I have a Hurst quickshift on order).
The tyres do make a terrible noise on concrete motorway surfaces, but on tarmac are quiet as normal. The engine (which is a fantastic piece of kit, possibly the best part of the car) sounds great, quiet at low revs, and snarly above 3,000rpm. Best of both worlds.
There is no driveline shunt if you can use a clutch properly and are used to the car.
As for putting the power down, well, this is a 505bhp car and with the driver friendly traction control system that GM have used, allows some wheelspin. If you think that 505bhp on street treads shouldn't give wheelspin...well I guess you can use Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials or Nitto 555Rs, but in the wet they are not that great. It was a huge boon to have such a large boot when going on a long holiday, with all the luggage, and of course wine that you can't resist buying, if the space had've been used up by a spare tyre instead of being fitted with the run flats then this car wouldn't be so user friendly as a road car, which is why GM have chosen the run flats, in addition to the security they afford when you are miles from home in a foreign country and find a nail in your tyre like I did.
As for the engine, well it gets 30mpg when cruising at 85mph and can stomp past long queues of cars and lorries in one effortless swoop. That is quite a trick.
As far as i am concerned, far from being set up for a circuit, on the contrary, in fact I'd say it is a superbly focussed road car that is compromised as a strip/circuit car simply by the run flat tyres.
The best thing about the TG test was that Clarkson compared it to a 575 Maranello and couldn't find any reason why the Z06 costs 100 grand less...especially when it is 4 seconds a lap quicker than the 575 around their test track.
It got a reasonably good review, but Clarkson said that it is great as a track car, but not on public roads as the ride is terrible, the engine sounds like a bag of spanners and has terrible driveline shunt, you can't put the power down on the road, the gearbox is out of a tractor, and the tyres are very noisy.
Well, over the last 2 weeks I drove my girlfriend down to the South of France and back in mine, covering over 2,000 miles or so. As you may have seen in other posts I've also drag raced it, and experienced first hand how it performs around a circuit, when I tested it with EVO magazine. And I'd beg to differ from the curly haired one.
The gearbox itself is fine, but does need a better shift (I have a Hurst quickshift on order).
The tyres do make a terrible noise on concrete motorway surfaces, but on tarmac are quiet as normal. The engine (which is a fantastic piece of kit, possibly the best part of the car) sounds great, quiet at low revs, and snarly above 3,000rpm. Best of both worlds.
There is no driveline shunt if you can use a clutch properly and are used to the car.
As for putting the power down, well, this is a 505bhp car and with the driver friendly traction control system that GM have used, allows some wheelspin. If you think that 505bhp on street treads shouldn't give wheelspin...well I guess you can use Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials or Nitto 555Rs, but in the wet they are not that great. It was a huge boon to have such a large boot when going on a long holiday, with all the luggage, and of course wine that you can't resist buying, if the space had've been used up by a spare tyre instead of being fitted with the run flats then this car wouldn't be so user friendly as a road car, which is why GM have chosen the run flats, in addition to the security they afford when you are miles from home in a foreign country and find a nail in your tyre like I did.
As for the engine, well it gets 30mpg when cruising at 85mph and can stomp past long queues of cars and lorries in one effortless swoop. That is quite a trick.
As far as i am concerned, far from being set up for a circuit, on the contrary, in fact I'd say it is a superbly focussed road car that is compromised as a strip/circuit car simply by the run flat tyres.
The best thing about the TG test was that Clarkson compared it to a 575 Maranello and couldn't find any reason why the Z06 costs 100 grand less...especially when it is 4 seconds a lap quicker than the 575 around their test track.
That was a happy Tiff!
Superb 5 minute review. Quotes from the test in France:
"It doesn't take long for you to begin to enjoy this car"
great: "sounds"; "feel"; "excellent HUD"; "g meter" although the interior "way behind European standards"
"ride quality is very good until you hit a pothole but very survivable"
"you could enter one of those drifting competitions in this and win hands down"
"it defies all the things that have been bad about American cars"
great: "handling"; "brakes not giving up"; "sounds: Aston Martin and Jaguar eat your hearts out",
and the bits you'll love:
"the Americans are showing US how to do it!"
"I've laughed and joked about american cars for so long... and here I am balancing at 100mph, flipping into the power slide of all heavenly power slides and it's all under my control!"
"GM say it laps the 'Ring faster than a Pagani Zonda F, and for a fifth of the price."
Conclusion:
"The best value supercar on sale today!"
Boy am I looking forward to mine!!!!!!!!!!
Chris, glad you've been proving JC wrong.
Superb 5 minute review. Quotes from the test in France:
"It doesn't take long for you to begin to enjoy this car"
great: "sounds"; "feel"; "excellent HUD"; "g meter" although the interior "way behind European standards"
"ride quality is very good until you hit a pothole but very survivable"
"you could enter one of those drifting competitions in this and win hands down"
"it defies all the things that have been bad about American cars"
great: "handling"; "brakes not giving up"; "sounds: Aston Martin and Jaguar eat your hearts out",
and the bits you'll love:
"the Americans are showing US how to do it!"
"I've laughed and joked about american cars for so long... and here I am balancing at 100mph, flipping into the power slide of all heavenly power slides and it's all under my control!"
"GM say it laps the 'Ring faster than a Pagani Zonda F, and for a fifth of the price."
Conclusion:
"The best value supercar on sale today!"
Boy am I looking forward to mine!!!!!!!!!!
Chris, glad you've been proving JC wrong.
Saw Stiff Needle giving the C6 Z06 some stick on 5th Gear tonight and he obviously loved it.
"Best value supercar on sale today" or something like that. I paticularly liked the tyre smoking drifts around the corners, however I suspect this wasn't necessarily the quickest way to drive the car............
On the insurance thing I have all our cars now insured with Aon as they do a 1 policy multi-car insurance which gives me and Shoebag full no claims on all our cars protected.
C5 Z06 cost me about £500 a year.
>> Edited by vetteheadracer on Tuesday 23 May 11:05
"Best value supercar on sale today" or something like that. I paticularly liked the tyre smoking drifts around the corners, however I suspect this wasn't necessarily the quickest way to drive the car............
On the insurance thing I have all our cars now insured with Aon as they do a 1 policy multi-car insurance which gives me and Shoebag full no claims on all our cars protected.
C5 Z06 cost me about £500 a year.
>> Edited by vetteheadracer on Tuesday 23 May 11:05
Cheeky, re insurance, I am with MCE. Ended up paying about £1300 (car garaged). As you know mine was the 1st car supplied by the UK dealer and as a result the 'main' insurers did not know what a C6 Z06 was at the time, so couldn't quote as it wasn't on their usual scripts. However, this may now have changed. Flux quoted over £2800!!!!!!! You can imagine the shock/panic as that was my first quote with the car only a week away.........
lnrd said:
Cheeky, re insurance, I am with MCE. Ended up paying about £1300 (car garaged). As you know mine was the 1st car supplied by the UK dealer and as a result the 'main' insurers did not know what a C6 Z06 was at the time, so couldn't quote as it wasn't on their usual scripts. However, this may now have changed. Flux quoted over £2800!!!!!!! You can imagine the shock/panic as that was my first quote with the car only a week away.........
Until yesterday my quotes had been 2x that. The last two have improved though but not quite to that level. Are you in London? In fact, please can you e-mail me? I don't think your profile lets me e-mail you.
I hear what you're saying re: main insurers. I don't think much has changed there.
PS - real world economy in my Z06 was at 12.5mpg having spent the first 2 months of it's ife around town in London and being drag raced by me, and track driven by EVO; easily got between 27-33mpg cruising on Motorways and N roads for 2 weeks in France. Having been away for 2 weeks my average is now up to 15mpg.
If your main mileage is on Motorways, the average number should edge towards 25, if you're in town with a little motorway useage, then 15 is likely.
If your main mileage is on Motorways, the average number should edge towards 25, if you're in town with a little motorway useage, then 15 is likely.
Why do reviewers always go on about the build quality of the interior of US cars..? I had the misfortune of sitting in a BMW Z3 a while ago and the "plastic aluminium" trim on the dash was an embarassment. It honestly couldn't have looked or felt cheaper.
When was the last time anyone except a tester of an American car felt obliged to tap the dashboard..?
Z06 is way to fast to spend your time fondling the interior..!
When was the last time anyone except a tester of an American car felt obliged to tap the dashboard..?
Z06 is way to fast to spend your time fondling the interior..!
For those who missed it, the Z06 was (kind of) on Fifth Gear again tonight:
Tiff tested the Ferrari 599 GTB at Fiorano. He enjoyed it, although he said that feedback through the wheel was lacking, and directional change was nothing up to the F430's standard.
At the conclusion he asked himself if he would want one. Surprisingly, the answer was no. He said that it fell at the final hurdle: "On the track, the Z06 is more fun."
He also said that he'd prefer the F430 to the 599GTB. But for him to prefer the £60k Z to the £170k 599 is quite something!
Tiff tested the Ferrari 599 GTB at Fiorano. He enjoyed it, although he said that feedback through the wheel was lacking, and directional change was nothing up to the F430's standard.
At the conclusion he asked himself if he would want one. Surprisingly, the answer was no. He said that it fell at the final hurdle: "On the track, the Z06 is more fun."
He also said that he'd prefer the F430 to the 599GTB. But for him to prefer the £60k Z to the £170k 599 is quite something!
malc350 said:
Why do reviewers always go on about the build quality of the interior of US cars..? I had the misfortune of sitting in a BMW Z3 a while ago and the "plastic aluminium" trim on the dash was an embarassment. It honestly couldn't have looked or felt cheaper.
When was the last time anyone except a tester of an American car felt obliged to tap the dashboard..?
Z06 is way to fast to spend your time fondling the interior..!
Quite most interiors are a much of a muchness anyway! and ime going to allow myself to let go here so excuse me,
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