mousecatcher

you kidding?

most people couldn't tell a 360 from a CS from a 430 from a scuderia! try telling the different 911 models apart!

viper? who cares.

mousecatcher

same for any car, including z06 vs GS. the masses, however, can't tell them apart and apparently this is the cause of the grief here. i think. just a guess since i can't understand why anyone would care.

robvuk

I've been a car guy all my life and I can't tell the different GENERATIONS of 911's from each other. As far as I can tell, there haven't been significant changes since the 80's and the $80k car looks like the $200k car. Bigger wing? Paint stripes, Stickers? And what about AMG Mercedes, or M series BMW's? Look for the badge or you don't know.

Mjolitor 68

Now theres a great idea

Poor-sha

I read about the first 20 posts in this thread and give up. I bought my Z06 for the performance and not as a status symbol. Having spent yesterday at the track passing everything on the track except a Murcielago I am happy with my decision.

UTVOL06

From what I hear chrysler is selling off its Viper division to some foreign company...I hope the Viper stays around, but its not looking good for it. With Porsche you pay a huge premium for the performance. The only car at C6 Z06 performance level or slightly above is the 997 GT2...a $200,000 dollar car. Maybe thats in your budget, but its not in mine right now. If I had the money right now I'd have a Zr1.

vettewarehouse

I dont have a corvette at the present time.
I am looking lately at getting a Z06.....But now after looking at the GS pics from the bash...it kinds of makes the Z06 looks oridnary.....The GS does invade the Z06 look....Something should have been done to the
Z06 as well.....IT does make me think more than twice if I wish to purchase a Z06......There is something wrong when the base model looks like the top of the line model......its just not right.

KMK454

I don't know why everyone is complaining about the Grand Sport having Z06-like fenders and brakes. That's all wrong! The fact is that the Z06 has Grand Sport-like fenders and brakes. Hell, the Z06 even has C6-like badges. Damn those Z's are poser cars!

C6400hp

Improving the breed does not make your Z06 any less of an incredible machine, enjoy your cars guys, it is one of the best performance cars in the world and the GS does not change that! We are all so lucky to have the machines we do!

SSphantom

Some people are looking at this wrong. It's great that GM did this.
It shows that they are progressive and take the Corvette seriously.

Z owners are should be happy that GM is actually implementing real performance upgrades instead sticker packages.

Now GM has actually made the biggest change to the C6 since the LS3 and Z owners are mad? Hopefully this is a sign that the Corvette is here to stay.

It's only natural that DNA from the Z pass down to the C6. Why is anyone surprised? Most good and progressive car manufacturers do this.

One day some of the ZR1's DNA will pass down to the Z as well. Are Z owners going to be mad when that happens? I don't think so.

The truth is that the Z is still a great car, but it's old are relatively unchanged. If GM has upgraded the C6 like this, what do you think the new Z will be like? The new Z is going to be freakin' sweet so relax.

I think this is a sign that GM is listening to us. The Grand Sport offers a lot of changes that many of us have been talking about for a long time.

Z owners or not can choose to look at this from an perspective you want. Why not look at it from a positive perspective?

CPhelps

I agree, I would have been disappointed if the new GS was just another Paint/Sticker/wheel package. If you follow the Corvette you will be able to tell the difference, if you didn't, you wouldn't be able to tell anyways.

The Z06 still has its performance advantages. Since people could buy the aftermarket parts to do this to their C6 anyway, just makes sense that GM would get in on the market and offer it to them from the get-go.

AtomicZ

All of the Z06 owners owners complaining that this dilutes the Z06 are probably the same ones who wish the brakes from the ZR1 would trickle down tho the Z06. I think it is great that GM put out a new model or option that is not another sticker package. I think the widebody looks 10 times better than the base model and being able to get it in a convertible is awesome.

JG853

I own 1996 Grand Sport Convertible 853. The new Grand Sport option looks good. I do not think it takes away from my C6 Z06s'. In fact, I prefer the fixed roof over the coupe and convertibel. Guys were putting wide bodies on the coupes and convertibles anyway since 2006. No different now in my opinion.

The new GS is not as unique as in 1996. I think people will go for it as the Z06 body is awesome. The Convertibles looks nice with the C6Z body.

I am sure this option will not be cheap.

I do not feel slighted in anyway. My C6Z06s' are awesome.

JG853

'06 Quicksilver Z06

Guys I feel compelled to post up in this thread again, because I'm not liking what I'm seeing here and some of us are looking at this thing all wrong, I think.


I posted this in the big thread and I think it applies here:

I'm liking this car more and more with the passing of each day. I think its an excellent addition to the lineup.

My big fear was that they would make a complete knockoff Z06.

Complete with red Z06 brakes, with the actual Z06 or ZR1 side panels on them, and then put "Grand Sport" in the place of the Z06 emblem.

But I think the side cove, at least for me anyway, gives it a distinct look which differentiates from its other wide bodied siblings.

That side cove, "old school" retro three gill which pays tribute to prior Vettes, its wheels, and silver calipers, tells you right there that it's something other than a Z06 or a ZR1, before you even look at the badge.

There were two, but now there are three legitimate, factory(not hacked in some DIYers garage) three wide bodied C6 Corvettes now.

You can tell what flavor they are by looking at, among other things, the brakes and the side cove.

Strong (Grand Sport), Stronger (Z06) , Strongest (ZR1).

Funny how just that identifying feature, along with the fender slash stripes,Grand Sport logo interior, different color brakes, etc. gives it it's own model status, but I think they do.

I had asked someone else, what differentiates this car from one that a guy can build in his garage. I think thats part of the answer.

The guy who calls up Gene, orders Z06 parts, and then goes into his garage and hacks his narrow bodied car into a Z06 clone, a lot of times, does so right down to the red brakes, OEM Z06 wheels, identical Z06 fenders and side cove, red calipers...the works.

Sometimes even the Z06 badge. Some even leave the badge off, as if that puts them on some moral high ground above those who do the same routine but leave the badge off.

Thats a poser. Always was, always will be. Badge on or badge off.

You can look at a for sale thread for a set of Z06 enbroidered seat covers and see base C6ers looking to buy them. Or Z06 gauge clusters.

Posing, no matter how you slice it.

This Grand Sport, thank goodness, does not do that . And I think thats why I like it so much. It is it's own car. Its own model, and not some wannabe that has copied something else down to a "tee" like some of these homemade hack jobs we see in here.

While it does copy the overall body style of the Z06, its still manages to leave both cars unique with the differences I mention above.

Some of those differences:

The Z06 is more powerful, and not by just a little bit, it boasts low 11 second quarter mile capability, with one managing a 10 second run on stock runflats, and no fewer than 4 doing it on drag radials.

The Z06 is considerably lighter contributing to that capability and it's nimbleness.

The Z06 has an aluminum frame, and magnesium engine cradle and roof structure, same as the ZR1. Its engine sits lower and further back.

The Z06 has a hand built 427 cu in 505hp engine in it. The rebirth and the last of the 427 cu in designation.

The Z06 laid the foundation for this body style and changes from the ground up, for it's siblings the ZR1 and now the Grand Sport. It is, and always will be, the original. The trend setter.

Where a lot of you guys are missing the boat on this whole thing is this: The Z06 STILL enjoys whatever performance advantage it had over the base C6, and because of the weight increase of the Grand Sport, may even have widened that gap.

You ought to be giving General Motors a hug that they actually widened the performance gap between your current cars and this Grand Sport.

This car weighs a whopping 131 lbs more than a Z06, and is giving up 70hp to the Z06 on top of that. It is 94 lbs heavier than the last base C6. Go ahead and tell the truth, there is not a single one of you whining about the look being stolen, who has taken that into account has there. It weighs 94lbs more than it did, and is not making 1 hp, nor 1lb/ft more power than it did last year.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...post1569834106

Overall though, GM did a good job with Grand Sport . For the guy who wants to style, or like myself, looking for another Corvette for the family, which doesn't necessarily have to be an outright beast like the Z06 or the ZR1, but still has plenty of capability, this fits the bill.

It can be had in automatic with the drop top for the cruiser who will never, ever, ever see the track, or for the guy who likes to autocross or do HPDEs and wants the manual with the dry sump and the battery in the back.

For the guy who does or does not want to go all the way into Z06 territory, for whatever reason, the top, etc. and still wants the dry sump and Z06 springs, shocks, swaybars, look, but doesn't want or need 505hp from the factory, this fits the bill for him too.

I look at it as a baby Z06, and look forward to it's "real" performance numbers. Not that ad copy. GM didn't have to do that.

I suspect that we are going to see some good quarter mile times out of it in that A6 configuration. Not record breaking, but good. This car is going to make a name for itself.

ptaylor_9849

Do I have this right? There will be a base C6 like there is currently, a grand sport with a wide body, the Z06 and the ZR1. If this is correct, then where will the pricing fall for the grand sport? This could really hurt not just Z owners but regular C6 owners as well. Can you imagine how many C6 owners will be looking to upgrade to this new body style? They will trade in their old C6 which will then overflow the used car market and all of our values will plummet even further. If you think we've got it bad, how'd you like to be a regular C6 owner right now? Nobody's gonna want their body style.

SSphantom

I'm willing to bet that the Grand Sport package will probably be just as much if not more than a 1LZ Z06. A fully loaded C6 Vert was in the high 60's to begin with. At certain times, some brand new Z's could be had for under 70K, so the prices were close even then.

Convertibles are always going to be more expensive than the coupe so it naturally brings the price even closer to the Z. With the GS offering a wide body, bigger tires, etc. it will certainly be a lot more than an equally optioned regular C6 Vert.

03sixspeed

I think the car looks great. But for me it is still not a Z06. I own a 2003 coupe and dream of owning a C6 Z06 but with the current economic situation and the company I work for being slow I may not see it for a while. I hope Gm will step up with more performance in the Z06 like direct injection or revised cam. I love the Z06 for it's wide body appearance but without the LS7 it is not a Z06. There was another post about how many times poeple remove the roof on their coupe, mine has been off less than a dozen times since 2003. I can live without it. Long live the Z06

PureSwank

Lmao lmao lmao lmao!!!

Alreadyinuse

I'm just pissed they didn't put those ( IMO ) great looking gills on my ZO6 to begin with! I even like the stripes. SO I guess if you put those features on your ZO6 you are posing backwards..

VRedZ06

I would consider the front fenders. I like the gils.