jwbostder

Greetings! I'm a new member and I'm looking for advice from the experts. My wife and I split our time between our homes in Florida and Texas, and for a while now, I've been thinking about purchasing either a C6 Z06 or a C7 Z06. I'm leaning towards the C6, as I prefer its looks to the C7. Price is really not a concern, but what I'm really looking for is a car that's reliable and can be upgraded (not overly so) without a lot of effort. I have a large garage with a two-post lift at my home in Texas, and I've done a lot of work on cars in the past. What are your guy's thoughts? C6 - why or C7 - why? Thanks!

Bruno417

Let's get this started the easy way. Do you want open air motoring? If yes, then your only choice is the C7. Do you only want an automatic? Again your only choice is the C7. If however you don't care to drive topless, and only want a manual, then the C6 in an option, because it has a fixed roof, and only has a manual trans.

I prefer the looks of the C6, and I prefer a car that does not have all the nanny controls, digital dash etc. The C7 is a much more refined car, my wife has a C7 vert 7 speed Stingray and has driven my C6 one time in the ten years I have had it.

That should help to get you started in the right direction.

ZR1Cat

Bruno provided some great advice. I'll add that the two you are looking at are very different vehicles, so you need to focus on their differences and what works for you. I would steer clear of highly modified vettes. They may have been rode hard and put up wet so to speak and tend to be less reliable on top of that. Good luck in your venture.

jwbostder

Thanks for the replies. I don't want a convertible and I do want a manual transmission. I'm not a fan of "nannies" and I don't think I'd like a digital dash. I've been looking for a while and I still really haven't warmed-up to the looks of the C7. Off to look at C6s for sale!

CamayroZ

Get yourself a nice C6 ZR1. In my opinion, they are so undervalued. They were more than $120k new and you can still get them in mint condition for under $90k. They look great, ample power, easy to work on, first class powertrain, lots of top notch components, and a ZR1 will always be a ZR1.

El Paso Vette

I have a 09 Z06 since new with 80,000 miles and it drives like is new. Of course I spend way too much money on it.
I prefer the Z06. Very Analog and brutal on its acceleration. Very smooth and tight suspension. 0-60 still in first gear, if that makes you happy. Light weight and easy to drive, easy to modify and maintain. Fabulous in the mountains. Quiet at speed (100 +). I found myself at that speed on a long desert hightway (no cool whip in my hair) and was amazed at the composure of the car.

Bruno417

Find yourself an unmodified low mileage Z06 and make a few “improvements” to it. If you haven’t driven one, the LS7 at 7K rpm is addictive. Yes the ZR1 is a beast but the Z06 is few tenths behind it with a professional driver. I’m about to turn 65 and have made a few mods to my car, been to Bondurant, Road Atlanta and Las Vegas driving schools and there is no way I can get even 9/10’s out of my car before I get nervous.

If you do get one, don’t ever turn off the traction control. If you do, and stomp on the loud pedal you will leave the road in spectacular fashion. Hope you find a nice car and when you do, be sure to come back and post some pictures.

rocsvette

All good advice. The C6Z, to me, is the last of the pure driver cars GM produced. After that electronics took over. Another advantage of C6 is an NA motor, no supercharger so no overheat/limp mode issues. I have a 2006 Z06 with 173k and heavy track use since it was new (Consumer Reports test car for first 10k). I also had 2 C7s which went back to GM for electronics issues and now a C8 also a Consumer Reports car. The C8 is a “pleasant travel car” but for visceral pure driving car, the C6 is it. It’s a vehicle the driver becomes part of and you either know how to drive it well at speed or you will have an issue. BTW mine has been incredibly reliable; at 158k the alternator failed, at 163k the left cat went as well as a license plate bulb (I did complain about that bulbs early failure to my GM friends) and at 172k the brake master cylinder called it a day. Considering the track use that’s nothing. At 123k, GM took the heads back to Milford Proving Ground labs and determined they were just fine. So they cleaned the pistons, proactively replaced the bearings, put the heads on and gave it back. Everything else was just replacing consumables. I did have to change the radiator after dealer didn’t clean between it and condenser and damaged the radiator and had to reimburse me for the DeWitts I had installed. If you want the real driving experience, get the C6Z, become one with the car.

jwbostder

Wow...that's a lot of miles! Thanks for this information. I briefly considered a ZR1, but I really want to go NA. I'm 67, so I'm not looking to race it, but I do want to have some fun with it!

Landru

An oldie goldie:
There're very good reasons I've held-on to my '08 since acquiring it new in '08.
This video explains it all -- in spades.

rocsvette

I’m 77, created the NCM HPDE program, co-designer of the NCM MSP, still instructing on track. I trained dozens of GM Corvette engineers and designers at the HPDEs that I ran including some major names in the GM Corvette world. I did forget one upgrade to the car; GM would benchmark my car when I would come back from track events. When they saw 1.3g on runflat tires at Mid Ohio, they changed the sump to a 10qt.

When I get back home, I will unload the C8, pack the Z06 and head to Sebring for 2 days of running and instructing. A week after that I’ll reset the Z06 and drive up to Mid Ohio for 2 days of instructing. As long as I physically can, I’ll be at the track.

Here is a clip from when I rented Sebring and ran an HPDE there: . If you watch to the end you’ll hear a former student say something.

and if you want some background on the C8 I now have and how the guys at CR look. On the C6 Z06 watch the first part of