QUIKAG

This was my third time to Spring Mountain and I had an absolute blast as always. Facility is absolutely first-class, instructors are very friendly and fun, and this was my first experience with the new C7 Z51 and lucky me to be able to flog it for 2 days on an incredible 2.1 mile course.



For the record, I track a lightly modded (seats, harnesses, bushings, Finspeed wheels/slicks) C6 ZR1, so I am quite comfortable with fast track driving. The C7 Z51 has better turn-in, more stability under power and seems to stick to the track better (better tires notwithstanding). Part of this may have to do with the 173hp power difference between the LT1 and the LS9, but the LT1 was a very vocal and enjoyable engine.

I drove the C7 in Track Mode PTM 5 for the most part due to my experience level and it was a joy. One of my favorite new features is the active rev match. Completely awesome for track work and just removes extra hassle of heel/toe downshifting, so you can focus more on driving faster. I can heel/toe, but the ARM makes it a no brainer with PERFECT rev matching each downshift AND upshift.

Car is very balanced, the rev limiter is ultra-soft (i.e. it just kind of stops at the rev limiter and you really don't hear the usual brap/brap/brap sound, very nice). The color HUD with the light sequence as you get close to redline going to 5 blue dots at redline is just awesome. Love it.

Overall, the car is better than my ZR1 except in three areas: brakes, tires, and power most notably. That said, for less than $60k with comp seats (awesome and very comfortable even for my 6'2" 235lb frame) and Z51, I can't think of a more capable and enjoyable track car on the market, that just so happens to be 100% comfortable and smooth in around town driving with cooled/heated seats and about 100 electronic gizmos to play with whenever you aren't being entertained by the awesome sounding LT1 and active rev match downshifting. Car feels extremely solid and well made. We effectively had no issues between the 11 drivers in our class with all the cars.

Please understand, I will NOT trade in my C6 ZR1 for the C7 Stingray. As nice as the C7 Stingray is, it is just flat slower than a ZR1 with same tires, etc. C7 is more technically sophisticated, but it cannot overcome the horsepower, braking, and tire deficits. It does make me realize how utterly fast and capable the new C7 Z06 (and hopefully C7 ZR1) are going to be. I will be waiting for one of those models before making a change. In the meantime, I will continue to drive and love my C6 ZR1 which is and will always be a very special and very fast car.

I went with a buddy (Andi B.) and he did get a coolant warning, but that was because he was drafting right behind me during a very hard track session for a few laps and I don't think he was getting enough air through the radiator. That said, we did see pretty high oil temps (280+F range) and coolant temps (240+F range) which was a little disappointing in 60F ambient temperature. Andi and I aren't exactly normal track drivers (i.e. we REALLY push cars), but I was hoping for more robust cooling systems. I personally didn't get any warnings and the car was running fine and pulling hard every session, so the LT1 and the rest of the car didn't seem fazed. So, maybe it's a non-issue at those temps???

Here's a quick accel run on the front straight with pretty high temps already. Seemed to pull fine:

All in all, a complete blast. As a topper to the wonderful two day school, I was able to break the Level 3 student track record just as I did last year breaking the Level 2 student track record. My buddy kept me on my toes big time. The previous record was a 1:32.x set by a German driving school owner a while back and my buddy busted that on the first transponder session with a 1:31.1. On the 3rd and final transponder session, I clipped him BARELY with a 1:31.0 on the 2.1 course breaking Andi's two hour old record. hehe.

Corvettes are just incredible cars and Spring Mountain is an incredible school with awesome instructors and unreal facilities and track configurations. Thanks again to everyone there for making it another very enjoyable experience.

See below for more pictures.

INTRCUL

Great review! I'm really trying to make one of these courses happen this Fall. I just recently upgraded my older C5 Z06 to a ZR1 and was leaning towards the ZR1 class with the 3rd day open track option. Would you recommend the C7 class over the ZR1 class? I'm not a beginner and am very competitive in autocross, but have never done an open track event and haven't tried heel/toe yet.

QUIKAG

Wow, that's actually a hard question. As much as it pains me to say it, go with the C7 for one sole reason. SEATS. The competition seats in the C7 are WORLD'S better than the stock ZR1 seats. Do the C7 school and when you sign up, just politely ask if you can do a session or two in the ZR1, just so you can get a feel for the ZR1 on an open track.

As I said above, I am definitely keeping my ZR1 until a higher horsepower version C7 comes out with better brakes and bigger tires (i.e. C7 Z06 or ZR1), but I was very impressed with the technical sophistication and obvious attention to detail the engineering team put into the new C7. It's an incredible platform and highly capable for a "base" car.

ZBADESTZ@Straightline

Nice

cruzc5frc

Excellent review, I just finished level 1 two day ZR1 last week and had a complete BLAST (after a weekend blast in vegas)!

I have a feeling that the ZR1 classes will be winding down as there is an expiration on the GM ZR1 sponsored classes, at which time GM may take all those ZR1's back Leaving me and other Level 1 graduates to continue level 2 and 3 in the C7's which isn't ideal to me as I would like to stick the ZR1 platform throughout training.

Gary '09 C6

very nice write-up, and obviously a continuing great experience !

Werks

Lol, you said that you were going to do it and you did! Congrats on breaking the Level 3 track record

mjcourt

Congrats on your fast laps! Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm down for a repeat of level 2 next month. I'm looking forward to driving the C7 on the track.

poorboyandfester

Congratulations of the fast lap times. Did you drive the C7 using any other settings than "5"? I'm curious how much quicker they are than on setting "1" if my memory is correct. I was there a couple months ago for level 2 and ran a pile of 1:33s on setting "1" with the PTM seeming to be very invasive to me (especially the traction control). I'm planning to go back soon for level 3 and am dying to know if the car has a lot more to offer in the higher modes.

Also, I'm in Texas as well and would love to talk to you about what's really necessary to track my own ZR1 and where/when is the best time to do so. Honestly it may already be too modified to survive the heat but I'd still like to try it out. To date the only times I've ever set foot on a roadcourse were during my 2 trips to Spring Mountain so I'm very ignorant about what's really required and could definately use some guidance. Once again if you have the time for me I'd like to speak to you. I'll send you a PM to try and make further contact.

Thanks

QUIKAG

Thank you, Ron! I was hoping to do it, but I really didn't think I'd pull it off. I'm pretty happy, but know there is absolutely more time out there to be had, so it's quite possible that record will be broken before too long.

QUIKAG

SM owns a few ZR1's of their own, but you are right in the ZR1's will eventually be going away as the C7 is out. I bet when the C7 Z06 comes out, you likely won't be able to drive the C6 ZR1 anymore as they will "retire" them. That said, I did the Level 1 ZR1 school and when I found out I wouldn't be driving the ZR1 for Level 2, only the Grand Sport and C6 Z06, I was pretty bummed, but after doing the school, I don't really think I missed anything. You can learn the skills just as easily, if not easier, on the "lesser" models. The C7 is a joy and you won't mind at all only driving the C7 and not the ZR1 if you do the Level 2 or 3 schools.

You will love it! Thanks.

I did run in Sport 1 for a while and it was fine. If you're engaging it often, you're overdriving the car most likely. I did switch to Race PTM Mode 5 for most of my fast lap transponder sessions. It's a little less intrusive, but really works great. I run in PTM 5 all the time in my ZR1 and it's faster than with everything off.

By the way, Spring Mountain did confirm that Tommy Milner (yes, Mr. race car Corvette driver) himself ran in all off and PTM Mode 5 in a ZR1 and was a full half-second faster with PTM Mode 5 ON. If that doesn't convince you it's faster than everything off, I don't know what else to tell you.

Glenn Quagmire

As others have said, great review!

5280Racer

Jealous!!!! I wanna get on a track so bad!!!

Z06Ronald

Thank you for sharing your experience and pictures/video. This must have been a lot of fun!
I wished we had something similar in my country!

cruzc5frc

The guy on the right was in my Level 1, and said it was his 6th time taking Level 1. Then he was in your Level 3 the week after? Is it really the land lord from Big Lewbowski spending it all on SM?

05dsom

LMFAO!^^^

seriously though this C7 is as good as our ZR1's?
that's great, but almost unbelievable ....never thought a car costing $60k less would perform as well as ours .....progress !!

QUIKAG

Conrad was a cool dude and clearly he enjoys driving at Spring Mountain.

05dsom, not sure what you're talking about? I never said the C7 Z51 was as good as our ZR1 and certainly doesn't perform nearly as well as ours. Where did you read that?

I did say in some areas, the C7 Z51 is superior to our ZR1, but in the areas of performance, uh no.

icntdrv55

Got a question: Does Spring Mountain still have the C6 GS cars to take the class in? Reason I ask is that I bought my first Vette last summer and would love to get more experience behind the wheel in a track situation, but having a vert means no HPDE for me (I'm NOT putting a 4-pt roll cage in). I'd love to think I could get some direct driving experience in a C6 GS before they put them out to pasture and switch totally to the C7.

3LZZ06

I would just call SM and ask them. They'll know exactly when the C6's will be gone.

QUIKAG

Come to the US for a week. Do a 3 day driving school and spend the other four days partying in Vegas!