HellBent

(Can't help starting out by tooting my own horn but...) Back before there was any official confirmation on the base C6 specs I predicted 400hp. Was there any doubt? Not 359hp or 401hp, but 400hp. Surely it's not even meaningful to advertise that kind of accuracy or repeatability from an engineering standpoint, it's clearly marketing driven.

Like all corporations GM also has a marketing department who look at all the numbers and possible courses of action and choose the one that best sells their products in the long and short term. With that said it would seem an obvious choice that the new C6 would have 400 hp. Plenty more power than the base C5, and yet not more than the upmarket C5 ZO6.

Now following the evolutionary not revolutionary mantra, it is reasonable to assume the new C6 ZO6 will have just shy of 500 hp. Maybe 485hp? Then lo' and behold a year or two later we get 500hp and GM gets another spike in sales.

GM markets to the masses, the majority of which do not frequent corvette forums and probally have no idea or care that the "Corvette Forum" exists. If you stop to think about, would anyone really be excited (besides a few rabid enthusiasts) if the C6 ZO6 went from 500hp to 515hp after a year or two. The masses will already be sold on the C6 ZO6's amazing performance, reasonable price, and bold new look. There will be plenty of customers waiting in line to buy them the first year. Perfect reason for GM to wait a year or two to drop the 500hp bombshell. This will certainly keep interest alive.

Whats more is that Dave Hill has pretty much already started breaking the news of a sub 500 hp C6 ZO6. Several interviews quote Hill as saying that the C6 team is shooting for the 500hp mark but are still a little shy. Sounds like someone is slowly breaking the bad news. I've yet to hear a garuantee of 500hp from Dave Hill or Chevrolett.

So to make a long story short, count my guess as 485hp (give or take a horsepower here or there) for the first year C6 ZO6.

-AL

VICOUS

They have done it in the past. Look at the current Z06 and the older ZR1. I agree history will repeat itself.

68roadster

I think you will be pleasantly suprised. Past performance does not guarantee future hp ratings.
Image what demand there will be for this car when the 1st year is 500 hp, since so many are waiting for the 2nd year bump in hp.

Jim Shearer

Sam Winegarden (Corvette powertrain engineer) stated that he can't tell us what the horsepower of the C6 Z06 will be but the first number will be a five (He actually held up his hand with all fingers and thumb extended and didn't say the number.) He was asked if he is holding up four fingers or do we count the thumb. He said, "Count the thumb"

Outsider

what if they started with 500hp then in the third year of production they bumped it to 550hp. did you ever think of it that way? Lutz stated that the small block would reach 500 hp, but he didnt give a time frame.

Jeo

I think that they are striving for 500 in the first year and if they get it it will stay that way for at least 4-5 years but If they do not reach the 500 mark in the first year look for an increase to it in a year or two. -Jeo

GOLD72

I think in the past year, 500 hp has become the new benchmark and the rest of the automotive world is forcing the new Z06 to be a minimum 500 hp to avoid severe disappointment. Does anyone really believe that you can feel a difference in performance from 485 hp to 500 hp?? The General is going for the excitement of a nice round number - 500!!! The real excitement will be if the engine is 7.0L (427) because displacement makes torque.

GOLD72

Outsider

and gasoline makes power, but it is a matter of harnessing the power and putting it to the ground, which is key. you could have 500 ft/lbs of torque but it is meaningless unless you have the traction to use it. you could run into the problem of smoking the tires every time you floor it. which may be appealing to some, but i rather keep the traction and get the performance capabilities.

Chief Pontiac

That was the same old GM before Bob Lutz.This is the new and improved GM.

1991Z07

My C4 has 500 lb./ft, and has no problem putting the power to the ground with 295/35YR18's. Only time it is an issue is from a dead stop.

With the traction control they have on the current cars, those numbers can generate some exciting SOTP fun.

There are all kinds of interviews with Lutz out there, and all of them state that the C6 Z06/Z07 will outperform any and all of the competition the Corvettes race against...even with less advertised horsepower than said competition. THAT, my friends, is the critical factor in the marketing/sales of the C6. "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" has once again become a mantra within the General's hallowed halls.

Lutz doesn't like to lose races either...he's an old SCCA racer from way back

Z QQH 6

The track record has in the past been to roll out the new line with impressive #s. Then to continue the up swing in sales and to work out some 1st year production woes then drop the hammer. 01 Z06 385hp-02-04 405hp. It will go the same way. And they need it to compete with the Snake and isn't Ford comming with something? JMOP.
Wayne

Lazerwolfe

The '01 to '02 Z06 boost wasn't a marketing thing. They sandbagged 'cause they weren't ready and had to hold off til '02 for the full 405hp. I've read that in many articles. Therefore it's worthless as evidence for a 485hp to 500hp jump. I doubt GM would do that and once again **** off the people that get the Z06 the first year only to have 20hp arrive in the very next model year.

Not knocking your theory, just pointing that out.

Tom Steele

I agree. You can also look at the coupe/vert numbers. It was out for 4 years before they bumped it 5hp. I think that the Z06 bump was that GM wasn't truly ready to build the 405 number until 2002 model year.

Jeo

because it goes along with what i said earlier. -Jeo

Outsider

I have read that in several articles as well. i think i have said it before but i would love to see it initilally have 500 hp and then bump up to 525 and then up to 550 hp in a few years. yes Tom it is wishful thinking. so much speculation on the issue.

Chief Pontiac

I would say thats normal that each following year that a car is built it gets better.The technology advances,materals get lighter and the engines get stronger.That way the 1953 Corvette isnt like the 1973 and the 1994 isnt like the 2004.I really dont see the confusion with that.
But to say they held back on the horsepower as a marketing ploy is pure nonsense.

Outsider

Another thing is that the hp is not the only thing that can be upgraded, think about the trans, interior, traction control, weight, etc. alot of which can possibly effect the performace of the car.

HellBent

Certainly a lot of good replies here and several valid points. GM may not "hold back" on horsepower and we may see 500hp the first year. This is of course a possibility.

The point I would like to make is that GM horse power numbers are not merely luck of the draw or based on a remarkable breakthrough of a powertrain genius. As with all major corporations these decisions live and die by the committee.

Even cars off the same production line will perform differently due to state of tune and other variables. Let's be realistic, what is the margin for error in HP ratings anyway. 1% or maybe 2% on the conservative side. That's + or - 4hp to 8hp on a base C6. Therefore 397 hp to 413 hp. Would anyone or could anyone prove GM is fudging numbers if they said the base C6 has 410hp right now. Just imagine, if GM wanted the base C6 to eclipse the C5 ZO6 they could bolt on a cold air intake or use a K&N filter and get 410hp legitamtely. Looks to me like a predictable decision was made a while back for the base C6.

With this said, Dave Hill and the boys may be honestly fighting with emissions and CAFE standards to get a clean, green, and workable 500hp. I just think their addmission of difficulty in attaining 500hp is far too coincidental.

The key to my reasoning is that the masses won't care one way or another. The Viper and other supercars already beat the C5 ZO6 in HP anyway. So it's not a huge let down if the C6 ZO6 is just shy of the magic 500 number the first year. The automotive press will sell it as a close call anyway. The track times and other measurables will be the scale by which the C6 ZO6 is judged. Now on that train of thought the C5 ZO6 already was a serious champion of the tracks. Imagine what it will do with 80 more horse power, revised suspension and a hundred or so less pounds!

I guess we will see in several months!

Peace... (Secretly hoping for 500hp)

-AL

Jinx

What marketer is going to say it's okay to come up short of expectations? What marketer is going to say it's better to save something for the next year?

Horsepower is the single most-touted, most-talked-about, most-remembered fact about a performance car, period.

Five Hundred Horsepower. It's huge. You either hit it or you don't. It's binary. Coming up 20hp short may be mathematically trivial, but the psychological impact is devastating.

You can't say 480hp with a single one-handed gesture.

480hp is failure. Everybody knows they're shooting for 500hp. The number is already on magazine covers. Covers.

Viper nailed up the 500hp target. M5 hit the 500hp target. Z06 hits it on its debut, or it's perceived as a nice try.

.Jinx

claybutttz

why don't they advertise rwhp and rwtq (on any car/truck)... the #s they give mean nothing to me