Ransom 1

Okay, it's late and I'm exhausted but I'll give it a try because I know there's a lot of people wondering about this ---believe me I WAS!

After almost three years of getting in line, depositing, waiting, searching for any articles, info leaks, reading everything I could, following all the threads, Dave Hill saying "it will be worth the wait!" going to NAIAS to see it, watching O'connell drive it, viewing the "ring" reports of incredible lap times of Jan's, taking delivery from Rick Daniel and a smooth break in period---today the long awaited day arrived: Track Day.
I warmed up two days ago with my Z16 so I'd be ready to see if there's a significant diiference between the two Z's on the relatively "slow" 1.88 mi. Gingerman raceway. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised after reading everything I have and having driven it considerably, and hard, on the street---but no amount of reading or street driving can adequately convey this machine's true potential--it's potential is just too high. The POWER of this Z made a believer out of me!!! Dave was correct ...it was worth the wait. Now, I'm referring to ALL of it's power not just it's awesome torque/horsepower. Oh yes, there's the tremendous accelerating power that makes you wonder: "just how did I get to this turn so fast?!!; and how the He## am I going to shed this speed before I go flying off track in midturn?!!! STOPPING POWER---that's how!!
Thank God (and Mr Hill) this car's brakes shed speed faster than any engine I've experienced can make it. At first, as I slowly built speed though the beginning sessions, the brakes quite frankly didn't seem any better than my Z16---maybe even slightly weaker! But alas, how misleading partial information can be... to my delight, as my speed and confidence grew, the braking power grew equally right along with them. If I was anxious about the speed at which I was quickly approaching turn 1,3 or 11---and believe me I WAS--- all I needed to do was go harder and deeper into the brakes to again regain my dearly lost peace of mind. By the end of the evening, I would hit them so hard the front tires would squeal in protest but they would dig in and GRIP. Yes, these are runflats, but they are BIIGGG runflats. These FRONT tires (275's) worked well on my 03 C5 as REARS!!! As much as I LOVE my Z16, there is no way I would want to try to shed as much speed as I did tonight, in so short a distance, on it's stock wheels/tires. One note, because I have had unpleasant experiences with boiling stock DOT3 brake fluid in my previous Vettes and consequent soft/deep brake pedal, I flushed it out and put in ATE Superblue before going today. As a result, after 2 hours of hard runs and cooldown periods there was NO fade or change in pedal firmness---and where I come from that's a GOOD THING --a VERY good thing.
Now, another power...CORNERING/TURNING POWER. Incredible grip in the twisties, corners and hairpins. I saw a 1.19g tonight while solidly eating a 180 degree turn up at 60+ mph. Now my Z16 does not have a G meter so I don't know what it can pull in that same turn, but I do know that an acquaintance or two behind me in a 03Z and C6 Z51 respectively, were not liking what they were experiencing while struggling to keep up and keep their cars from imitating lawn mowers at any second. And they were very expressive about it afterwards: "We're back there sliding and struggling and your car just hunkers down and grabs like glue in the turns... then just pulls away from us like in the straights as if we're not even trying...on runflats! Amazing!!!"
And last of all, perhaps the most important kind of power...BALANCED POWER. At one point, as turns came at me faster than I'm used to, I went in too deep at speed (100+mph) before jamming the brakes---the car started to slide toward the grass but regained grip as speed dropped and I was able to correct mid turn and point her up the straightaway while the Z51 behind me went wide and kicked up a cloud of dirt. It surprised me with how easily it pulled itself out of a squirrelly situation---poised and balanced even when pushed past it's limits. Even when I was too jerky with the wheel, she held her line through the jogs and kinks as if she was in control and I was just along for the ride.
I still need much practice with the feel of the throttle, brakes and steering, but how easy GM's made it to feel confident while practicing and learning with the new Z.

A couple of other notes for what their worth...as many of you car buffs know, many of the mags will use Gingerman for testing because of it's safety and proximity...Car & Driver especially. So sometimes I can make rough comparisons from their tests to my own lowly performance. Well, their "Judgement Day" issue (Jan 04) always intrigued me with the comparing of the Ferrari Challenge Stradale, Porsche 911 GT3 and the Ford GT at Gingerman. I always wondered how the new Z would perform in relation to these others---now I have a pretty good idea:
Lap times --I started easy and worked up speed slowly to let things meld together---since this I"M paying for the car. Anyway, here's some of my runs: 2:00, 1:51, 1:40, 1:37, 2:12--traffic, 1:36, 1:35.5, 1:46--traffic, 1:35.3, 1:35.0, On my last set of runs my rubber band rigged timer moved and wouldn't give readings. So I can't say for sure after that but it sure did seem like my pace and smoothness improved. Afterwards I spoke with someone who was timing various cars and he said I had pulled a 1:32 during the last session--unfortunately I will have to verify that at a later date with better mounted equipment. As he commented "man, you were flying out there!" It sure felt that way. Anyway, I have pulled 1:35 in my Z16 at 10/10ths at my best---the new Z did it fairly easily at 8.5-9/10ths.
Okay now C&D: Ferrari=1:34.19
Porsche=1:34.15
Ford GT=1:32.13
It doesn't look good for me, unless his timing was correct...which I suspect it may have been. Why? I do know what some of my top speeds were during those laps and can compare those:
Top speed entering turn 3: Ford GT=105 mph
(5 mph faster than the two others)
C6 Z06=106 mph

Transition turns 7-8-9 Ford GT=74.6mph
C6 Z06=74 mph

Top speed entering 11
(end of back straight) Ford GT=118.6 mph(8mph faster)
C6 Z06=122 mph!

These are just fun comparisons to encourage me to drive better---not exact realities to argue over.
I can't believe I got so carried away and wrote so much-- sorry.

Anyway, as at home as this car feels on the street/highway, her true home will always be "the TRACK!"

Now for some badly needed sleep...
Godspeed, ---Damian

Hirohawa

Wow!

What a writeup!

Thanks

Corvette Maniac

Cool writeup indeed!! Let's hope you beat those C&D times next time!!!

PimpDadd

Great Writeup!!!!

seayzo6

Nice.

gx624

Yeah, I'm still jealous.
Even moreso, now.
Great read, man.

blandcastle

Sully C5

Sounds like a great time. I can't wait to meet up with one at the track!

Grumpy

just....damn..

EdsC6Z06

Great post. Good to hear these cars back up the hype on the track. I wish we had a roadcourse closer to home. Enjoy your awesome new ride!

Short-Throw

Imagine the seconds you'll shave once you get acclimated with the car!
Your write up drove me crazy as my Z is still a bucket of bolts somewhere!

vermjpv

Great write-up. Keep the news coming. I'm sitting on the fence now, whether to keep the C5 Z51 Vert. or try and trade for a C6 Z06

Ransom 1

Thanks for all the positive responses!!!

I also want to say "thanks" to Dave Hill and Co. for making it so much easier to flush and bleed the brakes. It is a PITA with my Z16. Lifting pucks, jacking, wheel removal---the inboard bleeders are just tough to get to without a lift. On this car the bleeders are right there behind the spokes. I'd grab two spokes and push and the car would gently roll forward to clearly expose the bleeder---Voila! And the Motive pump and attachments all work the exactly the same--and the bleeders are still 10 mms. Consequently, I did a full flush (except for the ABS) in about 25 minutes---which is almost as satisfying a record as a fast track time IMHO! You will want remove as much of the "old" fluid first though as the ATE Superblue (I don't know about Castol, Wilwood, etc.)is heavier and will sink to the bottom, and the DOT3 will rise to the top in the resevoir.
Also, since I run non-runflat F1's on my Z16, I wasn 't sure how the runflat F1 tires would handle the abuse---another pleasant surprise, they held up very well and show very little wear. I was concerned because I read a post where a test driver had corded a runflat at the track (which I have duplicated with my non-runflats)--- at about $500 a tire this is not what a lowly track junkie wants to hear--especially when no other options are presently available. I didn't even adjust the stock air pressure which was approximately 32 psi cold---they went to 37, 38 psi when hot. The surfaces got tacky but the compound must be harder judging by the way they resisted wear--especially on the edges/corners of the tires---they still look new. We'll see if this continues---wouldn't long wear and good grip be nice--one can hope!
Lastly, while my acqaintance in the C5Z was complaining about "high Trans temp" warning, I was enjoying very low temps throughout the evening. I never saw an oil temp over 218! I may be wrong though as I was VERY preoccupied with rapid fire turns coming at me. The only thing that got really hot were the rotors--they turned bluish as do my C5's and loaded with brake dust in the holes---but it didn't seem to affect their incredible ability to haul her down from high speed. More updates as I learn and "acclimate" to this wonderful ride!

---Damian

QUIKAG

Great write-up! Thanks for all the info!

Alesnik-MD

Great info, Damian. Man, in your first post I felt like I was right there in the passenger seat with you taking on those turns!

Mark Little

Awesome write up, thanks for sharng. A video would be a dream

Ransom 1

Thanks! My posting skills must be improving too---I 'm a newbie at the internet, but hey, I like sharing experiences with positive people---which CF seems to have alot of!
---Damian

Ransom 1

Thanks! I'm trying to figure out a way to mount my camera securely enough to handle the g forces. I have a Krausse harness bar/ camera mount in my Z16 but I doubt it will fit properly in the C6. You can rest assured I'll be working on it though.
---Damian

Dr Octane

Thanks for the great posts, almost felt I was in the passenger seat! Keep us posted on the updates

D-Train

I might have to sell the 911.
That post was Fantastic, thanks for the ride.