Just joined the Z06 club

[Lexi]

I've been thinking about doing this for 2-3 years now. I've been doing autox and track days for a good 10 years now with my daily driver. As I became more serious the last few years I started to mod my latest DD extensively for the task. I came to a cross roads where either I would go full out or pick up something else exclusively for the task. The problem with a DD that performs really well is its usually not as nice to drive on the street. So, I decided it was time to find myself a track machine. I also wanted to subscribe to the KEEP IT SIMPLE school, having gone down the modifed path I didn't want to do this again with my track car.

So, I decided whatever I get, it has to handle great out of the showroom floor, have enough power to still be fun down the straights and still be reliable and affordable. I came up with Miata-S2000-Elise-Z06. Right off the bat I was able to scratch two cars off the list. The Elise is still way too much money and the Miata is way too underpowered stock on the straights. I started to look for cars about a year ago, the Z06 was still selling for $25k and up so I started to focus on the S2000. Funny things happen, I lurked on the S2k boards and started to learn everything S2k, what the trouble spots were, which years had features I preferred etc. and finally I settled on getting a nice 04-05 AP2. By that time spring hit and the prices rose, naturally for a convertible. Then they kept rising, cars which were $13-15k were now being listed at $17-22k. It was nuts. I waited out the whole summer then in August decided to call it off and wait till mid winter for the prices to drop again.

Around this time I started looking at Z06's again and noticed the prices had dropped quite a bit and they were now easily available for sub $20k. This got me thinking, for a few $K more than an S2k I could have near double the HP, and Vette's are still pretty decent at autox events as well. I'd never have to concern myself that the Honda was a bit slower than I liked and I'd have all the power I'd ever want with a Z06. So I started to look at the FS posts , cars in Texas, Calif, NC.... then it happened.

Someone local who I kinda know put his Z06 up for sale. Very competitive price and I'd be able to test drive/inspect it locally which is always a bonus. I had it checked out at a shop that does lots of work on vette's and it came through pretty good. Everything is solid, a few nics and scratches but overall a good running car with no visible problems. Fast forward to yesterday, cash in hand and I have a Z06 in my garage. Its quite the tease, I didn't have a chance to register it yet so there's no plates yet, I'll get those next week. On top of that winter is coming so its going away into storage in 2-3 weeks time. I'm going to drive it on/off when its nice out to get a good feel for it and verify there's no immediate issues to raise with the seller. Better now than 7 months from now when it comes back out. That aside I'm excited to get this thing out to the track.

Coming from the Subaru camp its been years, about 15 years since I've owned and driven a RWD car and certainly nothing with immediate power like this. I'll use the autox events to learn how to handle the car (and maybe overdo it a bit to see how it misbehaves, better at the autox at low speed than the track at high speed) and enroll in a driving school or two at the track to get some solid instruction , been there before and its worth every penny.

Mods ? Well the Z is stock except for a device that deletes the 1-4 shift for fuel economy which is good because apparently its pretty scary when that happens on the track. I plan on leaving it mostly stock so I can max out reliability and really with nearly 400hp I don't think I'll be wanting more speed for a good while to come. What I do plan to do is replace all the fluids, upgrade the brakes fluid to Dot 4 Superblue, new sticky rubber all around, probably going with Nitto NT05 as they get rave reviews for track duty and are dirt cheap for a HP street tire, not so sure what brake pads to go with at the moment. It needs new front pads anyway so I might as well do them all to have matching pads F/R. Otherwise that's how I plan to run it next summer. If necessary I'll add an oil and a transmission cooler but we'll see how she behaves at the track.

Let me present to you my "new to me" 01 Z06 with 70k on the clock. She's a dirty girl, it was damp out when the seller brought her buy so she picked up some road spray.







Ick. While I was initially repulsed by the colour scheme the good news is you don't notice when you're behind the wheel and I plan on picking up a solid black interior. The seats may be traded out later for a good comfy track seat.



And a shot of my daily driver she's replacing for track duty. Now I've got something fun for summer and still something fun when the snow flies.

[C4 A6]

[hrama803]

Interior is different...Not sure if I like it

Love the Forester...

Congrats on the Z06

[Aguilar]

Good to see some pictures, the car looks sharp! 70k is nothing on these cars.

I picked up some replacement ceramic brake pads really cheap, part #s CMX731 & CMX732 (front and rears). Combine those with NAPA rotors and you have a solid and very cheap setup.

Please keep this thread updated.

[MRVW00]

NICE!

I love the C5 with the hardtop look. (I know all Z06's are like that)

The interior is a personal thing..I kinda like it.

Nice DD too!

YOU WIN.

[r_fostoria]

Interior is different...Not sure if I like it

It's a Corvette interior. Of course you don't like it.

[patrikman]

I saw the thread title and your name and was worried you were trading the Forester in. Congrats on adding another incredible smiles per gallon vehicle to your harem.

[.:bigred12]

What is the 1-4 shift? It looks to be a manual so why would you have to shift 1-4?

[mellbergVWfan]

Awesome garage combo.

[The Kilted Yaksman]

What is the 1-4 shift? It looks to be a manual so why would you have to shift 1-4?

Where have you been for the last 20 years? GM has used the "skip shift" feature on their 6 speed V8 cars for a long time. It's to help the EPA mileage numbers.

[URSledgehammer]

Love the Z06, not the interior so much. Open the hood and I will forget about the red accents inside. Now throw a Corsa Exhaust on it.

[Mike!]

Congratulations on your Corvette! I love both cars in your driveway.

[sforsancho]

Nice find.

If you're using Hoosiers get an Accusump or one of the other low oil pressure solutions. Personal friend put a piston through his block due to oil starvation.

This data is for the LS7, but the results are similar: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-z...hard-data.html

[patrikman]

What is the 1-4 shift? It looks to be a manual so why would you have to shift 1-4?

torks. because racecar.

[Diamond Dave]

Good looking car OP. I really do think that those Z06's will be an undisputed TCL darling in the coming years.

What is the 1-4 shift? It looks to be a manual so why would you have to shift 1-4?

well, for more information, it's an electronic lockout that when you accelerate to a certain RPM or when acceleration is brisk enough in first, it forces you to 4th and the V8 torque takes over. In a non-performance setting, it's pretty effective at keeping MPG respectable for a V8.

[compy222]

only downside is that i despise the shift knob and consumables cost 2x the s2000.

otherwise, one of my favorite cars out there.

[The Holy Molar]

Nice. I like your thought process on getting used to the car before taking out on the track. This just makes me sad that the closest tracks to me are ~8hrs away. Without really knowing do you think the Vette is more superior in every way than the Subby?

[dublax44]

forestor more info please!!!

[sandiegan]

Z06

I'm kind of lukewarm on black (I had a black C5). Hard to keep it good looking.

[Ross1013]

Nice garage! That's awesome.

[tuddy]

Only american car I want.

[Ross1013]

Only american car I want.

Cobalt SSTC, Boss 302, and new GT500 aren't so bad either.

[Toaster29]

The 1-4 skip shift is good for over 10% fuel economy improvement in the EPA city test cycle. One of the reasons I manually skip shift ALL of my manual trans cars. The 335 sees 1-3-6 and I'm in top gear by 35 mph.

Congrats on the Z06! They are really great cars. Very endearing.

[Lexi]

Thanks all. Not to worry, the Forester isn't leaving the stable anytime soon. Its such a versitile machine I don't know what I'd do without it. Yes the shift knob is a bit whacky looking but doesn't feel odd holding it. The price of consumables isn't all that bad, depending . Hawk HP+ pads as an example are $110 front / $85 rear. Now if I go with a set of R comps, the rears 315/30/18 are going to cost an arm and a leg. But, I'm starting off with NT05 street tires for $170/$200 which is extremely reasonable. And as mentioned the discs can be had for cheap, I used cheapies to track my Forester and it worked out well.

Is the Vette superior to the Suby at the track ? 90% yes. Moar power, great handling, more robust motor, though I bet the Suby will shine when the track is wet , I never had a problem putting the power down wet or dry. And no black wasn't my first choice either but that's what popped up locally. I wanted red or white but I'll settle for black as it will hide all the brake dust & tire debris nicely. For now yeah only American car I'd want, when the price drops enough perhaps a Mustang 6cyc turbo if they prove to be reliable used cars.

More info on the Forester: 2007 XT Sport (STI front end) . Has most of the STI bolt-ons such as turbo/intercooler/control arms/lateral links, Whiteline front/rear sways, Coilovers, 4/2 pots with DBA 5000/4000, replaced most of the bushings with Group-N and Whiteline, pro-tuned good for 350hp. I came across an OEM set of JDM Forester STI wheels this summer so I dropped my gold on rallye blue for the silver set of 18's. They may weigh more than my 17's but I love the look.

I haven't taken mine to the 1/4 mile tuned yet but simular ones are running low 4's & low 12's. I will say this, after test driving the vette and getting back into the Forester the vette is faster but not by much. Where I think it will take off will be from 100mph onwards.


Here's a little track action in the Forester, I'll have to get some in the Vette once I start lapping again

[Spray`]

Welcome dude!!!

I'm from the GTA and got mine a couple years ago, have already taken it to mosport.

I have a 2001 z06, with some mods.

Are you local?

[The Holy Molar]

[Lexi]

Welcome dude!!!

I'm from the GTA and got mine a couple years ago, have already taken it to mosport.

I have a 2001 z06, with some mods.

Are you local?

Local as in Ottawa :p Never been to Mosport yet, I do Shannonville and Calabogie which is 45 mins drive from my house.

[Spray`]

Awesome. We have a corvette club out here in Durham region, bunch of us did Mosport...
The back stretch is amazing when that engine opens up.

Local as in Ottawa :p Never been to Mosport yet, I do Shannonville and Calabogie which is 45 mins drive from my house.

[Lexi]

I know a few guys who run Mosport, they keep buggin' to get me out, someday !!

[dublax44]

I want your forestor!! haha Do you have any pics of it?

[Lexi]

Don't have any more Vette pics so sure I'll whore out the Lesbo-mobile

How it looked the day I bought it:





A few days after I brought it home





Track duty




Autox



Winter mode







Now running Forester STI wheels

[Toaster29]

Forester is soo cool, bud

[Iroczgirl]

Congrats!

[nmap]

Fantastic purchase! If you think the car handles well now, you should drive a C5Z with some suspension modifications. It really doesn't take much to make these cars absolutely world class handling machines.

[ValveCoverGasket]

seems a lot of guys are scooping these up for cheap. im not much of a corvette fan but you cant beat the deals


also, i dont think ive ever seen a forester in that blue color... and i live in subaru central.
good stuff