Um, this is great. Definitely the best C5 body style, and mostly just cool.
Um, this is great. Definitely the best C5 body style, and mostly just cool.
This is a car that I was looking to buy for much of the last 12 months, but I have decided to now resist the temptation for painfully practical reasons. And you come along with one in the right color and aren't even sure if you want it? Life is amusing.
Anyway, enjoy the journey and maybe you'll find that it is a good match for you. Plenty of people really enjoy them in the autocross environment. And if you don't want it, you should have no issue finding a new home for it.
I'll be following along, thanks for sharing.
I've momentarily talked myself out of having a toy in addition to my DD, not liking the idea of having to store and manage something that wouldn't get much use. I'm still enjoying running my 2016 GTI as my daily and for autocross (the car is generally not the limiting factor, it's me) and I do not want to get into track driving, so there is no need. But I have driven the C5 Z06 and also the first-gen Cayman and just want either of those. Or both would be fine, too.
Because of ground clearance on the Vette and also my getting used to all of the luxury features of my loaded modern GTI, I wouldn't rush to daily a C5 Z06. And I'm not comfortable regularly driving a car that people (both clients and friends) perceive as being very expensive. Fortunately the GTI is very good at all things, which makes it hard to justify getting something else.
So, I'll continue to live vicariously through folks like you and friends with fun cars, and once in a while get a drive in a proper sports car. I know this isn't the setting for making a statement like that, but I'm confident that it will work for me in the long run. (Countdown starts now for when I break down over the winter and start looking again . . .)
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Cool stuff! Good to see another z06 brought out of the dark. I vote leave the pop up headlights!
Following along as I am likely picking up a 2002 Z06 next year since my aging father hardly drives it anymore.
And the weird thing is I also own an 8th gen Civic Si.
Looks like a nice example of the best optioned C5s. Like i love to tell vette owners looking at my LS1-KART, drive carefully out there (and not on 15 year old tires) or someone will do 'this' to it!
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In reply to russ_mill :
Hah! Your Si is a sedan too?! Great minds and all that. They are very different cars and I find myself wanting to add torque (supercharge probably) to the civic so I don't *have* to wind it out, but then if I want torque I could also just grab the keys to the Z06.
Shifter in the Si is quite good, but not miata/RX-8 good. Years ago when I drove the Z06 often I snagged a used Hurst short shifter and threw that on. That was an upgrade from stock, but I think installing a C6 shifter is probably the best option. I have yet to try one. It's a cheap upgrade so you can throw just a little more gas on that credit card fire.
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With the Hurst there is definitely increased effort to change gear. I've heard the action of the shifter likened to operating a bolt action rifle and I pretty strongly agree with that.
Great thread, thanks for sharing.
I had an '03 Z06 for about 7 years that I alternately DD'd and tracked. It was a great car that was horrendously fast for the money (with no engine mods, I was running 1:42's on street tires at MSR Houston). I slowly "upgraded" a number things until it was practically undrivable on Houston roads, but it got so fast on track, I also worried about not having a cage and the LS6 blowing up, so I panicked and sold it.
I don't think I regret selling it. It was really a monstrous handful to drive. My favorite mods were the racing seat, quick-release steering wheel, CCA racing pedals, MGW short shifter, Penske coilovers, and AP Racing front brake calipers.
Make sure to suck out the clutch fluid from the reservoir (with a turkey baster or big syringe) and replace with fresh fluid frequently. It might help keep the clutch pedal sticking to the floor after hard runs. The proper way to fix the issue is a remote slave bleeder, but that's a really annoying install, so I never did it (I should have). I did install a Tick Adjustable Master to help combat the issue as well, and that definitely helped.
Anyhow, I was super deep into these cars for awhile, so please hit me up with any questions if you feel like it.
damen
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russ_mill said:Did the coilovers fix the bounce/unsettling of the suspension over rough surfaces? That, and the dead center of steering are what I would really love to cure.
The coilovers were setup for the track, and I'd even go so far as to say a relatively smooth track. I'm not a professional, but even I would say it was too stiff for our bumpy Texas tracks. And then I'm not near good enough of a driver/engineer to be able to say with any certainty whether the damping was properly matched to the springs. I bought them used from a very serious C7 Z06 racer in Southern California and never did get the dyno sheet for them. Now that I'm saying it out loud, it sounds like some pretty half-ass work by me. Whoops.
So to answer your question, no, my particular coilovers didn't fix bounce/unsettling over bad surfaces. In fact, it's possible it made that worse. Now that I'm an old man, I like to think that I'd spend a bit more time backing into a proper setup given my desired ride frequency, the actual sprung mass, and the motion ratios of the suspension, then purchase the proper equipment.
They were, however, unarguably good for lowering the car to an undriveable height :)
That front lip took some serious abuse.
damen
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Some tips for you on the suspension and the car.
Once you have the various suspension and steering bits sorted get the car a good alignment from a shop that will corner weight it with you in the car. This can make a big difference overall in how the car feels to drive.
I run my C6 Z06 in solo AS, the two cars are not far off in performance for that application. The limits of both cars are extremely high with the stock springs and some Konis. If you are going past those limits you are either a really amazing driver or a really crappy driver.
The first inclination with anyone, including myself, is to throw things at the car for more performance, but honestly other than the durability of some of the stock parts there is not much that makes the car faster that doesn't heavily compromise it as a street car because the limits of the car are just that high.
I don't think you're going to find that it will never be a great driver over rough roads. It's a low car with a fairly stiff suspension from the factory riding on wide relatively thin stiff sidewall tires.
I haven’t had any serious mechanical issues with mine. The niggly little crap however is enough to drive one out of their mind. Here’s what I’ve fixed on mine alone with help from the interwebs:
1) traction control / ABS / active handling module failed. Traded the core for a rebuilt one from some guy in the Midwest who has sent his kids to college by doing nothing else
2) steering wheel lock failed leaving the car immobile. Internet to the rescue. There is a way you can strong-arm it and defeat the locking mechanism until you get it home and do the necessary bypass. Fortunately for me it failed at my house. YOU NEED TO BYPASS THIS NOW¡ Google it!
3) AC started blowing out the defrost vents only. Here the problem is that a vacuum hose that is key to operating the door that controls where the HVAC blows is routed in close proximity to the out gassing battery. It becomes porous and then AC no es bueno. Had to just about pull the fender to get at it.
4) check valves connected to the AIR pump (emissions) failed throwing a CEL. Easy diagnosis since the DIC tells you exactly what the fault is. Straight forward fix but the intake has to be pulled. Actually a rather enjoyable job. I wanted to wrench on it anyway that night.
5) windshield washer button stuck and not only emptied the reservoir but burned up the motor too since it was pouring rain and I didn’t want to try and stop to unplug it. I have not fixed this.
6) the HVAC display is so dim it can only be read at night. This is common. There are some surface mount resistors that come unsoldered. I have not fixed this.
7) they leak. Say what?! Yep. Almost all of the FRCs will if it rains hard enough and the car isn’t parked perfectly level. You may or may not have success by “milking the udders”. Google that one too.
But to borrow a line from one of the hitchhikers Warren Oates picked up in Two Lane Blacktop, “..mister she sure does go some...”
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OMG, you have ruined a collectible car, it's no longer original, and you even are selling parts that a future owner may want!
Okay, glad you are making it yours, and it looks like the catch can is worthwhile for sure. Why didn't you want to keep the under-hood light?
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