Test drove a C5 ZO6

I need a cigarette

(24 hours later and I dont smoke)

The linear relationship between moving your right foot and how the car moves is completely and totally addicting. I think intoxicating is the word I am looking for.

I now completely understand why you see old men driving these things. It really could replace. .. . Well you know. I will be back when I get this dam grin off my face.

My 924s now seems to inadequate.

Corvette's will do that...

How much was it? They're getting into the "affordable" range. I'm torn between an Elise or a C5 Z06 in the next five years.

dean1484 wrote: I need a cigarette (24 hours later and I dont smoke) The linear relationship between moving your right foot and how the car moves is completely and totally addicting. I think intoxicating is the word I am looking for. I now completely understand why you see old men driving these things. It really could replace. .. . Well you know. I will be back when I get this dam grin off my face. My 924s now seems to inadequate.

While its not a complete substitute, 4th gen f-bodies do virtually the same thing at half price. Do your basic bolt ons, and they become even closer.

Round $$$$ 25K is what is being asked I bet 24 would take it . . . . it is an 02 with the candy apple red/burgundy color. I am hooked. I must have one of these now.

Like this but not the same color. (clipped from eBay)

Sooooo much car for $25K...

My neighbor has one, and lets me drive it about twice a year at the ripe old age of 18!! I am a very lucky kid. I never had it anywhere where I could really open it up though, I never got out of third and always found myself on somebody's bumper without even noticing it. Suffice to say, I was in love.

My respect for the Z06 started when I was at the Car and Driver Superfour Challenge. Lots of tuned 4-cylinder cars - EVOs, Subarus, a Miata, Hondas, etc. At the end of the day, Larry Webster took one run through the course in a Z06 and demolished everyone else. Yowza.

There's a guy in town trying to sell a 2008 Vette - not a Z06, but it's still got a 430 hp LS3 - for about $34k. It's pristine. Have Corvette resales taken a big hit?

I'll still take my LS engines in a more nimble package, but they're a hell of a car off the showroom floor.

What's funny is that I think these cars bottomed out in price a long time ago. I went with a friend to look at one of these (an '01 Z06 with under 50k) back in the summer of '05 and the dealer (new Chevy lot) wanted about $23k for it. Almost 4 years ago. I think the car would sell for almost exactly the same price today.

Keith wrote: My respect for the Z06 started when I was at the Car and Driver Superfour Challenge. Lots of tuned 4-cylinder cars - EVOs, Subarus, a Miata, Hondas, etc. At the end of the day, Larry Webster took one run through the course in a Z06 and demolished everyone else. Yowza. There's a guy in town trying to sell a 2008 Vette - not a Z06, but it's still got a 430 hp LS3 - for about $34k. It's pristine. Have Corvette resales taken a big hit? I'll still take my LS engines in a more nimble package, but they're a hell of a car off the showroom floor.

C4 prices have taken a huge hit -- it's possible to get an LT1 in the mid $6000 US range for a decent runner. C5s are dropping quickly, and a C5 Z06 suffers because a C6 has more power in a newer package. I've watched a few for sale ads for C5 Z06s that end up under $20 000.US.

A C6 with the Z51 package is a heck of a car; not a featherweight, obviously, but certainly lighter than 350/370s, Mustangs, or Genesis coupes with much more power.

Rob

I've seen high mileage C5 ZO6s under $20K. My buddy sold his with 46k on it two years ago for ~$24k. Unbelievable performance bargain. They are quite livable daily drivers, too. Just get the aftermarket "skip shift" disabler.

A buddy just bought a year old C6 Z06, paid low 50s for a 70k car - and now wishes he'd waited because the value is dropping. Apparently the ne z06 killed the resale on the C5s, and now the ZR1 is killi ng resale on the C6 Z06.

There are MAD deals on C5s right now.

I believe I converted a hardcore BMW enthusiasts into a LS1 lover last night. We went out to a night time autox kind of thing at a new racing venue here in Central Florida and on the way home I got on it from 60+ and then at a red light from 0-WTF and he couldn't believe it. He said never again will he bash an American muscle car....

But I'd go with the Z06, if I weren't so attached to my Bird, I would have ditched it a long time ago to get a C5 Z06

Awesome car. One of the best performance bargains around. I sold my C5 (non-Z06) for basically what I paid for it after driving it for a year and a half.

There may be cars more sophisticated, and with less tiny-schlong stigma attached, but there are few that will get you from point A to point B faster and with more composure.

Oh, also, LSX motors last forever. I hear stories all the time about track C5s with 200k+ miles on untouched engines.

Do it. If you don't wreck it, you'll be able to walk away if you ever get tired of it and get your money back.

jg

corvettes do that to you. they make most anything else feel like suck in comparison.

if not for the funky BCM in my 91 i'd LSx swap it sooner than you could say infinite aftermarket. so i'll use my LS elsewhere.

one day i'll add a Z06 to the stable, but i'll never get rid of the 91.

I was disappointed to learn that an LS swap into a C4 wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, too. Not that an LT1 is a dog; but an LS1 would be so much more.

Last few autocrosses I've been to, Z06 were by far the fastest hardware that didn't show up on a trailer. Y'all see the Top Gear where they took the C6 Z06 round the test track? holy crap

We have a tendency to beat the Z06's at autocrosses, both with Miatas and with Locosts :)

Car Craft has a mention of LSx-powered C4s in the latest issue, by the way.

Keith wrote: We have a tendency to beat the Z06's at autocrosses, both with Miatas and with Locosts :) Car Craft has a mention of LSx-powered C4s in the latest issue, by the way.

Ooh, I'll have to track down a copy -- I know there are conversions out there, but I thought it would be more "plug and play" than it is.

I started looking for C5 ZO6 over the winter but never could find a decent early version that hadnt been modified too much. $20k seemed to be the dividing line. I then started looking at Pontiac GTO's and purchased low mile 2004 for $13.5k. Not quite as extreme performance as ZO6 but a very fast capable and very comfortable car! And with the money I saved I bought my wife a Mazdaspeed 6 that I found during the search.