As promised in my earlier post, re my BG delivery, my thoughts about the C5 and Z06 in particular. Our drive home from BG was approximately 640 miles consisting of both interstates and 2 lane state routes.
Prior to my delivery, I had never driven a C5, let alone a Z06. My previous car was a '93 ZR-1 modified to produce 395 rear wheel h/p on a Dynojet.
Ergonomically, the Z06/C5 has a clear advantage over any previous Corvette I have owned. Seating is very comfortable (perhaps a little more bolster could be used for competition) and all controls/gauges fall readily to hand. The center console radio and HVAC controls are a bit busy but manageable. Instrumentation was far superior to the C4s, including dash illumination at night.
Shifter was firm and once you got comfortable with the appropriate hand position needed to throw various shifts, and remember to use the centering spring to tell you where third and fourth are, I had little problem. I can see where you can hit fifth instead of third ( I did it a few times in the beginning), but now that happens very rarely. Actually, the shifter was very similar to the ZR-1 in this respect. I did have the shifter pop out of first twice, but I was told that will go away with break-in. At this point, I am not considering replacing stock.
The four things that just jumped out at me were: how light and tossable the car felt, the stiffness/integrity of the chassis, the "right now" on tap seamless power, and those incredible brakes. In all of these areas, the Z06 is a quantum leap over my ZR-1. The ZR-1 was a very heavy car, especially so in the front, and a car that had a comparatively week chassis compared to the C5.
The "heaviness" and chassis flex were very noticeable issues to deal with during either high speed cruising, and/or track events. In comparison, the Z06 is "point, shoot, and scoot".
On day two of our trip back, I opened her up to 120 mph on a deserted interstate, and it was completely uneventful and effortless. We also did some "spirited" cornering on the 2 lane state routes, and the car was so good, it was a non event.
Incredible, just incredible. Make no mistake about it - this is one bitchin' world class car, light years from the Corvettes that preceded it. And as icing on the cake, the stock exhaust sounds so dammed good, I am not doing anything to it except putting long tubes on next Spring.
My biggest problem now with 800 plus miles, banging the next gear before hitting the rev limiter - it spools up so damn quick!
:-D :-D :grin: :grin:
Prior to my delivery, I had never driven a C5, let alone a Z06. My previous car was a '93 ZR-1 modified to produce 395 rear wheel h/p on a Dynojet.
Ergonomically, the Z06/C5 has a clear advantage over any previous Corvette I have owned. Seating is very comfortable (perhaps a little more bolster could be used for competition) and all controls/gauges fall readily to hand. The center console radio and HVAC controls are a bit busy but manageable. Instrumentation was far superior to the C4s, including dash illumination at night.
Shifter was firm and once you got comfortable with the appropriate hand position needed to throw various shifts, and remember to use the centering spring to tell you where third and fourth are, I had little problem. I can see where you can hit fifth instead of third ( I did it a few times in the beginning), but now that happens very rarely. Actually, the shifter was very similar to the ZR-1 in this respect. I did have the shifter pop out of first twice, but I was told that will go away with break-in. At this point, I am not considering replacing stock.
The four things that just jumped out at me were: how light and tossable the car felt, the stiffness/integrity of the chassis, the "right now" on tap seamless power, and those incredible brakes. In all of these areas, the Z06 is a quantum leap over my ZR-1. The ZR-1 was a very heavy car, especially so in the front, and a car that had a comparatively week chassis compared to the C5.
The "heaviness" and chassis flex were very noticeable issues to deal with during either high speed cruising, and/or track events. In comparison, the Z06 is "point, shoot, and scoot".
On day two of our trip back, I opened her up to 120 mph on a deserted interstate, and it was completely uneventful and effortless. We also did some "spirited" cornering on the 2 lane state routes, and the car was so good, it was a non event.
Incredible, just incredible. Make no mistake about it - this is one bitchin' world class car, light years from the Corvettes that preceded it. And as icing on the cake, the stock exhaust sounds so dammed good, I am not doing anything to it except putting long tubes on next Spring.
My biggest problem now with 800 plus miles, banging the next gear before hitting the rev limiter - it spools up so damn quick!
:-D :-D :grin: :grin: 
