Porsche to Z06
Well, I have had a couple porsches and a number of vettes.
Corvettes:
1990 ZR-1
1991 L98 Coupe (first one - put 150K miles on it)
1994 ZR-1 (still have it)
1995 Convert
2000 Z51 Coupe
2002 Z06 (just got)
Porsches:
1996 911 C4S
2001 911 Turbo
OK - I have been around the block on cars it seems. It depends on what you want in a car. There is nothing cheap about a Porsche - period. I loved both my Porsches until I started having problems. Yes, the Turbo had 9 recalls.
The quality of the Porsche is much better than the pre-C5 cars. My ZR-1, no matter how much I love it and I will probably get buried in it - it isn't a porsche in terms of quality interior. In terms of fun and motor. Well, it killed my Turbo at the drag strip. I added Porsche brakes to my ZR-1 and it rocks in the brake department now.
You aren't looking at a ZR-1. So, I have had my 2002 MY Z06 for a week or so. I have almost 900 miles on it. The interior is as nice as the porsche except I like the way the 3 spoke wheel feels in my hand on the 911 - but the Corvette wheel is fine. The leather quality seems better on the Porsche seats. Of course, Porsche probably makes some of the best seats around.
Performance wise - the Z06 is right there or beat the Turbo in many ways. I really liked my 911 Turbo but there are some things I didn't like. It was too quiet. Seriously - hard to get a feel for it. The transmission couldn't be shifted quickly.
How about price? The Z06 is cheaper than a baseline Carrera. Hell, for the amount of money I paid for my Turbo I could have gotten a Z06, a convertible and my F-250.
Porsche has screwed up in some ways. The 911 doesn't look that much different than a Boxster. Yeah, to us motor heads they are totally different. My girl had a 2001 C4 Cab - looked damn near like a boxster most of the time. $90K car - looked like a $50K one. $90K convertible - no glass rear window. Oh well, we ditched the C4 Cab and got a Jaguar XKR convertible. 370hpo supercharged V-8...nice car.
I guess there is one thing to say about the Porsches. They feel small and are very nimble. The C5 convertible can feel like a battleship if you get ouf of a Porsche Boxster S.
I have sold all my Porsches and I have the following today:
2001 F-250 Supercrew cab 4*4 diesel
2002 Z06 MY
1994 ZR-1 #103
Let me know if you have questions. The Corvette is a bargain and it will spank the 911 across the board unless you get a Turbo with somebody that knows how to drive it well.
Regards,
Darin