2006 American Exotics Comparison Test

[PARAGON]

By Chris Douglass Email
Date posted: 12-22-2005

"I raced for 17 years. Ran the Daytona 24 Hours, NASCAR Southwest Tour, SCCA GT1 cars, IMSA, oval tracks. But I never raced a car with this much horsepower."

That was the comment from our professional test-driver after his lap times in this latest American Exotics comparison test. Each of these — the 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Dodge Viper SRT10 Coupe and Ford GT — are more powerful than Formula One racecars of 25 years ago. Even today, relatively few racecars boast more than 500 horses.

However, if you have good credit, your local Chevy, Dodge or Ford dealer can put you in a vehicle with more horsepower than a NASCAR Nextel Cup car set up for Daytona or Talladega. A Cup motor fitted with a restrictor-plate makes about 450 horses, while the Corvette Z06 is rated at 505, the Viper SRT10 Coupe at 510 ponies, and the Ford GT at 550.

Our calibrated derrières suggested that at least Chevy — and probably Ford, too — was more than a bit conservative with those ratings. Another racecar comparison: While it's a challenge to find believable data on the peak torque of the current 2.4-liter F1 engine, you can bet it's less than any of these: Dodge (535 pound-feet), Ford (500) and Chevy (470).

Still, that wondrous power is not the most amazing thing about this trio. Another also-ran in the Top Attribute contest is how relatively inexpensive two of these three cars are. If you have an above-average income and really want one — enough to sacrifice vacations, expensive homes, and relationships with the opposite sex — you can own a brand-new Corvette Z06 or Dodge Viper Coupe.

Though unexpectedly welcome, we're also thrilled to report that each is friendly and forgiving when pushed to their limits — and beyond — on the racetrack: The once-feared Viper is now perhaps too easy to drive fast. (More on that later.)

Finally, though none would be confused with a Camry, each is relatively easy to maneuver in everyday traffic. The most difficult thing about daily use is the occasional gawker who tangles up traffic flow around you. It wouldn't be outlandish to use any of them, but especially the Corvette, as a commuter car, though low ground clearance and summer tires mean you'd want to leave them home when it snows. And our particular Ford GT test car had the disconcerting habit of occasionally piddling what appeared to be transaxle oil.

And we must provide some caveats to those who might consider using these as daily drivers. Super-grippy tires wear much more quickly than conventional rubber: Our experience suggests that aggressive drivers may wind up replacing rear tires at every other oil change. Or sooner.

The cars
The concept is simple: add horsepower and lightness. Chevrolet applied this classic formula with brilliant success on the Z06. Despite a long list of additional (and mass-increasing) features — bigger brakes, wider wheels and tires, and a dry sump oiling system — the Z06 is almost 50 pounds lighter than the base 400-horse Corvette Coupe. This is thanks to some fairly exotic and expensive material.

Not only does it offer the best power-to-weight ratio in this test, the Z06 is the least expensive: With a base price of $65,000 it comes in some $18,000 less than the Viper and about $100,000 less than the Ford. It's also worth noting that the Z06's impressive EPA fuel mileage ratings of 16/26 make it the only car in this test to completely avoid the gas-guzzler tax. Our tester was priced at a thrifty $69,135.

Normally, car companies first build a hardtop and, when sales need a boost, turn it into a convertible: Dodge's Street and Racing Technology team went the other way. The resulting SRT10 Coupe is significantly different than its open-top sibling. Its interior feels deceptively confining even though the double-bubble roof provides domelike accommodation to taller occupants.

In hard corners and transitions, the added structure delivered righteous testimony to the unifying strength of a hardtop over a convertible. Power comes from an upgraded version of the truck-based OHV V10 — this time displacing 8.3 liters and featuring an aluminum block and heads. Though still a four-wheel Harley, the Coupe is more of an Electraglide than a Deuce. Out-the-door price of our tester, including a $3,000 gas-guzzler tax, was $86,995.

When the original Ford GT40 debuted more than 40 years ago, it took on Europe's best top performance cars at places like Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans — and won! The current Ford GT has repeated history on public roadways. With 550 (at least!) supercharged horsepower pumped out of its 5.4-liter DOHC V8 and a very sweet handling chassis, the GT is a delicious combination of classic good looks and totally modern performance.

Chassis stiffness, suspension tuning, aero tweaks, and performance tires have come a long way in 40 years: The GT offers a crisp responsiveness, high limits and small penalties if you step over the edge. Sticker price is a steep $166,945 — if you can find a dealer who will let one go at MSRP.

How they stacked up
The logical right brain gets little exercise in a discussion of exotic cars. Fortunately for us, our scoring system acts as an onboard logic center to keep us grounded. A sobering fact: For the current price of a Ford GT, you could get a Z06 and put $100,000 in a Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. Or buy two Z06s and put $30 grand in the Mega-Millions lottery. The Corvette is easier to drive in everyday traffic; has stability control to prevent you from wasting your investment and yourself; offers Cadillac-like creature comforts; doesn't attract as much unwanted attention (from cops and fellow motorists); and is just as fast around the road racing circuit. Our winner: The Z06.

When lust was allowed to rule, we could see only the Ford GT. If you were old enough to be aware of how the Ford GT40 and its close relatives ruled the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the mid- and late '60s, the new Ford GT had you at the word "Hello." Is it a coincidence that many of those who today can afford a Ford GT were between 10 and 19 years old in the years between 1964 and 1969? The fact that the GT is incredibly fast, easy to drive at the limit, and docile on the street made the distinction between lust and love only that much more confusing.

Earning a solid 3rd-place finish (that would be "last" in a three-car shoot-out) is the Viper Coupe. It's somewhat ironic when you consider that Dodge's Viper was the first real exotic American sports car of the modern era. Without it, the other two likely wouldn't exist. Now, after driving all three of these cars, it's clear the Viper has been surpassed on nearly every level. The Corvette costs less, performs better and is a jovial sweetheart where the Viper is a cranky nag. The GT outclasses Dodge's snake to an even greater extent — albeit at twice the price.

One observant editor made the following comment: "Maybe they could fix it by simply throwing a 'Hemi' under the hood. It's worked for every other modern Chrysler product."

First Place: 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
It's important to know what the 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is not. It's not just a regular Vette with a bored-and-stroked small block stuffed into its engine compartment. Certainly the hand-built 7.0-liter OHV LS7, which boasts titanium valves and connecting rods, and a forged-steel crankshaft, is the star of the show.

But power alone isn't significant. What counts is a vehicle's power-to-weight ratio, and the Z06 offers the best in this comparison. If you believe the manufacturer's numbers, the Z06 has 6.2 pounds per horsepower against 6.3 for the Ford and 6.7 for the Viper. The Z06 earns this rating thanks in part to its aluminum frame and magnesium engine cradle, which are both steel on regular Vettes. In addition, there are lightweight carbon-fiber front fenders, wheelhouses and floorboards.

This effort at lightening not only offsets the Z06's list of additional mass-increasing features, but also makes the Z06 almost 50 pounds lighter than the regular 400-horse Corvette Coupe. The result of more power and less weight: A 0-to-60-mph acceleration run in a dusty parking lot of 4.4 seconds, topping out with an 11.9-second, 124-mph quarter-mile. This even though the two-three shift is more than a bit difficult with the hardy-yet-primitive Tremec six-speed transmission.

Racecar bits and performance
To help keep the LS7 alive at its 7,000-rpm rev limit, and during the car's extreme cornering forces offered by it's light weight and sticky tires, is a racecar-style dry-sump oiling system. A dry sump moves the oil reservoir from its traditional position below the crankshaft to a remote location. Among other things this prevents the oil pump from being starved during hard cornering and keeps the crankshaft from splashing through the reservoir; the latter not only foams the oil but also creates power-sapping drag.

In the past, Corvette brakes were far from its most robust component, but that's changed. The '06 Z06 gets monoblock six-piston front brake calipers and four-piston rear calipers that grab onto vented and cross-drilled rotors, 14-inch diameter front and 13.4-inch rear. Large cooling ducts keep the brakes at peak efficiency even on the racetrack. The result is the shortest stopping distance in this comparison: 106 feet 60-0 mph and 300 feet 100-0 mph.

Transmitting the power to the ground are massive Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires: The Z06's P275/35ZR18 front tires are but 10mm narrower than the regular version's rears and the P325/30ZR19s dwarf those on many racecars. This rubber works through unequal-length (a.k.a. "short/long arm") forged-aluminum control arms. This helped give the Z06 a second-best slalom run at 68.3 mph.

Racetrack terror
At Willow Springs Raceway, the Z06 was more than a bit of a handful, twitching into oversteer (a.k.a. "loose") at the exit of most corners. Perhaps it didn't get a fair shake. Its Goodyears had suffered through photographer-pleasing burnouts that took them down to just above their legal tread limit.

Perhaps this also reduced rear grip by revulcanizing the rubber. Or perhaps the Z06 is always a handful at the limit. Virtually all owners will be thankful for the two-stage (normal and competition) stability control system. (We replaced the rear Goodyears after Willow and before the slalom and skid pad runs.)

Gripes include an overly optimistic g-meter on the Z06's otherwise excellent head-up display. On the skid pad, our tester kept an eye on it the entire lap. It never went below 1.0 g and often showed 1.04 and above. The true average cornering power was 0.92 g.

The winner
One of the Z06's strengths — the fact that it blends into traffic far more easily than its opposition — is also one of its weaknesses. Driving a Ford GT there's little chance you'll pass yourself on the highway, but in a Z06 Corvette, you're likely to see a visually near identical (but non-Z06) vehicle piloted by an orthodontist or a recent divorcee every 10 minutes.

Yet, the bottom line remains: Chevrolet applied the time-honored formula of adding horsepower and reducing weight with brilliant success on the Z06. Rated at grins per dollar, the '06 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is the best supercar bargain of all time.


There's more here: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Comparos/ar...=108567/pageId=67620

[PARAGON]

By Chris Douglass Email
Date posted: 12-22-2005

"I raced for 17 years. Ran the Daytona 24 Hours, NASCAR Southwest Tour, SCCA GT1 cars, IMSA, oval tracks. But I never raced a car with this much horsepower."

That was the comment from our professional test-driver after his lap times in this latest American Exotics comparison test. Each of these — the 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Dodge Viper SRT10 Coupe and Ford GT — are more powerful than Formula One racecars of 25 years ago. Even today, relatively few racecars boast more than 500 horses.

However, if you have good credit, your local Chevy, Dodge or Ford dealer can put you in a vehicle with more horsepower than a NASCAR Nextel Cup car set up for Daytona or Talladega. A Cup motor fitted with a restrictor-plate makes about 450 horses, while the Corvette Z06 is rated at 505, the Viper SRT10 Coupe at 510 ponies, and the Ford GT at 550.

Our calibrated derrières suggested that at least Chevy — and probably Ford, too — was more than a bit conservative with those ratings. Another racecar comparison: While it's a challenge to find believable data on the peak torque of the current 2.4-liter F1 engine, you can bet it's less than any of these: Dodge (535 pound-feet), Ford (500) and Chevy (470).

Still, that wondrous power is not the most amazing thing about this trio. Another also-ran in the Top Attribute contest is how relatively inexpensive two of these three cars are. If you have an above-average income and really want one — enough to sacrifice vacations, expensive homes, and relationships with the opposite sex — you can own a brand-new Corvette Z06 or Dodge Viper Coupe.

Though unexpectedly welcome, we're also thrilled to report that each is friendly and forgiving when pushed to their limits — and beyond — on the racetrack: The once-feared Viper is now perhaps too easy to drive fast. (More on that later.)

Finally, though none would be confused with a Camry, each is relatively easy to maneuver in everyday traffic. The most difficult thing about daily use is the occasional gawker who tangles up traffic flow around you. It wouldn't be outlandish to use any of them, but especially the Corvette, as a commuter car, though low ground clearance and summer tires mean you'd want to leave them home when it snows. And our particular Ford GT test car had the disconcerting habit of occasionally piddling what appeared to be transaxle oil.

And we must provide some caveats to those who might consider using these as daily drivers. Super-grippy tires wear much more quickly than conventional rubber: Our experience suggests that aggressive drivers may wind up replacing rear tires at every other oil change. Or sooner.

The cars
The concept is simple: add horsepower and lightness. Chevrolet applied this classic formula with brilliant success on the Z06. Despite a long list of additional (and mass-increasing) features — bigger brakes, wider wheels and tires, and a dry sump oiling system — the Z06 is almost 50 pounds lighter than the base 400-horse Corvette Coupe. This is thanks to some fairly exotic and expensive material.

Not only does it offer the best power-to-weight ratio in this test, the Z06 is the least expensive: With a base price of $65,000 it comes in some $18,000 less than the Viper and about $100,000 less than the Ford. It's also worth noting that the Z06's impressive EPA fuel mileage ratings of 16/26 make it the only car in this test to completely avoid the gas-guzzler tax. Our tester was priced at a thrifty $69,135.

Normally, car companies first build a hardtop and, when sales need a boost, turn it into a convertible: Dodge's Street and Racing Technology team went the other way. The resulting SRT10 Coupe is significantly different than its open-top sibling. Its interior feels deceptively confining even though the double-bubble roof provides domelike accommodation to taller occupants.

In hard corners and transitions, the added structure delivered righteous testimony to the unifying strength of a hardtop over a convertible. Power comes from an upgraded version of the truck-based OHV V10 — this time displacing 8.3 liters and featuring an aluminum block and heads. Though still a four-wheel Harley, the Coupe is more of an Electraglide than a Deuce. Out-the-door price of our tester, including a $3,000 gas-guzzler tax, was $86,995.

When the original Ford GT40 debuted more than 40 years ago, it took on Europe's best top performance cars at places like Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans — and won! The current Ford GT has repeated history on public roadways. With 550 (at least!) supercharged horsepower pumped out of its 5.4-liter DOHC V8 and a very sweet handling chassis, the GT is a delicious combination of classic good looks and totally modern performance.

Chassis stiffness, suspension tuning, aero tweaks, and performance tires have come a long way in 40 years: The GT offers a crisp responsiveness, high limits and small penalties if you step over the edge. Sticker price is a steep $166,945 — if you can find a dealer who will let one go at MSRP.

How they stacked up
The logical right brain gets little exercise in a discussion of exotic cars. Fortunately for us, our scoring system acts as an onboard logic center to keep us grounded. A sobering fact: For the current price of a Ford GT, you could get a Z06 and put $100,000 in a Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. Or buy two Z06s and put $30 grand in the Mega-Millions lottery. The Corvette is easier to drive in everyday traffic; has stability control to prevent you from wasting your investment and yourself; offers Cadillac-like creature comforts; doesn't attract as much unwanted attention (from cops and fellow motorists); and is just as fast around the road racing circuit. Our winner: The Z06.

When lust was allowed to rule, we could see only the Ford GT. If you were old enough to be aware of how the Ford GT40 and its close relatives ruled the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the mid- and late '60s, the new Ford GT had you at the word "Hello." Is it a coincidence that many of those who today can afford a Ford GT were between 10 and 19 years old in the years between 1964 and 1969? The fact that the GT is incredibly fast, easy to drive at the limit, and docile on the street made the distinction between lust and love only that much more confusing.

Earning a solid 3rd-place finish (that would be "last" in a three-car shoot-out) is the Viper Coupe. It's somewhat ironic when you consider that Dodge's Viper was the first real exotic American sports car of the modern era. Without it, the other two likely wouldn't exist. Now, after driving all three of these cars, it's clear the Viper has been surpassed on nearly every level. The Corvette costs less, performs better and is a jovial sweetheart where the Viper is a cranky nag. The GT outclasses Dodge's snake to an even greater extent — albeit at twice the price.

One observant editor made the following comment: "Maybe they could fix it by simply throwing a 'Hemi' under the hood. It's worked for every other modern Chrysler product."

First Place: 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
It's important to know what the 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is not. It's not just a regular Vette with a bored-and-stroked small block stuffed into its engine compartment. Certainly the hand-built 7.0-liter OHV LS7, which boasts titanium valves and connecting rods, and a forged-steel crankshaft, is the star of the show.

But power alone isn't significant. What counts is a vehicle's power-to-weight ratio, and the Z06 offers the best in this comparison. If you believe the manufacturer's numbers, the Z06 has 6.2 pounds per horsepower against 6.3 for the Ford and 6.7 for the Viper. The Z06 earns this rating thanks in part to its aluminum frame and magnesium engine cradle, which are both steel on regular Vettes. In addition, there are lightweight carbon-fiber front fenders, wheelhouses and floorboards.

This effort at lightening not only offsets the Z06's list of additional mass-increasing features, but also makes the Z06 almost 50 pounds lighter than the regular 400-horse Corvette Coupe. The result of more power and less weight: A 0-to-60-mph acceleration run in a dusty parking lot of 4.4 seconds, topping out with an 11.9-second, 124-mph quarter-mile. This even though the two-three shift is more than a bit difficult with the hardy-yet-primitive Tremec six-speed transmission.

Racecar bits and performance
To help keep the LS7 alive at its 7,000-rpm rev limit, and during the car's extreme cornering forces offered by it's light weight and sticky tires, is a racecar-style dry-sump oiling system. A dry sump moves the oil reservoir from its traditional position below the crankshaft to a remote location. Among other things this prevents the oil pump from being starved during hard cornering and keeps the crankshaft from splashing through the reservoir; the latter not only foams the oil but also creates power-sapping drag.

In the past, Corvette brakes were far from its most robust component, but that's changed. The '06 Z06 gets monoblock six-piston front brake calipers and four-piston rear calipers that grab onto vented and cross-drilled rotors, 14-inch diameter front and 13.4-inch rear. Large cooling ducts keep the brakes at peak efficiency even on the racetrack. The result is the shortest stopping distance in this comparison: 106 feet 60-0 mph and 300 feet 100-0 mph.

Transmitting the power to the ground are massive Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires: The Z06's P275/35ZR18 front tires are but 10mm narrower than the regular version's rears and the P325/30ZR19s dwarf those on many racecars. This rubber works through unequal-length (a.k.a. "short/long arm") forged-aluminum control arms. This helped give the Z06 a second-best slalom run at 68.3 mph.

Racetrack terror
At Willow Springs Raceway, the Z06 was more than a bit of a handful, twitching into oversteer (a.k.a. "loose") at the exit of most corners. Perhaps it didn't get a fair shake. Its Goodyears had suffered through photographer-pleasing burnouts that took them down to just above their legal tread limit.

Perhaps this also reduced rear grip by revulcanizing the rubber. Or perhaps the Z06 is always a handful at the limit. Virtually all owners will be thankful for the two-stage (normal and competition) stability control system. (We replaced the rear Goodyears after Willow and before the slalom and skid pad runs.)

Gripes include an overly optimistic g-meter on the Z06's otherwise excellent head-up display. On the skid pad, our tester kept an eye on it the entire lap. It never went below 1.0 g and often showed 1.04 and above. The true average cornering power was 0.92 g.

The winner
One of the Z06's strengths — the fact that it blends into traffic far more easily than its opposition — is also one of its weaknesses. Driving a Ford GT there's little chance you'll pass yourself on the highway, but in a Z06 Corvette, you're likely to see a visually near identical (but non-Z06) vehicle piloted by an orthodontist or a recent divorcee every 10 minutes.

Yet, the bottom line remains: Chevrolet applied the time-honored formula of adding horsepower and reducing weight with brilliant success on the Z06. Rated at grins per dollar, the '06 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is the best supercar bargain of all time.


There's more here: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Comparos/ar...=108567/pageId=67620

[NEOCON1]

thanks for postin vettes rule