German Car Zone

Today I met the owner of a brand new Corvette Z06, yellow and with a very powerful V8 sound. Yellow is a real eyecatcher and he gets a lot of attention when he drive the car. He told me there is a lot of people who want to challenge him when he is out driving. He often accept it and and so far he hasn't lost a race. He has done a some track driving since he got the car but he can still not push it to the limit. This car is more than enough for 98% of the drivers outthere. Just before we met, he told me he took his mother out for a spin and she had problems to get in and out of the car, its a very low car and she didnt like it when he pushed the throttle. She asked him to slow down.

Anyway, me and the owner were talking for 90 minutes but only about cars. If you guys remember the thread with three Ferraris and the yellow Corvette and the big house. Well him and the owner is going to Nordschleife this summer with a Ferrari 430 and his Z06. They will also get a personal driver to teach them how to handle the car and how to drive on Nordschleife. The owner of the Ferrari 430 is replacing his 575M with the new 599 GTB. His father also own an Enzo.

I asked the Vette owner what the Ferrari owner think of Lamborghini, well he really dislike the brand and would never buy one, its only Ferrari to him. Although he also own a Maserati, although he changed the engine in his Maserati two times he still love the car. For the winter he is using a X5 4.8is.

Finally he offered me a ride in his Z06 and we took the car for a spin. The V8 sound fantastic, like a Nascar. A M6 is more quiet inside and not so noisy, just like with a 996TT its a lot of noise while driving. Personally I have no problem with it, it makes you feel more connected to the car, besides the seats are comfortable. If you can live with the noise then you can take the car for a long trip.
Straight line performance is as we know it awesome, it should be with 512hp/636nm and low weight. A guy in a BMW 5er tried to challenge us and was going to drive pass us but the Vette owner pushed the throttle and the BMW was long gone. I shot a clip with my camera, unfortunaly you dont notice how fast we go with a digitalcamera but you can certainly hear the car.
We met a policebike and policecar but lucky for us they drove on the opposite lane but I could see that the bikecop looked at us.

I never expected that I was going to try the car so it was a pleasent surprise that he asked me and of course I couldnt say No. Within six months I have driven two cars with more than 500 hp. I know this is a different kind of monster than a M6 and it need to be driven with respect. Since it wasn't my car, I didnt push the car like I did with the M6 but of course I had to push the car a little bit on the straightline.
Like I said earlier the Z06 is more noisy inside than a M6 and just like with a 996TT, the Vette feels more powerful than a M6. The power in a M6 is more discrete.
The clutch was a surprise, it was easy as a Volvo to use and you dont need to use all your legmuscles to use it. According to the owner, its an easy car to drive in the city.
The car is a real bargain and I think the car is worth every penny. There is a lot of power for the money and not everyone can afford a brand new 997TT so if you want a toy, go ahead, buy a Corvette Z06.






Bonus ( a short videoclip):
http://rapidshare.de/files/20456231/Z06.wmv.html

or

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...54684612209064

Wheres the write up about the handling and performance and braking and so on, you know like driving impressions...

Seems like a little story as opposed to a write up Andreas.

Well at least you had a good time, and a rare opportunity. Glad you liked.

We didnt drive it on a track so I dont know about the handling and the brakes, well they worked since Im still alive. You were asking for too much, its the first time I met the owner, did you really expect I would drive the car like a racingdriver. Your friends own a Z06 so ask them about the handling, I did not have enough time to study the car's handling ability.


What do you mean with this?

Figured you were going to ask the guy of his impression of driving it and how he felt the car handled and such, i didnt expect you to go and abuse his car Andreas. Thought you would have been able to get a more about the cars performance...

The part about him driving his mom in the car was nice...

The part that his mom didnt like that it was powerful and uncomfortable was the real downer of the story. That part touched me the most...

Sorry i responded before you edited your post...

I meant it was more a story of your day than about the cars performance, i expected more i think, i was waiting for this for a while.... I thought it would have been more of a performance drive than a cruise around town type of thing...

The owner os the Z06 that i know, is not a close friend and i see him maybe twice a year, coincidentally ran into him that night.... He says the car is incredible and handles unbelievable, but he is very exaggerative and i dont take his stories to seriously...

He says things like "Its quicker than my SL65..." meanwhile i know he doesn't own a SL65. Basically one of those bragging types...

This guy comes from a Volvo S60R and he has never owned a proper sportcar before so he has nothing to compare it with.
He said the car is too much for people like you and me to handle and he hasnt completly learned how to drive the car yet and certainly not to its limits. He drove his friend F430 and said the the car sounded better than his Z06 but the car didnt feel as fast as his Vette. He got the car in Februar and he his going to get a lot of track experience this summer, both in Sweden and Germany. He will tell me about the trip to Nordschleife, Im sure I will hear a lot about how the car handles around a track. You simply need to wait for that

but the straightline performance in this car is awesome and the best part is that he asked me to drive the car and that was a huge surprise to me, I didnt expect it.

Nice review, watch the Top Gear episode this week as they road test it!

You may find their reactions to the car interesting Andreas, seeing as you have driven the car!

Like i said, at least you had a great time... Figured a guy driving a car like this would have more experience in performance... Besides you did say "He often accept it and and so far he hasn't lost a race. He has done a lot of track driving since he got the car but he can still not push it to the limit."

Thought you would have had more to tell about it... Anyways like you said I simply have to wait.

Yes he has track experience but he isnt a proffessional driver because of that. The races I talked about is done on straightlines. Like I said he is going to Nordschleife and getting lessons from a pro. The summer has just started here in Sweden and the track meetings are starting for real now. BTW he has only owned the car for 4 months.

MAybe I should direct him to this board and he might answer your questions better than me.

thnx for the nice report..this car is just off the hook.. love the looks love everything

PS
well almost everything..the interior is kinda booring