Just got this email from my a Vette salesperson. Apparently the C6 Z06 beat the 996 GT3 RS by 0.1 second at the 'Ring. If the 997 turns out to be faster than the 996 GT3 RS, then the Vette won't be able to touch it.

Here's the email from Monica Dean of Maxie Price Chevrolet (I am on the waiting list for the Blue Devil).

Scanned from a recent issue of "Bilmagasinet" - danish car mag.
Interview with Jan Magnussen about (among other things) his record lap at NBR.
Hereﾃつｴs a translation:

[Top pic, Magnussen and Vette:]
Thursday morning, Southern Germany. General Motors have discreetly rented the legendary german Nﾃδｼrburgring track for an hour between 7 and 8 in the morning.
The temperature is more comfortable than at Le Mans, and the track is empty apart from a couple of early rising spy photographers.
It takes more than a blue Vette to exite them - they recognize it, itﾃつｴs the Z06 version, the brutal Vette with 500 BHP. What they do not know, is that itﾃつｴs Jan Magnussen behind the wheel.
The objective is to beat Walther Rﾃδｶrhlﾃつｴs laptime in a Porsce GT3 RS - itﾃつｴs 7:43,0 min for the 20,8 km heavily varied track with 73 corners.
The record was set in 2004 in a standard version of the Porsche.

[Splash in middle]
Jan made 7:42,9 thereby beating the Porsche GT3 RS by 0,1 sec.


[Two lower photos]
"The photo is taken at Flugplatz. Iﾃつｴm going 240-250 km/h at full throttle in 4th gear and the car is actually jumping twice: After the first jump it lands so hard that it takes off again, as you can see in the second picture. As it lands the second time I have to take a sharp right immediately after.
The car is a standard car with street setup - had it been my racer it would hardly have left the tarmac. At NBR the street car reaches 295 km/h on the long straight in 5th gear (6th gear is an overgear for saving gasoline). At NBR there are no run-off areas like other tracks,. You simply have to stay on the track. When you are halfway around the 20 km, you think itﾃつｴs a good thing there are only half as many places left you risk running off the track" Jan says.

[About the track and the car]
"The stree Corvette has virtually no grip compared to my race car which has a large rear spoiler. But it does have almost as many BHPs as my Le Mans racer and is almost as fast. The rev limiter sets in at 7000 rpms, and it does have more than 500 BHPs.
Itﾃつｴs fast.At the record attempt I drove 2 x 2 laps with a cooldown lap inbetween for both mine and the carﾃつｴs sake.
I couldnﾃつｴt have driven one single lap more. I wouldnﾃつｴt have liked to drive a single meter (3 feet) more with myself at the wheel at that speed", Jan finishes.

 

Looks like Walter needs to get back in that GT3RS and nock.02 secs of his previous time. Seriously, from an entusiast standpoint, the GT3RS is sooo much more car than that souped up vette.

 

The GT3 RS ran neck to neck w/ the Z06 w/ 100+ less HP. And that speaks a lot about the car. But to be fair to the Z06, the GT3 RS runs P Zero Corsa's which is a lot more stickier than the Goodyear tires on the Z06. Can't wait to see the lap times of the 997 GT3 or Turbo.

 

thats absolutly rediculous, a vette salesperson emailed you saying that it beat the gt3rs by .1 of a second?

 

What you are suppose to see is a Daily drive car with AC, Radio, and even Heads up display navi, that can run neck and neck with a German track car.

 

http://www.autobild.de/tuning/testbe...rtikel_seite=0

A stock GT3 ran 7:49. The car that ran 7:41 is a street GT3 with the following mods:

- Manthey Racing MM410 kit (ECU, headers, exhaust, BMC air filter). The kit sold by Neil @ Orton is an improved version of the one sold by Manthey Racing.
- 245/285 Dunlop SSR. I've run these tires and they're not good at all. I prefer the MPSC all day long. Still faster than the Good Years on the Vette, but the vette has 95Hp more.
- Manthey Suspension. This is the KW coilover kit with progressive springs and 2-way adjustable shocks
- Manthey camber plates at front, stock strut mounts rear.

A stock GT3 with the following mods should be even faster than the 7:41 on Manthey's car:
- Neil's power kit.
- 265/295 MPSC
- stiffer springs (linear) with Moton CS shocks
- the GT3 RS flywheel
- the GT3 RS suspension without springs/shocks
- 250 lbs weight reduction (compared to the 45 lbs lighter GT3RS)

 

GT3 RS runs 7:40

 

The long long straihgt aways on that track more than likely show the reasons that car is quicker around the track. I think it is a great accomplishment for chevy but there is no way I would trade a GT3 let alone a GT3 RS for one.

 

pimped

 

I'd consider trading my GT3 for one if it has a true racecar feel, which partly requires adjustable suspension. Unfortunately, I don't think most of Chevy's target market has a taste for a car tuned in such a hard-core manner. I barely like the way my GT3 feels on the street and would sell it if I didn't live 15 min from Barber Motorsports Park. Most Vette guys do a lot of weekend street cruising . . . I'd bet some "cush" will be engineered into the suspension response and steering and braking feel. Just an educated guess . . .

 

It'll be interesting to get some head-to-head showdown reviews once the car is out. With all the mileage and trickle-down from the racing program, it should be a decent car, improved feel and handling over Vettes from the past. I'd agree with you, I'll bet it's a little cushier than a 3 for street driving, but we'll see. No matter what, whether it's a 3 or a Z06, you can always do custom suspension to get exactly what you want.

 

No way I would consider a Vette over a Porsche. In fact I would rather drive a bare bones 2006 Carerra then sit in the "yards of plastic interior" that the oh so lovely Vette provides. The old saying of quality over quantity is never more true then between p-cars and gm carp. My .02$

 

says the guy driving a 350Z. One of the worst quality interiors I have ever experienced for the money. I walked out of that test drive in awe of how ****ty the interior fit and finish was.

 

Interesting, because if you'd bought a "bare bones" 2004 Carrera you'd also be sitting in acres of plastic... and I don't hear many people complaining about that.

 

can't argue with that.....