I'd take that one too. Stock versus stock, the Vette would win in a pure twisty exercise. (Throw in some long straights, and it will have trouble with the X-50s superior power.)

Having road raced for eight years, pretty successfully, I've figured that out. I was actually referring more to straight line acceleration. And in particular in cooler months. Take the Z06 out for a hard launch when the temp is say 70 degrees, and it'll have much more trouble hooking up than the 996TT. For most people, that's probably a nonissue. But, for me it's part of the decision making process. (Still, I absolutely loved the car.)


If you really drive the car near the limit, even in competition mode the Vette's traction control is way too intrusive. I think it should be called "liability control" rather than "traction control". For most drivers, however, it will do the trick and keep them out of the weeds. (In contrast, the 996TTs PSM is only mildly intrusive in comparison. It's still slower than a well trained driver with no PSM, but it's not horribly annoying and adds some margin of safety when its raining or especially cold out and the driver is not totally focused.)

P.S. I'm not a real fan of traction control. I think it's great for limiting liability and keeping inexperienced drivers from doing really bad things. But with training, yaw is your friend! Use it wisely and you'll go much faster.

 

The Z06 and 996 Turbo are so close in performance that the outcome in any encounter is going to fall within the "who's driving" margin of error. So I would not bet on either "car" in an encounter on a twisty road, I'd bet on "who's the better driver".

A case in point.The Sep 2002 issue of Car and Driver had an article called "10,000-HP Shootout" where the Z06 and Turbo went head-to-head (along with a bunch of modified cars). This shootout included acceleration, braking, and a road course with the lowest total time being the winner. The two drivers in this test are probably as close as you can get to being "equal", so the results were pretty indicative of the ability of each car. The Z06 was driven by John Heinricy and the Turbo by Hurley Haywood. The magazine article listed both cars at 57.7 sec in the road course (a short twisty course). Hurley's fastest time on the road course was 57.53, but that run's total time was slower (110.55 sec) than his fastest total time (109.3 sec). Heinricy's fastest road course time was 57.704 sec. He had a faster road course time than that, but hit a cone. Hurley didn't hit any cones on any of his four runs.

So in this case the Turbo was marginally faster by 0.17 sec. Factor in a driver in either car that made just one mistake more than either of these drivers and the outcome could be different by seconds...in favor of either car.

 

Very true doc.

 

Z06, TT, Modena, whatever .. they are close in objective measurements , so your wallet/ego/seat of the pants determines what is in your garage , mostly.
It's a good time to be a car enthusiast - esp if you lived through the bad years of the late 70s , when " exotic" Ferraris and 911s were 8 second cars 0-60 , and the amazing blindingly quick Berlinetta Boxer hit 60 in 5-5.5 seconds !
We are in a truly weird era ( triggered by the DaimlerChrysler - VW Group HP arms race and now dragging everyone else along ) when some family sedans can blow away some expensive "pure" sports cars on freeway " race 'ya to the next off -ramp grands prix ".

 

Man you are not kidding. I learned to drive in the mid 70s... the dark ages for automobiles. The cars were so slow and handled so poorly that it's amazing to me that the industry survived to this day. Only a handful of manufacturers produced anything even half way respectable back then (Porsche, with the 911, Ferrari, although quality was dismal, Datsun with its 240Z... I can't think of anyone else...).

Re the BB Boxer... a sign of good times to come. That and the 911 Turbo were THE only real signs of hope back then.

 

And of course the Z had already gotten fat and lazy by the time I had my license, having been morphed into the 260Z (massively choked by emissions controls) and the 280Z (600 lbs heavier than the original).

 

I have G-tech Pro Competition files for both the Z06 and X50. Here's what they do if driven half way decent. If both cars are driven with equal skill, the Z06 is going to need a few bolt ons to keep up with the stock X50. A base (non-X50) 996tt would probably be a better race from a roll.


Up a few posts it was a good point about driver skill. Not to say it in a bad way, but there are plenty of bad drivers out there which would loose a straight line race with an X50 if they came upon a Z06 with a good driver.

 

Very sweet post!

You've sealed it for me. I'm officially getting one of those G-Tech Pro Comps.
I've been on their forum a bit, and have been toying with the idea for over a month now!

 

I should mention if you do get a G-tech Pro Competition meter stay on top of the most current firmware available for the unit. G-tech improves things often. If you end up with a used or older unit running an older version of firmware, the new, most current firmware can be downloaded from the computer into the G-tech Pro Competition in most cases . For older units calibration at two different temperatures is required before using. This is done to enable temperature compensation for the accelerometers. The newest G-tech Pro Competitions are pre calibrated from the factory.

For the most current G-tech firmware available 1/4 mile speed is measured at the end of the 1/4 mile. At a real drag strip speed is calculated in the last 60 or 66 ft by averaging speed between two beams of light. A new version of firmware will soon be out for the G-tech Pro Competition which will measure 1/4 mile speed with the average over the last 66 ft like the strip. That will be better. I'd wait until this newest version of firmware is out and buy the unit directly from G-tech to ensure the pre calibration.

Knock a few miles per hour off my posted 1/4 mile speeds to relate to drag strip speed.

 

Thanks. I was aware of the 1/4 trap speeds. I'm glad to hear they're adding that.

I will order it directly from them. For the reasons you listed and the support, it's worth the difference between the price of used on eBay and new.

(LOL... I made that much on Party Poker last night to pay for it)

 

I had a z06 for a bit and it does have an awesome drivetrain but the ergos are something I could never get used to. Another thing that bothered me about the Z was that it never felt planted above 120...it almost felt floaty/disconnected...hard to describe.

For me the Z was an attempt to get TT handling/performance at a price I could justify...but it didn't pan out. A friend let me drive an '02 996 he had for sale and while it was slow (relatively speaking) the ergos and biuld quality were sweet. The car felt connected at any speed... Something I now have in my "poor man's P"...an Evo

 

Road and track hit the same number when they did the "ultimate shootout" issue against the Viper.

Lou

 

Peopl,e keep saying the non-X50 turbo and z06 would be a good match. I cannot figure out why as the non-x50 turbo is only.10 off the numbers that the x50 posts in both 1/4 mile and 0-60. The z06 vs 911TT(non-x50 would have the same results, just .10 difference.

 

Luckily Porsche only has to add few pounds of boost to keep up.

 

I like the new corvette, even if its looks are more evolutionary than revolutionary. The engineers seemed to have gotten it right. Better sorted, better handling car with more power. Looks like a hit to me.