Hello,

I was in this forum last year when I was choosing between an 09 Corvette Z06 and a 2007 Turbo. I chose the Corvette because I knew that I would want to track the car about three times a year and if I broke anything parts would be cheap. I love my car don't get me wrong and I have pulled away from some Porsche Turbos and been beat by some as well. There is just something about this cars allure that has kept it on my mind this whole time. So I have two options.

Option 1: Pay off the Corvette and add hope to add to the stable a 997.1 Turbo with sports adaptive seats (Corvette seats were designed for a fat person), Sports Chrono, PCCB brakes.

Option 2: Trade in or sell the Corvette and get the same Turbo listed above


With both options, my question is: What is the true cost of ownership for this car? Will I brake the bank trying to use the 997 as I do my Corvette?

With the Corvette, I love the fact that I can replace all the fluids myself and brake pads before each track day. If I get a check engine light, there is an $80 scanner that will tell me what codes were thrown. I bought the technicians manual for the car for <$400 bucks that tells me how to do any operation on the car. No speciality tools. Brake pads are ~$380 and a set of steel rotors are around ~$400 for all corners.

What I hope to gain with the Turbo:

Quieter and less harsh. A front bumper that doesn't scrape on everything. For a track car I don't think you can beat the bang for the buck the Corvette brings to the table and the brute force that 7.0L of displacement provides. Thanks in advance for your comments.

Chris AK

 

I'd trade the vette, one sports car at a time is my rule.
With the turbo, much like the vette, just consumables; pads, rotors, tires etc with heavy track use. Much like you, I do 90% of my own work, most items are very user friendly to work on. Cost of parts with the Porsche tax are in line with the vette tax.
911 turbo for the win!

 

I've owned both, but haven't tracked either. The Z06 has an outstanding drivetrain, but the rest of the car is utter crap. The TT on the other hand feels like an over engineered tank with an awesome interior and still goes like hell. As much as I loved my Z06, I won't own another one until they build an interior that is commensurate with the price tag. You won't be disappointed with the Turbo.

 

For the track just get a GT3.

 

Well, I have had an 08Z06 at the same time as my 997.1turbo. Sold my Z as soon as the warranty was over after going through 1 motor, 1 tranny, 1 differential, and tons of brakes and rotors.

The 7.0 suffers from oil starvation. Your 09' has a bigger dry sump, 08 or younger is a ticking bomb.

I have spent about US$ 5,000 in repairs in 3.5 years of ownership on my modded turbo. That includes brakes, rotors, fixing an oil leak, changing spark plugs and doing 2 different alingments...oh and 2 sets of tires. I can't beat that.

The cost of ownership on my Z06 covered by warranty was close to US$ 40,000...and in brakes, tires, etc, I think I spend about $ 3,000 out of pocket.

Don't think just because it is American, it is cheap to fix...a new LS7 is $ 18,900 and the TR6060 is about $ 4,900.

 

What about changing to a 997TT daily driver and getting a cheap track car to enjoy without being too concerned about breaking it (Miata, RX7, C5, E36 M3, etc that you can have for less than 10K). For me at the track it is not about how fast you can go but how much you can take a car to its limit even if it is a 100hp Miata. Imho with a low-power car it is more about the driver than the car which makes it more fun.

 

All great inputs. Thanks for the advice so far. Thought of an option 3 that was proposed above of getting a cheaper car for the track, like the c5. That way I can keep the low RPM high torque of a big displacement motor.

For the folks who have owned both:
How is the car as a daily driver compared to Z06?
Is the road noise significantly reduced?
Is there any heat soak into the cabin like from the torque tube in the Z06?

For the folks that work on their Turbos:
Is there a paper or digital copy of a technician's manual that can be bought that will have just about every procedure, down to the torque for each screw and bolt?
Is there an OBDII hookup or something similar and cheap that can read engine codes?

Thanks again.

Chris AK

 

Most obd2 code readers are universal and will read porsche codes too, my 89$ craftsman does. Renntech site has a lot of downloads, there is also an extensive DIY area there and on rennlist. Yes, shop manuals are also readily available.
I'm an old Chevy gear head and found turbos very intuitive and user friendly, except for spark plugs......
C

 

If you do work yourself, then this forum and google will save you a lot of money. Can't tell you the amount of money I have saved learning and fixing stuff myself. I track my turbo a lot and sure things break. Yesterday my turbos went, my run group loved it, since I wasn't spanking their butt. A quick durametric scan show a bank 2 turbo issue. Jacked the car up saw the variable actuator rod dangling, put it back, vise gripped to pinch it on some and off I went. I don't find the parts that expensive when you can shop around. The only big costs you probably can't do is to fix the coolant pipe issue. Budget that right in from the get go.

 

Well I have had full warranty so I am happily unaware of the cost of things fixed during my first year as owner of a 2007 turbo, but I had some things failing:
Coolant leak from some aluminium pipes going from engine to front radiators, engine had to come out twice to fix.
Alternator front bearing and/or pulley going out, alternator replacement booked for next week.
Weird noises from front suspension, out of warranty so I'll find out soon.
Door handle/lock replaced since the window didnt go down when closing the door.
Cable to front drl broken being replaced/fixed by dealer as a good-will job.

I am buying extended warranty since it seems to pay off...

 

My turbo had an oil leak that required engine out. Other than that it has been trouble free for almost two years. I am also planning on buying extended warranty in couple of months.

 

It overall will be pretty similar at to a z06 (on it's better days) in many aspects of a daily driver. While I don't "daily drive" my 997tt, nor am I vetted guy at all...I have plenty of experience with both. My best friend has been vette guy for years. 3 Z06's and 1 sold ZR-1 later I am no expert but can say...

The road noise is better in the p car, still loudish but better. I've daily driven BMW for the last 10 years. Comparatively, the Z06 was always obnoxious to me. The 997 is manageable but could be improved. My tires are old and don't help the cause but it's not too bad.

The heat soak on the floor in the vettes=HORRIBLE. Especially if your running long tubes. A blown z with cam and long tubs will practically burn your legs. There is NO SUCH similarity in the turbo. Perhaps a heavily modded turbo when tracked or raced could be slightly different than mine, but they are behind you and could never be as annoying as the z. Never!

Don't think for a second you won't scape the nose...Ground clearance is good on the tt stock but it looks retarded, you'll do some level of suspension mod soon if not immediately. Simple springs are a little "floaty" but handling and body roll is fine. I have only a little experience with coil overs in the porsche, it handles well enough that I don't care to go there and sacrifice ride quality nor the expense to do it right. That **** is always creeky and annoying anyways. The z when adjusted lower is worse scraping all the time than the p no doubt but you will be scraping the lip on a turbo too it's difficult to keep a painted one looking nice.

Just a few thoughts that are directed at your questions

 

this sounds scary expensive ? Would a detailed PPI be able to find a turbo with an oil leak ?

 

PPI is always rec it IMO.

Bazi

 

Yes a PPI would see the oil leak. It happened on my car almost a year after purchase and it cost almost 8k. CPO took care of it. The dealer did replace all the seals and did not cost me a dime.