Corvette Z06 vs Viper SRT-10 Coupe

[eliseracer]

Zonda F comes real close, aurally.

(and its interior beats the sh** out of the Viper's)

 

[VIPFREAK]

Yeah, so does the price.

 

[Sting]

Yeah, so does the price.

noice!
Granted the Zonda does sound like a beast, especially when driving through a tunnel, preferably a bloody long one.

On the topic on the previous page about F40 vs F50, any REAL Ferrari fan would have the F40, as it is the quintessential model. Don't get me wrong, I think the F50 is a nice looking car, but the F40 is a classic! Given the choice of the two, the F40 would be mine.

eliseracer said: (and its interior beats the sh** out of the Viper's)

Let's compare that shall we:

Personally, I think the interior in the Zonda is FAR too over the top. I love the Zonda, but the interior could be toned down a little.

EDIT: and just because this thread is Viper vs Vette, here is the interior of the Vette to compare with the Viper and Zonda.

 

[VIPFREAK]

Yeah, I'm gonna regret getting into this retarded interior comparo but if that Zonda interior isn't excentric and compensating for something I don't know what is and don't give me that crap about it being fine Italian with the finest material crap. At least in my "industrial design" eyes the Viper's is the simplest and no that's not a bias remark.

 

[eliseracer]

It's the simplest, yes. But come on, take a look at it, there was no design consideration whatsoever. They took cost cutting over anything visual. It is a design failure. This isn't an argument of function over form. Interiors of commercially sold vehicles work on the basis of technology wrapped in something that is appealing to the eye. That is, after all, the entire purpose of any design, automotive or not. The Viper fails. Does it make it a bad car? Does it lose value? I'm not the judge on that, but they certainly made a mistake in the interior; it is visually unpleasant.

Have a look at the Zonda with black leather. It's better for those with a sensitive stomach.

Edit: Oh yeah, I only brought up the Zonda interior as a joke, I hope you all know that. The comment was just tagging along the mention of the Zonda's exhaust note.
Sorry I didn't specify...

 

[Poverty]

So we have learnt something new now. 70% of everything we know about the Z06 which blazinxtreme has told us is all lies. You aint using a z06 as a daily driver unlike he said and saying that jeremy clarkson and autocar dont know what they were talkin about. Hes a liar and most of his so called facts should be disregarded.

 

[YSSMAN]

So we have learnt something new now. 70% of everything we know about the Z06 which blazinxtreme has told us is all lies. You aint using a z06 as a daily driver unlike he said and saying that jeremy clarkson and autocar dont know what they were talkin about. Hes a liar and most of his so called facts should be disregarded.

Where the hell did that come from?

The Corvette can, and probably will be, used as a daily driver for many people. A freind of mine has a C5 Z06 that he will drive to work every day from April to October, and he wont hesitate to bring it out when the roads clear up a bit during the winter (espically lately when the average temps in Michigan have been well above freezing).

Read any American review of the Corvette Z06 and they will tell you it is a civilized track car that can be used for daily use. Its much softer and more comfortable than the Viper down your average roads, and it easily explains why the Corvette feels to "twitchy" when going around the track. The seats are a bit more comfortable, NVH control is within any normal sedan, and you have a fully functional interior with available satelite navigation, heated seats, and a radio that actually works and isnt pulled from a bottom-rung model.

Top Gear and Autocar may not like the standard C6 Z51. But that is a completely different car. I havent read any full reviews of the Z06 done by either, so I cant make a call. All that matters is that GM sells the Z06 where they are meant to be sold, the US and Canada. The Corvete fans in Europe will get them, but I believe less than 10% of all the Z06s that will be built will head to the UK, France, Germany, etc.

The waiting lists for this car in America are HUGE, and some people are looking at more than six-month waits for the car once they begin to trickle (slowly) into dealers.

 

[McLaren]

It's the simplest, yes. But come on, take a look at it, there was no design consideration whatsoever. They took cost cutting over anything visual. It is a design failure. This isn't an argument of function over form. Interiors of commercially sold vehicles work on the basis of technology wrapped in something that is appealing to the eye. That is, after all, the entire purpose of any design, automotive or not. The Viper fails. Does it make it a bad car? Does it lose value? I'm not the judge on that, but they certainly made a mistake in the interior; it is visually unpleasant.

Have a look at the Zonda with black leather. It's better for those with a sensitive stomach.

Edit: Oh yeah, I only brought up the Zonda interior as a joke, I hope you all know that. The comment was just tagging along the mention of the Zonda's exhaust note.
Sorry I didn't specify...

The dark purple needs to go though.

BTW Yssman, everybody knows the Diablos have been the kings of engine sounds since their debut. But I agree on the Z06. 2 of the people in my neighborhood now have theirs, 1 a blue one which is the owner I know, and the usual yellow color (saw a yellow one today btw).

The owner of the blue one drives it everyday to work. He tells me how people at his work who usually read about cars think it's awesome, how he chose blue, and all that. Though he would prefer to have his boss' '97 red GTS, he absolutely loves his new 'Vette. It's his 1st Chevy, and he just does everything in it ignoring his old Ford F-150 Harley. Last time, he told me even his wife has a ball driving it.

 

[eliseracer]

The dark purple needs to go though.

I was just messing around in PS and it crashed, so I had to select everything over ahain, and I was lazy. Oh well.

EVO's car of the year article included the standard C6 (which means they like it) but they found it too be very unfitted to UK roads, where the chassis was unsettled on most bumpy roads. That can be very surprising in mid-turn. The car was not made for UK roads, no matter what you say about foreign testing. This is why most publications from there are not fond of the car. This is also why I've only seen a handful of C5 Z06s up here, and even less normal C6s so far.

 

[McLaren]

Aren't they like $90,000 in the UK anyways?

Anyways, Pagani's mixture of raw race car interior mixed with luxury styling is excellent.

 

[YSSMAN]

C6 Z06 is supposed to retail for less than 60,000 GBP according to Top Gear.

 

[LeadSlead#2]

I was just messing around in PS and it crashed, so I had to select everything over ahain, and I was lazy. Oh well.

EVO's car of the year article included the standard C6 (which means they like it) but they found it too be very unfitted to UK roads, where the chassis was unsettled on most bumpy roads. That can be very surprising in mid-turn. The car was not made for UK roads, no matter what you say about foreign testing. This is why most publications from there are not fond of the car. This is also why I've only seen a handful of C5 Z06s up here, and even less normal C6s so far.

Sooo... It's to much like a race car for you guys? Or are the roads that horrible? cause I hear people say American cars have softer suspensions due to bumpier roads here...?

 

[VIPFREAK]

Roads are horrible... It's amusing watching lowered rice rockets around here though.

 

[Wolfe]

Sooo... It's to much like a race car for you guys? Or are the roads that horrible? cause I hear people say American cars have softer suspensions due to bumpier roads here...?

Don't confuse the UK with other parts of Europe. From what I've heard, the UK has some pretty crappy roads. Would any locals care to confirm this?

Countries like Germany, on the other hand, are known for meticulously taking care of their roads and highways.

 

[eliseracer]

Sooo... It's to much like a race car for you guys? Or are the roads that horrible? cause I hear people say American cars have softer suspensions due to bumpier roads here...?

You're missing the point entirely. When a car is close to the edge of adhesion, the suspension is doing most of the work before the tires give out and the car loses traction and slides.

Now when you're under that kind of cornering force and you hit a bump, the suspension doesn't work like it does on level driving plane. The chassis then has to absorb the impact, or redistribute that force. Some cars take it better than others, while some (like the C6) struggle and the chassis has to re-settle off every turn.

This is incredibly frustrating. It has nothing to do with racecar-like ride, something that the C6 does not have. It's the chassis, not the suspension that's the problem. So no, it's not because the C6 is too racy, because it's not.

And for the record, the roads in the UK are poor(er) compared to the US.

 

[Poverty]

Don't confuse the UK with other parts of Europe. From what I've heard, the UK has some pretty crappy roads. Would any locals care to confirm this?

Countries like Germany, on the other hand, are known for meticulously taking care of their roads and highways.

Germans love their roads and the workers take pride in it. France has some cra roads too though off the motorway/highways and spain roads are rubbish too.

Our roads are the worst though.

As for the Z06 you can get one for about £70k. Less if you haggle. Still more expensive than the equivelant TVR by quite a margin though.

 

[Driftster]

IMHO the viper is the much better sounding car...

The LS7 sounds like a toilet flushing on start up....and the Revs do no justice to the engine........

Throaty truck over a revvy 8

 

[VIPFREAK]

I've given up... I'm not going to waste my time replying to anymore interior posts.

 

[YSSMAN]

I was reading earlier that the Y-body (thats the Corvette and XLR) has had some problems with stifness recently. Ive never noticed it myself, but I guess GM has done a good job of hiding any problems with the suspension.

But I suppose that is because they were testing convertables, and thats not what were talking about...

 

[LeadSlead#2]

Eliseracer - what's the problem with the chassis? to soft would make it more compliant to bumps, but I'm sure you're not saying it has to stiff a chassis, are you? (we are talking Z06's, right?) same question for the Viper... (extremely stiff chassis)

 

[VIPFREAK]

I think I remember the drivers for the GTS-R back when it first started endurance racing testing and they said the front end stiffness was bad because the way the front end was constructed. The apparently got it sorted out after awhile.

 

[TheCracker]

Don't confuse the UK with other parts of Europe. From what I've heard, the UK has some pretty crappy roads. Would any locals care to confirm this?

We do have some very poor roads here in the UK, but the main problem with US cars on british roads isn't so much the quality of the surface, but the fact that Britain is generally quite a damp, hilly little country. This tends to mean that our roads are twisty, cambered and constructed to cope with lots of different weather and lots of, sometimes heavy, traffic. 'Performance' US cars like Vettes, Vipers, Mustangs and Camaros just aren't designed to work on that kind of road - and why should they? Being a small country with a relatively large population we don't have the space to build wide, flat roads like you tend to get in the States. On the plus side, we don't have to travel too far to find a nice, testing section of road where you can enjoy a car's chassis to its fullest - even in a modest car. This is probably why we have so many small volume manufacturers who produce modest and not so modestly powered sports cars - Lotus, Caterham, Westfield, Ariel, TVR, Marcos, Morgan, Noble, Ultima etc, etc, as well as being one of, if not the largest consumer of 'hot-hatches' in the world.

Countries like Germany, on the other hand, are known for meticulously taking care of their roads and highways.

Germany, and probably France, both have better kept roads in general - but still have plenty of the less smooth twisty stuff.

 

[YSSMAN]

I dont think I ever fully realised how nice some roads are in Europe after I watched the Gumball 3000 coverage for the first time. If anything, the 2004 rally when they roll the SRT-10 is a good example of how American cars arent necessiarly designed to handle conditions that are different than whats in the US.

 

[LeadSlead#2]

you roll a viper - you stop driving.

by the by, maybe you guys are generalizing America, but we have plenty of twisty, tight, bumpy roads, if you wanna find them. Like the Appalacians, which stretch the length of the country, up and down. And the Rockys. I'd say we have some of every kind of road you could ever want or need. smooth, flat, twisty, bumpy, curvy, slow turns, fast turns, banking inside, banking outside, straight, it just depends on where you are. we also have cities

 

[Jay]

I dont think I ever fully realised how nice some roads are in Europe after I watched the Gumball 3000 coverage for the first time. If anything, the 2004 rally when they roll the SRT-10 is a good example of how American cars arent necessiarly designed to handle conditions that are different than whats in the US.

If I remember correctly not all that long before the Viper rolls a Ford Cosworth also rolls and a Ferrari hits a tractor and flys off the road. I put all that down to stupid driving, very stupid driving.

 

[TheCracker]

by the by, maybe you guys are generalizing America, but we have plenty of twisty, tight, bumpy roads, if you wanna find them. Like the Appalacians, which stretch the length of the country, up and down. And the Rockys. I'd say we have some of every kind of road you could ever want or need. smooth, flat, twisty, bumpy, curvy, slow turns, fast turns, banking inside, banking outside, straight, it just depends on where you are. we also have cities

I'm sure you have plenty of twisty, tight, bumpy roads - but all our roads are like this. A majority of your roads, from experienance, are nice and wide, flat and smooth and this is what your cars are designed to shine on. As for also having cities, aren't your cities mostly built on a grid pattern? in which case again the roads are generally flat and wide with intersections and traffic lights (which explains drag racing)

 

[McLaren]

I'm sure you have plenty of twisty, tight, bumpy roads - but all our roads are like this. A majority of your roads, from experienance, are nice and wide, flat and smooth and this is what your cars are designed to shine on. As for also having cities, aren't your cities mostly built on a grid pattern? in which case again the roads are generally flat and wide with intersections and traffic lights (which explains drag racing)

Yep, most of our cities are built on a grid pattern, as the counties.

That's why I prefer cities with twist and turns in them and the roads by DFW airport. Their curvy and twisty, and only about 2 lanes.

And I'd say about 80-85% of the US is flat road, espcially on the roads between the states in the South. Can't tell you how many times I've seen our club members push 110 on the George Bush Tollway or better yet, the highway out to TMS. Whoowee, that highway is awesome. Has some long curves, not a lot of traffic besides trucks going to the Air Base, so it provides for a lot of high speed driving fun.

I'll admit. I've done my fair share of speeding on that highway.

 

[YSSMAN]

If I remember correctly not all that long before the Viper rolls a Ford Cosworth also rolls and a Ferrari hits a tractor and flys off the road. I put all that down to stupid driving, very stupid driving.

Yeah, the Cosworth Escort gets its rear tire off the ground and ends up spinning in front of a pretty large group of cars. Lucky for them they had a roll cage in the car... As for the Ferrari 360 Spyder ending up in a tree, its the guys fault for not slowing down on a blind hill, ver stupid indeed...

Even with all the danger, it still is one of my top five things that I aspire to do in my life....

......................

As for roads here in the States, Michigan is notorious for having some of the worst roads in the country if it be in the city or in the country. However, our back country roads are some of the best you can drive on (IMO), and given a clear summer day with a full moon, its a blast to do 120 out in the middle of nowhere.

 

[eliseracer]

As for roads here in the States, Michigan is notorious for having some of the worst roads in the country if it be in the city or in the country. However, our back country roads are some of the best you can drive on (IMO), and given a clear summer day with a full moon, its a blast to do 120 out in the middle of nowhere.

?

I've been to Michigan and off of the highways, all it is is the ramrod straight two-laners between fields. They go up and down, yeah, but for the most part, they seem to be straight. To get the gold in Michigan, avoid the grid-like field roads and hit up the areas that have more smaller lakes. Going around them, from lake to lake is so much fun in the hot setting sun. I've done it many times 👍

 

[YSSMAN]

Yeah, I meant night there... My bad... But sometimes we do get full moons in the middle of the day...sometimes...!

Some of our roads are pretty straight, but out behind my father's house kinda in the northeast corner of Kent County in Western Michigan, the roads are pretty twisty out in the country. Most of that is due to the different plots of farmland as well as the state-protected wetlands and parks.

I would have never known about the roads if it wassent for me racing my bike with the FHC Cycling Team in High School. Although the exprieice of doing 25MPH on a biycycle is completely different than 75MPH in a Camaro or Mustang, it is still fun either way...