Top Gear Written Review - C6 Z06

[Dave A]

Isn't the Sagaris a supercar? Hell to me being in America all TVRs are supercars.

Directed to M-Spec

Yes the Sagaris is considered to be a supercar, however not all TVR's are, the Tamora certainly isn't, and I don't think the T350C/T's have been classed as supercars by anyone either. A lot of the TVR range are classed as supercars.

 

[Elegy]

I know I'm not who you're addressing, but I'd say it's a supercar if you define that as "a car that just has really ass-kicking performance" rather than "cut from the same mold as the Enzo/MC12/CGT/etc..." Here's its stats:

Engine
Engine: TVR Speed Six engine, Straight-6
Engine size: 3996cc (4.0L)
Power Output: 400 bhp (298 kW) @ 7000 rpm
Torque Output: 349 lbf.ft (451 Nm) @ 5000 rpm
Valvetrain setup: 4 valves per cylinder, Dual Overhead Cam


Transmission
Transmission: 5-Speed Manual



Suspension
Front: Independent,double wishbones, coil-over gas dampers, sway bars
Rear: Independent, double wishbones, coil-over gas dampers, sway bars


Brakes
Front: 322mm ventilated disc brakes
Rear: 298 mm ventilated disc brakes


Wheels
Wheels: 18 in aluminum alloy wheels


Chassis/Body
Body Panels: Carbon fiber
Weight: 2513 lb (1140 kg)


Performance
Top speed: 190 mph (310 km/h) estimated
0 to 100 km/h (62 mph): 3.6 seconds

I wouldn't thumb my nose at it. Great car. 👍

 

[Young_Warrior]

Excuse meeeeeeeeeeee but isnt the c6 and tvr meant to be budget super sports cars (I refuse to call them super cars except for the Typhoon which is plain nutty, Z06 depending on its weight , how much does it weight? ) So lets see People have said the c6 can definetly be a daily driver for say mmm a 30 year old. Ok so lets check this people who buy TVR's and C6's are those people that arent filthy rich yet have enough money to not buy say a evo or a propper track car such as a caterham.

Ok so lets see many people who own these vettes have only got one car, the vette so let me assume this would 18mpg compared to 13mpg doesnt seem like much of a difference but when it all adds up to a person who drives this car potential owners might just have to factor this in when buying it. Now you guys say but ye when you buy one of these cars people dont care about mpg but the mpg is part of the running costs and ifthe mpg is too low they might not be able to afford the running costs over say a car that costs the same pretty much goes the same but is quite a bit cheaper to run.

Well I know which car I would choose after I had to save and work hard for ages to spend £45,000.00 on a car. Also seeing as LFS has pointed put that the c6 is selling for £60k that puts it up against not only the sagaris but the noble m400 which has 20 more hp 480kg less weight and only 10lbft less torque.

As for m-spec's mpg ratings well Ive got 3 sources which put the c6 at 13-15mpg. Ive got a whole book and 3 websites about porsches 911's getting about 22mpg and the m5 gets worse mpg than the c6,the audi rs4 gets just a tad better mpg than the c6 and all exotics such as lambo and ferrari, true cars in which mpg doesnt matter all do worse than the c6.

 

[Young_Warrior]

Someone said there were plenty of 30 mpg sports cars. I'd like to see one that makes 500+ hp and still gets 30 mpg. HINT: such a car doesn't exist.

Wrong.....Partially. First of all a car with over 500hp is not a sports car.

A honda s2000 and porsche boxster is a sports car.

Mercedes SLK 280 convertable. 29.1 mpg 0-60 in 6.3 secs

New MX5 34.5 mpg 0-60 in 7.8 secs

e46 330ci BMW 31mpg 0-60 in 6.5secs

Bentley flying spur 6.0 26mpg 0-60 4.9 secs top speed 195

Audi A4/Audi TT 3.2 FSI 29mpg 0-60 in 6.4secs

Nissan 350z 32.5 mpg

S2000 29mpg 0-60 in 6.2 secs.(You could pin two of these engines together and you would have more power than a c6 and it would still do better mpg.)

Hell even the SLR mclaren gets 19.1 mpg.

 

[Tornado]

Wrong.....Partially. First of all a car with over 500hp is not a sports car.

A honda s2000 and porsche boxster is a sports car.

Mercedes SLK 280 convertable. 29.1 mpg 0-60 in 6.3 secs

New MX5 34.5 mpg 0-60 in 7.8 secs

e46 330ci BMW 31mpg 0-60 in 6.5secs

Bentley flying spur 6.0 26mpg 0-60 4.9 secs top speed 195

Audi A4/Audi TT 3.2 FSI 29mpg 0-60 in 6.4secs

Nissan 350z 32.5 mpg

S2000 29mpg 0-60 in 6.2 secs.(You could pin two of these engines together and you would have more power than a c6 and it would still do better mpg.)

Hell even the SLR mclaren gets 19.1 mpg.

I wouldn't call the Bentley a sports car exactly. And how would pitting two S2000 engines together give you more than 500 BHP? Last time I checked, 240 X 2 = 480. Also not helping is the only way you get that high speed in an S2000 is by revving it up to 8500 RPM, which I guarantee the car isn't at when Honda lists fuel mileage for it. When it's at 2000 RPM or whatever it's at when they test it in 6th gear, I bet my house a Corvette would outrun it even if it was pulling a boat while in 6th gear. Even if it was at the same RPM.

 

[Young_Warrior]

A c6 has 400hp so I dont know why your are mentioning 500hp and two honda s2000 engines in s2000 body would beat a c6 as it would weigh in at about 1340kg.

 

[Tornado]

A c6 has 400hp so I dont know why your are mentioning 500hp and two honda s2000 engines in s2000 body would beat a c6 as it would weigh in at about 1340kg.

I was just mentioning 500 BHP because I find nothing wrong with quoting Z06 power figures in a thread about the Z06. And an S2000 would most definately not weigh that much, for one, as the entire front of the chassis would have to be rediesigned, and even if the car weighed the 1270 or so it usually weighs, it would still be slower than any 'Vette (not just the Z06) because in order to get any power out of the engine it would have to rev all the way to at least 8000 RPM to be faster than a Toyota Camry and it would still only have about 280 lb. ft. of torque. It would also get around 2-3 MPG if you were actually pushing the engine.

 

[Young_Warrior]

I was just mentioning 500 BHP because I find nothing wrong with quoting Z06 power figures in a thread about the Z06. And an S2000 would most definately not weigh that much, for one, as the entire front of the chassis would have to be rediesigned, and even if the car weighed the 1270 or so it usually weighs, it would still be slower than any 'Vette (not just the Z06) because in order to get any power out of the engine it would have to rev all the way to at least 8000 RPM to be faster than a Toyota Camry and it would still only have about 280 lb. ft. of torque. It would also get around 2-3 MPG if you were actually pushing the engine.

Wrong First off all talk of the z06 ended after like the 3rd or 4th post in which we started talking about the C6 which you will notice if you look back. Also according to my sources the s2000 would have 320 lbft of torque.As for the needing to reach 8000 before it picks up speed is an exaggeration it picks up at 6500rpm but obviously if your are looking for all out performance you could slap in a new ecu to give more tourque lower down in the rev range disabling part of the vtec system.

You would get more that 2-3 mpg pushing the engine i would say about 8 mpg and about 14 mpg when driving normally.

As for redesging the front of the chasssis that wouldnt be required as they could put the other engine in the trunk/boot.

 

[Tornado]

Wrong First off all talk of the z06 ended after like the 3rd or 4th post in which we started talking about the C6 which you will notice if you look back. Also according to my sources the s2000 would have 320 lbft of torque.As for the needing to reach 8000 before it picks up speed is an exaggeration it picks up at 6500rpm but obviously if your are looking for all out performance you could slap in a new ecu to give more tourque lower down in the rev range disabling part of the vtec system.

You would get more that 2-3 mpg pushing the engine i would say about 8 mpg and about 14 mpg when driving normally.

As for redesging the front of the chasssis that wouldnt be required as they could put the other engine in the trunk/boot.

It shouldn't matter when you stopped talking about the Z06. This is still a Z06 thread, is it not? Therefore, I am allowed to quote whatever I want pertaining to the Z06.
Second, I doubt that if you were pushing the engine by revving it up that it would get that high MPG. Maybe 2-3 was an exagration, but 5-6 is not.
Third, putting the engine in the back would not only require an entire redesign of the rear suspension and a complete redesign of the rear end to get air into the engine, it would also cut MPG in half and completely destroy the chassis balance. If you were going to make the car AWD, you would also have to completely redesing the front suspension and remount the engine sideways, thus requiring a full chassis modification on both ends. All this would give you a roughly $450,000 Honda S2000 (not counting the price of the original car) that is only slightly (if at all) faster than a stock C6 'Vette, and still far slower than a Z06, without any type of warranty, that will probably break as soon as you start it.

 

[///M-Spec]

Isn't the Sagaris a supercar? Hell to me being in America all TVRs are supercars.

Directed to M-Spec

Sounds to me like one. Then again, so does the Z06.

As for m-spec's mpg ratings well Ive got 3 sources which put the c6 at 13-15mpg. Ive got a whole book and 3 websites about porsches 911's getting about 22mpg and the m5 gets worse mpg than the c6,the audi rs4 gets just a tad better mpg than the c6 and all exotics such as lambo and ferrari, true cars in which mpg doesnt matter all do worse than the c6.

First off, let's have an apples to apples comparison here.

Fuel consumption is closely related to engine power output. (Other factors include gearing and rolling resistance (weight is a factor in rolling resistance)). Generally speaking, the more power an engine makes, the more fuel it will consume. In other words, the more power a car makes, the less likely it will get good gas milage.

So of course a Z06 doesn't get the same milage as a BMW 330Ci. IT MAKES TWICE THE HORSEPOWER. A 997 Carrera may get 22 mpg if you drive it like a granny, but it is down 200 horses, isn't it???

All the cars I listed make similar power ratings to the Z06. Performance wise, they are all direct competitors. Yet, the Z06 manages to get better milage than all the others, but makes more power (Viper excluded). I'd call that pretty impressive engineering.

As for your sources, again you have to have an apples to apples comparison. It is very easy to get crappy gas milage. Just drive a car in bumper to bumper traffic or take it out on a B-road and drive the piss out of it. It'd be child's play to get 9 mpg out of a 911.... at a track, where you are redlining every gear and going WOT at every opportunity.

With the exception of the Saragis and M6, I used official US EPA numbers. They have strict procedures to determine this number. In most real world driving, it is likely less. HOWEVER, the important thing is to understand they are tested uniformly, so if there is a variance vs. real world, it is the same variance across all the cars.

Finally, the Z06 is a sports car. It can also be called a supercar. It certainly performs like one. Whatever you want to call it, doesn't really make a shred of difference.


M

 

[Wolfe]

Exactly-it means a little bit more here in the States because of our infamous "gas guzzler tax", which the Z06 doesn't get slapped with because of its fuel economy. It may be meaningless outside of America, but here it's a serious consideration.

Erm, no offense, but the cost of low-mileage vehicles in america cannot compare to the cost of those same vehicles in other countries, simply because the price we pay for petrol is much lower. Sure, theres the gas-guzzler tax, but if I'm not mistaken, isn't that just a one-time, paid-for-when-you-buy-the-car deal? Europeans and other countries are constantly paying a tax, it's called the "we-don't-live-in-america-so-we-pay-lots-of-money-for-fuel" tax.

 

[Dave A]

Excuse meeeeeeeeeeee but isnt the c6 and tvr meant to be budget super sports cars (I refuse to call them super cars except for the Typhoon which is plain nutty, Z06 depending on its weight , how much does it weight? ) So lets see People have said the c6 can definetly be a daily driver for say mmm a 30 year old. Ok so lets check this people who buy TVR's and C6's are those people that arent filthy rich yet have enough money to not buy say a evo or a propper track car such as a caterham.

£40k+ isn't budget, no matter what your getting for your cash, 40k isn't budget for a car. The Typhoon is actually the Typhon (Typhon being the name of a greek god, keeping in line wit TVR's usual mythology related names) and the Typhon has 580Bhp and is capable of 220Mph, so thats a car and a half, costs £80k. The Sagaris can lap just about any track as fast as most supercars you care to mention, it deveolps over 400Bhp (just) and can go as fast round a track as Murcielago's, Ford GT's and Ferrari 360's, so what prevents that from being a supercar? Besides that, the bottom line is it officially IS a supercar according to the motoring world. The Tuscan S isn't much slower, the 3.6 liter cars I don't think are officially supercars, but the rest are. The TVR Cerbera 4.5 has always been rated as a supercar, especially in Red rose trim hitting 60 in 3.6 and going onto a top speed of over 200Mph. As for the Z06, thats most certainly a supercar, the fact that it has a nice sized boot for a car of it's class is not a reason to stop it being a supercar.

 

[Young_Warrior]

Hold up one minute M-spec. The c6 gets 13mpg. Hell the zo6 probably does about 10. And the c6 is either a sports car or super car decide please. I state it as a super sports car not super car or a sports car.

As for the 911 thing a porsche 911 turbo the 996 does 19mpg and it has around 400 hp.

 

[Dave A]

Erm, no offense, but the cost of low-mileage vehicles in america cannot compare to the cost of those same vehicles in other countries, simply because the price we pay for petrol is much lower. Sure, theres the gas-guzzler tax, but if I'm not mistaken, isn't that just a one-time, paid-for-when-you-buy-the-car deal? Europeans and other countries are constantly paying a tax, it's called the "we-don't-live-in-america-so-we-pay-lots-of-money-for-fuel" tax.

Yeah, even with the gas guzzler tax on you still pay a lot, lot less per liter of petrol than over here and in many other countries.

 

[Dave A]

Hold up one minute M-spec. The c6 gets 13mpg. Hell the zo6 probably does about 10. And the c6 is either a sports car or super car decide please. I state it as a super sports car not super car or a sports car.

As for the 911 thing a porsche 911 turbo the 996 does 19mpg and it has around 400 hp.

The standard C6 is a sportscar, it isn't fast enough to be a supercar, the Z06 is a supercar.

 

[Young_Warrior]

£40k+ isn't budget, no matter what your getting for your cash, 40k isn't budget for a car. The Typhoon is actually the Typhon (Typhon being the name of a greek god, keeping in line wit TVR's usual mythology related names) and the Typhon has 580Bhp and is capable of 220Mph, so thats a car and a half, costs £80k. The Sagaris can lap just about any track as fast as most supercars you care to mention, it deveolps over 400Bhp (just) and can go as fast round a track as Murcielago's, Ford GT's and Ferrari 360's, so what prevents that from being a supercar? Besides that, the bottom line is it officially IS a supercar according to the motoring world. The Tuscan S isn't much slower, the 3.6 liter cars I don't think are officially supercars, but the rest are. The TVR Cerbera 4.5 has always been rated as a supercar, especially in Red rose trim hitting 60 in 3.6 and going onto a top speed of over 200Mph. As for the Z06, thats most certainly a supercar, the fact that it has a nice sized boot for a car of it's class is not a reason to stop it being a supercar.

Supercar enzo CGT koenisskagger paganni murcelago veyron slr.

It takes exclusivness high price looks and ultimate performance for something to be a supercar.

Ten years ago the z06 would have been a supercar. In this day and age it is not. Its a super sports car and cars such as the 350z are sports cars.

 

[Dave A]

No, thoes are the top line of supercars, like any type of car (hot hatch, sports estate, track day car, grand tourer ect) there are many levels of supercar starting with cars like the Ferari 360 and Lambo Murciealgo both of which get hammered by the Sagaris on a track Besides that, the Sagaris was right up there with the Murcielago, CC8S and Zonda round the TopGear track. As for the Z06, I expect it to be similar to the Sagaris for track performance, maybe a little faster, it'll certainly beat a Murcielago and 360 in a race. It's not even a debate, it's as official as you can get on the issue, you'll find they're supercars. What you can debate is what you think the definition of a supercar SHOULD be, but that doesn't change anything. Exclusiveness and a high price don' make a car a supercar, it's performance overall including top speed.

 

[///M-Spec]

Hold up one minute M-spec. The c6 gets 13mpg. Hell the zo6 probably does about 10.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency, the government agency responsible for testing all cars sold in the USA for gas milage, says you're wrong.

Sorry, but between you and a bunch of guys whose job it is to figure this stuff out, I'm gonna go with them.

And the c6 is either a sports car or super car decide please. I state it as a super sports car not super car or a sports car.

Who cares what we call it? What does what we call it have anything to do with fuel economy? The Corvette is a sports car. Whether or not it's a "supercar" is debatable. Either way it's a moot point.

As for the 911 thing a porsche 911 turbo the 996 does 19mpg and it has around 400 hp.

The 996 Turbo made 415hp. It's rated at 15/22. There was an X50 package that upped power to 444hp. This package came standard on the Turbo S for 2005. Dunno what that made the milage.

Are you going to post proof to back up your claims? Proper numbers, please. Not "let's set the cruise control in 6th gear on the highway in the Porsche while we drive around in 1st and 2nd at WOT in the Vette".


M

 

[Young_Warrior]

that thing that says im "wrong" doesnt even specifyif its a c6 or z06 and your mpg is different from UK mpg if im not mistaken.

And LFS is the ultima GTR a supercar?

If you want proof just go to the top gear website although im qouting out of the top gear magazine and check out whatcar.co.uk aswell.

 

[Joey D]

Since when is Top Gear better then the EPA?

 

[Dave A]

And LFS is the ultima GTR a supercar.

It's a track car, it was designed for track use and had number plates stuck on it. In terms of perofmance, yes it's up there with supercars, but it's got more in common with a Caterham than a Pagani.

 

[Famine]

Firstly, no-one cares anymore.

You're coming into this 6 months late, Y_W.

But you're right to the extent that a US mpg is different to a UK mpg, because the US gallon is different to the Imperial gallon.

1 gallon (Imp) = 1.201 gallon (US)
1 gallon (US) = 0.833 gallon (Imp)

So 20mpg (US) = 24mpg (Imp).

But, as long as the same source is used for both fuel economy figures, this doesn't matter.


And lastly, no-one cares anymore.

 

[Young_Warrior]

Since when is Top Gear better then the EPA?

Well in the UK I know that cars go through testing and such by some sort of organization but I dont know the name of it. For all we know thats where topgear could get their mpg stats from as I they do not test mpg themselves.

 

[Young_Warrior]

It's a track car, it was designed for track use and had number plates stuck on it. In terms of perofmance, yes it's up there with supercars, but it's got more in common with a Caterham than a Pagani.

But a z06 has more in common with a ultima than a pagai aswell. Im confused.

Both have a chevy engine. Both have next to none creature comforts. Both have bucket seats and both are extremly fast.

Im confused

 

[///M-Spec]

that thing that says im "wrong" doesnt even specifyif its a c6 or z06 and your mpg is different from UK mpg if im not mistaken.

Sure it does. Under engine size, it says "7". As in liters. The base Corvette is 6 liters.

If you want proof just go to the top gear website although im qouting out of the top gear magazine and check out whatcar.co.uk aswell.

C'mon, man. If you're going to make claims, it's up to you to provide links that work.


M

 

[Dave A]

But a z06 has more in common with a ultima than a pagai aswell. Im confused.

Both have a chevy engine. Both have next to none creature comforts. Both have bucket seats and both are extremly fast.

Im confused

Your splitting hairs, a Z06 and Pagani share no parts, what I meant when I was tlking about common aspets was focus, design and purpose. The Ultima is a track day car, built for track use, it doesn't have any other focus but that. The Z06 is a car built for road use that also happens to be great on a track. The difference between a track car and a supercar or sportscar is purpose, not performace, style or parts, it's purpose.

 

[Elegy]

Erm, no offense, but the cost of low-mileage vehicles in america cannot compare to the cost of those same vehicles in other countries, simply because the price we pay for petrol is much lower. Sure, theres the gas-guzzler tax, but if I'm not mistaken, isn't that just a one-time, paid-for-when-you-buy-the-car deal? Europeans and other countries are constantly paying a tax, it's called the "we-don't-live-in-america-so-we-pay-lots-of-money-for-fuel" tax.

True, it's a one-time deal, but it's still a fairly big hunk of change you can avoid tacking on to the price of your car. Call it a bonus incentive for U.S. buyers, mayhap.

Here's a question for you posters who are more familiar with Top Gear than I am. As you know from the article, the Z06 has three settings for its driver aids: fully engaged, fully disengaged, and "competition mode" (which basically splits the difference between the other two). Under which settings would the power lap be most likely taken?

 

[Taurine]

For crying out loud, it has a 7 LITRE V8 of course it's going to chew through gas!

If you're not prepared to pay the price of having a gas guzzling gas that goes like stink then you shouldn't buy one in the first place.

Also saying that, there are only a few people on this entire forum that would ever be in the market to buy a Z06, so does the point really need to be argued to death?

Goddamn keyboard critics!

 

[Young_Warrior]

True, it's a one-time deal, but it's still a fairly big hunk of change you can avoid tacking on to the price of your car. Call it a bonus incentive for U.S. buyers, mayhap.

Here's a question for you posters who are more familiar with Top Gear than I am. As you know from the article, the Z06 has three settings for its driver aids: fully engaged, fully disengaged, and "competition mode" (which basically splits the difference between the other two). Under which settings would the power lap be most likely taken?

Competition mode ofcourse.

Isnt the whole purposeof the z06 to get round a track as quickly as possible like the ultima gtr. Remember it "was developed alongside the c6r".

 

[Dave A]

No, the Z06 doesn't have a sole purpose, it has purposes, one of thoes is to be fast round a track, that is a track cars sole purpose and if that was the only purpose the Z06 was built for then it'd be a track car. The other side to it is, the Z06 is based on the C6 Vette, which not being a track car itself automatically means the Z06's design is compromised. Because it wasn't developed fom the ground up to go round a track, it's not a track car. Thats th biggest reason the TVR Sagaris isn't a track car, it's the top spec T350, the T350 was built with the sole purpose of going round a track, so for that purpose it's compromised. That doesn't mean it's not bloody good, it just means that theres been compromises made to make it usable on the road in every day conditions, it's the same with the Z06.