|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
 |
ZR-1 vs. Z06 Shootout |  |
 Home Page |
GTO Page |
Trans Am Page |
Corvette Page |
1970 GTO Judge Page |
Cobra Page |
Top 30 Fastest Muscle Cars |
ZR-1 vs. Z06 Shootout |
Muscle Car of the Month |
Favorite Links |
Contact Page |
Poll Page |
Guestbook Page |
Smokey and the Bandit |
Photo6 Page |
Photo5 Page |
Shopping Page Page |
Photo |
Photo |
 Z-R1 vs. Z06 When you were growing up, remember the two kids who thought they were the toughest in town and they always had to fight to see who was the best? Then we grew up and bought Corvettes. First, from 1990 to 1995, there was the ZR-1. And now the current "bad boy," the Z06, has come to the neighborhood. So here's what the Corvette world has been waiting for - a showdown between the LT5-powered ZR-1 and the new LS6-engined Z06, two of the toughest Corvettes ever produced. The outcome may surprise you. The ZR-1, which was quickly dubbed the "King of the Hill" by owners, was a limited-edition, rather expensive (at ,000 plus), C4-based Corvette, available from 1990 to 1995 and built to be the worlds fastest production car at that time. The Lotus-Chevrolet designed LT5 engine was based on the standard V8 engine, but it was topped off with 32-valve heads and four overhead camshafts. To this day, the 375-horsepower LT5 engine is one of the finest powerplants in the world, still holding some of the records it set in the early 1990s. The current Z06, on the other hand, is a more refined road car based on the lightweight C5 hardtop. Priced ,000 less than ZR-1s when they were new, the Z06 represents a true performance car bargain. Incorporating many enhancements over the standard C5 for a big difference in performance, the heart of the Z06 is its pushrod 5.7-liter LS6 powerplant, rated at 345 horsepower. Other major improvements come from the Tremec 6-speed M12 transmission, a trick titanium exhaust system for reduced weight, FE4 suspension package, new rear brakes, a Second-Generation Active Handling System, and ten-spoke aluminum wheels with Goodyear's Eagle F1 Tires. These all add up to better traction, improved handling, and more power to the ground, which could, we figured, offset the power advantage of the ZR-1 in our head-to-head drag strip showdown. Finding a dead-stock ZR-1 for our shootout proved difficult. Seems like everyone who owns one of these rare beasts has performed some type of modifications, from mild to wild. We finally located Harry Mortner, a schoolteacher and owner of a mostly stock ZR-1. Even though Harry had made some mild aftermarket enhancements to his red 1991 ZR-1, like a custom chip from Doug Rippie Motorsports, Borla Challenger cat-back exhaust system, and dual K&N air filters, we felt it was close enough to stock to accept the car for our shootout, especially when we learned that our Z06 was also mildly modified. Retired business owner Buzz Nielsen owns the Millennium Yellow 2001 Z06 used in our test. Buzz was blessed by being the recipient of the prototype for Corsa titanium cat-back exhaust system, plus the car is equipped with an LS1 PWRFLO Air Filter from Vinci Hi-Performance. Roger Vinci, our resident Corvette technical guru and the independent test driver for our test, shared his feelings before and after the shootout. "Buzz and Harry brought their Corvettes to our shop and we dyno-tested them both, optimizing everything so we knew we had a good baseline," said Roger. "Harry's ZR-1 did have a horsepower and rpm advantage over Buzz's Z06, but that's an overhead cam engine verses a pushrod motor, so no surprises there." The rear-wheel power figures from Vinci DynoJet worked out to 347.8 horsepower with 336.3 ft/lbs of torque for the ZR-1, and 340.2 horsepower with 337.7 ft/lbs. torque for the Z06. Very close indeed, especially on the torque side, but the drag strip would confirm which car could put the similar power numbers to the pavement better. The pair of Corvettes reconvened with Vinci at Bradenton Dragway in Bradenton, Florida, for the quarter-mile shootout portion of our test. Roger made several runs trying to get the best out of each car and finding their strengths and weakness. "What surprised me the most was how bad the ZR-1 hooked up," Vinci commented afterwards. "On each run, the rear end would break loose and pull to the right off the line. I got no weight transfer on the launch. But on the plus side, the LT5 engine had an rpm advantage at the top end, so I didn't have to shift from third to fourth gear, which saved a couple of tenths." The best elapsed time for the ZR-1 was a 13.13-second at 110.33 mph, obtained on Vinci's fifth pass down the quarter-mile. The performance from Buzz Z06 demonstrated the advancement Chevrolet has made over the last ten years of Corvette development. Vinci needed only three runs in the Z06 to top the chart with the best of 12.89-seconds at 113.26 mph. Even though the ZR-1 boasts slightly higher horsepower numbers on paper and on the DynoJet, it was the Z06 more refined suspension that made the big difference in the quarter-mile. "The Z06 hooked up so hard that the front end jumped straight up in the air," Vinci said. "The weight transfer on the launch was vastly superior to the ZR-1." So, basically, we guess you could call it a tie. The ZR-1 won the rear-wheel horsepower portion of the test, while the Z06 came up the big winner on the quarter-mile. To settle the match, we let the car owners go at it on the drag strip, with Mortner's ZR-1 in the left lane and Nielsen's Millennium Yellow Z06 in the right. Cheered on by wives and assembled friends, the two Corvettes pulled into the lights. At the green, Mortner slept to a 1.11-second reaction time in the ZR-1, but it was still a holeshot over Buzz, who tripped the lights unfantastically with a 1.33-second light (.501 is perfect). At the 1/8-mile, Harry was still ahead with a 9.23-second segment time at 79.09 mph, but coming on strong was Buzz's Z06, registering a 9.38-second time (only .143-second behind) at an amazing 83.69 mph! Harry's ZR-1 crossed the finish line with a 13.90-second ET at 106.59 mph. But wait, Buzz was just a scant .22-second behind with an identical 13.90 ET at 107.16 mph. The rpm advantage that Vinci spoke of earlier is what won the race for Harry. By not having to shift to fourth, he held off the Z06's late charge. Both the ZR-1 and Z06 Corvettes have their strong points, with the ZR-1 boasting a special 32-valve powerplant. But the refinements and advances in automotive technology in the past ten years are what makes the Z06 such an incredible package.
|
|
