2002 Chevrolet Corvette Z06: So Great Minds Think Alike...

Too Bad it's not close to as fast as the Viper! Or even equal your test Viper's it's top fuel milage! Just sad!!

you win the parking award. Unless it was just luck, for switching between a lot of different cars that was an amazing judge of where the front of the car ended.

Their is something slightly disturbing about the LT vette... it has a front plate. I thought it was tradition to leave the front plate off.

Vettes have always been daily drivable. The Viper is really just a track toy.

I always love hearing the comment that one car FEELS faster than another one. I guarantee you that your Z06 is not faster than the viper, and the fact that you don't feel like you are going as fast in the viper says a lot about build and design quality.

No, it's not faster. But it traps, what, 116-ish in the 1/4 mile? The total performance this car brings in the used market is basically unmatched. And the Ti exhaust sounds great. A used C6 Z06 for mid to upper $30k's will just about match the Viper for performance. Then there's the ZR1...

Mopar fangirls ahoy! Good lord girls, relax. She's giving her opinion on the car. She likes it more than the silly Viper. Settle down.

Unless you are at the track if a car feels faster then isn't that a good thing even if it isn't?

Everyone knows that movie catch-phrases add at least 25 hp!
On a more related note, I enjoy when my car parks next to me. Shows comradery!

I agree that the Vette is more relaxing to drive but I would rather be uncomfortable in a Viper than relaxed in a Vette anyday.

Nice thing about the Z06: you have the option of being relaxed and comfortable in it, AND you can beat the snot out of it and scare yourself senseless whenever you want. The Viper doesn't give you that option. The Z06 truly has a dual personality, much like Jekyll and Hyde. Unless you've driven one to the extent that you revealed both personalities, you wouldn't understand. It almost like 2 different cars in 1.

"But it traps, what, 116-ish in the 1/4 mile?"

Are they that fast? It's been a while since I've looked, but I thought the C5-Z06's were in the 110-112 range.

When I see a Viper, I stare at it. When I see a Vette, I never look twice. Not because I don't like them, but because you always see Vettes on the road. To me, the Viper still has that aura, where the Vette doesn't quite have that specialness. If I were in the market for one of these cars, which I'm not, I wouldn't be as concerned with the Viper's lack of comfortable drivability, becauseI would have a daily driver.

Those are the tires several of us recommended you try out - Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500. The name is a bit off putting in that they sound like a rehash of a 70s tire, but they really do seem to perform up to their Ultra High Performance Summer billing. I've finally gotten past the break in period with them and they are very similar to my previous Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3s in all respects. Which is a high compliment, as I am a huge fan of the Eagle F1 GS-D3s.

Re: "disurbing" - I'm guessing no love for chrome wheels? Chrome Rulez!

does anyone in the real world crossshop new Vipers and 8 year old Corvettes?

three more inches and this would have been a very different post

Haha @ tmanz, you are exactly correct. Who would cross shop a $90k car with a $20k car? The comparison is a bit silly. Everyone that says they'd rather have the Viper than this car.... well duh. Of course you would.

And where can you find a C6 Z06 used for mid to upper $30k? Unless it's been wrecked or has 100k miles on it, the cheapest I see are in the mid to upper $40k range. You could buy a C5 Z06 for that and have $20k left over for forced induction, and then absolutely destroy everything else on the road, as you could be running 700hp easily.

and not one mention of the ugly side moldings.... guess every irish twin has the ugly sister

For all it's performance credentials the Viper is just UNrefined. Several publications have made note of that fact; it sounds horrible at throttle, the heat build up in the cabin can cook you, the side exhaust will burn you and the ride it too punishing for anything other than track duty.

Good car but I'll pass. Go back and look and the responses when IL asked if you would rather have a Viper ACR or Vette ZR1 . . .

The Pirate Hat makes sense to me. Corvette owners are a mad-cap bunch, and frequently don't take themselves too seriously. Also, for 99% of the time, feeling fast is just as good or better than being truly fast. Seriously, the baddies just don't chase me that much.

"It's been a while since I've looked, but I thought the C5-Z06's were in the 110-112 range."

An 01 will do about 113mph and the 02-04 114-116mph or thereabouts. At a real track. Get it in 3rd on the highway and floor it and HOLD ON.

And I still maintain that you should be looking at upper 20mpg on a pure highway drive at reasonable speeds, like 70-75mph. I dunno what this "terrible mpg" stuff is all about.

Kevin 14 look in the fuel updates it's not terrible! But for a engine making 200 less HP & 180 FT LBS LESS TORQUE UNTOP OF WEIGHING LESS IT'S MILEAGE SHOULD BE SUPERIOR NOT INFERIOR!!!

I agree, and I don't have an explanation except that perhaps the lazy V10 is driven more lazily and the snappy LS6 is driven harder.

I think the IL staff loves flooring the Vette and is scared to do it in the $90k Viper, so they've been driving the snot out of the Z06 and babying the Vette. Thus, the Viper gets barely better mileage than the Z06. In the real-world, you should be averaging well over 20 mpg in this 2002 Z06. I average 24 mpg in my '03.

Correction -- perhaps the Z06 is more rewarding to drive hard than the Viper, so it is driven harder, more often.

Right. And let's look at the EPA ratings.
'02 Z06: 17/26/20 (already converted to 2008+ figures)
'10 Viper: 13/22/16

Everything basically points to a difference in driving style.

" fundango says:

08:52 AM, 08/11/10

"But it traps, what, 116-ish in the 1/4 mile?"

Are they that fast? It's been a while since I've looked, but I thought the C5-Z06's were in the 110-112 range. "

The C5 Z06 trapped 116-117 mph very consistently. 12.4@117 mph was the 1/4 mile time seen by many publications when they tested it in 2002-2004. It's also the same trap speed seen by many Z06 forum members who drag raced their stock cars (some of them can really drive: I've seen 11.9's on a bone stock '02 Z06 with stock tires, but that is a rare feat with stock tires).

110-112 is about right for the base C5 Corvette with 350hp, not the Z06.

As for mileage, I average 24 MPG with mine with bolt-on mods (headers, exhaust, intake, tune), 32 MPG all highway. When it was stock it averaged 22 MPG, 29 MPG highway. Talking with other stock owners, my stock mileage was typical. Edmunds LT Z06's mileage is particularly poor, but I think it has more to do with their driving style and traffic the car has been in than their particular car, especially given the stout dyno results.

The biggest problem I have with the Vette is that if I were chased by baddies in a Fiesta inside a shopping mall, I would not be able to get away.

HAHAHAHAHAHA. I JUST watched that episode this weekend.

Firestone Wide Oval tires? I had those on my '69 Ranchero. I sure hope they've improved ... a lot.

Never understood the name, either. I want my tires round, thank you very much.

This car deserves a set of Michelin PS2s or something EQUALLY as good. Not something that is a "good value" but something truly top shelf.