General Motors mayhave had trouble keeping a lid on the styling of its 2006 Corvette Z06 (AW, Dec. 13, 2004) until its official public debut this week at the Detroit show, but little matter in the end. As important as styling changes are, in this case they’re merely the external indicators of how serious Chevrolet has become about Corvette performance.
Drawing on knowledge derived from its endurance racing program—indeed, using many engineers directly involved with that program—the Corvette team has put together a car that promises to run with the world’s best when it arrives in dealerships late in the year. No playing second fiddle to Vipers, no need to explain that a Ferrari Maranello or Aston Martin DB9 sells for four times as much money.
Speaking of looks, the biggest change is that the bodywork is three inches wider, with flared fenders to cover the wider tires this car truly needs, because it outperforms not only its predecessor but every factory Corvette in the marque’s 53-year history. Yes, that includes the fabled big-block cars and the high-tech quad-cam ZR-1 “King of the Hill”—we haven’t driven it yet, but on paper the new Z06 promises to be the new King Corvette.
Aside from lighter, embroidered seats with bigger bolsters, the Z06 cabin is pretty much standard Corvette.
Extracting no less than 500 hp from its 7.0-liter (yes, 427 cid) V8, built as near to racing standards as one might wish for a road-going machine, the new model needed a large air intake in the nose. Designer Tom Peters may think the neatest part is that incorporating that scoop meant his studio got to draw a new front fascia with a slightly longer point in the nose. “I wanted to do that on the car originally, but we had to hold to the length of a Porsche 911, so I couldn’t pull it as far forward as I wanted,” Peters told us. “Now, you need it longer to fit the air intake.”
That’s what everyone will see, but it’s not there just to be seen. The scoop is required because the LS7 mill can use 100 cubic feet more air every minute than the base C6’s LS6. That’s 18 percent more airflow, a key reason the new Z06 is expect­ed to run 0 to 60 mph in under 4.0 seconds and, given that it will go all the way to 100 km/h (62.1 mph) in first gear, perhaps quite a bit under that 4.0-second mark.
On the outside, this example wears the new Z06-specific brighter shade of yellow paint to match the also-new C6-R endurance racer.
Dashing to 100 mph in seven seconds and past the quarter-mile pole in the 11s, the Z06 also needs more stopping power than an ordinary mortal.
What is evident on the outside is the bigger air extractor behind the front-wheel opening, and a new intake scoop in front of the rear-wheel opening, to cool the bigger brakes (14-inch front, 13.4-inch rear rotors, the latter as big as the front rotors on a Z51-equipped 2005 Corvette).
You’ll also spot the red-painted six-piston calipers up front, which use six individual pads to promote even wear. Rear calipers are more traditional four-pot/two-pad designs, also readily visible through the Z06’s 10-spoke wheels.
What’s all this cost? Chevy isn’t saying yet, but count on a bigger gap between the base car and the Z06 than was the case with the 2004 equivalents in the C5-generation models. Base will be in the mid-$60,000 range, we suspect, with optioned models running up into the $70,000s. There is plenty of wiggle room above the typical Corvette’s $50,000 sticker to stay below the Dodge Viper’s $80,000-plus MSRP. Clearly, the value is there under the skin, as well as being evident in the Z06’s exterior design.