They were making a big deal about it at work today and didn’t see it on here yet.
So quick was the $100,245 Z06 — Corvette’s 650-horsepower performance model — that in the nine-year history of the famed Lightning Lap only one car has ever recorded a faster time: the 2014 Porsche 918 hybrid, a carbon-fiber cyborg from the future that costs nearly nine times as much the Corvette. The $875,175 Porsche was faster by a mere 1.5 seconds. That’s over $250,000 per half second.
“It’s incredible how much performance they pack into that $100,000 price point,” Alterman said. “One of the interesting things about the Z06 is it proves the car with the highest top speed is not necessarily the fastest car around a race track. The McLaren (top speed: 204 mph), for example, was faster on the straights, but the Z06 with more down-force and grip just dominated on the more technical parts of the track.”
Ann Arbor-based Car and Driver is perhaps the country’s most revered auto enthusiast magazine, and VIR is one America’s most revered tracks. “We go there because it’s the closest thing to an American Nurburgring,” Alterman said in comparing the 4.1-mile, 24-turn roller-coaster outside Danville, Virginia, to the legendary, 13-mile German circuit.
The resulting Lightning Lap test is an independent benchmark of whether today’s best performance cars are as quick on the track as their numbers suggest on paper. For three days, four top driver/journalists analyzed 18 of the industry’s state-of-the-art grouped by price. “The goal is to see … how much true dynamic value you get for the price,” Car and Driver said. In the case of the ’Vette, quite a lot.
Its 2:44.6 minute lap this year not only nipped the McLaren (2:45.8) and Lamborghini Huracán (2:47.5), it destroyed the Porsche 911 GT3 (2:50.4) which is widely considered to be the best all-around sports car on the planet. Rummaging through previous Lightning Lap data, only the Porsche 918 beats the Z06 with a 2:43.1 second lap. Not the $333,376 Ferrari 458 Italia. Not the V-10-powered, $196,795 Audi R8.
“The CTS-V is mind-blowing.,” Alterman said of the big sedan that shares an engine with the Z06. It’s essentially a Corvette with four doors. It lapped VIR in 2:56.8, beating competitors in the $65,000-to-$124,999 category such as the Mercedes-AMG C63 S and Lexus RC F.
I think it’s pretty much established that the new Corvettes are impossible to beat at their price point. But it’s also well established that if you’re in the market for a Porsche that cost 10x as much a comparison doesn’t really matter.
There is no beating the Z06 at it price point, but it is easy to loos sight at the incremental cost increase to gain .1 sec the faster you go. Just like in drag racing it is easy to take a 15 sec car and get it to run 14’s but much more involved to go from 8’s to 7’s. I don’t hold to much to the lightning lap videos. They are neat to watch but after watching the RS7 get driven by someone who has no clue I discount quite a bit of their results. The Z06 is a beast. I spend 2 days coaching a inexperienced driver with one at road america. The cars straight line speed and braking is fantastic and with driver aids it is difficult to not look like a pro. It is a very easy car to drive fast but like anything on a road course it takes a great driver that knows the car well to really ring it out.
“Bang-for-the-buck” and “value for the dollar” shouldn’t be used in the same sentence when describing the C7 Z06, it cheapens the accomplishment. It dominates, price nonwithstanding.
I’m a die hard GM but there’s no way I would buy a C7 'Vette until they get all of the bugs worked out. Every major magazine that has tested them has had their cars fail, some catastrophically. Blown engines, fuel pumps, electrical issues, limp mode, check engine lights, etc, etc. wait for a 2017.
Its a lot of $$$ to tie up into a car that may end up at the shop, warranties are great, but I wouldn’t want to spend $100K+ on a car that sits in the service bay.
One of reasons I didn’t buy a c6 z06 was the terrible experience my friend had with his. 2 motors replaced by GM in a 2 year period, and the car only had 18k on it.
I just read this comment. Who knows if it is true.
About the Best Driver’s Car Z06: Recent evidence has all but confirmed that the car Motor Trend had was the exact same car that was in Car & Driver’s Lightning Lap. A car that was thrashed around VIR mercilessly in 100 degree heat, and had suffered an off-track excursion that resulted in enough damage to prevent the editors from driving it again. If that is indeed the case, then it looks like the Z didn’t receive proper maintenance/repair afterwards, as evidenced by the car having worn out brake pads when MT got it. If they couldn’t be bothered to change out the brake pads, I doubt they did much else to fix the car beyond repairing whatever cosmetic damage was done and putting on some fresh tires(which MT might have done themselves).
I’ve seen similar comments floating around. Even if it is true GM should have had kept a closer eye on it and brought in for full service after carANDdriver had their hands on it.
A car that was thrashed around VIR mercilessly in 100 degree heat,
That is typical track day stuff, is the car only capable of one track day?
I went with my friend eric to Road America and he brought his C7 Z06. Chin motorsports was running 30 min sessions and at 21 min the car would go into limp mode every time. My A8 on the other hand would just take it like the dirty bitch that it is. This went on for 2 days at Road America. Road america was a sat/sun event. I packed up at 5pm at road america and drove to mid ohio. unpacked the car at 7AM and raced almost all day. My transmission overheated and I sat out for one session and had 6 run instead of 7 + another delay in the track day… A new C7 Z06 blew a rod through the block and cought on fire. The car had 7 K on it and was being driven at less than what would would say is hard. The driver said that oil temps were in check as well as coolant temps. He came out of turn 4 and herd a bang and had a trail of fire behind him.
clifft. 2 track events 2 C7 corvette problems. 1 overheat limp mode, and one rod through the block and fire.
Edit: I absolutely love the fact that the miata made it to the top 3. I am also impressed that the golf R even made the list. I think they put it best that it is fighting above its weight class.
So it’s fine if you live your life a 1/4 mile but no longer at a time, or if you’re buying it as a mid-life crisis mobile to sit in the garage and get passed by SUV’s around town because you’re too scared to mash the go pedal.
Viper ACR still hasn’t been tested and it is priced similarly to the Z06. If History repeats itself on this track as it has on others the Z06 will get crushed, but I can’t say that until I see it. Either way even if I had enough money to buy any of these cars I wouldn’t be able to drive them to even 50% of their potential, so just give me any of them and I’ll have a big smile on my face.
I don’t think you could get a vette into limp mode due to overheating on the street without crashing or ending up in jail. As a street car it does everything you expect it to while unfortunately on the track it does not. Don’t let that take away from the fact it is doing over 160mph on the straights at road america. I find it equally awesome that the bentley works on the road course at all with the power plant it has. I can’t imagine the complexity of the cooling system to cool the lava factory under the hood
