What Is It?
2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
What's Special About It?
It may look like a Corvette with well-placed flares and scoops grafted to its skin, but the 2006 Z06 is much more than that. When it hits the road in the fall of 2005, it will be powered by the largest and most powerful small-block engine in history, and it will be the fastest production car GM has ever produced. This is a serious ride.
Chevy took weight reduction very seriously. To make the car lighter, engineers replaced the Corvette's steel structure with a full aluminum chassis, shaped the front fenders and hood from carbon fiber and used magnesium to form the engine cradle and roof structure. Even the Corvette's removable roof panel has been fixed in place to save mass and improve structure. Curb weight is down to 3,130 pounds.
Horsepower and torque, on the other hand, are up to 500 and 475 lb-ft. The Z06 is powered by a hand-assembled 7,000 rpm, 7.0-liter, 427-cubic-inch, normally aspirated small block called the LS7. It's an all-aluminum V8 filled with exotic engineering, such as titanium connecting rods and intake valves, sodium-filled exhaust valve, a dry sump oiling system, a forged steel crankshaft and computer-machined cylinder head porting.
That power finds its way to the Vette's massive rear tires through a six-speed manual transaxle, and it's controlled by brakes so large they should have their own ZIP code. The front rotors measure 14 inches in diameter, and are cross-drilled for cooling. They're grabbed by six-piston calipers with six separate brake pads. The rear brake rotors measure 13.4 inches and work with four-piston calipers with four pads.
Those stoppers show through new double-spoke wheels, which go nicely with the litany of well-placed flares and scoops, all of which are functional, some to enclose larger rubber and some to manipulate air flow. It all looks good to us in a Mad Max kind of way. Inside, the only thing worth noting are a smaller steering wheel and more aggressively bolstered seats.
Chevy says the Z06 will accelerate from zero to 60 mph in well under 4 seconds, run the quarter-mile in the mid-11-second range, top out at 190 mph and cost somewhere around $75,000.
What's Edmunds' Take?
This is further proof every car should have an abundance of well-placed flares and scoops. It also proves Chevrolet wants to rule the street. If you just bought a Dodge Viper, check your rearview mirror, it's about to be full. — Scott Oldham
2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
What's Special About It?
It may look like a Corvette with well-placed flares and scoops grafted to its skin, but the 2006 Z06 is much more than that. When it hits the road in the fall of 2005, it will be powered by the largest and most powerful small-block engine in history, and it will be the fastest production car GM has ever produced. This is a serious ride.
Chevy took weight reduction very seriously. To make the car lighter, engineers replaced the Corvette's steel structure with a full aluminum chassis, shaped the front fenders and hood from carbon fiber and used magnesium to form the engine cradle and roof structure. Even the Corvette's removable roof panel has been fixed in place to save mass and improve structure. Curb weight is down to 3,130 pounds.
Horsepower and torque, on the other hand, are up to 500 and 475 lb-ft. The Z06 is powered by a hand-assembled 7,000 rpm, 7.0-liter, 427-cubic-inch, normally aspirated small block called the LS7. It's an all-aluminum V8 filled with exotic engineering, such as titanium connecting rods and intake valves, sodium-filled exhaust valve, a dry sump oiling system, a forged steel crankshaft and computer-machined cylinder head porting.
That power finds its way to the Vette's massive rear tires through a six-speed manual transaxle, and it's controlled by brakes so large they should have their own ZIP code. The front rotors measure 14 inches in diameter, and are cross-drilled for cooling. They're grabbed by six-piston calipers with six separate brake pads. The rear brake rotors measure 13.4 inches and work with four-piston calipers with four pads.
Those stoppers show through new double-spoke wheels, which go nicely with the litany of well-placed flares and scoops, all of which are functional, some to enclose larger rubber and some to manipulate air flow. It all looks good to us in a Mad Max kind of way. Inside, the only thing worth noting are a smaller steering wheel and more aggressively bolstered seats.
Chevy says the Z06 will accelerate from zero to 60 mph in well under 4 seconds, run the quarter-mile in the mid-11-second range, top out at 190 mph and cost somewhere around $75,000.
What's Edmunds' Take?
This is further proof every car should have an abundance of well-placed flares and scoops. It also proves Chevrolet wants to rule the street. If you just bought a Dodge Viper, check your rearview mirror, it's about to be full. — Scott Oldham
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