I want a C6 and I need some advice

[lukee.sti]

Hey all,
Quick bit of info to set the ball rolling, I’m 24 years old and currently daily drive a modified 2006 STi. Recently I just decided to do an insurance quote for the fun of it on a c6 base, grand sport, and a Z06 and found that surprisingly, it would be quite a bit significantly cheaper to insure than my STi. After doing more research, found out that the tax and running costs would also be very similar, if not better. (I work in retail as a sales assistant as well so it’s not necessarily the running costs that’s the issue, its saving the money for the car in the first place)

I’m aware of some of the issues with the heads of the LS7 and I’d like to have something that you just never really see in this country, and Corvettes are one of the few American cars I actually like the look of. Doing some googling I found that usually C6s in base form tend to run around 20-25k, and I could get a base and do all the things I wanna do to it for less than a z06, and as cool as it would be to own a z06 it’s just a little out my budget. Is a base worth it, especially if I want to do some little mods?

Anything I should know about the base model c6s? Preferably the manual ones? Tempted to wait until I’m 25 to get one so that I can spend the right money on it, as either way I’d probably need a small loan for the last 15, 20 percent or so. Also if any of you guys daily yours, how have you found it? Only thing I’m worried about is the winter, as of course the STi is perfect for it I’m just curious if any of you have any info to enlighten me with it 1. Being my first American car, 2. Being my first REAR wheel drive car, and 3. Being the most powerful car I will have owned to date. Thank you everyone, hopefully I’ll be joining you guys in the corvette family soon enough!

 

[teamzr1]

Hi and Welcome to the family of long history of Corvettes, and I am in Texas of the USA
and my business is making Corvettes go fast, real fast
I have worked on countless C6 Z06s and the issue about the LS7 heads is cyberspace blown out of the truth
Early on there was a bad batch of valve springs or valve guides and no C6 Z06 today would still have that problem

Chevy engines are bullets and getting engine parts is very easy

Few examples of what the LS7 can take :

Here is testrun results of one C6 Z06 I worked on and as you see
the MPH was 155 MPH and horsepower went from 505 to 676 at flywheel
Owner did headers, custom CAM and went from 40 lb/hr fuel injectors to 48 lb/hr



Here is another C6 Z06,
owner also did those mods but also added a flexfuel sensor and went from 40 lb fuel injectors to 75 lb/hr
and using E85 gas that I custom tuned for all the mods
As you see HP shot up to 782 at flywheel and torque up to 649 ft/lbs at flywheel
I also was able to get Z06 to 155 MPH and could have gone faster if the road had allowed it
I set rev limiter to 7,500 RPMs
So do not discount a C6 Z06 and think smart in what mods you do and assure the custom tuning is done correctly

If you're going with a base C6, best is manual tranny is a 6 speed
Early C6s is the older 4 speed auto and later ones are 6 speeds
To me, a Corvette is not a Corvette with an auto tranny, but they are nicer if in lots of stop/go traffic
Lots of mod parts for the engine

 

[Invetterate]

Hey all,
Quick bit of info to set the ball rolling, I’m 24 years old and currently daily drive a modified 2006 STi. Recently I just decided to do an insurance quote for the fun of it on a c6 base, grand sport, and a Z06 and found that surprisingly, it would be quite a bit significantly cheaper to insure than my STi. After doing more research, found out that the tax and running costs would also be very similar, if not better. (I work in retail as a sales assistant as well so it’s not necessarily the running costs that’s the issue, its saving the money for the car in the first place)

I’m aware of some of the issues with the heads of the LS7 and I’d like to have something that you just never really see in this country, and Corvettes are one of the few American cars I actually like the look of. Doing some googling I found that usually C6s in base form tend to run around 20-25k, and I could get a base and do all the things I wanna do to it for less than a z06, and as cool as it would be to own a z06 it’s just a little out my budget. Is a base worth it, especially if I want to do some little mods?

Anything I should know about the base model c6s? Preferably the manual ones? Tempted to wait until I’m 25 to get one so that I can spend the right money on it, as either way I’d probably need a small loan for the last 15, 20 percent or so. Also if any of you guys daily yours, how have you found it? Only thing I’m worried about is the winter, as of course the STi is perfect for it I’m just curious if any of you have any info to enlighten me with it 1. Being my first American car, 2. Being my first REAR wheel drive car, and 3. Being the most powerful car I will have owned to date. Thank you everyone, hopefully I’ll be joining you guys in the corvette family soon enough!

Welcome! Many of us use our Corvettes whatever the weather! Just keep the traction control on if you get a C6 and don't jump on the loud pedal if it's wet. We have one member who uses his manual, base C6 for everything. Earlier in the year, he and a friend drove to the Arctic Circle and back - 5,500 miles in a fortnight. The car used a litre of of oil and that 's it. Oh and it has nearly 240,000 miles on it. He has written a Buyer's Guide on the C6 which really is a must for someone contemplating buying one like you.

Amazon.co.uk

Check this out too [same car at Silverstone]:

Lots of advice on this forum and Facebook. Consider joining the Club too - you will get local support too.

Whereabouts are you based?

 

[lukee.sti]

Welcome! Many of us use our Corvettes whatever the weather! Just keep the traction control on if you get a C6 and don't jump on the loud pedal if it's wet. We have one member who uses his manual, base C6 for everything. Earlier in the year, he and a friend drove to the Arctic Circle and back - 5,500 miles in a fortnight. The car used a litre of of oil and that 's it. Oh and it has nearly 240,000 miles on it. He has written a Buyer's Guide on the C6 which really is a must for someone contemplating buying one like you.

Amazon.co.uk

Check this out too [same car at Silverstone]:

Lots of advice on this forum and Facebook. Consider joining the Club too - you will get local support too.

Whereabouts are you based?

Thats incredible! Yeah I'll definitely give that guide a look, and must say it does look and sound great on track! Sorry it's taken me so long to reply, not had any notifications come through and been helping the family with house renovations. I'm based in Derbyshire, Chesterfield to be precise. Literally couldn't be any more central in the UK lol, but it is nice having the peak district on my doorstep though

A C6 seems like the only logical way forward for me, trying to do as much research as I can over the next year so I can figure out if its where I wanna go. All my friends want me to go German for my next car but every single one of them has one already and as cool as they are, I wanna be different. Also, the sound of a V8 can't really be beaten. It'll just be the muscle memory of not only having more power, but having it sent to the rear wheels only. Like you say, any kind of non dry weather is definitely gonna take some getting used to. My STi you can just plant your right foot and anything short of snow/ice it just grips, but good to know that they tend to behave themselves if you take your time with them. Thanks for the insight, hopefully I can get one soon, can only wait so long!

 

[lukee.sti]

Hi and Welcome to the family of long history of Corvettes, and I am in Texas of the USA
and my business is making Corvettes go fast, real fast
I have worked on countless C6 Z06s and the issue about the LS7 heads is cyberspace blown out of the truth
Early on there was a bad batch of valve springs or valve guides and no C6 Z06 today would still have that problem

Chevy engines are bullets and getting engine parts is very easy

Few examples of what the LS7 can take :

Here is testrun results of one C6 Z06 I worked on and as you see
the MPH was 155 MPH and horsepower went from 505 to 676 at flywheel
Owner did headers, custom CAM and went from 40 lb/hr fuel injectors to 48 lb/hr

View attachment 30406

Here is another C6 Z06,
owner also did those mods but also added a flexfuel sensor and went from 40 lb fuel injectors to 75 lb/hr
and using E85 gas that I custom tuned for all the mods
As you see HP shot up to 782 at flywheel and torque up to 649 ft/lbs at flywheel
I also was able to get Z06 to 155 MPH and could have gone faster if the road had allowed it
I set rev limiter to 7,500 RPMs
So do not discount a C6 Z06 and think smart in what mods you do and assure the custom tuning is done correctly

If you're going with a base C6, best is manual tranny is a 6 speed
Early C6s is the older 4 speed auto and later ones are 6 speeds
To me, a Corvette is not a Corvette with an auto tranny, but they are nicer if in lots of stop/go traffic
Lots of mod parts for the engine

View attachment 30407

Some amazing info there, Thank you so much for the detailed dyno graphs as well. Yes, I agree about the transmissions. Its going to be a manual, no question about it. Only reason it wont be is if I do end up going with a base, and I can snatch a hell of a deal on an auto one and it would be more cost effective to swap it out. I wonder how it would differ over here, as I know in the US you guys have much easier access to E85 fuel, unless I wanna special order the stuff I'll be on e5, which is our 99 octane. from what I can gather searching the web, its a middleground between your guys' normal pump 93, and proper e85 iirc.

So basically long story short, regardless of whether its a base 6.2 LS3, or a 7.0 LS7, these engines are super robust and can respond really well to higher power correct? probably not going to ever take it past maybe 450-500 wheel and on UK roads anything more is just a bit silly with our infrastructure, but even then getting that kind of power out of my STi would cost probably the same as a Z06 in just engine work and probably be 10x less efficient! I do want to do some engine work for sure, however I do want a daily functioning vehicle that also handles really well too, just with a relatively large amount of power. Would make for an amazing experience, Z06 or not.

Thankyou for your expertise!

 

[teamzr1]

Due to this forums limits sizes of attached files

Go here and this will download to you a 122-page PDF from my Corvette website
It is from GM engineering and is the complete design and specs for in this case a 2007 C6

Click on this to auto download this PDF

Team ZR-1 Corvette Racers LLC

Make a few copies and enjoy reading through all the techie info