2006 Z06 News - Will Shock You!

[painrace]

A friend of mine has just received his Enzo back from the factory. He wanted to test the upper end and asked me to drive. At about 190-195 the big bang was the transmission. It happened last spring.

This was the third time I have driven the car. I don't have a problem with the paddle shifting running the car hard but I always seem to be in the wrong gear just driving around. I learned the dog ring transmissions so I guess I will learn paddle shifting if GM gives us a true unit like the Enzo.

I am not sure when we will try to find the top end again, if ever.

 

[corvetteconti]

Just spoke with a client that was at the plant....they even mentioned they heard of my latest news ( whihc did not come from a plant employee) and confirmed two Z verisons and winked when the paddle shift verion was mentioned.
car is to be UNDER 3000 pounds!
and you thought I was nuts.....mwell maybe just a little, but that's a different story kids.

 

[craig0ry]

i'm kinda hesitant to believe somebody with 6 posts... but if what you say is true, it gives me a dream for a decade down the road

 

[Edmond]

I wouldn't discount or take what he said lightly just because he has 6 posts. We were all new here at some point.

I've heard the same thing about the weight mark but didn't hear about the paddle shifting.

 

[pbadad]

we shall see in january

it better have 600 bhp to make a big difference :cool

 

[JBsC5]

http://forums.gminsidenews.com/showthread.php?threadid=8066

 

[Gorgon]

Oh my! Those rear tires are huge! Nice find JB.

Leon

 

[ROCKETBLOCK]

The idea of ANYTHING other than a full manual transmission in a sports car is just baffling to me. The entire reason for being and purpose of sports cars is for enjoyment of DRIVING. Part of that experience is developing and honing the technique manually shifting the transmission. Yes, electronically controlled, automatically shifting manual transmissions are faster. Yes paddle shifting has milisecond shifting, yes technology is a wonderful thing when it improves an experience. However, very few people will benefit on a race track from the miliseconds saved in shifting by using a paddle shift because a miniscule number of most sports cars bought of the showroom floor will EVER be stripped down and built into pure race cars by drivers good enough that saving miliseconds per shift is going to make a difference for. If Chevrolet introduces these systems on upcoming Corvettes, my only hope is that for those of us who still enjoy the true art of driving will still have a true manual transmission to choose from. Shifting is becoming a lost art in a lazy society more concerned about looking good while driving and drinking their coffee/talking on the cell/reading the newspaper/putting on make-up/etc all at the same time. The self involved people who don't understand the wave are also the same ones who buy a Corvette to look good and could care less how it is driven, and typically don't know how or are too lazy to drive a manual. Automatics and paddle shifts are great for those that for a physical reason cannot drive a true manual yet still want to be involved with driving their cars. Leave the F1 style paddle shifts on the race course, or least make it and the automatics as an option, not the standard for Corvette (has the C4 and C5s were all standard automatics). Ok, that's my rant... I'm done.

I agree. Not mention the added costs! Also I could do very well without ABS and Active Handling and their added costs. Put all of this stuff on my Honda Odyssey!!!

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

I get to drive lots of cars with sequential – paddle shifted gear boxes. The +++ feature is that your hands never leave the wheel … unless of course you are screwing around with one of the other 3 thousand hi-tech buttons sticking in your face in which case you are forced to put your hand back on the wheel to shift…not a bad thing!:eyerole

My first complaint would be the extra effort to skip gears if I didn’t spend most of my life on motos learning to quick-shift down 3 gears. (On tight circuits I tax the brakes and end up needing to come out of a hairpin 2 gears lower than I went into it.)

Buying a car based on paddle shifters is a questionable decision however Corvettes have never been traditional sports cars so why not?

As for as the horse power is concerned bigger numbers sell cars so you can expect to see the 550 mark broken in the near future…Us Po-folk down in the trenches will still be building Torque Monsters that eat hi-rpm ponies for lunch!

 

[korvettekarl]

Hey lov-n-life, don't be bashful- tell us how you really feel! I happen to agree with.

 

[corvetteconti]

My guy that said paddles mis-understood...I think you'll see the Z06-R to be a Zero-shift car.....clutch in once and shift away......
looks more and more like the Z06-R could be a real deal when many thought I was nuts....give it time, this is dicussion at the very beginning of great things to come for Corvette!

 

[lov-n-life]

Hey lov-n-life, don't be bashful- tell us how you really feel! I happen to agree with.

Thanks for the support!

 

[boulderlt4]

Paddle shift WITH clutch is worthless.


They need the SMG tech.

 

[Z06 Tom]

From my man DJWorm over on Z06Vette.com:

'06 Z06 The New KING OF THE HILL!!

0 -> 60 in <3.8 sec.

Top Speed 200 MPH

2,900 #'s

5.7 #'s/HP

Chassis & Suspension development by Pratt & Miller,
Aluminum Hydroformed frame produced by DANA
- 345/30x20 Rears
- 6 piston Front, 4 piston Rear Brake Calipers
- Cross Drilled (cast and camfered) Rotors (possibly Brembo)

Engine Development by KaTech
To be hand built by new HP Engine Plant

LS7 427ci/ 7.0L. 500HP/500 Ft Lbs (512 HP derated to 500HP)
- 2 OHV (3 OHV not necessary for target HP)
- Raced based CNC ported Aluminum Head with 70cc chambers
- 11.0:1 CR
- 46 mm (1.81") Titanium Intake valve
- 41 mm (1.61") Na filled Exhaust Valve
- 104.8 mm Bore (4.125") , 101.6 mm Stroke (4.0") Aluminum block
- Forgrd Crank
- Forged 6 bolt main Bearing Caps
- Titanium Rods
- Cast Aluminum Flat Top Pistons
- 0.591" Lift Cam (15 mm)
- Dry Sump
- 90 mm Throttle Body on Composite manifold
- Ram Air

This thing will be an absolute BEAST! Gotta love a forged crank and 6 bolt main. I't ain't gonna break!

 

[KANE]

The idea of ANYTHING other than a full manual transmission in a sports car is just baffling to me. The entire reason for being and purpose of sports cars is for enjoyment of DRIVING.

Wow... you don't say that you like a manual in any less concrete terms, do you?

Part of that experience is developing and honing the technique manually shifting the transmission. Yes, electronically controlled, automatically shifting manual transmissions are faster. Yes paddle shifting has milisecond shifting, yes technology is a wonderful thing when it improves an experience. However, very few people will benefit on a race track from the miliseconds saved in shifting by using a paddle shift because a miniscule number of most sports cars bought of the showroom floor will EVER be stripped down and built into pure race cars by drivers good enough that saving miliseconds per shift is going to make a difference for.

I have to disagree about automatics because I really think the demon to a tranny is in three areas-
-gear ratios
-number of gears
-shifting behavior (the brains behind the "E" in 4L60E)

If you get those three areas right, you have a tranny on par or equal to a manual tranny.

I love my A4 '97. It is great in the frequent staus (German traffic jams!), long trips, short trips, and stoplight drag races. I love the fact that when I drop the hammer, I fly past the sea Renaults, Mercedes, BMWs, and Opels. The "fab four" dual cam euro-meisters can't hang. AMG is not almighty god. Weather I shift the tranny or the ECM- does makes no difference. She just moves like a bat out of he**.

If Chevrolet introduces these systems on upcoming Corvettes, my only hope is that for those of us who still enjoy the true art of driving will still have a true manual transmission to choose from. Shifting is becoming a lost art in a lazy society more concerned about looking good while driving and drinking their coffee/talking on the cell/reading the newspaper/putting on make-up/etc all at the same time. The self involved people who don't understand the wave are also the same ones who buy a Corvette to look good and could care less how it is driven, and typically don't know how or are too lazy to drive a manual. Automatics and paddle shifts are great for those that for a physical reason cannot drive a true manual yet still want to be involved with driving their cars. Leave the F1 style paddle shifts on the race course, or least make it and the automatics as an option, not the standard for Corvette (has the C4 and C5s were all standard automatics). Ok, that's my rant...

I think this is a move by GM to keep up with the percieved "target audience." However, the target audience here is also quick to show they SELL THEIR NEW VETTES AFTER A YEAR OR TWO. Most people who hold onto Vettes buy them second, third, or whatever hand. I have had two Vettes. Both automatics. One was a street built 700R4, the other a factory 4L60E. Both cars were industry standard (for the era) console shift.

I really think it is a trendy thing the engineers have come up with to steal customers away from another car that would come with a paddle shift. If the car were offered as "paddle", "manual", and "auto".... that would be cool.

If you look at what else is out there, you will see the M5 and M3 without a clutch pedal. Trippy. You will see more and more cars without clutches (Jerico-style trannys) as time moves on. The clutch was always a means to an end. I think the future will be between clutchless manuals and.... *gulp*....CVT autos.

Besides, the clutch wasn't the hallmark in which a tranny was built around- that was gearing! Sure, a clutch can make or break a tranny, but gears drive acceleration performance.

I agree with lov-n-life. Sports cars need manual transmissions. The automatics are for touring.

Suit yourself. I just want GM to build an 5L60E. Then, I will put the 550hp motor and the 5 speed auto in my '97!!! There is NO REPLACEMENT for DISPLACEMENT.

 

[pbadad]

we're still talkin' bhp here..........let's see what the rwhp dyno numbers are before we get all get worked up...........jimmy :cool

 

[TedDBere]

I believe the clutch is for launching the car, after that the clutch isn't used. I could be wrong though....

 

[vettedoc]

The idea of ANYTHING other than a full manual transmission in a sports car is just baffling to me. The entire reason for being and purpose of sports cars is for enjoyment of DRIVING.

Here, here. My sentiment exactly. Long live my ZF six speed!

The Doc