Blue Bullet Blog-The C6 Ownership Experience

[Blue260]

I was out drinking beer with some pals at my favorite microbrewery, Hollister Brewing Co. in Goleta, Sunday night and one of them asked me what don't I like about the car?

Well...I'm not a big fan of the keyless ignition. I think it's a frivolous techie fad. Plus I hate the funky key fob with the "panic" button that's too easy to push accidentally and set off the horns.

The four-cat exhaust makes the car too quiet with the bypassed closed but that Mild2Wild thing makes the exhaust too loud when cruising. Maybe I should cut off the back set of cats. It would be nice if the aftermarket could provide a way to recalibrate the exhaust module.

When I drive slow in sharp turns I hear a clicking from the outside front wheel. I hate the noise, but don't know what causes it. Need to look into that, obviously.

Didn't like that the alignment was so far off from the factory but not far enough (needs to be 0.6° or more) off to be able to have it fixed under warranty. I shouldn't have to pay to align the suspension to factory specs and the factory tolerance on a new vehicle ought to be less than 0.6°.

The OE radio reception sucks. My C5 and C4 are better. I can drive the C6 though certain areas and FM reception sucks. I can drive the C5 or the C4 through the same area and their FM receivers can pull in the signal. Hidden antennas...yet another frivolous styling feature. I'm tempted to drill into the back of the car somewhere and install a fixed-mast antenna off a C5 Z06.

But...this is minor stuff. The other 98% of the car, I love!

Oh....a P.S. to "Paul T"....I passed three yellow cars on that run over SR33, however, I gave each a happy face for trying hard. If you're feeling "left out" I can send you a little happy face, too, because I know you'll try hard to go as fast as blue.

Hib,

That clicking noise might be coming from your wheel center cap.

BTW-I personally love the keyless ignition - I hate keys!

I also love the heads-up display - it solves my problem (aging sucks) of not seeing the instrumentation without glasses.

chris

 

[Hib Halverson]

Center caps clicking, eh? I'll check that. Thanks Chris.

I'll never get to liking the push to start.

As for the HUD...I'm a believer. Had that on my '04 and learned to love it. C6's version is improved and has more features which I like.

 

[Tuna]

I'll never get to liking the push to start.

As for the HUD...I'm a believer. Had that on my '04 and learned to love it. C6's version is improved and has more features which I like.

I'm liking the push to start feature. All my cars have it, so I'm probably very used to it now and I don't have any other cars that require a key. The Volt is push to activate. The V Wagon is a bit odd in that is still have a twist switch - sorta like a key switch without the key requirement - to start it but it works the same.

One thing to keep in mind is that opening the trunk or rear hatch does not "unlock" the car. If you open the trunk/hatch first and toss your jacket or whatever that has the key fob in it inside the car and then shut the trunk/hatch, you'll be locked out. Susan and tell you more about that.

Love the HUD also. Had them in all my jets and in all my C5s/C6s. Just wish the CTS V had one.

 

[Hib Halverson]

I'm liking the push to start feature. All my cars have it, so I'm probably very used to it now and I don't have any other cars that require a key. The Volt is push to activate. The V Wagon is a bit odd in that is still have a twist switch - sorta like a key switch without the key requirement - to start it but it works the same.

One thing to keep in mind is that opening the trunk or rear hatch does not "unlock" the car. If you open the trunk/hatch first and toss your jacket or whatever that has the key fob in it inside the car and then shut the trunk/hatch, you'll be locked out. Susan and tell you more about that.

'Nother reason I hate that system...one of Dave Hill's useless technology features. Yeah, you get the convenience of pushbutton start but that's more than offset with the hassle of learning/remembering new things about how your store or keep track of keys. Much prefer my C4 or C5 in that respect. It's a KISS issue.

Also, like other GM fobs for keyless and keyed systems, that stupid f&%king "panic" button has too soft a detent spring. I'd say onces a month, I set one of those things off just because of something else in my pocket when I brush up against furniture, a doorway or etc.

Another thing I hate...at night, you can't see the buttons on the sucker. Now...one can say,"Well learn their location by feel." Problem is when you own multiple vehicles, each with a different shaped fob or a fob with different buttons, It's impossible to remember. I've always thought a great thing for GM to do is make the panic button much harder to push.

Love the HUD also. Had them in all my jets and in all my C5s/C6s. Just wish the CTS V had one.

HUDs...are great. So are digital IPs, IMO, but Corvette got away from that in 1990. Interestingly, the first GM HUD was in a Pontiac and not the Corvette and they were some of the "technology transfer" GM talked so much about after it bought Hughes in 1985. The only thing I wish GM had done was allow more vertical travel of the HUD display. Obviously, GM Legal would have squawked had the display gotten too close to the line of sight to the road.

Too bad Corvette HUDs don't have pippers you can put onto to Porsches or Vipers which are ahead of you on the track.


Not being too familiar with Cadillacs, I was surprised to read you say the "Tunasport 2" V-wagon doesn't have an HUD. Strange...considering the demographic GM is supposedly trying to market those cars to. BTW, saw my first V-Wagon on the street here in Goleta last week. They can't be making very many of them. If I was looking for a car like that and in that price range, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. To me they look so much better than Cadillac's mid-sized Xover. I tell you though, the V-wagon needs a NASCAR style dual side exhaust.

Been thinking about an ATS for Sandra, Duchess of Goleta. Her HHR is getting up there in miles...

 

[Tuna]

You'd think that Cadillac would put a HUD in the V series cars, but no! Back when we had 2 Vettes and only 1 V, 2 out of 3 had HUDs. Now, we're down to one HUD and 2 cars without them. Oh well.

Caddy probably builds less than 500 V-Wagons a year so you don't see them often. The only other one I've seen was at the Big Bend Open Road Race last year and it got wrecked a few months later. When the next generation CTS hits the streets, the wagon will not be part of the mix. If anyone is thinking about a V-Wagon, better get a '13 ordered now.

I would like to have a dual mode exhaust like the Vette has on the V. It's pretty quiet and the only way to make it louder is to change out the exhaust and make it loud all the time. I'm not going to do that.

We like the ATS also. Nice ride. We're not in a position to think about buying an ATS right now however. If we were, we'd be looking at the turbo model or the V6 model with MagRide. The turbo is lighter and may be more fun to drive. We need to take both manual and auto trans models out for test drives. Maybe wait for the ATS V and see that they put in it.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Well, an ATS for Sandy is just in the talking stage. We've yet to decide on V6-auto or I4 DGI turbo with a manual. Probably wait until Spring to make up our minds.

I was just out in the garage sipping an afternoon coffee and looking at the motor in the Blue Bullet 2 and was thinking, I guess, with 5000 miles on it, it's time to take it to the chassis dyno and get a fix on what kind of power it's making.

I'd like to do that before I cut off the back set of cats, put a Green filter on it and start working with the cal.

Have you, or anyone else reading here, who owns a '12 or '13 which is still stock with its four-cat exhaust run the car on the dyno?

 

[Hib Halverson]

Now that my 12 Z06 is 9 months old and has 5000 or so miles on it, I'm ready to do some mods but, first, I need to take it to the chassis dyno.

Any bets on what a stock '12 Z with the four-cat exhaust should make on a Superflow chassis dyno?

After that I'm going to try an aftermarket air filter, removal of the rear set of cats and a self-written calibration.

 

[Tuna]

Any bets on what a stock '12 Z with the four-cat exhaust should make on a Superflow chassis dyno?

435 RWHP would be my guess

 

[Hib Halverson]

Recently some Vette pals of mine and I were sharing a few cold ones at the Hollister Brewing Co. (shameless plug: "Hollister" is the Santa Barbara California area's best brewpub) and one of them asked me, "Why'd you order such a weird car? You'll never sell the thing."


"Actually, if I ever do sell it…or maybe the executor of my estate tries to sell it, I think it will go pretty easily. It's one of only three Carlisle Blue Z06es w. 1LZ, Z07 and B92 (carbon fiber hood). Plus the car will have a history by then because of the engine build experience and being the Lead Car for the 2014 Caravan.


As for "weird" (paused to take sip of my beer) what's weird about it? That it doesn't have nav, Bose, heated seats and a lot of other expensive stuff I don't need you guys want because you like GM's gawdawful GPS, you think "Bose" is worth the money and your poor sorry asses get cold?


The myriad of convenience options available on C6es just don't appeal to me. I want the performance stuff but beyond that, just basics…or at least as close to basics as I can get. Corvette sound systems are so good these days, the base system is fine to my ears. I can buy a lot of Garmins at Costco for what GM wants for its nav–not to mention the obscene price GM charges for update discs. I don't need heated seats in California. Even as well-fed as I am now, I don't need a telescoping steering column. As for bluetooth for my cell phone? I don't even have the phone on when I drive…I'm totally anti-distracted driving. Memory package is nice, but I can live with out it. I don't even know what a "universal home remote" is. I tolerate dual-zone air because my Wife, the Fairest Sandra the Red, likes it. The HUD I've learned to love. Hell…I wish they made Z06es with even less options than come with the base, 1LZ package and that brings to mind a good story…


Several years ago, at an attitude adjustment event held in the bar at the Bowling Green Holiday Inn after the weekend-ending banquet at NCM's Bash event, some friends and I were having an after-dinner cocktail with Corvette Chief Engineer, Tadge Juechter and his Wife.


At the time, I was the only one at the table who didn’t own a C6 Z06. About halfway though my second drink, I was sufficiently lubed-up to suggest a long-standing idea of mine to Tadge. I turned to him and said, “Why don’t you guys do a ‘zero-LZ’ package for the Corvette customers who are only interested in performance? You know, cloth upholstery, manual passenger seat, standard air, no On-Star, no rear defog, no lighted vanity mirrors on the sun visors, no autodimming mirrors, no steering wheel radio controls....”


Juechter answered, “Right now 1LZ’s penetration is 7%. If we made your '0LZ', how many do you think we’d sell?"


BAM! My no frills, high performance Corvette idea, dies on the side of the hill named "business case". I was crushed.


Back to my story about drinking beer with my Vette friends…I knew I'd be happy with just the bells and whistles 1LZ has to offer and spent my big money on Z07 and a CF hood.


In other news, I took the Blue Bullet 2 to the chassis dyno at Westech Performance Group yesterday. Their dyno is a SuperFlow AutoDyn. Made 10 passes. An average of the best three was 455.3 horsepower at the wheels, SAE-corrected. If I was to use a 15% correction for parasitic loss in the powertrain, the engine is making 535.65-hp, about 30-hp over the LS7's rated power.


Now, I do have all Red Line lubricants, Denso IT22 spark plugs and MSD Super Conductor wires on the engine and I was running it on a 2:1 mix of 91-oct pump gas and Rockett Brand 100-oct unleaded. While each of those could be worth a slight performance gain, there's no way in hell all that would add 30 horses. Many have said most LS7s make more than rated power and apparently, mine makes quite a bit over rated power.


I guess they're right.


I wish I'd have gone to the dyno before I made those changes but it just wasn't practical. The nearest chassis dyno which I trust, ie: Westech, is about 175 miles away, so it's not like I can just run over there whenever I need.

One thing that's obvious from my dyno session is GM has the calibration of the exhaust flow controller maybe not quite right. While I was running the car on the dyno, I could feel a surge of power then the bypasses opened up. I could also hear a pretty loud hiss between 2500 and 3000 rpm which comes from the closed bypasses valves leaking a tiny bit. Sure enough, the dyno data shows that power output slows its increase at about 2500 rpm and plateaus at 2750 then surges between 3000 and 3200 right at the bypass opening. Too bad no one's figured out how to change the cal of that system. If one could do that, I'd move the bypass opening down to 2500 rpm.

 

[Tuna]

In other news, I took the Blue Bullet 2 to the chassis dyno at Westech Performance Group yesterday. Their dyno is a SuperFlow AutoDyn. Made 10 passes. An average of the best three was 455.3 horsepower at the wheels, SAE-corrected. If I was to use a 15% correction for parasitic loss in the powertrain, the engine is making 535.65-hp, about 30-hp over the LS7's rated power.


Now, I do have all Red Line lubricants, Denso IT22 spark plugs and MSD Super Conductor wires on the engine and I was running it on a 2:1 mix of 91-oct pump gas and Rockett Brand 100-oct unleaded. While each of those could be worth a slight performance gain, there's no way in hell all that would add 30 horses. Many have said most LS7s make more than rated power and apparently, mine makes quite a bit over rated power.


I guess they're right.

You built the engine so you must have done something right also!

 

[Hib Halverson]

Today, I needed to shoot a photo of the E38 controller in my Z06 for an LS7 article I'm working on. Remembering where the ECMs are on my C4 (at the base of the left A-pillar) my C5 (under the battery), my Camaro (at the base of the right A-pillar), my Blazer (on top of the right front inner fender) and my HHR (next to the underhood fuse box) I figured the C6 engine controller would be easy to find under the hood. I could quickly pop it off its mount and snap a pic.

Not. I looked all over under the hood for that f&%ker for 10-min. and couldn't find it. WTF?

Ok...to the Service Manual. Look in the index for "replace ECM."

WTF, again. That controller is way up under the right front fender behind the back of the inner fender. You can't even see it from under the hood. The Replace ECM section says I have to go back to Volume one and use the instructions on removing the rear inner fender.

First I need to remove the right front wheel. Had to remember where I stashed those brake rotor protectors which come in the back of every ZR1 or Z06/Z07. Found 'em and stuck one of them on the rotor.

Ok, I get the inner fender off. Found out the Union Brothers and Sisters at B.G. stripped one of the bolts so I pause to retap the hole and find that GM used SAE bolts and threads in the frame where the two machine screws go to hold the front edge of that panel...WTF the third time. Once again, I look for the controller. Can't see it. Back to the FSM looking at the drawing really close. I get it, I have to lie down on the ground with a bright light then look straight up to see the edge of controller and, sure enough, it's there.

Two bolts and I can drop it down to the extent of the slack in the harness. Man, the connectors are killer. Took me a few seconds to figure out how to unlock them and disconnect the harness.

Finally, after 45-min of work I had the controller in my hand. Washed my hands, took the controller out in the sun with my D4 and shot the image. 30-minutes to put it all back to together.

So an hour and a half of work to spend 30 seconds shooting a photo. What a PIA. You'd think they coulda put the ECM in an easier place.
Time for

 

[BigJimZ16]

Today, I needed to shoot a photo of the E38 controller in my Z06 for an LS7 article I'm working on. Remembering where the ECMs are on my C4 (at the base of the left A-pillar) my C5 (under the battery), my Camaro (at the base of the right A-pillar), my Blazer (on top of the right front inner fender) and my HHR (next to the underhood fuse box) I figured the C6 engine controller would be easy to find under the hood. I could quickly pop it off its mount and snap a pic.

Not. I looked all over under the hood for that f&%ker for 10-min. and couldn't find it. WTF?

Ok...to the Service Manual. Look in the index for "replace ECM."

WTF, again. That controller is way up under the right front fender behind the back of the inner fender. You can't even see it from under the hood. The Replace ECM section says I have to go back to Volume one and use the instructions on removing the rear inner fender.

First I need to remove the right front wheel. Had to remember where I stashed those brake rotor protectors which come in the back of every ZR1 or Z06/Z07. Found 'em and stuck one of them on the rotor.

Ok, I get the inner fender off. Found out the Union Brothers and Sisters at B.G. stripped one of the bolts so I pause to retap the hole and find that GM used SAE bolts and threads in the frame where the two machine screws go to hold the front edge of that panel...WTF the third time. Once again, I look for the controller. Can't see it. Back to the FSM looking at the drawing really close. I get it, I have to lie down on the ground with a bright light then look straight up to see the edge of controller and, sure enough, it's there.

Two bolts and I can drop it down to the extent of the slack in the harness. Man, the connectors are killer. Took me a few seconds to figure out how to unlock them and disconnect the harness.

Finally, after 45-min of work I had the controller in my hand. Washed my hands, took the controller out in the sun with my D4 and shot the image. 30-minutes to put it all back to together.

So an hour and a half of work to spend 30 seconds shooting a photo. What a PIA. You'd think they coulda put the ECM in an easier place.
Time for

Obviously they don't expect to service many nor do they want folks messing with them... otfl

 

[Hib Halverson]

Obviously they don't expect to service many nor do they want folks messing with them... otfl

Actually, I don't think it's that. I think GM wanted to move the PCM to get it out from underneath the battery. In the C5 era, there were enough complaints about batteries leaking onto the engine controller that the move would have made sense. Of course, the Z06 and ZR1 have no battery there, so GM could have put it back where it was before on those cars, but that'd have been an expensive change for a small amount of cars so they all have it up inside the fender regardless of where the battery might be.

In any event, now that I know how to get it out, it won't take as long if I ever have to do it again. One of the problems I had was the "drawings" in the FSM of where it was located kinda sucked. I got about half way though pulling off the rear inner fender and still couldn't see the part. But once I lied down on the ground with a bright light pointing straight up...there it was.

First time I used those funky sponge tube gizmos you put on the brake rotors when removing a wheel. They worked great.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Another point I want to make, today, goes back to those Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires I have on the car. Initially I bitched about GM forcing that option on anyone wanting the Z07 package, but I am impressed with the Cups. They stick like crazy (obviously) and I like their yaw response. Yeah they're a bit noisy and not very good in the wet, but I knew that going in.

That said, for the Corvette Caravan in 2014 out of So Cal...for which the Blue Bullet II will be the Lead Car, I'll probably put full-tread-depth tires on the car figuring, like past Caravans, we'll have at least one day of wet weather and, when doing Caravan leader duty, I can't be worrying about safety in wet weather.

 

[Mikes64]

All good points about buying low-mileage used, especially the part about "depreciation", but here's my problem. 1LZ Z06s are very rare as low-mileage used. I get $3000 in GM Card money and $1000 cash back on top of the good deal Tom Henry Chevrolet has offered me. The voice inside my checkbook is not as loud after that.

I'm really thinking about pulling the trigger on the order.

You only live once, great choice, smile all the way to the track.

 

[Hib Halverson]

You only live once, great choice, smile all the way to the track.

...to the track and everywhere else I drive that sucker.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Heard this morning that the last C6 was built yesterday. Fitting that the last one was a 427 Convertible. The engine was built at the PBC by Tadge Juechter, Chief Engineer.

RIP LS7.

 

[catbert]

Actually the LS7 lives on as one of three power options on the limited edition COPO Camaro.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Actually the LS7 lives on as one of three power options on the limited edition COPO Camaro.

Well...I'd say it's a stretch to say that, but the 427 offered through the COPO Camaro program is, indeed, related to the 06-13 Corvette Z06's LS7.

The unblown, COPO 427 uses an LS7 cylinder case and cylinder heads, but much of the rest is not the same as the LS7. The rotating assembly is different. It's got much higher compression. It's a wet sump rather than a dry sump motor. It comes with an aftermarket intake manifold intended for racing type throttle body. It's camshaft is much different. It uses the Cadillac racing valve lifters and PSI valve springs.

That said, my totally off the wall prediction is that while there will never be another 427 in a Corvette, the production Camaro will get the production LS7 on a very limited basis sometime during 2014.

 

[Tuna]

That said, my totally off the wall prediction is that while there will never be another 427 in a Corvette, the production Camaro will get the production LS7 on a very limited basis sometime during 2014.

And it will be called.......

Z28

At least that's what I've heard.