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Pretty in orange: 2008 Corvette Z06
A new Corvette is flash and substance
Steven Cole Smith | Sentinel Automotive Editor
February 2, 2008
Normally, it's annoying when auto manufacturers feel they have to sell you not only on the car, but the color, coming up with names like "cappuccino frost metallic" for a shade you and I might call "sort of brownish." Likely General Motors paid some consultant a handsome sum to come up with "cappuccino frost metallic," while I would have given them "brownish" for free.
That said, I'm not that peeved over the 2008 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 test car's color, called "atomic orange metallic," a shade you and I could not quite capture if we called it "sort of copperish." Any Corvette of any era, in most any color, presents itself nicely, but if there ever was an atomic orange, I guess this is it: The color, and, of course, the car, draws a parade of thumbs-up from passers-by. Driving it into the infield of the Daytona International Speedway for NASCAR testing prompted a security guard automatically -- and, of course, mistakenly -- to wave us right into the "reserved for important people" parking lot.
In any color, including the new-for-2008 "jetstream blue metallic tintcoat," a Corvette Z06 is, on the outside, striking enough. Under the pretty paint, though, is where Chevrolet engineers have outdone themselves, creating a "Look what we can do!" car that is far, far more sophisticated than even the $71,275 base price suggests.
How so? Well, the Z06 has carbon fiber front fenders, wheelhousings and floorboards; enormous six-piston cross-drilled front disc brakes and four-piston rear brakes that could slow down a tanker truck; steamroller-sized P275/35ZR-18 front tires and wheels, with P325/30ZR-19s on the back. (The best price I could find on these tires: $368 each. Drive carefully!)
Under the hood, there's a 7.0-liter -- that's 427 cubic inches -- V-8 engine that doesn't need turbocharging or supercharging to deliver 505 horsepower. It does, however, use ultra-sophisticated technology, including ultra-light titanium connecting rods and intake valves, and an ultra-cool dry-sump oiling system scarcely found anywhere outside a race track. The only transmission offered with the Z06 is a six-speed manual -- no automatic. Cool, but not ultra.
The leather-upholstered interior (in "black," oddly, instead of, say, "ebony midnight frost") is the nicest ever for the Corvette: Seats are superb, and there's plenty of room for the driver and passenger, and quite a bit of cargo space beneath the rear window. The Corvette has long been GM's rolling test bed for sophisticated innovations, so as you'd figure, the Z06 has every electronic safety and handling feature the company can think of. Most of the electronic safety nannies can be dialed down or turned off for racetrack use, but please, be a race driver before you do that. Just because the guard at Daytona waves you into a parking spot next to Jeff Gordon, doesn't mean you can drive like Jeff Gordon, or even marry a leggy European supermodel.
Perhaps the most pleasant aspect of the Z06 is how docile it is on the highway and puttering around town: It is not remotely high-strung, demanding or hard to drive. It does not overheat in traffic, its spark plugs don't foul during rush hour. Most amazing of all: With 505 horsepower, I averaged 23.6 mpg, one reason the Z06 isn't saddled with the federal "gas guzzler" tax. No one buys a Z06 with an eye toward fuel economy, but that does, at least, let you save a little money for tires and insurance.
A year ago, we might have called the Z06 the ultimate Corvette, and we would have been correct, but that changes for 2009 with the introduction of the Corvette ZR1, which debuted at the North American International Auto Show last month. It has a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 with 620 horsepower, and has a top speed of over 200 mph, compared to the modest 198 mph that Chevrolet claims for the Z06. Production of the ZR1 starts in July, and only 2,000 will be built each year, at a price you can bet will be far beyond the $78,090 list of our Z06.
You know what, though? My favorite Corvette remains the standard coupe, which starts at $46,950, and still has 430 horsepower. Make mine red. Or "crystal red metallic tintcoat."
Sentinel Automotive Editor Steven Cole Smith can be reached at scsmith@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5699.
A new Corvette is flash and substance
Steven Cole Smith | Sentinel Automotive Editor
February 2, 2008
Normally, it's annoying when auto manufacturers feel they have to sell you not only on the car, but the color, coming up with names like "cappuccino frost metallic" for a shade you and I might call "sort of brownish." Likely General Motors paid some consultant a handsome sum to come up with "cappuccino frost metallic," while I would have given them "brownish" for free.
That said, I'm not that peeved over the 2008 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 test car's color, called "atomic orange metallic," a shade you and I could not quite capture if we called it "sort of copperish." Any Corvette of any era, in most any color, presents itself nicely, but if there ever was an atomic orange, I guess this is it: The color, and, of course, the car, draws a parade of thumbs-up from passers-by. Driving it into the infield of the Daytona International Speedway for NASCAR testing prompted a security guard automatically -- and, of course, mistakenly -- to wave us right into the "reserved for important people" parking lot.
In any color, including the new-for-2008 "jetstream blue metallic tintcoat," a Corvette Z06 is, on the outside, striking enough. Under the pretty paint, though, is where Chevrolet engineers have outdone themselves, creating a "Look what we can do!" car that is far, far more sophisticated than even the $71,275 base price suggests.
How so? Well, the Z06 has carbon fiber front fenders, wheelhousings and floorboards; enormous six-piston cross-drilled front disc brakes and four-piston rear brakes that could slow down a tanker truck; steamroller-sized P275/35ZR-18 front tires and wheels, with P325/30ZR-19s on the back. (The best price I could find on these tires: $368 each. Drive carefully!)
Under the hood, there's a 7.0-liter -- that's 427 cubic inches -- V-8 engine that doesn't need turbocharging or supercharging to deliver 505 horsepower. It does, however, use ultra-sophisticated technology, including ultra-light titanium connecting rods and intake valves, and an ultra-cool dry-sump oiling system scarcely found anywhere outside a race track. The only transmission offered with the Z06 is a six-speed manual -- no automatic. Cool, but not ultra.
The leather-upholstered interior (in "black," oddly, instead of, say, "ebony midnight frost") is the nicest ever for the Corvette: Seats are superb, and there's plenty of room for the driver and passenger, and quite a bit of cargo space beneath the rear window. The Corvette has long been GM's rolling test bed for sophisticated innovations, so as you'd figure, the Z06 has every electronic safety and handling feature the company can think of. Most of the electronic safety nannies can be dialed down or turned off for racetrack use, but please, be a race driver before you do that. Just because the guard at Daytona waves you into a parking spot next to Jeff Gordon, doesn't mean you can drive like Jeff Gordon, or even marry a leggy European supermodel.
Perhaps the most pleasant aspect of the Z06 is how docile it is on the highway and puttering around town: It is not remotely high-strung, demanding or hard to drive. It does not overheat in traffic, its spark plugs don't foul during rush hour. Most amazing of all: With 505 horsepower, I averaged 23.6 mpg, one reason the Z06 isn't saddled with the federal "gas guzzler" tax. No one buys a Z06 with an eye toward fuel economy, but that does, at least, let you save a little money for tires and insurance.
A year ago, we might have called the Z06 the ultimate Corvette, and we would have been correct, but that changes for 2009 with the introduction of the Corvette ZR1, which debuted at the North American International Auto Show last month. It has a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 with 620 horsepower, and has a top speed of over 200 mph, compared to the modest 198 mph that Chevrolet claims for the Z06. Production of the ZR1 starts in July, and only 2,000 will be built each year, at a price you can bet will be far beyond the $78,090 list of our Z06.
You know what, though? My favorite Corvette remains the standard coupe, which starts at $46,950, and still has 430 horsepower. Make mine red. Or "crystal red metallic tintcoat."
Sentinel Automotive Editor Steven Cole Smith can be reached at scsmith@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5699.
