[SOUND]
Well we do have a super charger here because the power is pretty big.
[LAUGH]
Oh yeah.
[SOUND]
Few would argue this is the new golden age Age of horsepower, but for the most part, brawny cars today do it with much smaller displacement and a lot more tank under the hood.
[SOUND] Except for the Big Vette, which keeps things big.
Let's drive the king of the Big Vettes, the Z06 and check the big American style tank.
[SOUND]
[MUSIC]
So, what is the ZO6?
It's basically the king of the hill right now in the C7, seventh generation Corvette.
You take what's already an impressive 6.2 liter V8 race car and they you add a bunch of brawn.
A supercharger on top of that V8, a standard seven speed manual with rev matching, magnetic rheological adaptive Suspensions standard.
Wider fenders up front to cover way bigger wheels and treads.
All kinds of radical air flow and cooling management around the body.
And a steel reinforced Jesus bar where there's a few cars where you might actually use it.
New [UNKNOWN] team, you've got a front curve and chin camera.
[SOUND] A rear lid that doesn't require you to slam it, it senses itself.
And car play or Android auto with car play out first.
But you don't buy a car like this to play with your smartphone.
You buy it to play with the motorized screen instead.
I can't get enough of that.
Okay, let's get serious.
Seven speed manual gear box.
This is base, but notice our manual has paddles on the wheel.
Those are your toggles to turn on or off rev matching.
We'll try that on the road and the track momentarily.
Down here is your mode controller for the vehicle, and it's very simple compared to like a BMW M car.
There's weather, eco, tour, which is normal, sport, and track, not a ton of variables around That under the home menu is something you wont find on any other car with Chevy MyLink, and that's this, the P.D.R.
the performance data recorder which is a misnomer.
It's a forward looking video camera that also has a data recorder that overlays telemetry on the HD view forward.
This is basically a smart goPro built in the car, and no else does it quite like And generally around the cabin, this is a mix of traditional and modern cabin technology.
A partial LCD instrument panel but real gauges around it for other functions.
You've got your touch screen of course, but a ton of tacked on knobs right below it.
[NOISE]
Now the simplest headliner on a Z06 is that the engine is supercharged, and here is your supercharger and [UNKNOWN] right at the top, and I mean right at the top.
Look at this thing.
It just barely fits in the profile of the engine bay.
It's right here at the height of the hood gasket.
So when you add some mass on top, you wanna lower it on the bottom.
As a result, this agent has drive [UNKNOWN] lubrication, a very shallow pan below, to keep overall height managed.
TO not add a bunch of tall center of gravity killing mass.
[SOUND] And in between those two components you've got tougher force internals to handle the chaos that this guy brings upon them.
And you've also got stronger better breathing high performance heads.
The output numbers are a pleasant pair, 650 horse, 650 pound beat of torque.
7-speed manual is base.
You can get an 8-speed automatic.
I won't be speaking to you after that.
However with that 8-speed and a high-performance package you can get the 0-60 down under three seconds.
But it's 3,500 pounds worth of [UNKNOWN] and should you care, the average MPG is 18, that's not bad for something that puts out 650, gets there partly cuz of direct injection and very much because of cylinder deactivation.
[SOUND]
[MUSIC]
You never get used to this
BIg, big power.
I'll be honest.
I'm more of a naturally aspirated kind of guy.
I kind of like that smooth linear feel.
But this is just a hoot.
Now, we're at the same raceway performance driving
Center at Sonoma.
A course layout that constantly reminds you how light and sharp the turn in is on this car.
Coupled with that responsive throttle, this Vette feels about half its weight.
I'm in, let's see, sport mode right now and I've got tremendous power.
I've got great
Throttle ability.
I do not even miss the rev matcher when it is on or off, because this engine blips and modulates so beautifully.
Which is interesting for a great big engine it breathes very lightly I would say.
It is not hard to get it up or down on the rev clock because it's a nimble set of internals.
This vet has a perfect 50, 50 weight spread.
Largely because that seven speed manual I'm working is a trans axle, not a transmission.
In other words, it's located at the back of the car, instead of ganging it all lopsided-ly with the engine at the front of the car.
Nice gear box and clutch by the way.
Corvette's used to have kind of, kind of horse-y drive line.
In the last couple generations.
Not anymore.
This guy is just easy to drive.
But man, is there some stuff under there.
[UNKNOWN] I've got the magnetorheological adapter suspension's doing wonders, of course, to keep me in good shape.
That's also the technology that'll keep you enjoying your Z06 on the ride home after the track.
Okay, doing that CNet style the Z06 is going to start you at about 80,000 four with a seven speed manual.
That's for the coupe, by the way, more for the convertible.
Then there's that D07 additional performance packet, $7,500 bucks I'm going to pass, I'm good here.
$1,800 for the PDR track recorder with telemetry laid over the video.
I love that, I'm all in.
Now you're at about 82 two, out the door, the way I'd do it.
More cars driven CNET style.
Standing by now, at CNETOnCars.com.
Click on the road.
[MUSIC]
[BLANK_AUDIO]
