C6z is peak vette. 100% agree with owner on the lure and charm of ls7 but they seem to be fragile even with heads addressed. 500hp 3200 lb sports car with giant tires for low 40s is unbelievable. Looks styled by an actual adult as well.
@@e36s54 this information seems to be a little stretched out …. Yes the heads are an issue but they can be properly fixed with geometry correction. If you properly get a head job done the engine is very reliable… I met a guy who has tracked his for the last 7 years on average about 5 times a year & has had no issues at all
Anecdotes dont equal data but this owner said his fsilure was unrelated to valve drop and i have talked to several people at hpde on 2nd or 3rd engine not always head related. Meanwhile the ls3 cars seem to keep on keepin on.
@@aaronschen9896 Exactly. The LS7s also have issues with the cylinder walls blowing through and slowly self-destructing via the Titanium ending up everywhere.
Yeah that is aligned with what Ive heard. A real shame LS7 isnt as tough as its siblings. Not that Im in the market for a c6, but heart says Z brain says grandsport.
@@malcolmn.5222 A GT3 engine is 100k. 100k for an engine. You could buy a C7 Z06 Z07 with a truck to tow it for the price of the 500hp engine. I'll take the Vette
@@coltontaylor4572 100k? More like 25-35k for 991 gt3 engines…. The 997 metzger engine will run a lil more but no where near 100k (992 gt3 engines are popping up for 38k)
The odd downshift issue you experience is due to the Tremec synchro gears on that gen had issues on the 2/3/4 gears - pretty common to replace those at some point.
@@elevatedperformance like what besides the head issue? BTW I have a 2011 C6Z / Z07 with 34k miles bought it with 10k on the clock. I have put 15k track miles on the car.
Reliability is not an issue as long as you address the heads. There are plenty of Zs running HCI combos without issue because they took the time to do it right. The fix is so much cheaper than most people think compared to the expense of a 911 GT3 RS....Replace the shifter with an MGW and get a Monster LT1S 3 disc and the shifting experience is sublime at full tilt.
My 09 Z has a Lingenfelter build and a Billet BC2 clutch. I'm having a blast in it and reliability is spot on. Thought about getting a MGW but it shifts so smooth I decided against it for now.
They definitely aren't fragile. I guarantee the bottom end issue he had was from oil starvation. That is a well known issue seen with track use and high cornering G force with the stock dry sump oil system. Had this guy done his research he would have installed one of the upgraded dry sump systems available.
@@Noneofyourbusiness2000 Agreed on all points. I used to open track S2Ks, and took those findings over to my Z. Dumped $30k into those incidentals, and now outpace anything under $600k 😎
Nice driving. You seemed to get more comfortable as the sessions went on. I cherish my 09 Z06 and love everything about it. Last of the big V8s in my opinion.
The C6Z stock is a hell of a car (especially for the time period), with mods they can be total monsters! With a little hotter cam, fixed and ported heads, MSD intake, CIA, and headers these engines REALLY wake up and are pretty reliable. It's a night and day difference in power! Do those mods, add downforce, and stickier tires and there's not all that much that would touch this car on an average track day! BTW, the C5 and C6 share a lot of parts (including suspension) and the C5 is a little lighter and significantly cheaper. The C5 makes a great budget track car with mods.
I agree with your assessment of the Corvette shifting gears. I built my C6 with an upgraded RPM T56 stage 4 transmission. An mgw short throw shifter and the real secret in my opinion is the tick's master cylinder. It's Porsche GT3 slick now.
I have a T56 as well - which shifts so smooth and slick that I'm afraid to have it rebuilt..... But mine is all stock. It does have the reverse gear issue.... but again, why mess with what is working so well (reverse is for loosers anyway). BTW, I think the earlier owner disconnected the reverse lockout instead of the 1-4 shift solenoid and thus damaged the reverse synchros. I have done T56 rebuilds myself (stage II), but I have trouble telling a good part from bad nor do I fully understand why it shifts so smooth. It just does.
LS7 heads can be addressed by not running a very aggressive cam and using stainless valves. I run a BTR Stage 4, which is a mild Stage 4. Valves pass wiggle test every 15k miles on OE heads. Edit: very rude of myself, i forgot to comment on the driving. Good job! Dont forget to watch the track and not other drivers... almost had a moment there, LOL.
I love these cars and your car is dam sweet! I wish I had one myself and they are track weapons. I don't think they are fragile though, thats not my experience at all. I was lucky and got to build a 2006 z06 for a customer years ago to run Super Touring in SCCA when I worked in road racing. When I built the car it had 3000mi on it. When I left that job we had racked up 11,000 + miles. So 8000 miles of nothing but pure road track racing, practice and qualifying over a span of years. The car was prepped for racing but the motor was stock and so was the oiling system. The car never once missed a beat and was dead reliable, not to mention blisteringly fast. Oil changes after every race weekend. We were allowed to run the GM performance bars , links , springs and double adjutable konis. I tig welded a cage for it and through bolted it to the aluminum frame with added internal aluminum supports, no side glass, gutted doors, no stereo etc. Had to leave the headliner, carpet and a passenger seat. We ran Hoosier race slicks at 345/30 18's rear and 315/30 18s front on 3 piece aluminum racing wheels. Stock motor, upgraded water and oil cooling with straight race xpipe exhaust from stock exhaust manifolds back, tuned abs module , upgraded cooling ducts on mandated stock brakes with hawk pads. The car was well under 3000lbs. My driver was around 250lbs and we had to weigh 3300 at the end of the race so we had to have a least a half tank of gas left and always made weight at around 3305lbs, and even nailed it a couple of times at 3300. The driver was decent and won most of the time. In the hands of a great driver it was unstoppable!
Cool car. Wanted a c6 z06 for quiet awhile. Never pulled the trigger on one due to the valve drop issues. Ended up with a 2013 Grand sport manual. It has an Ls3 instead of the ls7. Slapped on an A&A supercharger kit and puts down 571 to the wheels. I’m happy with it.
Lol! Glad you loved the C6Z. Best dollar to performance bargain. Full suspension upgrade/grippy tires on a stock motor about 450-480 whp. Did you mentioned if it had coilovers. Just wait til he gets a Heads Cam Intake FBO 600whp and aero bits.
I was thinking the exact same thing as your comment at 4:23. If this were my car I would add some after market dive planes and a decent wing for more downforce. The valve dropping issue in these engines scared me away from buying one but they are great cars. I also have a set of SM-10 wheels but for my ZL1-1LE. Great wheels at a great price point. Drivers out by me opt for the C5 Vette with a Phoenix build for track duty. I've seen one C6 Grand Sport and he was hella fast too. Honestly, tho, if you're looking to spend $40 grand, I don't know of a better bargain than a C6 Z06 like the one in this vid. Fantastic Vid. Thanks for sharing.
Love what the Corvette use to be. Love this engine once you work out the valve train issues, etc. I would honestly take this C6 or C7 over any C8 including the Z06 because manual. Crazy how light the Corvettes were too until the C8 came along
Yes but the C8 Z06 has 170 more HP. I own a C8 Z51 HTC, yes I’m a manual guy too, but the new gen is really hard to beat. The cars aerodynamics are unbeatable and it shifts like no automatic I’ve ever been in. I love all Corvettes, I’ve had 8 I still have 5.
If you take off the heads to fix the valves you might as well put on ported heads it’s free labor. A small custom cam will be plenty reliable and drive like stock with 550-570 whp.
C6 generation does its job of being driver's car. Light weight and manual transmission only. I like the 7th gen for the looks. I have a C7, but I would like to drive a C6Z or ZR1 one day.
Looks like revs are dropping on the clutch in downshift too much. Not enough blip. AMT makes a great heel toe pedal for these cars that makes that much easier/smoother. I had one for my C5. What’s wild is with bolt on heads/cam/intake these cars can make 650whp pretty reliably now with good cooling and oil control. Can you imagine another 200hp + wing and splitter on slicks?
The C6 Z06 is extremely reliable when you swap the heads. Too many people act like this car blows up anytime you start it. I’ve seen dedicated Z06’s with over 120,000 miles on them, they’re good cars but like every other car some of them blew up prematurely most likely because they’re hand built by an engineer
Great video as always and an awesome car! I believe the rear tires where locking up slightly during the downshifts. Most likely more time in the seat would solve the rev match
2007 Z owner - second owner - bought at 60,000 miles - lifter failure @ 80,000 miles - motor rebuild/valve guide issue checked by builder given OK - cooks LT headers w/cats to borla (full 3") - TS LS7S cam - Haltech 103beehive - 550ish Wheel - almost a daily driver 138,000 mile now - just serviced trans with RP synchomesh and added 2 tubes of XADEO EX120 Manual trans ceramic additive. Synchro's improved on all down shifts. 2nd to 1st downshift is compliant with little throttle blip when above 40 mph (~3.5-4.0K RPM). Very light pressure on shifter required with blip on 2nd to 1st. 2nd to 1st without blip is complaint below 30 mph. All other shift points (up & down) noticeably smoother. Trans feels little less notchy. Again, this trans has almost 140K miles on it... Trans still feels notchy compared to other manuals but much better than without additive. might be worth trying if you have having issues. This is second trans refill but first with ceramic additive. First refill of trans at 80K.
@@clutchcarabelli8054 - kind of untouched? Motor was rebuilt at 80K - aftermarket valve springs for cam. But heads & valve train is basically stock untouched.
Thanks' for letting me ride along, really nice Corvette hope you get to get some pointers on the speed. Have a good one. Hope to see you at the track some time can't miss that beautiful orange.
I just built my black 2007 Z06, heads, cam, headers, no cats, all the lower end too, with a tune. Car had 27,000 miles with no problems. Now it’s 750 HP. It should be a beast. I paid $40K for the car used but put $10K into the engine. For $50K this car should be invincible.
Never had issues with my ls7 c6z. And there are simple mods for bump steer and weight distribution. I was at 510rwhp with race weight at 3053 minus driver. Also had Apr front splitter and gt500 Apr wing. Car was a blast at Thunderhill. The r888r’s really maximize the experience!
Clutch seems to be not fully disengaged when your leg has pressed it. Eg your leg is fully extended, it goes into 3rd but locks the rears and flares the revs even though you haven't let the clutch put yet. Great car though ❤
@@cablelag nope. Watch the vid again and watch the tach. When he blips the throttle it not enough the RPMs fall too much. When he drops the clutch it’s Chirping the rear tires. The grind on the 4/3 comes at the same point. Trying to engage the clutch a hair too soon and not fully in gear. It’s happened to me a few times on my Z.
A lot of steering inputs/corrections took away from the smoothness. The car looks like a beast. You controlled it very well. I too would be interested in seeing you drive a C6/7 Grand Sport
That’s a twin of my car. I also had a motor go related to bottom end issues. The rod bearings on the crank end fail when bits of coating from the Ti rods enters the oil. Mine is getting the bottom end rebuilt by AHP.
Did u add the larger oil sump? If u track it, U will get oil starvation and blow the bottom end again if u don’t. Happened to me so I try to tell everyone.
@@JKMODDEDC6Z06 i have a 2009 so I think has the larger sump volume. I’m adding a pan baffle too as I’ve heard that oil starve can happen on left hand sweepers. Sadly this event has freaked me out. If the block dies replacement will be more costly. Ergo this one will become a garage queen and I’m planning on finding something more economical to run.
@@mikehawk6175 main bearing failure. Mechanic wasn’t sure if it was the bearing that went bad or something else that caused it, but after coming from an ls3 that I beat the hell out of for a couple years to the LS7 that lasted me less than a year, I just gave up and moved to a new car that I could worry about less.
@@AlinB1108 damn that’s unfortunate. My 2011 z06 had a freshly rebuilt engine but then it randomly caught fire while it was idling and burned all the plastics and wiring in the engine bay and damaged my hood and fender. I love that car and im thinking of rebuilding it but stories like these scare me…
C6 ls2 m6 z51 3lt Edelbrock sc AR headers MGW shifter 165 stat.Dyno 493 rwhp 490 trq…fun as hell and 32 mpg on the interstate. Got it 9 years old with 28k on it, now at 71k…been flawless.
dont tell me corvette has haters, corvette's are track monsters. So there is no way that thing has haters, and design wise people may not like it, but i like it coz of it beautiful front styling
My co-worker is a vette hater, but he”s 5’2”, drives a 1 foot lifted truck, pretends to be a valuable member of the team has a record of failing getting anything done. It is what it is
I love this because I HPDE/time attack my C6 Z06, it never made sense to see them as just "oogabooga straight line hurrdurr" car, and I love seeing these do track boy stuffs.
I'm not sure if it's a audio/video sync, but are you matching revs AFTER engaging gear as opposed to before? That could easily cause a grind as it would rely solely on the synchros to slow down a lot of reciprocating mass from 7000 RPM.
I have noticed downshifting into third in a lot of different cars start grinding at some point. Probably just too heavy of a flywheel and clutch not fully disengaging. Light flywheel might stop it, small slave adjustment maybe
I would argue a C5 Z06 is actually the same performance for less money. I own both a C5 Z06 Full out race car and a C6 Z06 that’s modified to 750 HP. I just built the C6 so I don’t have much time in it. But my C5 Z06 race car is unbelievable. 402 LS 2 with 650 HP. I open road race it in Nevada. Both cars can’t be beat for the money.
Nice driving! Congrats on sub-2:00. I test drove a 2007 C6Z yesterday and a 2023 BRZ. Currently between those and a Cayman GTS 4.0L. Huge price deltas. The BRZ was tons of fun. Gets close to the light nimbleness of the 718, but it’s certainly not a near perfect driving machine that is the Porsche. That instant NA V8 torque from LS7 is addicting, but will be hard to stretch its legs on the road. Really looking for a fun road car that is a daily option, hence 718 and BRZ/86. After watching you lap the C6Z, very tempting to jump down that rabbit hole and join the fun at Thunderhill. Looks like a lot of fun balancing on throttle through the long steady-state corners. It’s near 50-50 weight distribution, technically front mid-engine. The C6Z I drove has the T-56 transmission that had very heavy shift action. Feels like a tractor gearbox. The 2008 and newer supposedly are a little lighter shifting. Looks like the 3rd gear syncros are dying in the example you drove. Rev matching is much more of chore on these cars. Something that takes adjustment.
3rd gears is often the worst. 2-3 shifts take a bit longer thana 1-2 and the timing is off and they let the clutch out a bit too soon. I think its called the blocking ring that tries to align the synchros. A new blocking ring has shart points, a worn/ mangled one has rounded edges and can prevent 3rd gear engagement.
I think you mentioned you were pushing the clutch all the way in but my GS for some reason (maybe I’m just not aware of what I should be doing) it wants the clutch to the floor before you pull it otherwise it grinds. No other gear does it except 6th, but that might be cuz it’s used the least
Agree on the gearbox, and also agree it's still an amazing car in spite of that. Also, wouldve been fun to see your times on the full 5-mile setup. I always love seeing actually fast cars run on tracks that I run Lemons races on so I can see just how fast or slow our cars are, haha.
2010 c6z here. I looks like aren’t timing your heel toe on the down shifts with the engagement of the clutch. Obviously can’t see your feet) but I’ve that exact same thing happen once
Great vid, looks really hooked up! Might need to address some more cooling mods though, I was seeing ~250F on the gauge at the end of the session. Maybe an Improved Racing stand alone oil cooler?
This guy's set up is literally my dream set up. Ls7 will be reliable if you get the heads completely done. It's not a long shot to get the c6z to under 3000lbs. - racing seats (50lbs-ish?) - light weight battery (25lbs) - carbon fiber vented hood (10-15lbs) - exhaust and removing cats etc (15lbs?) No mufflers would be about 30lbs saved. - lighter clutch (10lbs?) - big brake kit (35 - 40lbs) Total is in the ball park of 150lbs saved. Now you have stupid money and get light carbon seats or just remove the passenger seat, that would really add to it. The only problem with this set up is the front tires being 315..rubber weighs more and rim weighs more. Get more grip and sacrifice weight. Now I think the LG suspension removes some weight too and maybe some of the other upgrades with the radiator etc. Anyways...love your driving and this set. I was glued to my screen the entire 25 minutes. I love c6z content on the track. Took mine out for the first time a few weekends ago and it was a blast. The hard part is now convincing them wife to let me spend money 🤣. Love this man!
Thx for the great info. I just built my 2007 Z06, 27K miles no problems, I did heads, cam, headers, no cats, total lower end, tune, should be making around 750 HP. The rest of the car is totally stock. I’m going to do your mods too.
The performance per dollar of the c6z is insane. Can you imagine spending $40k on a stock e92 m3 and get destroyed by a c6z on the track? Reliability, cost of ownership, weight, horsepower all heavily favor the c6z.
Good deal! What brake pads and fluid were run here.? What are the basic alignment specs also? Lou Gigliotti was a long time Corvette race driver so he knows this platform big time. His co offers a ton of Corvette perf products.
Nice! Just need more seat time. I would lap it in 2:05, full stock interior, Continental Extremes, bilstein shocks, Vararam Intake and a NASCAR style Wing.
The ls7 can be made very reliable. If I was making it a dedicated track car, the heads, valve train, pistons, rods etc. Would all be addressed and I would have the best parts installed. I don't know much about how motors work. So I would take it to a reputable company and tell them I want some power and most important, reliability for track days. You could easily get it squared away.
What reliability mods would you do to the c6 grand sport? They already have the upgraded dry sump.. besides a radiator for cooling, are there any other issues with them? Currently drifting one that's stock with nearly 120k miles
Awesome, had a cammed c5. Never got to take it to the track, had lifter failure =\ Amazing car, only thing to fault is interior visual and the extremely long gears. Even bone stock shorter gearing would make it an absolute beast.
Dang, just had lifter failure on my C5 Z but I fixed it in my driveway in about two weeks. Wasn’t too hard, just time consuming. I think C5’s have one of the easiest engine bays for a V8 sports car to do engine work. If I ever make more money I think it’d be fun to also build a 600whp C6 Z in my driveway, one of my dream vettes
nice driving, nice car, nice setup. Agree on stock power for reliability as well as how many people really can use more (this form someone who goes to tracks where even 500hp (AHP heads/great tune) get me to 152mph. Re shifter, get a MGW. Infinitely better. Also, no insult intended, but re the crunch...are you heal and toe rev matching...couldn't hear.
On the downshifts it really just sounds like you’re not timing the rev match with clutch release properly. What do I know though, im sitting on my couch
Let’s not forget, a gs +4k to mod the engine to the ls3 525hp level, you get same power, same dry sump oiling, and ls3 reliability to go with it. The grand sport is easily the better value.
when you downshift to 3rd is that not your tires losing traction? trying to decel too quick from dumping the clutch and not blipping the throttle. i see the RPMs jump 1500 and the speedo fall 20mph, thats sure what it sounds like.
C6z is peak vette. 100% agree with owner on the lure and charm of ls7 but they seem to be fragile even with heads addressed. 500hp 3200 lb sports car with giant tires for low 40s is unbelievable. Looks styled by an actual adult as well.
At least it’s not as unreliable as a 991 GT3 motor….
@@e36s54 this information seems to be a little stretched out …. Yes the heads are an issue but they can be properly fixed with geometry correction. If you properly get a head job done the engine is very reliable… I met a guy who has tracked his for the last 7 years on average about 5 times a year & has had no issues at all
Anecdotes dont equal data but this owner said his fsilure was unrelated to valve drop and i have talked to several people at hpde on 2nd or 3rd engine not always head related. Meanwhile the ls3 cars seem to keep on keepin on.
@@aaronschen9896 Exactly. The LS7s also have issues with the cylinder walls blowing through and slowly self-destructing via the Titanium ending up everywhere.
Yeah that is aligned with what Ive heard. A real shame LS7 isnt as tough as its siblings. Not that Im in the market for a c6, but heart says Z brain says grandsport.
Such a beast of a car. It has the power and weight of a Gt3 for only 40k? These deserve the hype
Yeah but they feel the same. If they did, they would be priced accordingly
@@malcolmn.5222 But you can’t justify the Porsche being 5x the price. You get 90% of the performance
@@malcolmn.5222 A GT3 engine is 100k. 100k for an engine. You could buy a C7 Z06 Z07 with a truck to tow it for the price of the 500hp engine. I'll take the Vette
@@coltontaylor4572 100k? More like 25-35k for 991 gt3 engines…. The 997 metzger engine will run a lil more but no where near 100k (992 gt3 engines are popping up for 38k)
@@coltontaylor4572 in the end you take a car with 500hp out of a 7L engine over a 500hp 4L. With similar tannies the 427 will own.
The odd downshift issue you experience is due to the Tremec synchro gears on that gen had issues on the 2/3/4 gears - pretty common to replace those at some point.
This is the comment I was looking for. 👍
Yea I get random grinds on my downshifts as well, was wondering what this was about thanks for clarifying!
Yeah 4-5,000$ later
Such a shit car
Everyone talks about reliability
They have mad mad mad problems c6z
@@elevatedperformance like what besides the head issue?
BTW I have a 2011 C6Z / Z07 with 34k miles bought it with 10k on the clock. I have put 15k track miles on the car.
Fear not, the Shelby GT500's had these dogshit synchros in them too.
Reliability is not an issue as long as you address the heads. There are plenty of Zs running HCI combos without issue because they took the time to do it right. The fix is so much cheaper than most people think compared to the expense of a 911 GT3 RS....Replace the shifter with an MGW and get a Monster LT1S 3 disc and the shifting experience is sublime at full tilt.
Yeah, 100% with this shifter combo. That is a fact.
My 09 Z has a Lingenfelter build and a Billet BC2 clutch. I'm having a blast in it and reliability is spot on. Thought about getting a MGW but it shifts so smooth I decided against it for now.
Sounds like he had bearing failure, which is less common than dropping valves but happens too
They definitely aren't fragile. I guarantee the bottom end issue he had was from oil starvation. That is a well known issue seen with track use and high cornering G force with the stock dry sump oil system. Had this guy done his research he would have installed one of the upgraded dry sump systems available.
@@Noneofyourbusiness2000 Agreed on all points. I used to open track S2Ks, and took those findings over to my Z. Dumped $30k into those incidentals, and now outpace anything under $600k 😎
Nice driving. You seemed to get more comfortable as the sessions went on. I cherish my 09 Z06 and love everything about it. Last of the big V8s in my opinion.
I think you mean sloppy driving!
@zacharyparis look forward to your sub 2 minute run on your channel bud
@@zacharyparisfor never driving the car before I think his driving was excellent Chief. Let me guess you own a Porsche.
Can’t wait to watch this at home on my TV. My phone screen is too small to appreciate everything that’s going on in this video 🙏🏻🇺🇸✊🏿
The C6Z stock is a hell of a car (especially for the time period), with mods they can be total monsters!
With a little hotter cam, fixed and ported heads, MSD intake, CIA, and headers these engines REALLY wake up and are pretty reliable. It's a night and day difference in power! Do those mods, add downforce, and stickier tires and there's not all that much that would touch this car on an average track day!
BTW, the C5 and C6 share a lot of parts (including suspension) and the C5 is a little lighter and significantly cheaper. The C5 makes a great budget track car with mods.
I own a full out C5 Z06 race car that I open road race in Nevada. I agree you can’t beat the C5 for the money. But my car has $100K in it now.
I agree with your assessment of the Corvette shifting gears. I built my C6 with an upgraded RPM T56 stage 4 transmission. An mgw short throw shifter and the real secret in my opinion is the tick's master cylinder. It's Porsche GT3 slick now.
I have a T56 as well - which shifts so smooth and slick that I'm afraid to have it rebuilt..... But mine is all stock. It does have the reverse gear issue.... but again, why mess with what is working so well (reverse is for loosers anyway). BTW, I think the earlier owner disconnected the reverse lockout instead of the 1-4 shift solenoid and thus damaged the reverse synchros. I have done T56 rebuilds myself (stage II), but I have trouble telling a good part from bad nor do I fully understand why it shifts so smooth. It just does.
LS7 heads can be addressed by not running a very aggressive cam and using stainless valves. I run a BTR Stage 4, which is a mild Stage 4. Valves pass wiggle test every 15k miles on OE heads.
Edit: very rude of myself, i forgot to comment on the driving. Good job! Dont forget to watch the track and not other drivers... almost had a moment there, LOL.
C6 Z06! My all time favorite Vette!
'68-'72 body on this frame, my dream car.
I love these cars and your car is dam sweet! I wish I had one myself and they are track weapons. I don't think they are fragile though, thats not my experience at all. I was lucky and got to build a 2006 z06 for a customer years ago to run Super Touring in SCCA when I worked in road racing. When I built the car it had 3000mi on it. When I left that job we had racked up 11,000 + miles. So 8000 miles of nothing but pure road track racing, practice and qualifying over a span of years. The car was prepped for racing but the motor was stock and so was the oiling system. The car never once missed a beat and was dead reliable, not to mention blisteringly fast. Oil changes after every race weekend.
We were allowed to run the GM performance bars , links , springs and double adjutable konis. I tig welded a cage for it and through bolted it to the aluminum frame with added internal aluminum supports, no side glass, gutted doors, no stereo etc. Had to leave the headliner, carpet and a passenger seat. We ran Hoosier race slicks at 345/30 18's rear and 315/30 18s front on 3 piece aluminum racing wheels. Stock motor, upgraded water and oil cooling with straight race xpipe exhaust from stock exhaust manifolds back, tuned abs module , upgraded cooling ducts on mandated stock brakes with hawk pads. The car was well under 3000lbs. My driver was around 250lbs and we had to weigh 3300 at the end of the race so we had to have a least a half tank of gas left and always made weight at around 3305lbs, and even nailed it a couple of times at 3300. The driver was decent and won most of the time. In the hands of a great driver it was unstoppable!
Cool car. Wanted a c6 z06 for quiet awhile. Never pulled the trigger on one due to the valve drop issues. Ended up with a 2013 Grand sport manual. It has an Ls3 instead of the ls7. Slapped on an A&A supercharger kit and puts down 571 to the wheels. I’m happy with it.
2010 - 2013 man trans GS came with a handbuilt engine from Wixom, MI same as LS7 and ZR1.
Excellent choice
Autoblip is the cure for rev matching properly, it’s a must have on these big engines when downshifting.
Absolutely love seeing you get track time in some serious track monsters. Please keep them coming.
Lol! Glad you loved the C6Z. Best dollar to performance bargain. Full suspension upgrade/grippy tires on a stock motor about 450-480 whp. Did you mentioned if it had coilovers. Just wait til he gets a Heads Cam Intake FBO 600whp and aero bits.
Mod list in the description. It has LG GT2 coilovers, which performed great!
I was thinking the exact same thing as your comment at 4:23. If this were my car I would add some after market dive planes and a decent wing for more downforce. The valve dropping issue in these engines scared me away from buying one but they are great cars. I also have a set of SM-10 wheels but for my ZL1-1LE. Great wheels at a great price point. Drivers out by me opt for the C5 Vette with a Phoenix build for track duty. I've seen one C6 Grand Sport and he was hella fast too. Honestly, tho, if you're looking to spend $40 grand, I don't know of a better bargain than a C6 Z06 like the one in this vid. Fantastic Vid. Thanks for sharing.
Love what the Corvette use to be. Love this engine once you work out the valve train issues, etc. I would honestly take this C6 or C7 over any C8 including the Z06 because manual. Crazy how light the Corvettes were too until the C8 came along
The C6Z is 400+ lbs lighter than the C7Z!
Yes but the C8 Z06 has 170 more HP. I own a C8 Z51 HTC, yes I’m a manual guy too, but the new gen is really hard to beat. The cars aerodynamics are unbeatable and it shifts like no automatic I’ve ever been in. I love all Corvettes, I’ve had 8 I still have 5.
If you take off the heads to fix the valves you might as well put on ported heads it’s free labor. A small custom cam will be plenty reliable and drive like stock with 550-570 whp.
C6 generation does its job of being driver's car. Light weight and manual transmission only. I like the 7th gen for the looks. I have a C7, but I would like to drive a C6Z or ZR1 one day.
This vid kind of makes me miss mine. I remember 4th gear just keeps pulling on the long straight 😊
Nice driving! C6Z has always been a weapon.
Looks like revs are dropping on the clutch in downshift too much. Not enough blip. AMT makes a great heel toe pedal for these cars that makes that much easier/smoother. I had one for my C5. What’s wild is with bolt on heads/cam/intake these cars can make 650whp pretty reliably now with good cooling and oil control. Can you imagine another 200hp + wing and splitter on slicks?
That's possible - I probably needed to blip it more. Engagement point of the clutch might also be very close to the bottom of the pedal travel.
Real car people in real tracks respect real Vettes like this one
I think at this point all supercars are respecting Corvette now. I’m 60 years old it used to not be the case.
The C6 Z06 is extremely reliable when you swap the heads. Too many people act like this car blows up anytime you start it. I’ve seen dedicated Z06’s with over 120,000 miles on them, they’re good cars but like every other car some of them blew up prematurely most likely because they’re hand built by an engineer
Great video as always and an awesome car!
I believe the rear tires where locking up slightly during the downshifts. Most likely more time in the seat would solve the rev match
Yup, I think that's what was happening. But it was locking up even before I released the clutch.
@@Zygrene that is strange though that it was doing that
Another Zygene track day upload, another good day
2007 Z owner - second owner - bought at 60,000 miles - lifter failure @ 80,000 miles - motor rebuild/valve guide issue checked by builder given OK - cooks LT headers w/cats to borla (full 3") - TS LS7S cam - Haltech 103beehive - 550ish Wheel - almost a daily driver 138,000 mile now - just serviced trans with RP synchomesh and added 2 tubes of XADEO EX120 Manual trans ceramic additive. Synchro's improved on all down shifts. 2nd to 1st downshift is compliant with little throttle blip when above 40 mph (~3.5-4.0K RPM). Very light pressure on shifter required with blip on 2nd to 1st. 2nd to 1st without blip is complaint below 30 mph. All other shift points (up & down) noticeably smoother. Trans feels little less notchy. Again, this trans has almost 140K miles on it... Trans still feels notchy compared to other manuals but much better than without additive. might be worth trying if you have having issues. This is second trans refill but first with ceramic additive. First refill of trans at 80K.
damn nearly 140k miles, you def drive the car alot
Are you saying you're at 138k with the original stock heads? I also have a 2007 motor untouched except for intake headers and a tune
@@clutchcarabelli8054 - kind of untouched? Motor was rebuilt at 80K - aftermarket valve springs for cam. But heads & valve train is basically stock untouched.
@@clutchcarabelli8054 - plus over 150K miles on car now.
@@motorgearhead thanks for the info 👍
Thanks' for letting me ride along, really nice Corvette hope you get to get some pointers on the speed. Have a good one. Hope to see you at the track some time can't miss that beautiful orange.
I just built my black 2007 Z06, heads, cam, headers, no cats, all the lower end too, with a tune. Car had 27,000 miles with no problems. Now it’s 750 HP. It should be a beast. I paid $40K for the car used but put $10K into the engine. For $50K this car should be invincible.
This video makes me love my car even more
My LS7 does that same grind/wheel skid from 3rd to 2nd. Drives me nuts.
Never had issues with my ls7 c6z. And there are simple mods for bump steer and weight distribution. I was at 510rwhp with race weight at 3053 minus driver. Also had Apr front splitter and gt500 Apr wing. Car was a blast at Thunderhill. The r888r’s really maximize the experience!
Clutch seems to be not fully disengaged when your leg has pressed it. Eg your leg is fully extended, it goes into 3rd but locks the rears and flares the revs even though you haven't let the clutch put yet. Great car though ❤
I think you're right! Either I wasn't pushing the clutch pedal all the way in, or the engagement point is super close to the floor.
You gotta let the revs drop a bit more for the 4-3. You're shifting it like a S2000.
@@cablelag exactly. Nailed it!
@@cablelag nope. Watch the vid again and watch the tach. When he blips the throttle it not enough the RPMs fall too much. When he drops the clutch it’s Chirping the rear tires. The grind on the 4/3 comes at the same point. Trying to engage the clutch a hair too soon and not fully in gear. It’s happened to me a few times on my Z.
A lot of steering inputs/corrections took away from the smoothness. The car looks like a beast. You controlled it very well. I too would be interested in seeing you drive a C6/7 Grand Sport
That’s a twin of my car. I also had a motor go related to bottom end issues. The rod bearings on the crank end fail when bits of coating from the Ti rods enters the oil. Mine is getting the bottom end rebuilt by AHP.
Did u add the larger oil sump? If u track it, U will get oil starvation and blow the bottom end again if u don’t. Happened to me so I try to tell everyone.
@@JKMODDEDC6Z06 i have a 2009 so I think has the larger sump volume. I’m adding a pan baffle too as I’ve heard that oil starve can happen on left hand sweepers. Sadly this event has freaked me out. If the block dies replacement will be more costly. Ergo this one will become a garage queen and I’m planning on finding something more economical to run.
Good for you for sticking with it. I blew the engine and sold it after I fixed it. I kinda lost trust in the LS7.
What happened to your engine?
@@mikehawk6175 main bearing failure. Mechanic wasn’t sure if it was the bearing that went bad or something else that caused it, but after coming from an ls3 that I beat the hell out of for a couple years to the LS7 that lasted me less than a year, I just gave up and moved to a new car that I could worry about less.
@@AlinB1108 damn that’s unfortunate. My 2011 z06 had a freshly rebuilt engine but then it randomly caught fire while it was idling and burned all the plastics and wiring in the engine bay and damaged my hood and fender. I love that car and im thinking of rebuilding it but stories like these scare me…
@@mikehawk6175 Yep , there are too many stories. I just bought the LS3. can always sc it.
C6 ls2 m6 z51 3lt Edelbrock sc AR headers MGW shifter 165 stat.Dyno 493 rwhp 490 trq…fun as hell and 32 mpg on the interstate. Got it 9 years old with 28k on it, now at 71k…been flawless.
This is freaking awesome!!!
It's grinding on the downshift because you need to blip the throttle and revmatch. The synchros aren't synchronized.
Yeah I think his rev matching was a bit off on those downshifts
Great driving that thing sounds badass
Perfect value for the capability. c6z06 ftw! Those Apex wheels are on my radar.
dont tell me corvette has haters, corvette's are track monsters. So there is no way that thing has haters, and design wise people may not like it, but i like it coz of it beautiful front styling
My co-worker is a vette hater, but he”s 5’2”, drives a 1 foot lifted truck, pretends to be a valuable member of the team has a record of failing getting anything done. It is what it is
@@quocd5580 oh
I love this because I HPDE/time attack my C6 Z06, it never made sense to see them as just "oogabooga straight line hurrdurr" car, and I love seeing these do track boy stuffs.
I'm not sure if it's a audio/video sync, but are you matching revs AFTER engaging gear as opposed to before? That could easily cause a grind as it would rely solely on the synchros to slow down a lot of reciprocating mass from 7000 RPM.
I have noticed downshifting into third in a lot of different cars start grinding at some point. Probably just too heavy of a flywheel and clutch not fully disengaging. Light flywheel might stop it, small slave adjustment maybe
Hmm. 08 Z06 with mgw shifter, never had the 4-3 blip ever. Even under hard driving
C6 - that last good looking Vette
My C7 disagrees, plus it's faster and can handle as good or better than that Z06. Love the Z06 tho,amazing car!
Nice driving 👌🏾, you got real comfortable in that guy
Thankyou, really enjoying the vicarious track days.
C6 Z is as good as you can get per dollar, if you get on power even earlier, its even more fun!
Definitely. Out of curiosity, what lap time would you expect this exact car to be capable of? Based on the mods in the video description.
Haha video came up in my feed too. 1:50
@@Zygrene low 50 would be my guess. On a 3r or equivalent level tire. C6 z should be significantly faster than my C7 GS.
I would argue a C5 Z06 is actually the same performance for less money. I own both a C5 Z06 Full out race car and a C6 Z06 that’s modified to 750 HP. I just built the C6 so I don’t have much time in it. But my C5 Z06 race car is unbelievable. 402 LS 2 with 650 HP. I open road race it in Nevada. Both cars can’t be beat for the money.
Nice driving! Congrats on sub-2:00. I test drove a 2007 C6Z yesterday and a 2023 BRZ. Currently between those and a Cayman GTS 4.0L. Huge price deltas. The BRZ was tons of fun. Gets close to the light nimbleness of the 718, but it’s certainly not a near perfect driving machine that is the Porsche. That instant NA V8 torque from LS7 is addicting, but will be hard to stretch its legs on the road. Really looking for a fun road car that is a daily option, hence 718 and BRZ/86. After watching you lap the C6Z, very tempting to jump down that rabbit hole and join the fun at Thunderhill. Looks like a lot of fun balancing on throttle through the long steady-state corners. It’s near 50-50 weight distribution, technically front mid-engine.
The C6Z I drove has the T-56 transmission that had very heavy shift action. Feels like a tractor gearbox. The 2008 and newer supposedly are a little lighter shifting. Looks like the 3rd gear syncros are dying in the example you drove. Rev matching is much more of chore on these cars. Something that takes adjustment.
1:02 he’s basically saying he replace the radiator with an upgraded version.
Because pretty much 99% certain the stock one is aluminum too.
3rd gears is often the worst. 2-3 shifts take a bit longer thana 1-2 and the timing is off and they let the clutch out a bit too soon. I think its called the blocking ring that tries to align the synchros. A new blocking ring has shart points, a worn/ mangled one has rounded edges and can prevent 3rd gear engagement.
Hell ya Glendon is the man!
That was incredible to watch! 😎and I loved the commentary!
I think you mentioned you were pushing the clutch all the way in but my GS for some reason (maybe I’m just not aware of what I should be doing) it wants the clutch to the floor before you pull it otherwise it grinds. No other gear does it except 6th, but that might be cuz it’s used the least
Agree on the gearbox, and also agree it's still an amazing car in spite of that. Also, wouldve been fun to see your times on the full 5-mile setup. I always love seeing actually fast cars run on tracks that I run Lemons races on so I can see just how fast or slow our cars are, haha.
2010 c6z here. I looks like aren’t timing your heel toe on the down shifts with the engagement of the clutch. Obviously can’t see your feet) but I’ve that exact same thing happen once
Common Glendon!!! You can get a 1:55!! LET EM HANG!!
Great vid, looks really hooked up! Might need to address some more cooling mods though, I was seeing ~250F on the gauge at the end of the session. Maybe an Improved Racing stand alone oil cooler?
thank's for the experience of being inside a c6 zo6 on a track. that was awesome. I want one🤣🤣
This guy's set up is literally my dream set up. Ls7 will be reliable if you get the heads completely done.
It's not a long shot to get the c6z to under 3000lbs.
- racing seats (50lbs-ish?)
- light weight battery (25lbs)
- carbon fiber vented hood (10-15lbs)
- exhaust and removing cats etc (15lbs?) No mufflers would be about 30lbs saved.
- lighter clutch (10lbs?)
- big brake kit (35 - 40lbs)
Total is in the ball park of 150lbs saved. Now you have stupid money and get light carbon seats or just remove the passenger seat, that would really add to it.
The only problem with this set up is the front tires being 315..rubber weighs more and rim weighs more. Get more grip and sacrifice weight. Now I think the LG suspension removes some weight too and maybe some of the other upgrades with the radiator etc.
Anyways...love your driving and this set. I was glued to my screen the entire 25 minutes. I love c6z content on the track.
Took mine out for the first time a few weekends ago and it was a blast. The hard part is now convincing them wife to let me spend money 🤣.
Love this man!
Thx for the great info. I just built my 2007 Z06, 27K miles no problems, I did heads, cam, headers, no cats, total lower end, tune, should be making around 750 HP. The rest of the car is totally stock. I’m going to do your mods too.
@craigthescott5074 that's awesome man! It's gonna be nasty!
Sounds and looks like the synchros are going on the 3rd and possibly other mid gears
Monster track car on a budget! Any thoughts on how you'd like this car in the canyons? I get the sense it'd be a bit extra out there.
Depends on your experience and skill level. Check out the silver state classic in Nevada it’s and open road race. Twice a year. There’s some canyons.
Did you PIN the harmonic balancer??
Have you tried rev matching to get in 3rd?
The performance per dollar of the c6z is insane. Can you imagine spending $40k on a stock e92 m3 and get destroyed by a c6z on the track? Reliability, cost of ownership, weight, horsepower all heavily favor the c6z.
Time to get ur self a Z06 dude. Good driving for the first time.
Good deal! What brake pads and fluid were run here.? What are the basic alignment specs also? Lou Gigliotti was a long time Corvette race driver so he knows this platform big time. His co offers a ton of Corvette perf products.
Man. I feel old. I remember driving that track with NASA when they would run it backwards. I was flat out. I don't have balls to do that anymore.
I could be wrong but it seems like you're not rev matching the downshifts. Id probably have to install an autoblip im not very good at heel toe
This is the ultimate sports car for us mortals. ❤
That car is running hot
Thats my favorite corvette C6 Z06
Nice! Just need more seat time. I would lap it in 2:05, full stock interior, Continental Extremes, bilstein shocks, Vararam Intake and a NASCAR style Wing.
Only reason you can hate on Corvettes are the owners who red carpet them at shows.. vettes are awesome
Zy drove it like he stole it!! That vette will remember you! 😂
LG built my car solid af love the c6z
I couldn’t tell but were you heal toe into third from 4th? If not I think that was the problem
I could imagine what it would be like to drive a “Flying Miata” with a 525 hp LS3 @ the crank and under 2,600 lb curb weight!?!?
I think your throttle blips aren't quite matching the transmission speed on the down shifts.
The ls7 can be made very reliable. If I was making it a dedicated track car, the heads, valve train, pistons, rods etc. Would all be addressed and I would have the best parts installed. I don't know much about how motors work. So I would take it to a reputable company and tell them I want some power and most important, reliability for track days. You could easily get it squared away.
What reliability mods would you do to the c6 grand sport? They already have the upgraded dry sump.. besides a radiator for cooling, are there any other issues with them? Currently drifting one that's stock with nearly 120k miles
Awesome, had a cammed c5. Never got to take it to the track, had lifter failure =\ Amazing car, only thing to fault is interior visual and the extremely long gears. Even bone stock shorter gearing would make it an absolute beast.
Dang, just had lifter failure on my C5 Z but I fixed it in my driveway in about two weeks. Wasn’t too hard, just time consuming. I think C5’s have one of the easiest engine bays for a V8 sports car to do engine work. If I ever make more money I think it’d be fun to also build a 600whp C6 Z in my driveway, one of my dream vettes
Ls7 is reliable. I’ve owned two and never had issues. My c6 z now has 84,000 miles on it and I beat it on it all the time and have for years.
Are you tracking it? Tracking anything will push the reliability limits
@@Soyblackpowerit was built for that. I'm sure it would be fine
nice driving, nice car, nice setup. Agree on stock power for reliability as well as how many people really can use more (this form someone who goes to tracks where even 500hp (AHP heads/great tune) get me to 152mph. Re shifter, get a MGW. Infinitely better. Also, no insult intended, but re the crunch...are you heal and toe rev matching...couldn't hear.
Anyone know how factory z06 brakes perform on track? Any problem with them that would cause someone to upgrade?
I deleted my other comment after watching the entire video... Great driving man! Freaking video was awesome! 👍
Heads and cam heads and cam u gotta get u some heads and cam amazing job 🇺🇸
LS7🔥 TQ plus 7k redline.
wich brand is that gps lap timer ?
2011 GS vette 498whp/493tq at the tires.
On the downshifts it really just sounds like you’re not timing the rev match with clutch release properly. What do I know though, im sitting on my couch
Clutch hydraulics could be causing issues on shifts. Not uncommon with them
I would have bought an aftermarket lingenfelter 427 and thrown in it. Ls7 based and reliable.
Let’s not forget, a gs +4k to mod the engine to the ls3 525hp level, you get same power, same dry sump oiling, and ls3 reliability to go with it. The grand sport is easily the better value.
What’s your rank of most fun cars driven for daily/spirited but non track
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QoqAWydVYdy-MARBWKOzGOPhF30SxPeiUwGa1tuV5BE/edit?usp=sharing
@@Zygrene love it thanks so much I highly value your opinion as I feel we share the same ideology and taste
@@Zygrene funny the vehicle with the highest ZPI happens to also be the most fun car I’ve driven so see we do align! I drove a Manual on PCH
@@Zygrene are you going to add this Z06 as well? Curious how you compare the two you've driven.
Just saw the end of the video. Higher than C7 ZR1. That's wild.
when you downshift to 3rd is that not your tires losing traction? trying to decel too quick from dumping the clutch and not blipping the throttle. i see the RPMs jump 1500 and the speedo fall 20mph, thats sure what it sounds like.
Its such a shame they look so absolutely awful now, like they fell out of a cracker. The C6 Z06 really is the best one.