[76sray]

Okay, kind of a long story, but just looking for general opinions/observations. Last weekend a friend of mine and I decided to test my two vettes against each other. I have an 07 Mn6 Z51 coupe and a 2000 FRC. I was driving the 07, and obviously he was in the 2000. The first race was from a 40 mph roll in second gear. We ran the first one, shifted into third, had to shut it down, and the race was basically even.

Second attempt was very similar, but we did shift to third and got to stay in it for just a bit. Once we shifted to third I could tell I was starting to pull him. On the third attempt we started from a 20mph roll, both in second gear. This was by far our cleanest run. We both shifted into third, and into fourth before having to shut it down. The last race saw me pull him by a good 3.5 lenghts before shutting down.

To be honest I was disappointed in the results of the first two attempts, but I understand we didn't really get to stretch the two cars out enough to get an honest read on their abilities. the last attempt was closer to what one expect from these two completely stock cars. I felt this was a decent real world performance comparison between the C5 and C6.

the "races" were set up to eliminate differences in driving ability, and just see what the two cars would do. Many people, such as my friend, are trying to decide if a new or used c6 is worth the extra money vs. buying a used C5. Obviously this comes down to personal preference, and finances.

However, the two cars are not that far apart in performance from the factory, and certainly not when one considers the aftermarket pieces available for either. I am left feeling like if performance is your main goal a C5 may be the way to go. Take the money you save and mod the h*ll out of it. The C6 seems more refined, and IMHO looks better. Anyway, it was a blast testing the two cars against each other with no way I could lose

 

[C6Rluvur]

What's a 2000 FRC? you call it a C5? Is it a C5 Z06?:huh:

 

[Patrick]

Well, the DC Z with bolt ons can simply whip the living **** out of the DC C6.:laughing:

That said... LOL... there is always the possiblity that he's simply a better driver than you. When drag racing, whenever you are shifting, you are just coasting, not accelerating. And the clock keeps tickin' away. You wanna bang those gears at least as hard as your buddy is, at least.

Did you have traction control on? Did he? Traction control on the C6 blows if enabled, I can feel a huge difference without it on even at the speeds you raced at. I can get the ass end to move on a 2-3 shift with it off. Crazy power is getting to the wheels with it off. With it off you'll see the very best the car can do until... more on that in a sec.

I agree the DC C6 (which is stock) feels more like a 360 HP car, not the 400 HP monster it is. But, the power is there, the programming sucks.

I recommend having your ride reprogrammed by someone like Jim Hall or Jeremy Formato. They'll remove all that evil programming done by GM and your car is going to feel like 400HP. Huge difference. GM wrote the programming to save shocks to the drive train, reducing broken parts, reducing warranty claims, etc. Blah blah... but they robbed you of getting that HP to the wheels.

Lastly, the trans gearing on the C6 is different, and you may not have the same rear gear in both cars. Also, even if you are side by side, whatever gear he's in when he goes may be further in the powerband than you. You might be at 2500 RPM, he might be at 4000 RPM.

You should race, with you holding the car at 4000 rpm until he's by your side.

You'll smoke his ass.

That said, the only real comparison is to take them both to the drag strip, and you drive them both for the best time. It eliminates the driver differences and that'll pretty much sum up things.:thumbsup:

 

[06LemansC6]

What's a 2000 FRC? you call it a C5? Is it a C5 Z06?:huh:

Yes it's a C5Z. FRC = Fixed Roof Coupe. The Z06's don't have a removable top.

The C6 and C5Z are very close in stock form, I wouldn't bet the bank on either. It is mostly a drivers race, however I believe a very slight edge would go to the C5Z as it has a slightly better power to weight ratio. If you wanted to do a true test you should have swapped cars and raced again. My guess is the results would follow the driver and not the car.

 

[OldVetteFan]

What's a 2000 FRC? you call it a C5? Is it a C5 Z06?:huh:

The FRC is a Fixed Roof Coupe. It was the predecessor to the Z06, and was equipped with the LS1 engine (345 HP). When the Z06 was introduced in 2001, it came with the LS6 engine, developing 385 HP, and then 405 HP in 2002 - 2004.

A C5 Z06 is very competitive with a stock C6 - I don't know how the Z06 will compare if the C6 has been programmed like Patrick suggested in his post.

Stock FRC to C6, I would have expected a bigger difference between the two.

Steven

 

[C6Rluvur]

The FRC is a Fixed Roof Coupe. It was the predecessor to the Z06, and was equipped with the LS1 engine (345 HP). When the Z06 was introduced in 2001, it came with the LS6 engine, developing 385 HP, and then 405 HP in 2002 - 2004.

A C5 Z06 is very competitive with a stock C6 - I don't know how the Z06 will compare if the C6 has been programmed like Patrick suggested in his post.

Stock FRC to C6, I would have expected a bigger difference between the two.

Steven

Well my thoughts on that are if you raced w/stock C6 run-flats, big edge to FRC, also they have smaller 18" wheels opossed to our C6 w/19" wheels, the taller you go the more you retard the final gear ratio, & they had no Torque Management, + they were lighter about a 150lbs+ that's like you picking up a passenger before the race, they came w/nice sticky tires compared to our shity run-flats there like skateboard wheels...

I could give you more on the differences but that's all I can think of right now, GM didn't want the out going C5 Z06 to be beaten by the base model 2005 C6, so they messed w/things:smack :thumbsup:

 

[OldVetteFan]

Well my thoughts on that are if you raced w/stock C6 run-flats, big edge to FRC,

OK - advantage FRC

also they have smaller 18" wheels opossed to our C6 w/19" wheels, the taller you go the more you retard the final gear ratio, & they had no Torque Management,

The FRC was equipped with P275-40ZR18 tires, which are roughly 26.6" in diameter. The standard C6 is equipped with P285-35ZR19 tires, which are roughly 26.8" in diameter.

I don't really think that 0.2" in tire diameter will make a significant difference.

+ they were lighter about a 150lbs+ that's like you picking up a passenger before the race,

Curb weight of FRC = 3174 pounds

Curb weight of C6 = 3179 pounds

Given similar curb weights, similar tire diameters, and the same first gear ratio (2.66:1) and the same final drive ratio (3.42:1), I think the 55 HP advantage in the stock C6 overcomes the tire advantage in the FRC.

Note that the Z06 got its own transmission in 2001, with a first gear ratio of 2.97:1. The FRC, however, was stuck with the same transmission that came with the standard C5.

they came w/nice sticky tires compared to our run-flats there like skateboard wheels...

You already mentioned this one. The advantage still goes to the FRC.

I could give you more on the differences but that's all I can think of right now, GM didn't want the out going C5 Z06 to be beaten by the base model 2005 C6, so they messed w/things:smack :thumbsup:

You can't directly compare the Z06 to the FRC - the FRC still had the LS1 engine, which develops less HP than the LS6 or the LS2.

The Z06, with 405 HP, is a worthy (and better) competitor to the base C6, and from what I've seen, edges the base C6 in most accelerations runs. That doesn't mean that the FRC can do the same thing - it lacks the skill set. I'm not knocking the FRC - I'd love to have one, but that doesn't change the facts.

With respect to GM caring about whether or not the C6 would be better than the C5Z06, I think they absolutely WANTED the C6 to be competitive with the C5Z06. Do you really think the people that market Corvette sat around and told the design engineers to make sure that the stock C6 wouldn't be as good as the outgoing Z06? GM wants to sell the new Corvette - and if that meant beat the outgoing one, then so be it. I think their strategy was to make the stock C6 competitive with the Z06 so that new owners would step up to the C6 rather than look for a used Z06.

Steven

 

[bunk22]

When I first got my 05 C6, it felt good. Took it to the track, not so good. Ran a bud on the freeway in his new 05 Mustang GT (he had a few bolt-ons but nothing big) and my C6 pulled but not like a ligher 400hp vs a heavier 315hp (with his mods) should. I agree with Patrick in that the car felt like a 360hp car. I had it tuned and finally, it felt like a 400hp car. I gained .2 and 4 mph in the 1/8th mile from that tune. Not saying all C6's are like this but mine just felt like it was being held back. Then again I just came from a 480rwhp Cobra and before that another 480rwhp mustang that only weighed about 3300lbs. Still, I even ran a buds LS1 Pontiac and could barely pull him in the 1/8th. He sill had a higher mph though (with mods he dynoed 342rwhp). So I could see the results of these runs.

 

[sperkins]

"The first race was from a 40 mph roll in second gear."

It's true the C5 FRC makes 345hp and the C6 makes 400hp, but HP is only a reflection of how fast the car will get in it's ideal torque curve. At 40mph, both cars are going to be somewhere around 4400rpms which puts both cars in a very similar ideal torque range. I think this explains why the first two races saw unnoticeable results. The third race you mention is where the difference would come in in my opinion. At 20mph in 2nd gear, the rpm's are going to be lower and the C6 will easily get into it's torque band quicker than the C5 and it will pull away. Dyno sheets show torque curves for a reason.
:cheers:

 

[germeezy1]

C5's do have torque management....its not as bad as the C6's but they have it...mine was tuned out and the throttle response is just crazy! I was so close to buying a C6 but in the end decided a C5 modded the way I wanted was a better option.

 

[f-crazy]

heres a video of a stock Z51 C6 vs. an almost stock 04z
http://videos.streetfire.net/search/c6/9/41fa64c9-7de5-40e0-b4e7-7855f9d40dc8.htm

 

[Sigforty]

heres a video of a stock Z51 C6 vs. an almost stock 04z
http://videos.streetfire.net/search/c6/9/41fa64c9-7de5-40e0-b4e7-7855f9d40dc8.htm

The passenger in the C5Z did not help it in the beginning of that race.

 

[sperkins]

How do you think that C6 would run against a modified '03 Cobra?