At $ 65,000, 2006 Vette is tops in value
505 HORSEPOWER GETS THE Z06 FROM 0 TO 60 IN JUST 3.7 SECONDS
Describe a car as a great value, and many folks think you’re trying to say ‘‘cheap’’ in a nice way.
So, if I’d asked which car represents the best value on the market, perhaps you’d answer the Chevy Aveo (at $9,455, the lowest-price car), or the Toyota Tacoma (at $13,780, the cheapest truck) or the Kia Sportage (at $15,900, the mostaffordable sport-utility vehicle) or even the Volkswagen Golf (at $16,030, the lowest-price European car).
No, this week I’ll argue that the $65,000 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 offers the most value. No doubt, it offers the best performance value.
That’s performance as in 505 horsepower, and a 0-to-60 mph time of 3.7 seconds.
The November issue of Motor Trend makes this quite clear. Editors compared a Z06 with a Dodge Viper and a Ford GT. All the cars are phenomenally fast and each won a few categories — the GT had the fastest 0-to-60 mph time, the Viper had the best 100-to-0 mph braking time and the Vette had the best lap time on a 1.6-mile road course.
But, in one category, it wasn’t even close. The tested GT cost $166,195, the Viper was $87,695, and the Corvette Z06 was $68,700.
That’s about the cost of the velocityyellow Z06 that I just drove for a week.
This is a car that’s scary fast, but surprisingly easy to drive in rush-hour traffic.
It manages to be both sporty and elegant, no mean feat.
And it reminds me of how good a car can be without a lot of distractions.
Satellite radio and navigation are options, but they weren’t added to our test model. Seats weren’t heated. Even OnStar, the safety-concierge service found on just abut every General Motors car these days, wasn’t there. Instead, the big 7.0-liter V-8 and the sturdy six-speed manual shifter was all the entertainment that I needed.
The platform for the 2006 Z06 is the sixth-generation Corvette, which arrived last year. It is a mighty fine car on its own, and itself represents a great performance value. It offers a 400horsepower V-8 engine for about $45,000.
This car is shorter, lighter, betterhandling and more aerodynamic than the previous Corvette. Its fixed headlights are perhaps the most noticeable change.
The Z06 that arrives as a 2006 model is more than an upgraded engine.
It gets 18-inch wheels up front and huge 19-by- 12-inch Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires in back. It has unique body panels, including its larger grille, front air splitter, fenders and rear spoiler.
Although it’s an inch longer and three inches wider than the base Corvette, it benefits from the use of lighter-weight and stronger materials. It’s built with an aluminum frame, a magnesium engine cradle, titanium connecting rods and intake valves and carbon- fiber front fenders and wheelhouses. The floor panels use carbon fiber, too, as a skin over balsa wood. The Z06 weighs in at 3,130 pounds vs. 3,179 for the base model.
For the record, a paddle-shift automatic is now offered on the regular Corvette, but it’s not found on the Z06, where the six-speed is the only transmission choice. The Z06’s transmission is beefed up vs. the base model, as are the brakes with their six-piston calipers painted red.
GM says the Z06 was derived in many ways from its C6.R racing Corvette that won in Monterey and Le Mans, from its sleek silhouette to its dry-sump oil system.
This car drove differently than another hot new GM product, the Pontiac Solstice roadster. That one was cheap, basic, top-down fun.
The Z06 also felt more comfortable to me than the Ferrari F430 and Ford GT that I’ve driven in recent months. Those cars feel more specialized, more fragile. Perhaps that’s part of the allure.
The Corvette had a more solid, madeonfactory- floor feel.
You can go so fast so quickly that care is required when you’re sharing the road with other drivers. When you have a chance encounter with an isolated back road, well, 10 miles seems to go by in five minutes.
Fuel economy, considering the engine size, wasn’t bad at 16 mpg in the city and 26 mpg on the highway. (The base model with manual is rated at 18/28.)
The hard-top, fixed-roof, rear-wheeldrive Corvette Z06 is aimed at driving enthusiasts, at those who spend time on race tracks or set their alarms for early Sunday morning drives.
And it doesn’t disappoint. Contact Matt Nauman at mnauman@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5701.