Hi,
I recently (two months ago) sold my SC'ed M3 (ess 575, hfc) and purchased JSB 08 Z06. I've only driven the car for 2 hours in traffic and then dropped it off at the port. I'm patiently waiting on it to arrive (taking 9 weeks instead of promissed 5-6 weeks... don't ship with shipoverseas.com). It was a pretty even trade (minus shipping cost). Z06 has bilstein suspension, APX two piece rotors, aftermarket nav, back up camera, running 295/345 tires, 2LZ options. M3 was fully loaded, carbon fiber inside, 6 speed, E90, blacklines tails, Jrz blk, black nostrils, 575kit, Fabspeed hfc&xpipe, comp wheels...
My first impressions are:
power
eventhough my m3 was 600hp, it did not feel as fast as the z06... but true comparison will come once i take the vette on the autobahn. There could be positives and negatives. I took my friend that had c5z for a high speed ride and he was like
it's so quiet, so planted. My buddy with a GTR said the same thing (his was lots faster though), I could hold the steering wheel with one hand at 180mph and not raise my voice when talking. The shifter in the Z felt a lot better, although the shifts are violent, it feels like the car wants to rip everything underneath it... m3 felt like a little pony compared to stallion (first impression, more to come later). Steering felt better on the M3, vettes felt a bit numb in the middle. I was only able to take one on ramp at moderate speed, and i wasn't really sure how much grip i had
: , where with m3 u knew it.
Interior: Seating, well, this was given and known, m3 seats are better.... However!, i much preffer the way u are seated in the corvette! I really like how you sit low, everything just wraps around you, those huge fenders up front, the small windows, u know u driving a beast/sports car... m3, most of the time, felt like a plain car, until you look for those badges (or start pressing go pedal). Maybe cause i'm 27 i preffer the feeling of a sport car over the gt car. I don't think it's THAT bad. I really dig the buttons to open the doors, the central panel is nice black with nice metal bezels for cup holders. I already ordered DSV steering wheel (i loved my m3 steering wheel), it's D premium, so flat on the buttom with alcantra on the sides and perforated letter(blue stiching). For the door buttons i'll be ordering carbon bits. The central arm rest, i'll be ordering that in alcantra as well(with blue stiching). So just those few pieces will make the interior much nicer, and that's $800 total. Seats can be upgraded to something REALLY nice, something that koning owners prob have, but they are at $4.5k for both (maybe after deployment i'll get them). Side panels can be done nicely too. (below is an example of $6-7k spent well on interior).
Reliability: well... m3 was trouble free, mostly... brakes were the weak point. I was always worried about them. On track days they got pushed to the limit, pads were wearing out quickly. There is a lot of braking on the autobahn too (especially when u driving 150+mph and somone jumps in front of you at 80mph). They worked well, but I always wanted a lot more brakes. Second, oil changes... i did mine at 7.5k miles. At $15 a can x 9, that's a lot... plus SC oil. Corvette, the biggest fear is valve train... engines seem to be popping like hot chick poping bubble wrap. It makes me really scared, and I am starting a fund for head work (I'd prob need extra to get some mods in as well as to not waste money). That's pretty much it.
Modding: It seems that Z is a lot more mod friendly in a perfect world, but with shelling out 3-4K for preventive head work makes it close to on par with m3 mod $... $3.5k for head work, $1k cam, $3k headers, $.5k intake, $1k tune is about a supercharger price (though z will carry much more power at this price point).
Reasons for switch: The main reason i switched is because i wanted a more track oriented car (i'll be tracking nurburgring mostly... did 7:45 in the m3), but not a track car. I need a daily, and a car for road trips. I believe z06 will be better for the autobahn due to gearing. I often wanted to cruise at 150+mph, but m3 iwas at 6-7k rpm there (although i did it a few times when going to the airport). My m3 had 65k miles (15k supercharged), and I wanted something with less miles. Z06 also seems much better on gas too.
Any impressions from people that switched these two cars?
pic of my old m3
pic of my new vette... p.s. just like any right minded corvette owner i found out that this color/wheel combo is one out of 40 ever made
example of money spent well on interior.
I'm taking the corvettes away from old people and starting a new trend.
accell in my m3 before the sale... curious if vette would be any faster up top, doubtful.. although one BIG factor is how much the m's speedo lies, it's lying like it's his job. I haven't been able to do GPS measurements at 200mph, but at about 150mph it's off by 7mph. Z's speed was on point up to 100mph (aftermarket nav has GPS speedo).