2006 Z06 announcement

[Terry M.]

Just in:

Chevy announces Corvette Z06 0-60 mph time and base price

The ultimate Corvette-the 2006 Corvette Z06-is posting numbers at the
track and on the window sticker that will get attention. Chevrolet has
announced that the fastest Corvette ever-the 505-horsepower Corvette
Z06-will achieve 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds while still in first gear, and
pricing will start at $65,800, including destination and freight
charges.

[Duke W.]

Re: 2006 Z06 announcement

Hey... where'd you hear that, Terry? Isn't this "off topic".

For those interested, here's the link to the GM press release:

http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet?target=http://image.emerald.gm.com/gmnews/viewpressreldetail.do?domain=2&docid=15764

The Chevrolet web site is no longer breaking out the destination charge, but I looked at what it was when C6 pricing was released a year ago - $800, so the MSRP less delivery is an even $65,000, assuming the '06 delivery charge is unchanged.

I just won a bet on this one. Now I'm waiting to see the EPA fuel consumption numbers. My bet is no "gas guzzler tax". The fact that none was mentioned in this release is encouraging.

Duke

[Mike M.]

Re: 2006 Z06 announcement

I happen to notice a CTS-V window sticker last night. $1,200. Gas Guzzler Tax.
Would the Vette be that much different?
H. a. N. D.

[Duke W.]

Re: 2006 Z06 announcement

EPA inertia weight is a bigger factor in EPA (and real world) fuel economy than engine size or rated power, so because the Z06 is light, it will achieve much better numbers than the CTS-V, which has a curb weigh somewhere near 4000 pounds - a good 700 pounds (20+ percent) heavier than Z06.

If a car is within a few pounds of getting into the next lower EPA inertia weight class (curb weight plus a 300 pound load with 125 pound increments), the engineers will tear their hair out looking for cost effective weight reduction since the lower inertia weight can improve the rounded off numbers a full MPG and maybe make the difference between a guzzler tax and none.

The 1-4 skip shift is almost universally hated by Corvette owners, but it's kept the numbers above the gas guzzler tax threshold, and it can be deactivated for next to nothing.

My bet (with a buddy) is that the Z06 will skate the guzzler tax, and a primarly reason is that it is light. Add the 1-4 skipshift and voila!

Industry engineers have been playing this EPA fuel consumption game for 30 years now, and they are getting very good at it. Consumer gripes about real world mileage first occured about 25 years ago, so EPA adjusted the raw data down about ten percent, but the guzzler tax is computed on a 55/45 city/highway ratio of the UNADJUSTED data. Got that! The driving schedule has not changed since it was first used in 1973, and the highway mileage is computed from a portion of the test that averages a whopping 48 MPH. Any wonder that the raw data doesn't have to be massaged? My understanding is that a new procedure is supposed to be phased in soon that will require more aggressive accleration, speeds up to about 80 MPH, and use of the air conditioner. This will, of course, result in lower numbers, which will have to be somehow reconciled with CAFE requirements, which were last established about 1975. Washington bureaucrats are negotiating all this with industry lawywers - your tax dollars and additional industry overhead all in your behalf.

But, if you can swim through the IRS code, the EPA fuel economy number calculations and reconciliation with CAFE are a piece of cake!

It's becoming an issue again as more consumer complaints are being registered that their vehicles don't make the EPA numbers in the real world, and the WORST offenders are the new HYBRIDS with real numbers 20 to 40 percent lower than posted. It turns out that the Toyota Prius gets about the same 40 MPG overall average as my '81 Diesel Rabbit did 25 years ago. So much for progress!

Isn't it wonderful that our government spends millions of our tax dollars and forces the industry to spend millions, which they have to add to the price of the cars to give us all this phoney "information"?

It's real interesting that The F430 has TERRIBLE EPA numbers - something on the order of 12/16 - and gets hit with a big guzzler tax even though it is about the same weight and power as a Corvette. Same with the other exotics. Being as how all cars have to follow the same speed-time schedule including shift points, you have to wonder how Ferraris consume so much fuel and think about what efficiency and good engineering really means.

If you drive a modern Corvette "reasonably", which is to say like and old lady, it will get in the ballpart of the EPA numbers. Of course, if you like to dip your foot into the throttle a lot, it will do much worse.

Duke

[Terry M.]

Re: 2006 Z06 announcement

Duke,
I just now saw your email message to me. I got this from the Chevrolet media announcement. Same place you got it. Timing is everything.

Off topic? Now what percentage of us do you think are their customer base?