There's Something About the C6 Corvette Z06

After the debut of the C6 Corvette Z06, Chevrolet could’ve bragged about the use of advanced materials in its construction or that, with 505 hp, it had GM’s most powerful naturally aspirated engine ever, as of 2006. Instead, the company went a different direction: it touted the car’s weight.

The ad was simple. There was a yellow Z06 driving on a road with 3130 written in bold below it. It’s burned into my mind (unfortunately it's nowhere to be found online). My dad liked the car and its light weight so much he ripped it out of a magazine and put it on the mantle in our kitchen. Sure, there are lighter cars out there, but that one figure speaks to the focus of the C6 Z06: to be the fastest, lightest, best-handling Corvette ever.

That’s when the Corvette team ran into a problem: the C6 Z06 was so fast that there were concerns it was the limit of the front-engine architecture. It initiated the investigation of a mid-engine platform.

“The true history is this whole conversation around mid-engine started when we were doing the C6 ZR1,” Tadge Juechter, the Corvette’s executive chief engineer, recalls. “For a long time we were very worried that the zero to 60 on the ZR1 would be slower than the Z06. The thing that saved us actually was the Michelin tires. The traction performance of the Michelins let us squeak the ZR1 a little bit quicker than the Z06. But it put the fear of God into us that the end of the road is here. We can't just keep throwing horsepower at this thing and have a better car. It's going to be a worse car in many ways trying to cram more horsepower into it.”

Tadge wasn’t wrong. The C7 Z06 that came after was more powerful, thanks to a supercharger, heavier, and had luxury features to appeal to more buyers. While it was capable, it was also a handful in a lot of situations. "All ate up with power," as Juechter put it. The C7 didn’t resonate with the Z06 faithful like the C6 did. The C8 Z06’s move to mid-engine architecture let the Z06 return to a natural aspiration, to get back some of the straightforward appeal of the C6.

“We could not have done this engine in the front-engine architecture,” Juechter says. “Engine power is all about breathing. Putting the engine in the back let us do these gigantic plenums. We have super low restriction in the big gutter pipes for the car to breathe through.”

That new engine, the LT6, is the world's most powerful naturally-aspirated V-8. It has dual overhead cams, a flat-plane crank, 670 hp, and an 8600 rpm redline, all linked to an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox. It’s the most exotic engine fitted to a Corvette ... since the C6 Z06’s small block, the thruline that inextricably links these two Vettes. Back in 2006, the LS7 was the wildest small-block ever, a dry-sumped, 505-hp 7.0 liter goliath that revved to 7000 rpm and had torque for days. That was all hooked up to a six-speed manual from Tremec.

The C6, like the C8, used exotic materials like magnesium, aluminum, and carbon fiber to keep the weight low. They both look great; low, wide and imposing. Later C6s even got Magneride and early versions of Chevrolet’s brilliant Performance Traction Management traction control, systems that are now standard in the Z06.

When we extoll the virtues of the C8 Z06, it's the C6 Z06 that we have to thank for them.

I’ve always put the C6 Z06 on a pedestal. My first encounter with one was at a Chevy consumer roadshow just after it was released, when I was about 18. It was the sort of event where a manufacturer sets up a bunch of test drives in a stadium parking lot, like an autocross in Cobalt and test drives in a Malibu. There was also the opportunity to ride with a professional driver in a Z06.

My mind was blown. This was by far the fastest car I’d ever been in, but as thrilling as the acceleration and speed was, the poise in corners and the braking was just as impressive. It bent my brain. Years and many rides and drives in faster and more capable cars later, that first ride still sticks with me. The raw, visceral experience is nearly unmatched. And that was from sitting right seat. I never even got to drive one.

I met this particular Z06 on a cold November morning near Lime Rock Park. This is a 2009 model in cyber grey with a more interesting history than most: It’s the personal track car of Sam Posey, racing legend, commentator, architect, artist, and R&T contributor. Posey bought this car to replace his Viper, which was too loud for Lime Rock Park, his home track.