I ran rampant for nearly three hours with the silver Z51/six-speed that first day, and was delighted to spend over an hour in a Millennium Yellow Z51/six-speed convertible during the second day's ride-and-drive sessions. The new Z51 is superb! It handles and accelerates nearly as well as an '04 Z06, feels like it stops better, and is supremely well-mannered! C5s with Z51 are stiff, not at all harsh, but definitely stiff. Z06s are slightly stiffer than a Z51, still not harsh, still comfortable, but stiff. The C6's Z51 package is supple yet taut, exceedingly well-controlled, stable and grippy in the twisties, and utterly confidence-inspiring. Ride quality is much improved over the C5. It's a far cry from the old "gotta-make-it-stiff-to-make-it-handle" school of thought.
Corvette Chief Engineer Dave Hill and I talked about the new Z51 package during one leg of the ride and drive. We were in C6 VIN 000001, a LeMans Blue six-speed base suspension coupe. I was (still am) very impressed with the Z51 package and complimented Dave and the entire Corvette engineering team for the great job they'd done, both overall and on the Z51. Dave told me that the Supercar runflats play a major part in how well the package works but also informed that among the many revisions to the C6 suspensions was an increase in travel. Across the board, C6 front suspensions have gained an additional 1/2-inch of travel, while the rear has benefited from 3/4-inch of added travel. Fractions of an inch may not sound significant, but that much-additional range is major gain! And the new Z51 package works so incredibly well that, were I in the position to buy a C6, I wouldn't even consider it without Z51. It's that good!
The C6 is a collection of "is" and "is not." It is not all new; it is highly evolutionary. It is not cutting edge; it is, just like the C5, a very high-performance sports car that can be used every day and for cross-country trips. It's not going to strike fear into the hearts of owners of Ferrari Enzos or new Vipers, but it is, by far, the most bang-for-the-buck performance car in existence (the previous statement will be inoperative in one year, upon introduction of the '06 Z06). With a top speed of 186 mph (300 kph), it is the fastest production Corvette in history. It is capable of beating almost any production car in existence from 0 to 60 (a "regular" six-speed coupe runs 0-100 kph [62 mph] in 4.2 seconds; the Z51 does it in 4.1), and few legitimate production cars can better its quarter-mile numbers of 12.6 seconds at 114 mph.
A base suspension car is capable of .93 gs on a skidpad, while the incredible Z51 package ups that number to .99 gs! Even with substantial gains in torque, horsepower, acceleration, and top speed, the C6's fuel economy will equal the impressive figures C5 owners have grown accustomed to.
The Corvette team has managed the nearly impossible; they've taken an already very extraordinary automobile and made it better in essentially every respect. The C6 is an automotive tour de force.
It really is that good.