With your 50K budget I would definatly go with the Z.

 

I recently looked at both (and many more including vipers, M3s etc) I chose the 996 TT because it had back seats, better build quality and I wanted one since I was a kid, the Z06 is a killer car for the money especially for those few weeks where they were heavily discounted and had 0% financing at the same time

 

For another perspective:

Good friend of mine owns a GT3 and was thinking about either a GT2, a cupcar, or a Z06 dedicated for serious track car duty. Jim is an instructor in PCA and does about 35 days on track per year... In the end He bought a 2008 Z06 and shipped it off to LG Motorsports in Texas. The car got extensive mods to the suspension, brakes and drivetrain, including a new cam.

The motor had less than 1000 miles on it when the #7 cylinder liner cracked. It had a total of 5 track days on it. Because LG installed a cam, all bets were off with any hope of warranty support. Jim commented to me that "Hands down, the Corvette is no Porsche"... Jim's GT3 has probably got over 100 track days on it with ZERO issues on reliability.

That's what I experienced when I had my corvette, and that's what I've noticed in owning my Porsche 996TT. The reliability of the Porsche will ALWAYS win, hands down...

The C6Z06 will require constant attention to the drysump lines, as they leak. It will require constant attention or upgrade of the brakes, because those new caliper padlets aren't cheap and burn thru fast, and rotors are pricey, and the car has the usual GM creaks, rattles, buzzes, and wear issues... It's a GM. Not to mention the mysterious issues with these motors suffering big failures.

Jim had LG build him a new motor from scratch, and he has the ZR-1 Tranny in it now, and the car is absolutely amazing... But he could have bought a new GT2 for what he has in his 2008 Z06!

Mike

 

I like my 996TT. Make it 1.0 bar, exhaust, coilovers with gt2, LWFW, and now a gt3 clutch slave mod....best of both worlds.

If you really want to track, just find a used gt3.

I must admit, the neighbor has the Z06 and it sounds wonderful.

Oh, I use the 996TT in snow with snow tires....if you like a back seat for small kids or drive on snow, the 996TT wins. I always dreamed of a 911...hence my choice. Not totally logical for sure.

JB

 

Is that the guy with the Red Z06 that you were posting pics of a short while ago?

If so, that sucks, and is just another example of why I just can force myself to do it. I know there are lots of guys who dont have problems, but the attrition rate is too high for me.

 

Heavy,

What lap times does MTI racing (Marietta), run in their track car?
Do they run it on the street and do you have any pics of it?
Eric's (Atomic's) car has really been stepped up for track duty and
he will have some superb track times next year.

MK

 

The MTI car is INSANE!!!!!!!!!

Totally not on the same level as what Eric has. He's got a 454 CI motor with a supercharger. It's ~2800 lbs with him in it, more DF than an ACR, 780 WHP!!!!!!!!!

He runs a couple seconds faster than World Challenge now, and that was his shakedown run.

Cant find any recent pics, but it does not look like a street car at all anymore. But they do drive it on the street occasionally, at least they were prior to the SC.


But Eric's car will be very fast without a doubt.

 

That's my plans - snow tires! - and I do need the back seat - big differentiators for me.

 

Dez,

FYI...the MTI car is currently running a stock displacement 427/LS7 with stock-bottom end, modified heads and cams and a Eaton TVS blower at 8 psi. It makes 733 rwhp. It's essentially the same setup that I'm getting, except I'm getting forged internals and will be running 3 more lbs of boost. Reese ran a 125.749 with the blower motor at I believe Road Atlanta.

Now...before this motor was installed in the car, you are correct that it was running a 454....but not with a blower. It was the same motor that Eric currently has but with a more aggressive cam. That motor made 630 rwhp. It's the same motor that Peter Kluut was talking about when he said; "It was the fastest I've ever been, even in my race car I've never gone that fast".

Reese initially installed the blower motor just to some do R&D for the setup that I purchased. He had planned on reinstalling the 454 after the testing was complete, but the blower motor ended up being so much better on the track than his previous 454, that he's going to leave it in the car. He'll eventually be running the same boost as my car (10-11 psi) and it should be making close to the 800 rwhp.

As far as looks, as you can see below, the car looks pretty much like a stock Z06 with a vented S/C hood and a big rear wing.

 

You have taken the words right out of my mouth, I have said this before and will say it now, if you have to ask then you should have the Z. I have spend allot of seat time in a Z06 ,yes its fast, but it's still a vette and will never be as special as the ownership of a 911 turbo.

 

I’ve owned an FRC C5, c5z06, and driven a number of C6 vettes, and a couple C6Z06s. Compared to 996TT, my 2 Cents :

Looks (subjective): I like both the 996TT w/aero kit, & 997TT better than c5 and c6, but C6z06 is much closer. W/o aero kit, or after market body kits, I think the 996TT looks a little dated, and I might like the looks of the C6Z06 better. Except for the *** end!

You can get aftermarket front spoilers, as well as some rear wings, reasonably priced, or go with wind tunnel tested, full body kits at much higher prices. Aftermarket body mods for vettes, that I’ve personally seen, are of lower quality.

Quality: Build quality, fit and finish is way better than Chevy. Examples: 1) Paint is better, far fewer squeaks/groans. 2) No regular occurrences of leaking rear diffs, blown ABS modules, broken rear axels.

Warranty is nice either way. The vette’s 7 yr power train coverage is very nice.

Maintenance: Much more expensive: Examples: sparkplugs, much harder to get to. $700 from dealer, 450 from Indi. Dealer will charge you $200 for oil change. Car takes 10 quarts. Brakes, incl. rotors and a great labor rate= 1k. Do any of your our wrenching? For me at least, bolt-on and light motor work is simpler on the vette, if for no other reason, you typically have more room to work.

Steering: No contest. Love the 996TT steering. Much more precise and planted than c5, or C608 Vette. Like the overall, ”steering feel” even better than several BMWs I’ve owned, including M3.

Power/Tuning: Vettes are cheaper to mod. Porsche typically has better NVH ratings though, after modding. A K16 Porsche with tune and air filter (basically my car) for $1300 will keep you up with an 08 Z51 vette. Keeping up (60-130) with a stock C6z06 is probably 6-8K for go-fast parts, including labor and puts you at 550-580 crank HP. The AWD cars lose about 16-18% through the drive train. Beating the Z06 in the ¼ is significantly more expensive, if nothing else because it is easier to launch. Tuning prices are coming way down on Porsches as more vendors enter the market. That said, the market is still light years from “HP Tuner like” packages. Tuning for vette, $500 with dyno support. Tuning for Porsche, starts just north of $1000 for a packaged file without any real-time dyno support.

Can't lower a 996 on stock bolts. Aftermarket coilovers are required at $1600-$3500 without install and balance. you could go with just springs at much cheaper, but from I hear that approach compromises handling.

Options: 911s are basically priced ala carte. Options exist for almost every thing. 996 will not come with all the goodies a new C6 has.

Daily driver: Both very usable as a daily driver, though vette gets better gas mileage if you do a lot of freeway miles, and for a single driver has more easily-usable space.

Community: Great community here on 6speed and a couple of other boards, but overall much smaller, and not as involved as the vette community. This can some times be a good thing. Both “track day” communities are very active.

My conclusion: The 996TT was the car that moved me more, and my son fits in the back seat.

 

I didnt know he took the 454 out before he put the SC in. All I know is that he showed up at Road Atlanta with a SC and the 454 was in the car a couple months prior too. Good to know though, his guys told me and some others 780, but getting the same info from him and them isnt always easy.

Either way, if you saw the car in person with the "spatula" on it with gigantic metal rivets to hold it in place, the unmistakable brakes/wheels you wouldnt think it looked stock as if the wing wasnt enough to begin with.

Other than gutting it, I dont know what else you could do to make it look like a race car. But in track form it certainly doesnt look like a street car. In fact that other hood was the pre supercharger hood. It's VERY hard to get a Supercharger under a corvette hood without a big cowl on it.


Here are a few pics of what we see at the track.

http://www.mtiracing.com/artmaverick...iberhoods.html

 

Gotcha. Just trying to give you the straight-skinny.

Ya...I haven't see the car in person. Only in pics. I'll probably fly down to your neck of the woods in April to pick up the car and meet the crew. I'm sure it'll look a whole lot different up close.

As far as the hood, the one in the bottom two pictures of your link is the one I'm getting. But I'm getting it in fiberglass and painted black to match my car.

 

HAHA, your car is at MTI? Let me know when you get in town. I want to see that bad boy.

Your car wont end up looking like his, as will no one elses, he's been developing that thing for almost 4 years now. They took a few hundred lbs out and you'd never know by looking at it.

I asked him a short time ago if he was going to get a ZR-1, I guess the new SC pretty much settles that. I'm sure your car will turn out great though.

 

one other point to consider is that the 996tt is probably near the bottom of its depreciation cycle. I doubt it will go much lower. The Z06 on the other hand should continue to drop rapidly