In the public's eye, the 'vette is no more of the real deal than a Mustang or a Firebird. Case in point....Drive down Sunset Strip in California or through South Beach. Study the cars that the fine restaurants and exclusive clubs park in front of their establishments. You won't find any Mustangs, Camaros, or 'Vettes. Those are all parked in the back. You will see plenty of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Bentleys, and Porsches though. Style and design costs money. And when you buy a 'Vette, you get what you pay for.

 

Who gives a **** about the publics eye? Just goes to show you that YOU get the Porsche solely for the snob appeal. Funny, you are just like the rest of the Porsche owners that I know. Compensating for something?..

Style and design is subjective. Everytime I look at a Porsche, the first thing that comes to mind is an egg shaped VW beetle. In my eyes, the Z06 is FAR superior in design than any Porsche, excluding the CGT. Stick to objectivity and dismiss subjectivity, will ya?

Yup. You get a machine that can run to 60 in 3.4 secs, to 100 in 7.x secs, to 150 in 17.5 secs, top speed of 198, braking from 60-0 in 100', laps the Nring in 7:42.9 (On runflats), and laps Hockenheim in 1:11.5 (That is faster than a 996 GT2, which did it in 1:11.6). All that on an Aluminum chassis with carbon fiber fenders, balsa wood floors, titaniun connecting rods, sodium filled valves, and the list goes on. In other words, you get a machine that can outperform the 997 TT in EVERY performance category while having high technology and every day driveability all for 70K. Yup, I got what I paid for AND some!!

 

Well spoken. I tried to live up to you intention in my first post. My second post was knowingly written in a defensive and ironic way as a response to some of the immature posts. Will not happen again as there is no need for it. In my mind both the Porsche's AND the Corvette are great cars.

I just can't understand the behaviour of some of the Porsche owners. I have no problem with the fact that a 997 GT3 MAY be faster than the Z06 around the Nurburg ring. As I live in Sweden it's not far to the Ring. I've been there and driven the Z06 on the Ring. I wonder how many laps Amarlemans has made around the Ring. Amarlemans; Please tell us about your experiences from the Ring and how your P-car behaved in the different sections?! I'm curious.

From my own experience I could say that Porsche is a great car for the Ring. No matter what Porsche. Although, as some of you may know, the Ring has some great hills. In those hills the power and torque of the Z06 is of great use. So yes, I'd say that the Z06 is still a great car for the Ring.

 

Hmmm..Let's see. Number of times in the past year I have:

Raced from 0-60 - Maybe 10
Raced from 0-100 - Maybe once
Raced from 0-150 - None
To Top Speed - None
Hard Braking 60-0 - None
Been to the 'Ring - None
Been to Hockenheim - None

I would safely bet that the above numbers are reflective of most 'vettes as well...never seen the track. I will double the bet that MORE 'vettes have been to the truck and tractor pull than to the local track. People with style and sophistication have fallen in love with Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Porsches (See Sunset Strip and South Beach). Still haven't seen one Z parked in front of any establishment (except the local roof glue store.)

 

The public eye, huh. In the four and a half years I had the 996 Turbo, I can count on one hand how many people approached me and complimented the car. The only place the car got attention was at PCA events.

In the little time I've had the Z06, ten times as many people have appreciated it, complimented it... I've seen cars drive around it when parked, etc. That's the American public opinion... and there are plenty of affluent people where I live (the NE). I'm not getting compliments solely from boy racers and working class people (no disrespect). People know it's the American car that runs with (and beats) the Euro boys - and they appreciate that.

As far as the ultra exclusive areas you mentioned, sure, I guess they do park the exotics out front. Though I doubt they're parking Porsches along side them unless there's plenty of room. The exotics are beautiful, original, exude passion and generate excitement. The Porsches, well... With the exception of the CGT, I doubt anyone in those places would even glance at a production Porsche.

Praises from that corner of society are for the most part meaningless, anyway. Most of them only care about what's hot at the moment or a material thing that denotes wealth. I'd rather get a compliment from an enthusiast or anyone who genuinely likes the car (any car - Z06, Porsche, whatever).

 

I'm calling bullsh!t on this one. I had a C6 (which to 99% of the gen'l population looks identical to the C6Z) and rarely got any looks, thumbs up, etc. And I owned a 2005 C6 so the new body style just came out. I now own "the lowly" Porsche CaymanS and in the nine months that I have owned it I have already gotten WAY WAY more thumbs up, comments on this car than the Vette. Hell, I was filling up at Exxon on Monday and a guy came over to me and asked if I minded if he took a picture of my car. Prior to that, I had a guy in a new Range Rover Sport (??? the high perfomance one) stop in traffic and say "what the hell is that?" "that car is f%%%%ing unbelieveable" Those things NEVER EVER came close to happening in the C6. FWIW, both of those occurences took place in the Tysons Corner/Fairfax, VA area which is a very "high cotton" area.

If you think a Corvette has the exclusivity of a Porsche, you really need to take a dose of reality medicine.

 

First of all, I'm not bull****ting.

Secondly, I wasn't talking about the standard C6. People do know the difference, that's why they approach the Z06.

You've probably received more comments on the Cayman in the time you've had it than I did the entire time I had the Turbo. Primarily because it's an avant-garde design, not because it's a Porsche.

The exclusivity of a Porsche? YOU need the dose of reality medicine. As Porsche keeps pumping out the cars, watch that exclusivity evaporate, just as it did with the 996 TT. I'll do the same with the Z06, but I'm not delusional.

 

Yeah, some people do know the difference between a C6 and Z06 --- they're called car enthusiasts. I'm talking gen'l population here and I would bet a ton of money that 95% of people out there DO NOT know the difference and would not be able to tell. Especially when you have poseurs putting Z06 wheels on their C6 along with the wider rear fenders and the hood vent. I saw them all over the place on Corvette Forum when I owned mine.

I'm sure the same holds true to the new Z06. How many looks do you think a C5Z06 gets? I'll venture about as much as a 2001 Mustang

Do I think Porsche is as exclusive as it used to be? Heck no. Do I think it will continue to be more "mainstream" than it currently is? Yes, given Porsche's production numbers. Do I think it will be as mainstream as a vette? ABSOLUTELY NOT. You can't talk "Porsche" in general and then compare it to a Vette. If you want to do that then compare Porsche to Chevrolet....and i know you don't want to go there. Yeah, a Z06 is more exclusive than a regular C6. But a GT2 or GT3 is a helluva lot more exclusive to a 911 or 911S than that. The CGT is just a completely different league and game.

 

Any average guy can't tell the difference between a C6 and Z06, but that same person can't tell between a 997, 997TT or GT3 as well. All the cars essentially look the same.

As for the posers you speak of, yes there will be alot of people with lower models that upgrade to make their cars look like the higher-end models. I see plenty of GT2 and GT3 parts on TT and regular 911s, just as Z06 parts on all the regular C6s. That's just the nature of modding.

As for the Cayman getting all the attention, it is because the body style is new. In a few years, the streets will be littered with Caymans just as the boxsters are now. I given the Cayman plenty of double takes when it first came out.

 

ha,ha....what's up with....My car is better because

- I can see the same car parked on the street outside clubs and restaurants,
- Sometimes people tells me that the car is nice
- People who have lots of money often buys the same car as I have

Those arguments are so funny and superficial!!

Well as I use my "plastic Z06" this goes for me:

Raced from 0-60 - Never why should I? I wouldn't be out of 1st gear!!
Raced from 0-100 - Never, still to slow to be interesting!
Raced from 0-150 - Oh Yes, many times. Now it starts to get interesting! But I'm still only in 4th gear
To Top Speed: Yap, twice on the Autobahn (+320 km/h)
Hard braking 60-0 - Noope, if I brake hard it's from much higher speeds
Been to the Ring- Oh yes and will return
Been to Hockenheim - Nope, but will next year
Been to Mantorp racing park - Yap, many times
Been to Sturup raceway: Oh yes

I could continue. Some use their cars for what they were intended others not. You should try your Porsche on a race track. It is excellent for that!!

[quote]Originally Posted by 2K7997TT
[Still haven't seen one Z parked in front of any establishment (except the local roof glue store.)/QUOTE]

Good one!! We also remember how Porsche had to recall cars as their exhausts was falling of......So the Porsche must be a trash car?

 

Your comment is very true for Porsche's as well. In fact, if I decide on a 997S over a GT3 in a couple years, I will most definately put a GT3 front bumper on it. I would do it because it looks better not for someone to think it is a GT3.

Yes, you will certainly see more CaymanS on the street in a couple years and the "wow" factor will subside. At least for me, the '05 C6 I had was also brand new and it did not command ANYWHERE near the attention that the CS gets. Thats all I am saying. Its the nature of progression. The Z06 will fall right in line with the C5Z06 as far as its "wow" factor goes.

At least in my part of the world (the People's Republic of Maryland), there are far fewer 911's than Vettes.

 

Sounds like a Caterham or a Radical would have been a better choice for you. After all, all you care about is speed and those two cars are faster than your Z06.

 

I have a 2000 C4 cab and STILL and EVERYTIME im driving it i get compliments and heads turning from the likes of kids who shout out, hot women, and any dude that passes by. I have a friend who has a few buddies and they all drive american cars, new shelby gt 500, cobra and z06 and they dont get any looks AT ALL. I dont buy a car to get looks, as im sure most of us dont, but its ok with me if people want to look. i enjoy my car and will continue to whether people look or not.

 

Ohhh, that one hurts so bad....

 

Im from Princeton, NJ, and I see 911s here and there. a few Cayman S' here and there, lambos here and there, ferrari the same. I see TONS of M3's, tons of AMG's and tons of S4's. i see tons of BMW, MB, and Audi, infiniti lexus you name it. i also see a lot of vettes. the exotics like Porsche, ferrari and lambo are seen less often. I will tell you though, when spring time hits, and that one nice day comes the Porsches, lambos and ferraris do come out. When im down in FL(west palm, boca) i still dont see all that many Porsches, ferraris and lambos. yea here and there but i see tons of range rovers, AMGs, BMW M's and the likes.