Welcome to Canadian Corvette Forums, @Pipe_Dream.
Welcome, Pipe_Dream
- Thread starter VetteBot
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Hey everyone. New guy here. I’m looking to get into my first Corvette. I’m torn between the C6 Z06 or C7 GS. I look forward to learning about the differences between the two.
Welcome to the forum Pipedream.
Both Vettes you are looking at are great choices. My first was a C6 and I loved it. Couple things I will bring up.
The C6 Z06 has the LS7 engine. The first question you need to ask is if the LS7 heads have been re-worked as a large percentage of that engine is well known to have valve issues quite early in life. This never turned into a recall but it's very common. The fix for this is pretty straight forwward but it's not cheap. Going rate was in the $2500 to $3000 a few years ago. Not sure what it would be in todays dollars. Other than that, the C6 is a good platform.
I own a C7 now and in 10 years, it has never seen a mechanic other than oil changes and typical maintenance. The C7 is a totally new platform from the C6 and they made a ton of improvements. Especially to the interior quality. The handling and weight distribution of the C7 is a big plus as well that I noticed right away. The LT1 was a totally new engine that has stood the test of time very well with almost no issues. It's a 465 HP engine which is about 40 less HP than the C6 Z but unless you plan on racing the car you won't notice the difference on the street as the drive train and the linear acceleration of the C7 makes it almost as quick. The automatic A8 in the C7 did have a slight stutter issue between second and third in some vehicles that you had to live with in the early years but I never heard of anyone in the later years complain about it. The manual M7 (which I have is flawless and with the manual, you don't have to put up with the engine going into ECO (4 cyl shutdown) mode when cruising. Most all auto owners buy the after market AFM to solve that as they firmly believe that an 8 cyl engine running on 4 cyl just isn't right. The C7 Corvette is the more advanced of the two, with better technology and more advanced features throughout but a C6 is a sweet car as well. A Corvette is a Corvette and we love them all here.
Good luck.
Thanks for your insight on the differences between the two. I am aware that the C6 Z06 does have the issue with the heads. I have the replacement cost in my budget if it hasn’t been done.
I had a chance to drive a 2007 Z06 recently and I was very impressed with the LS7 motor. It had incredible power. The acceleration and the rawness of the car is very impressive. The handling is also amazing. My last car was a 2012 Challenger SRT8 6spd. It felt like a boat compared to the Z.
My next step will be to test drive a C7 GS 7spd. I really like the interior styling and technology of the C7 over the C6. But prefer the exterior styling of the C6.
I had a chance to drive a 2007 Z06 recently and I was very impressed with the LS7 motor. It had incredible power. The acceleration and the rawness of the car is very impressive. The handling is also amazing. My last car was a 2012 Challenger SRT8 6spd. It felt like a boat compared to the Z.
My next step will be to test drive a C7 GS 7spd. I really like the interior styling and technology of the C7 over the C6. But prefer the exterior styling of the C6.
