C6z is peak vette. 100% agree with owner on the lure and charm of ls7 but they seem to be fragile even with heads addressed. 500hp 3200 lb sports car with giant tires for low 40s is unbelievable. Looks styled by an actual adult as well.

Such a beast of a car. It has the power and weight of a Gt3 for only 40k? These deserve the hype

Can’t wait to watch this at home on my TV. My phone screen is too small to appreciate everything that’s going on in this video 🙏🏻🇺🇸✊🏿

Reliability is not an issue as long as you address the heads. There are plenty of Zs running HCI combos without issue because they took the time to do it right. The fix is so much cheaper than most people think compared to the expense of a 911 GT3 RS....Replace the shifter with an MGW and get a Monster LT1S 3 disc and the shifting experience is sublime at full tilt.

LS7 heads can be addressed by not running a very aggressive cam and using stainless valves. I run a BTR Stage 4, which is a mild Stage 4. Valves pass wiggle test every 15k miles on OE heads. Edit: very rude of myself, i forgot to comment on the driving. Good job! Dont forget to watch the track and not other drivers... almost had a moment there, LOL.

The odd downshift issue you experience is due to the Tremec synchro gears on that gen had issues on the 2/3/4 gears - pretty common to replace those at some point.

The C6Z stock is a hell of a car (especially for the time period), with mods they can be total monsters! With a little hotter cam, fixed and ported heads, MSD intake, CIA, and headers these engines REALLY wake up and are pretty reliable. It's a night and day difference in power! Do those mods, add downforce, and stickier tires and there's not all that much that would touch this car on an average track day! BTW, the C5 and C6 share a lot of parts (including suspension) and the C5 is a little lighter and significantly cheaper. The C5 makes a great budget track car with mods.

Nice driving. You seemed to get more comfortable as the sessions went on. I cherish my 09 Z06 and love everything about it. Last of the big V8s in my opinion.

I agree with your assessment of the Corvette shifting gears. I built my C6 with an upgraded RPM T56 stage 4 transmission. An mgw short throw shifter and the real secret in my opinion is the tick's master cylinder. It's Porsche GT3 slick now.

Absolutely love seeing you get track time in some serious track monsters. Please keep them coming.

Autoblip is the cure for rev matching properly, it’s a must have on these big engines when downshifting.

Thanks' for letting me ride along, really nice Corvette hope you get to get some pointers on the speed. Have a good one. Hope to see you at the track some time can't miss that beautiful orange.

C6 Z06! My all time favorite Vette!

I love these cars and your car is dam sweet! I wish I had one myself and they are track weapons. I don't think they are fragile though, thats not my experience at all. I was lucky and got to build a 2006 z06 for a customer years ago to run Super Touring in SCCA when I worked in road racing. When I built the car it had 3000mi on it. When I left that job we had racked up 11,000 + miles. So 8000 miles of nothing but pure road track racing, practice and qualifying over a span of years. The car was prepped for racing but the motor was stock and so was the oiling system. The car never once missed a beat and was dead reliable, not to mention blisteringly fast. Oil changes after every race weekend. We were allowed to run the GM performance bars , links , springs and double adjutable konis. I tig welded a cage for it and through bolted it to the aluminum frame with added internal aluminum supports, no side glass, gutted doors, no stereo etc. Had to leave the headliner, carpet and a passenger seat. We ran Hoosier race slicks at 345/30 18's rear and 315/30 18s front on 3 piece aluminum racing wheels. Stock motor, upgraded water and oil cooling with straight race xpipe exhaust from stock exhaust manifolds back, tuned abs module , upgraded cooling ducts on mandated stock brakes with hawk pads. The car was well under 3000lbs. My driver was around 250lbs and we had to weigh 3300 at the end of the race so we had to have a least a half tank of gas left and always made weight at around 3305lbs, and even nailed it a couple of times at 3300. The driver was decent and won most of the time. In the hands of a great driver it was unstoppable!

I just built my black 2007 Z06, heads, cam, headers, no cats, all the lower end too, with a tune. Car had 27,000 miles with no problems. Now it’s 750 HP. It should be a beast. I paid $40K for the car used but put $10K into the engine. For $50K this car should be invincible.

If you take off the heads to fix the valves you might as well put on ported heads it’s free labor. A small custom cam will be plenty reliable and drive like stock with 550-570 whp.

Real car people in real tracks respect real Vettes like this one

2007 Z owner - second owner - bought at 60,000 miles - lifter failure @ 80,000 miles - motor rebuild/valve guide issue checked by builder given OK - cooks LT headers w/cats to borla (full 3") - TS LS7S cam - Haltech 103beehive - 550ish Wheel - almost a daily driver 138,000 mile now - just serviced trans with RP synchomesh and added 2 tubes of XADEO EX120 Manual trans ceramic additive. Synchro's improved on all down shifts. 2nd to 1st downshift is compliant with little throttle blip when above 40 mph (~3.5-4.0K RPM). Very light pressure on shifter required with blip on 2nd to 1st. 2nd to 1st without blip is complaint below 30 mph. All other shift points (up & down) noticeably smoother. Trans feels little less notchy. Again, this trans has almost 140K miles on it... Trans still feels notchy compared to other manuals but much better than without additive. might be worth trying if you have having issues. This is second trans refill but first with ceramic additive. First refill of trans at 80K.

I was thinking the exact same thing as your comment at 4:23. If this were my car I would add some after market dive planes and a decent wing for more downforce. The valve dropping issue in these engines scared me away from buying one but they are great cars. I also have a set of SM-10 wheels but for my ZL1-1LE. Great wheels at a great price point. Drivers out by me opt for the C5 Vette with a Phoenix build for track duty. I've seen one C6 Grand Sport and he was hella fast too. Honestly, tho, if you're looking to spend $40 grand, I don't know of a better bargain than a C6 Z06 like the one in this vid. Fantastic Vid. Thanks for sharing.

Love what the Corvette use to be. Love this engine once you work out the valve train issues, etc. I would honestly take this C6 or C7 over any C8 including the Z06 because manual. Crazy how light the Corvettes were too until the C8 came along

Thankyou, really enjoying the vicarious track days.

Lol! Glad you loved the C6Z. Best dollar to performance bargain. Full suspension upgrade/grippy tires on a stock motor about 450-480 whp. Did you mentioned if it had coilovers. Just wait til he gets a Heads Cam Intake FBO 600whp and aero bits.

Cool car. Wanted a c6 z06 for quiet awhile. Never pulled the trigger on one due to the valve drop issues. Ended up with a 2013 Grand sport manual. It has an Ls3 instead of the ls7. Slapped on an A&A supercharger kit and puts down 571 to the wheels. I’m happy with it.

This vid kind of makes me miss mine. I remember 4th gear just keeps pulling on the long straight 😊

That was incredible to watch! 😎and I loved the commentary!

Great driving that thing sounds badass

C6 generation does its job of being driver's car. Light weight and manual transmission only. I like the 7th gen for the looks. I have a C7, but I would like to drive a C6Z or ZR1 one day.

Great video as always and an awesome car! I believe the rear tires where locking up slightly during the downshifts. Most likely more time in the seat would solve the rev match

Nice driving 👌🏾, you got real comfortable in that guy

Nice driving! C6Z has always been a weapon.

Never had issues with my ls7 c6z. And there are simple mods for bump steer and weight distribution. I was at 510rwhp with race weight at 3053 minus driver. Also had Apr front splitter and gt500 Apr wing. Car was a blast at Thunderhill. The r888r’s really maximize the experience!

Another Zygene track day upload, another good day

Nice driving! Congrats on sub-2:00. I test drove a 2007 C6Z yesterday and a 2023 BRZ. Currently between those and a Cayman GTS 4.0L. Huge price deltas. The BRZ was tons of fun. Gets close to the light nimbleness of the 718, but it’s certainly not a near perfect driving machine that is the Porsche. That instant NA V8 torque from LS7 is addicting, but will be hard to stretch its legs on the road. Really looking for a fun road car that is a daily option, hence 718 and BRZ/86. After watching you lap the C6Z, very tempting to jump down that rabbit hole and join the fun at Thunderhill. Looks like a lot of fun balancing on throttle through the long steady-state corners. It’s near 50-50 weight distribution, technically front mid-engine. The C6Z I drove has the T-56 transmission that had very heavy shift action. Feels like a tractor gearbox. The 2008 and newer supposedly are a little lighter shifting. Looks like the 3rd gear syncros are dying in the example you drove. Rev matching is much more of chore on these cars. Something that takes adjustment.

This video makes me love my car even more

This is freaking awesome!!!

Great vid, looks really hooked up! Might need to address some more cooling mods though, I was seeing ~250F on the gauge at the end of the session. Maybe an Improved Racing stand alone oil cooler?

Agree on the gearbox, and also agree it's still an amazing car in spite of that. Also, wouldve been fun to see your times on the full 5-mile setup. I always love seeing actually fast cars run on tracks that I run Lemons races on so I can see just how fast or slow our cars are, haha.

Perfect value for the capability. c6z06 ftw! Those Apex wheels are on my radar.

I love this because I HPDE/time attack my C6 Z06, it never made sense to see them as just "oogabooga straight line hurrdurr" car, and I love seeing these do track boy stuffs.

'68-'72 body on this frame, my dream car.

A lot of steering inputs/corrections took away from the smoothness. The car looks like a beast. You controlled it very well. I too would be interested in seeing you drive a C6/7 Grand Sport

Hmm. 08 Z06 with mgw shifter, never had the 4-3 blip ever. Even under hard driving

Looks like revs are dropping on the clutch in downshift too much. Not enough blip. AMT makes a great heel toe pedal for these cars that makes that much easier/smoother. I had one for my C5. What’s wild is with bolt on heads/cam/intake these cars can make 650whp pretty reliably now with good cooling and oil control. Can you imagine another 200hp + wing and splitter on slicks?

C6 - that last good looking Vette

I have noticed downshifting into third in a lot of different cars start grinding at some point. Probably just too heavy of a flywheel and clutch not fully disengaging. Light flywheel might stop it, small slave adjustment maybe

Common Glendon!!! You can get a 1:55!! LET EM HANG!!

That car is running hot

thank's for the experience of being inside a c6 zo6 on a track. that was awesome. I want one🤣🤣

I'm not sure if it's a audio/video sync, but are you matching revs AFTER engaging gear as opposed to before? That could easily cause a grind as it would rely solely on the synchros to slow down a lot of reciprocating mass from 7000 RPM.

Hell ya Glendon is the man!

Good deal! What brake pads and fluid were run here.? What are the basic alignment specs also? Lou Gigliotti was a long time Corvette race driver so he knows this platform big time. His co offers a ton of Corvette perf products.

This is the ultimate sports car for us mortals. ❤

Thats my favorite corvette C6 Z06

It's grinding on the downshift because you need to blip the throttle and revmatch. The synchros aren't synchronized.

Sounds and looks like the synchros are going on the 3rd and possibly other mid gears

thats the rear tires locking/cherping your hearing on that downshift. you must blip with the C6Z. my S2000 and M3 dont really seem to care if you downshift without blip. but my C6Z its a must.

Clutch seems to be not fully disengaged when your leg has pressed it. Eg your leg is fully extended, it goes into 3rd but locks the rears and flares the revs even though you haven't let the clutch put yet. Great car though ❤

C6 Z is as good as you can get per dollar, if you get on power even earlier, its even more fun!

2010 c6z here. I looks like aren’t timing your heel toe on the down shifts with the engagement of the clutch. Obviously can’t see your feet) but I’ve that exact same thing happen once

What reliability mods would you do to the c6 grand sport? They already have the upgraded dry sump.. besides a radiator for cooling, are there any other issues with them? Currently drifting one that's stock with nearly 120k miles

Good for you for sticking with it. I blew the engine and sold it after I fixed it. I kinda lost trust in the LS7.

3rd gears is often the worst. 2-3 shifts take a bit longer thana 1-2 and the timing is off and they let the clutch out a bit too soon. I think its called the blocking ring that tries to align the synchros. A new blocking ring has shart points, a worn/ mangled one has rounded edges and can prevent 3rd gear engagement.

Only reason you can hate on Corvettes are the owners who red carpet them at shows.. vettes are awesome

LG built my car solid af love the c6z

That’s a twin of my car. I also had a motor go related to bottom end issues. The rod bearings on the crank end fail when bits of coating from the Ti rods enters the oil. Mine is getting the bottom end rebuilt by AHP.

Awesome, had a cammed c5. Never got to take it to the track, had lifter failure =\ Amazing car, only thing to fault is interior visual and the extremely long gears. Even bone stock shorter gearing would make it an absolute beast.

Monster track car on a budget! Any thoughts on how you'd like this car in the canyons? I get the sense it'd be a bit extra out there.

Nice! Just need more seat time. I would lap it in 2:05, full stock interior, Continental Extremes, bilstein shocks, Vararam Intake and a NASCAR style Wing.

I couldn’t tell but were you heal toe into third from 4th? If not I think that was the problem

Anyone know how factory z06 brakes perform on track? Any problem with them that would cause someone to upgrade?

I think you mentioned you were pushing the clutch all the way in but my GS for some reason (maybe I’m just not aware of what I should be doing) it wants the clutch to the floor before you pull it otherwise it grinds. No other gear does it except 6th, but that might be cuz it’s used the least

Man. I feel old. I remember driving that track with NASA when they would run it backwards. I was flat out. I don't have balls to do that anymore.

Heads and cam heads and cam u gotta get u some heads and cam amazing job 🇺🇸

LS7🔥 TQ plus 7k redline.

Have you tried rev matching to get in 3rd?

I deleted my other comment after watching the entire video... Great driving man! Freaking video was awesome! 👍

Did you PIN the harmonic balancer??

Wow! Props to you for your driving skill. Sub 2:00 = respect. So this setup or a Evora GT?

I could be wrong but it seems like you're not rev matching the downshifts. Id probably have to install an autoblip im not very good at heel toe

Zy drove it like he stole it!! That vette will remember you! 😂

nice driving, nice car, nice setup. Agree on stock power for reliability as well as how many people really can use more (this form someone who goes to tracks where even 500hp (AHP heads/great tune) get me to 152mph. Re shifter, get a MGW. Infinitely better. Also, no insult intended, but re the crunch...are you heal and toe rev matching...couldn't hear.

This guy's set up is literally my dream set up. Ls7 will be reliable if you get the heads completely done. It's not a long shot to get the c6z to under 3000lbs. - racing seats (50lbs-ish?) - light weight battery (25lbs) - carbon fiber vented hood (10-15lbs) - exhaust and removing cats etc (15lbs?) No mufflers would be about 30lbs saved. - lighter clutch (10lbs?) - big brake kit (35 - 40lbs) Total is in the ball park of 150lbs saved. Now you have stupid money and get light carbon seats or just remove the passenger seat, that would really add to it. The only problem with this set up is the front tires being 315..rubber weighs more and rim weighs more. Get more grip and sacrifice weight. Now I think the LG suspension removes some weight too and maybe some of the other upgrades with the radiator etc. Anyways...love your driving and this set. I was glued to my screen the entire 25 minutes. I love c6z content on the track. Took mine out for the first time a few weekends ago and it was a blast. The hard part is now convincing them wife to let me spend money 🤣. Love this man!

Good Job Sir

Gotta get one them babies for real

C5 Z06 here... wish I could do that w/mine.

wich brand is that gps lap timer ?

On the downshifts it really just sounds like you’re not timing the rev match with clutch release properly. What do I know though, im sitting on my couch

I think your throttle blips aren't quite matching the transmission speed on the down shifts.

The performance per dollar of the c6z is insane. Can you imagine spending $40k on a stock e92 m3 and get destroyed by a c6z on the track? Reliability, cost of ownership, weight, horsepower all heavily favor the c6z.

when you downshift to 3rd is that not your tires losing traction? trying to decel too quick from dumping the clutch and not blipping the throttle. i see the RPMs jump 1500 and the speedo fall 20mph, thats sure what it sounds like.

2011 GS vette 498whp/493tq at the tires.

I would have bought an aftermarket lingenfelter 427 and thrown in it. Ls7 based and reliable.

How would you compare this to that supercharged S2000 ? Which one would you pick, as a complete "car with power" package ?

Sounds like your not pre revving the 4-3 shift, idk every tr6060 I've driven is sublime unless it's been abused. 🤷‍♂️

Clutch hydraulics could be causing issues on shifts. Not uncommon with them

Exciting!

You should do a 370z on track video sometime !

Nice Camaro at the end🤣

Ls7 is reliable. I’ve owned two and never had issues. My c6 z now has 84,000 miles on it and I beat it on it all the time and have for years.

That’s cause ur down shifting without revving it causing a shock to the drivetrain you can see car twitch when you do it