Corvette Z06 vs 600-HP Dodge Viper

Car and Driver still likes the Corvette Z06 better than the Viper they ranked the Z06 over the Viper, even though the Viper now has a 95 hp advantage. Even with the horsepower advantage the Viper only managed to be a tick faster than the Z06. 0 to 60 the Z06 was two tenths of a sec. slower 3.5 vs 3.7, one tenth of a sec. slower in the 1/4 mile 11.6 @ 126 mph vs 11.7 @ 125 mph, and a half a second slower around a two mile road course 1:26.7 vs 1:27.2. The Z06 still has a weight advantage over the Viper of 257 lbs, and braking shorter from 70 - 0 by one foot.

It will be interesting to see what numbers the other magzines will come up with, with numbers this close its anybodys game.

The Viper is no joke and 600hp isn't either. That's a serious combo. In respect for the Vette the Z06 runs the numbers and puts the BS to the curb, but 95 hp and is hard to make up. From C&D it seems they run very close but I'm sure the Viper has a bit more in it to be found. We are very lucky today to have some very powerful and world respected super cars the run with the best and don't cost the most... American values!

-Gives GM a reason to build the Blue Devil Vette!

Viper Z06
base price $86,845 $70,000
price as tested $91,145 $77,230
horsepower 600hp @ 6000 505hp @ 6300
torque 560tq @ 5100 470hp @ 4900
redline 6250 rpm 7000 rpm
weight 3455 3198
weight f/r 49.1/50.9 50.3/49.7
Lbs per hp 5.8 6.3
rear gears 3.07 3.42
1/4 ET & mph 11.6 @ 126 11.7 @ 125
0-60 3.5 3.7
0-100 7.6 7.7
0-150 17.0 17.5
rolling 5-60 4.2 4.3
top gear 30-50 12.2 10.4
top gear 50-70 10.3 9.1
top speed 202 198 (both drag limited, both mfr claim)
fuel mileage 12/21 15/25
braking 70-0 150ft 149ft
skidpad 1.0g .99g
lane change 66.4mph 66.2mph
road course 1:26.7 1.27.2
lightning lap 2:57.4 2:58.2

scoring...
Viper Z06 max points available
driver comfort 9 10 10
ergonomics 7 9 10
trunk space 2 5 5
features/ammenities 5 10 10
fit and finish 8 9 10
interior styling 7 7 10
exterior styling 10 8 10
rebates/extras 0 0 5
as-tested price 16 20 20
SUBTOTAL vehicle 64 78 90

1/4 mile acc. 20 20 20
flexability 5 5 5
fuel economy 5 5 5
engine NVH 8 10 10
transmission 9 8 10
SUBTOTAL powertrain 47 48 50

performance 20 20 20
steering feel 5 3 5
brake feel 4 4 5
handling 9 8 10
ride 6 9 10
SUBTOTAL chassis 44 44 50

gotta have it 23 21 25
fun to drive 23 22 25

GRAND TOTAL 201 213 240
thats how everything played out

edit: I guess the [code] feature doesn't work here. I had them all nice and spaced out. oh well.

I'd still take the Z06. Too many people in town have nothing but problems with their Vipers and they are expensive problems too.

I think C&D agrees. Really, it was the 'Vette's day to day livability that won the test for it.

The fuel economy of the Z06 is hard to beat also. Goes to show what lower weight and a good choice of gearing does for ya...

The Viper is a sweet car for sure though...

Dan

The fuel economy of the Z06 is hard to beat also. Goes to show what lower weight and a good choice of gearing does for ya...

The Viper is a sweet car for sure though...

Dan
the viper has 3.07s vs the vette's 3.42s. they have the same overdrive ratio.

I dont think its the gearing, I think its the big V10.

When is the Hemi V10 coming out? also I love this new color combo..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9brEjn9WVpY


http://www.motivemag.com/Content/uploads/1/vipersrt_1_left.jpg

Yeah, I would definetly take the Viper. 600hp is hard to beat, and it looks terrific.

When is the Hemi V10 coming out? also I love this new color combo..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9brEjn9WVpY


Wow, that Viper looks effin' mean in that color. :cool:

Wow, that Viper looks effin' mean in that color. :cool:

snake colored. :cool:

the viper has 3.07s vs the vette's 3.42s. they have the same overdrive ratio.

I dont think its the gearing, I think its the big V10.

I should have broken up my comment. I was misleading in my previous statement. The comment of lower weight in the Z06 was to show how it helps with fuel economy and acceleration. The gearing comment was strictly pointed towards the similar acceleration of the Viper despite the much lower HP rating. The 3.42's are certainly not helping fuel economy versus the Vipers rear gears.

Dan

Did I read that right? Z06's redline is 6250rpms? What happend to 7200?

Did I read that right? Z06's redline is 6250rpms? What happend to 7200?
no, you read it correctly. you also caught a mistake of mine ;)

fixed!

Did I read that right? Z06's redline is 6250rpms? What happend to 7200?No, somehow that line item had the columns switched.

Z06 = 7000 rpm
Viper = 6250 rpm (I believe)

I am pretty sure the revised v10 revs to 6500.

The Z06 used in the test was a 2007, the 2008 models got a revised steering system and a new shifter, which may have made a slight difference on the road course.

OMG!!!! Someone poured green sexy juice all over the new Viper!

:bow::bow::bow:

OMG!!!! Someone poured green sexy juice all over the new Viper!

:bow::bow::bow:

even better with the black stripes

http://www.dragtimes.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/2008-dodge-viper-srt10-coupe-snakeskin-green-black-stripes-2.jpg

nice color
http://www.dragtimes.com/images_blog/2008-Dodge-Viper-SRT10-Coupe-Snakeskin-Green.jpg

even better with the black stripes

http://www.dragtimes.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/2008-dodge-viper-srt10-coupe-snakeskin-green-black-stripes-2.jpg

nice color
http://www.dragtimes.com/images_blog/2008-Dodge-Viper-SRT10-Coupe-Snakeskin-Green.jpg

I've always been a fan of the Viper alone for the color blue it offers but it looks killer in that shade of green as well. Why does GM not offer colors like this?

http://www.wavca.org/photos/2008vipercolorcomboshh0.jpg

Stripes or no stripes, all I have to say is that is one awesome looking car.

Here are some pics. from the test.

http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/2007/W35/082920071210000757.jpg

http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/2007/W35/082920071210009516.jpg

http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/2007/W35/082920071212047055.jpg

http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/2007/W35/082920071213470373.jpg

I'm boring so I would have to get the Blue with White stripes on the coupe :D

The baddest car on the planet gets better! :D

The new Viper wheels are not so good. The normal split spoke wheels are :|; the "h-beam" wheels shown in the front 1/4 view of the green car (without the black stripes) above are God-awful horrendous.

:no:

They should have stuck with the five spoke wheels it had already, or an updated wheel of that type. I'm also not digging all the heat extracting louvres on the hood. :no:

Overall, I think the Viper is one of the sexiest looking cars on the planet. 600 hp makes it even sexier, but the two big styling changes that came along with the power increase are NOT good. IMHO, of course.

Painted Stripes?, or Vinyl like Ford is doing on GT500's

The Viper is sweet (and it was sweet even before it got the extra horsepower), but I'd rather have a Z06.

I'll bet that the Viper's horsepower advantage would really shine at higher speeds (120+).

The hood on the Viper is just aweful!!!(with the multiple slats)

Other than that, it looks great. Looks more like a Corvette than the Viper ever has though. Especially that head-on view.

Dan

The hood on the Viper is just aweful!!!(with the multiple slats)

Other than that, it looks great. Looks more like a Corvette than the Viper ever has though. Especially that head-on view.

Dan
I saw a newer black Viper over at Green Acres a couple times this summer, I didn't even recognize it at first.

I like the new Viper, I would take a black w/ red stripes coupe. Though, if I had to choose between a new Viper and a new Z06, I would have to go with the Z06. Just because I am a Chevy guy, it gives similar perfromance, and I like the exhuast tone better.

Anybody have larger pictures of a black w/ red stripes Viper?

David

All I know, that green viper is gorgeous.

And I despise dodge/vipers...

I'll take one each of the Z06 and the Viper. WRT to the question of color on the snake car, I really like that new green, but I'm a sucker for white stripes on blue when it comes to Viper coupes.

even better with the black stripes

http://www.dragtimes.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/2008-dodge-viper-srt10-coupe-snakeskin-green-black-stripes-2.jpg

nice color
http://www.dragtimes.com/images_blog/2008-Dodge-Viper-SRT10-Coupe-Snakeskin-Green.jpg

I dunno that DTS with dubs is a lot more exciting to me and the dudes in the picture. :bow: :D

...but I'm a sucker for white stripes on blue when it comes to Viper coupes.You and me both. :drool:

I like white stripes on blue for any car. :D

The hood on the Viper is just aweful!!!(with the multiple slats)

Other than that, it looks great. Looks more like a Corvette than the Viper ever has though. Especially that head-on view.

Dan


I disagree with your hood statement, but agree that it keeps getting more and more Vette-ish, and visa-versa with the Vette. I'd take the Viper over the Vette just because Vettes are everywhere (I love Vette's, and I know Z06's are pretty uncommon) but when I see a Viper I just stop and stare.

But it's a Dodge. :p

I encountered a Viper yesterday afternoon leaving work. It came racing up behind me...pulled up next to me at a light...revving it's engine. Please.....:rolleyes:

I would rather have the orange or even the purple than the green, but that's just me.

I love how the C6 looks and even more how the Z06 looks compared to a C6. But the Viper is just NASTY! The hood vents are needed for that much exhaust heat! The wheels are different. A car that uses 6 lugs needs spokes that are a multiple of 3. The original 3 spoke razor wheels are still my favorite, but a split spoke 6 or 12 spoke wheel would be nice.

I hate the wheels on it, and I hate the color. However the red looks quite bad ass.

The hood on the Viper is just aweful!!!(with the multiple slats)

Other than that, it looks great. Looks more like a Corvette than the Viper ever has though. Especially that head-on view.

Dan

I'd say the Corvette looks more like the Viper. Viper had those headlights and that hoodscoop first. ;)


If it were my own money I was spending, and I was shoping in that price range, It'd be the Viper I'd buy so fast it would make your head spin. The Viper looks like four wheeled pure sexual adrinaline. Only occasionally do you pass them on the streets, you don't need too many fingers to count the number of 600 horsepower cars on the road, and even fewer to count the number that have TEN cylinder engines.

If you are spending over $70,000 for a car, chances are it doesn't matter much to your pocket book if gas sells for $2 per gallon or 4. What matters most to you is exclusitivity, head turning appeal, and is it fast. Corvette may be a screaming bargin next to the world's exotic cars, but 99.9% of the population is going to see a Z06 and think of the same $43K Corvettes they've probally seen (and forgotten) a dozen times already that day. If that green Viper in the picture pulled up at Starbucks, they'll still be talking about it at Christmas.

If you buy a Z06, chances are you're a dyed in the wool Corvette fan who wants to buy the ultimate Corvette model. Viper buyers seem to be rich guys who have access to (and live for) race courses and use their Vipers strictly as week end cars. People don't value shop when we're talking $73K-$83K sports cars. The Z06 has been universally praised as more user friendly in day to day use over the Viper, while the Viper has been equally praised universally as being easier to handle on tricky tracks than the Z06 (Until the 2008 model, the Z06's handling, though highly capable, has been called from squarrelly or scary on tricky courses. The '08s fair better).



For you information junkies, Chevy sold 6272 Z06 Corvettes in 2006 (447 of them had buyers who took deliver at the National Corvette Museum). Dodge sold 1155 Vipers. Fuel prices haven't had much of an impact on sales.

... Viper buyers seem to be rich guys who have access to (and live for) race courses and use their Vipers strictly as week end cars.

They have to be weekend cars because the ride is so brutal! The reason the Z06 wins all the head-to-head competitions with the viper is because it's more civilized and can be used as a daily driver. The Viper sells to those who want the closest thing they can get to a race car and the race car experience, and with 600 hp they just got closer!

Am I the only one that would like to see them re-run this test, but with an '08 ZO6, an '08 Viper, and an '08 F430? :Owned: :usa:

My money is probably still on the Ferrari.

Something no one has mentioned yet is the difference in tires between the Vette and Viper. The Viper has Michelin Pilot Sport Cups, commonly thought to be the best street legal tire one can buy for performance vehicles, and the Z06 has crappy runflats. I believe it was MT or C&D that said if the Vette had PSCs like the 911 GT3 in the same test, it would have been significantly faster around the track. I would bet a big chunk of change that if you put the same tires on each vehicle the Z06 would be faster.

Regardless, both are pretty awesome machines, but neither hold a candle to the F430.

Something no one has mentioned yet is the difference in tires between the Vette and Viper. The Viper has Michelin Pilot Sport Cups, commonly thought to be the best street legal tire one can buy for performance vehicles, and the Z06 has crappy runflats. I believe it was MT or C&D that said if the Vette had PSCs like the 911 GT3 in the same test, it would have been significantly faster around the track. I would bet a big chunk of change that if you put the same tires on each vehicle the Z06 would be faster.

Regardless, both are pretty awesome machines, but neither hold a candle to the F430.

They aren't trying to. An F430 is ridiculously priced for marginal performance gains over the Vette and Viper. Once you make race cars out of them I'd put my money on the Americans.

Then again, it is art on wheels.

They aren't trying to. An F430 is ridiculously priced for marginal performance gains over the Vette and Viper. Once you make race cars out of them I'd put my money on the Americans.

Then again, it is art on wheels.

Tru'dat, when it comes down to the numbers, its interesting to see what little difference it makes given a practically unlimited ceilling. Now it may make a difference on the subjective stuff :think: but this is America and americans love numbers, especislly big performance numbers for small price numbers :D

They aren't trying to. An F430 is ridiculously priced for marginal performance gains over the Vette and Viper. Once you make race cars out of them I'd put my money on the Americans.

Then again, it is art on wheels.Uh, the Vette and Viper will beat an F430.

:confused:

F430 is a freakin sweet car, but in terms of performance, the Vette and Viper win...

Uh, the Vette and Viper will beat an F430.

:confused:

F430 is a freakin sweet car, but in terms of performance, the Vette and Viper win...

Uh, no they won't. I recall a few months ago their was a heads up with the Ford GT, Vette, Viper, F430, Gallardo, and 911 Turbo, and the F430 pulled the best times, by a pretty sound margin. Tracks can be configured to suite a particular car, thereby giving it an advantage, but on any all out track my money is on the Ferrari.

When have you EVER read an article or comparo where the Ferrari didn't beat the Vette, even if was marginal? I ask because when the Z06 came out, I would go to Barnes and Noble just for this specific reason, and there was no trouncing of the F430 by the Vette in any of the mainstream mags.

I agree that it depends on the track. But I probably disagree on the definition of an "all out" track. If it has long straights and less technical I don't think you would have the same result as a lower speed more technical course.

I agree that it depends on the track. But I probably disagree on the definition of an "all out" track. If it has long straights and less technical I don't think you would have the same result as a lower speed more technical course.

I believe it was Road and Track that run those cars I mentioned, but I don't remember the track. There were multiple straights and long esses if memory serves, and the Ferrari still one. It really doesn't have much of an hp deficit on the Vette, and although the Vette is lighter, the Ferrari benefits from awesome gearing.

Uh, no they won't. I recall a few months ago their was a heads up with the Ford GT, Vette, Viper, F430, Gallardo, and 911 Turbo, and the F430 pulled the best times, by a pretty sound margin. Tracks can be configured to suite a particular car, thereby giving it an advantage, but on any all out track my money is on the Ferrari.

When have you EVER read an article or comparo where the Ferrari didn't beat the Vette, even if was marginal? I ask because when the Z06 came out, I would go to Barnes and Noble just for this specific reason, and there was no trouncing of the F430 by the Vette in any of the mainstream mags.Must depend on the track then. (http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/11327/2006-chevrolet-corvette-z06.html)

Besides, he and I said "performance," not just racetrack times. In acceleration tests, most times I've seen for the Z06 are better than most times I've seen for the F430 (or 911 Turbo, or 911 GT3). With the new 600 hp Viper now just edging the Z06 (including on at least one road course, in the new Car and Driver), I'd say that means the Viper can also beat the F430.

I've never seen an 11.5-11.7 @ 125+ mph for the F430. All three of them are capable of pulling skidpad #s in the .99-1.01 range, IIRC. All three of them have stupendous braking.

:shrug:

So I don't think the F430 is "ridiculously priced for marginal performance gains over the Vette and Viper." Perhaps it would be better to say that the F430 is ridiculously priced for slightly inferior or basically equal performance, depending on the driver and conditions, compared to the Vette and Viper.

:shrug:

Clearly the Ferrari is more exotic, with wild styling, a nicer interior, F1-oriented themes and features, 8000+ rpm capability, and so forth. But just in terms of performance, your money isn't buying you any more (and in fact may be buying less).

The Ferrari is a bit faster in some tracks. That's why I mentioned the marginal "performance" gains. The performance measure being the fastest around the racetrack. I don't know how the new Viper would fare, but I'm sure it could definitely equal the F430 F1's times...