![[SPIED] 2019 Corvette Z06 Spotted with a ZR1 Wing and Roll Cage](https://res.cloudinary.com/demo/image/fetch/w_340,h_200,c_crop,g_face/http://www.corvetteblogger.com/images/content/uploads/2018/05/051818_10.jpg)
2011 Corvette Z06X Concept? Working with Pratt and Miller and utilizing GM Performance Parts, Chevy stripped down a 1LZ Z06, removing the passenger seat, radio, carpeting and sound-deadening materials and then added a roll-cage, racing seat, and full safety harness, as well as beefing up the suspension and adding the carbon fiber aero package. The result was a race-ready Z06 straight from the factory. It was nearly two years ago that we hypothesized that the winged C7 prototype we started seeing in 2016 would be a C7 version of the Z06X. Although the car under the covers turned out to be the 2019 Corvette ZR1, it looks like our dream of a track-ready C7 Z06X may still be alive. Our friends at Autoblog are sharing a full gallery of new spy pics showing a de-badged Corvette Z06 in matte gray and wearing Michigan Manufacturers plates. Head on over to check them out and then come on back for our commentary. The fact that this car isn’t being camouflaged is telling. (I think … [Read more...] about [SPIED] 2019 Corvette Z06 Spotted with a ZR1 Wing and Roll Cage
2016 z06 specs
The 2016 Road & Track Performance Car of the Year
THE OLD BLACK FIREBIRD was blocking our exit from the gas station. As the passenger door opened, I saw the look on the face of the immense, camouflage-clad good ol' boy who sprang out like he'd just spotted a new form of game on his personal hunting grounds. Throwing the Cadillac ATS-V coupe into neutral, I jumped out to greet the man before he reached our group. I spotted a sun-worn but freshly polished badge on the Pontiac's front fender. No way. Could it be? Advertisement - Continue Reading Below "Eighty-eight GTA, am I right?"The driver, also wearing full hunting camo but half the size of his friend, laughed behind his wraparound sunglasses."Yeah! Been working on her for a while. Lot of specific parts to this model, you know? Everything from steering wheel to spoiler. Hard to get. What you boys doing down here? Some kind of test? That's the new Ferrari, right?""488 GTB," the hulking passenger clarified. "Which makes this," and I paused for effect, "GTA meets GTB." In the space of … [Read more...] about The 2016 Road & Track Performance Car of the Year
2018 McLaren 720S First Test: The New Normal is Nuts
Back when I was a lad walking to school uphill in the snow both ways, cars knew their place. A sedan is what you drove to work because life was dull, a sports car was a silly, useless little thing, an SUV had solid axles (and not much else), a supercar was little more than bedroom wall fodder, and the term “hypercar” was just a glimmer in some marketer’s eye. These days? Fuhgeddaboudit. Bentley’s got an SUV with 77 acres of leather, two forests worth of wood paneling, a $250,000 clock, and the ability to travel at 190 mph. We just tested a sedan—the sinister Mercedes-AMG E63 S 4Matic+—that not only runs 11.2 in the quarter mile but also comes complete with a perfume dispenser. Not joking. Now we’ve got the McLaren 720S: a run-of-the-mill supercar by the look of the spec sheet but one that behaves just like hypercar. What’s the world coming to?Let’s enjoy a quick look at said spec sheet together, shall we? Behind the carbon-fiber … [Read more...] about 2018 McLaren 720S First Test: The New Normal is Nuts
Tires: The Unfair Advantage
Performance car lap times are prime fodder for automaker marketing departments—just witness the frenzy that occurs when someone sets a new Nurburgring Nordschleife record. But the tires used by the cars that post these laps sometimes cloud the true picture.Automakers tend to work in conjunction with tire companies to develop model-specific tires for high-performance vehicles. Sometimes they choose more than one brand of tire. Take the 991.1-generation Porsche 911 GT3, which came fitted with Porsche-specific versions of the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 or Dunlop Sport Maxx Race. (It was a lottery whether your 475-hp two-seater came with the Dunlops or Michelins.) Both “streetable track & competition” tires, as the TireRack describes them, sacrifice tread life and wet-weather capability in exchange for quicker laps.Some manufacturers let buyers choose between either a track-oriented tire or a road-and-rain-friendly setup. That’s the case with the likes of the … [Read more...] about Tires: The Unfair Advantage
Track Tests and Cheater Tires
Performance car lap times are prime fodder for automaker marketing departments—just witness the frenzy that occurs when someone sets a new Nurburgring Nordschleife record. But the tires used by the cars that post these laps sometimes cloud the true picture.Automakers tend to work in conjunction with tire companies to develop model-specific tires for high-performance vehicles. Sometimes they choose more than one brand of tire. Take the 991.1-generation Porsche 911 GT3, which came fitted with Porsche-specific versions of the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 or Dunlop Sport Maxx Race. (It was a lottery whether your 475-hp two-seater came with the Dunlops or Michelins.) Both “streetable track & competition” tires, as the TireRack describes them, sacrifice tread life and wet-weather capability in exchange for quicker laps.Some manufacturers let buyers choose between either a track-oriented tire or a road-and-rain-friendly setup. That’s the case with the likes of the … [Read more...] about Track Tests and Cheater Tires