2015 Corvette Z06 Convertible: Aero Meets Eros
The nice thing about Corvette, from a social-theory standpoint, is it requires no interpretation.
Chevrolet's plastic fantastic sports car, in its 62nd year, is obviously an American fertility symbol,
and never more so than in top-down, convertible form, when it looks like something out of a bachelorette-party gift bag.
Anthropologists might argue that all two-seat sports cars are plumage, coded attempts to enhance status
and mate desirability. The Corvette is just a little more frank, with that silhouette, a little less is-you-is-or-is-you-ain't?
You definitely is.
For real horn dogs, there is this week's test car: The Corvette Z06 Convertible ($94,235, as tested),
powered by the mightiest eight cylinders in the inventory, the supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 pushrod V-8,
kicking the slats with 650 hp and 650 pound-feet of torque. And ours was stirred with a much-coveted
seven-speed manual transmission. Lordy.
In the Z06 Convertible you see the antipodes of Corvette ownership together. On the one hand, whittlings
notwithstanding, it is one of the finest, highest performing automobiles available at any price. It cannot
be denied. If you want to go bench racing, consider some of the Z06 Coupe's published numbers: 0-60 mph in
2.95 seconds; 1.2 lateral g cornering; quarter-mile E.T. 10.95 seconds; 60-0 mph braking in 99.6 feet
(that's with the 8-speed auto-shifter and shod with the Z07 performance package's Michelin Pilot Sport
Cup 2 tires and Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes, by the way.)
The Z06 ragtop with the stick-shift isn't quite as ballistic as the coupe-a scant .25 second slower to
0-60 mph-yet anything like these figures puts the Corvette Z06 all over a Lamborghini Huracán, for example,
a midengine dragonfly that costs more than twice as much.
But the Z06 ragtop's pupil-shrinking performance and all-conquering value comes with a cost. It's a Corvette,
a car very much in the grip of its own ridiculousness, design-wise. For one thing, Corvette is a front-engine
car, necessitating that long, lurid hood (most of its elite competitors are midengine, with shorter front overhangs).
The 2015 Corvette Z06 convertible could become a future collectible for car enthusiasts, WSJ's Dan Neil says.
Our test car-metallic gray with blue top and matching leather trim and black alloys rims-looked like it was just broken
out of Mattel blister pack. The ferocious, aero-seeking blades and dams; the punched out fenders with spats barely
overhanging the foot-wide rear tires; the side blade extractors slashed deeper and wider into the front quarter. The
hood has what looks like a carbon-fiber storm drain in it.
It's also a convertible, which means that the person in the left seat owns all that drama and concupiscence and wields
it in a very public way. In terms of putting out the vibe, this car is like chrome pants.
While we're savoring the possibilities of a track-day convertible: Corvette says the Z06 Convertible generates modest
aero downforce at speed, even with the top down. This requires that the car be optioned with the Z07 package, including
the tallest of three spoilers available with an adjustable wickerbill, as well as the big front splitter and rocker-panel
extensions. If you were planning to lap Talladega at 186 mph with the top down, this might be your only choice in fully
dressed luxury convertibles.
Obviously, if you're kicking these tires, you are not looking to go unnoticed. Good thing. While it's possible to drive a
Z06 around town with a minimum of clamor-short-shifting and otherwise puttering with the engine in cylinder-deactivation
mode-if you get frisky with the throttle or pretty much whenever the rpm cross over about 5,000 rpm, the active exhaust
opens up, and 91-dB hailstorm commences. Romp it to redline in the first two gears-which is about all that is possible
outside a racetrack-and the Z06 roars and crackles, all Nascar-y, bright, metallic, the stropping of God's razorblades.
It's especially important to be courteous with the top down lest the parents of awakened babies throw diapers into the car.
This is the first time in decades that Corvette's top-spec engine has been paired with a convertible body. Open-top versions
of previous Corvette chassis were judged to be too flimsy, which was a safe observation in the main anyway.
The seventh-generation Corvette (C7) chassis-based on a brilliantly executed space frame of aluminum extrusions, square-section
tubes, aluminum-and-balsa floor pans and cast chassis nodes-barely trembles under the extra load and needs no further reinforcement.
Chevrolet says the convertible chassis stiffness is 20% higher than the previous generation with a fixed roof. The convertible
is just 58 pounds more than the coupe.
In rough terms the LT4 is the same 6.2-liter direct-injection, 16-valve V-8 engine as in the Corvette Stingray Z51, where
its naturally aspirated output is rated at 460 hp. The LT4 version squeezes a small, hardworking Roots-type supercharger
into the décolleté of the V-8, between the cylinder banks. The forced-induction hardware has almost no impact on the
overall size of the engine-about an inch taller overall than the one in the Z51-but puts out 37% more horsepower and 40%
more torque. Other engine blueprinting measures include Rotocast aluminum cylinder heads; titanium valves; forged-aluminum
pistons and steel connecting rods; high-capacity dry sump oiling; and stainless-steel headers. Ungawa.
Price, as tested: $94,235
Powertrain: Supercharged and intercooled direct-injection 6.2-liter, 16-valve OHV V-8, with variable cam phasing and cylinder deactivation; seven-speed manual transmission; rear-wheel drive with limited-slip differential.
Horsepower/torque: 650 hp at 6,400 rpm/650 pound-feet at 3,600 rpm
Length/weight: 177.9 inches/3,582 pounds
Wheelbase: 106.7 inches
EPA fuel economy: 15/22 mpg, city/highway
Luggage capacity: 10 cubic feet
Our test car was equipped with the (joyous, beaut
iful, fun) seven-speed manual transmission with rev-matching
function. The Z06's other choice of transmission, the eight-speed, paddle-shifted automatic-sweet, fast, digitally
omniscient-is the smart choice, the technocrat's choice. For the less evolved, the Z06's stick offers a range of other
options, vis-à-vis doing doughnuts in bank parking lots or brake-holding burnouts while playing "Fog the Starbucks."
The Z06 Convertible has all the other dangerous toys, too, including: the authoritative 14.6-inch Brembo brakes (or the 15.5-inch
carbon-ceramic front discs); the flinty, multimode magnetic dampers; the mightiest of Michelin cleats held barely in check by the
Z06's elaborate traction, stability and torque-vectoring code; as well as the electrically actuated limited-slip diff in the transaxle.
The convertible does lose the coupe's dashing fastback glass. On the plus side, wind management around the open cockpit is excellent.
Even at 80 mph, the buffeting is almost nonexistent.
Downsides? As I mentioned, it's a 'Vette. No elbow room in the driver's position; a head-tossing ride over imperfect pavement,
thanks to the huge, no-profile gumballs; utterly absent, crazy-numb steering feel in the electric-assist, variable-rate rack;
the frameless windows feel flimsy; the whole thing smells of Tupperware.
Haters gonna hate but this is a wonderful road car. And with the near-certainty of a midengine Corvette before the end of the decade,
enthusiasts have to think about which front-engine 'Vette to pull off the line and stick in the time capsule, the last, best example
of gas-fired swagger in the Late Romantic Age.
They won't make them like this anymore, not for very long.
Source: Dan Neil/ WSJ