New ZR1 owner

[edram454]

Just received my black/black 1990 Zr1. It has mods like ported Jeal Siamesed Plenum/injector housing/long tube DRM headers with flowmaster exhaust/ new rc injectors/ported tb/new vacuum lines/tb coolant bypass/brake bias/eradispeed drilled/slot rotors and hawk pads/chassis stiffener cage/new luk clutch/all synthetics/new ac system/zimmer chip/ etc.. don't know what it makes ..maybe 380-400 rwhp. I currently have a C5 auto black/black coupe 2000/ heavily modded 525 rwhp. 39k miles. zr1 45k miles. Which one of these cars would you keep if you can only keep one due to storage?? I have always had a thing for the z and it is my third attempt in buying one and its mine. The last time I lost 5k dollars and walked away with nothing because after I gave a deposit to a dealer, I found out the car was damaged (needed rebuild) had to pay to get out of the deal. would you sell the z or the c5 supercharged?? I want the z but after reading about the difficulty in obtaining parts and lack of knowledgeable mechanics etc.. it is riskier than owning a c5. 525rwhp on a mustang dyno and a automatic car/ if this were a stick and a dynojet dyno it would have dynoed easily over 550. These are big numbers to the wheel. I am at a crossroads. I like the z but I know my c5 would blow it in the weeds at everything. I appreciate the history and the mechanical complexity of the lt5. runs good, sounds great. but what do I do? Anybody sold a 500 plus horsepower c5 for a z?? did anyone regret it?? Any imput would be appreciated. You have a good web site, very informative. edram454

[bradley]

do you plan on using it as a daily driver? I have 2 zr1s a 90 modded like yours which I got 175k out of before I popped a head gasket and a 92 callaway 475 super natural which has 158k on it and running great . parts are not hard to find that's an old wives tale . I have only been stranded once and that was when I blew a 1/2 shaft at the drag strip . I bought both cars when they had 30-32 k miles on them . your c5 is great but there are tons of them out there .I like the fact that I am driving a very rare corvette and when I open the hood people just go OH sh*t.

[alnukem]

I have several vettes, they all have their charms. It would be a difficult decision to pick between a built c5 & a ZR-1. A sensible approach for cost of upkeep & being that it's already built would be the the C5. I have a C5Z06 that puts down 370 RWHP & a ZR-1 that puts down 400 RWHP, as far as being fast, they are both pretty equal. If I had to pick one, I would pick the ZR-1 because it feels so much "rawer". If I lived in Florida & storage was the only thing that was in my way, I would get a storage garage & swap them out, drive the crap out of each till spring, pick the winner & sell the loser in the Spring market, this will open your buyers to the people in the north & probably fetch more money. I put my cars away yesterday. Good Luck.

[Bearly Flying]

Everybody has a C5, not too many have a ZR-1.

As far as the HP goes there will always be somebody with a bigger wallet than you.....


Owning a ZR-1 is pretty special.

[Paul Workman]

My choice wouldn't be everyone's choice. Among the many charms the Z has over your modded C5 that trump the C5 - is the uniqueness. (Nothing so special about a supercharged C5 or C6. You see them all the time.)

And, for the money spent on purchasing and then building up the C5, one could have their Z and the ponies too. Think about that!

I'd sell the C5 and turn the money around and give a chunk to Pete and AES for a closed deck 427 LT5 and never look back - except to see rivals in the rear-view mirror. But! That's just me.

Oh, and as far as parts scarcity goes, the REGISTRY takes car of its own. Parts and expertise is made available, and talk about lack thereof is highly over wrought.

Welcome to the BROTHERHOOD OF THE BEAST!

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Paul Workman

My choice wouldn't be everyone's choice. Among the many charms the Z has over your modded C5 that trump the C5 - is the uniqueness. (Nothing so special about a supercharged C5 or C6. You see them all the time.)

And, for the money spent on purchasing and then building up the C5, one could have their Z and the ponies too. Think about that!

I'd sell the C5 and turn the money around and give a chunk to Pete and AES for a closed deck 427 LT5 and never look back - except to see rivals in the rear-view mirror. But! That's just me.

Oh, and as far as parts scarcity goes, the REGISTRY takes car of its own. Parts and expertise is made available, and talk about lack thereof is highly over wrought.

Welcome to the BROTHERHOOD OF THE BEAST!

that depends entirely on the size of your savings account

[Kevin]

between the two, the one you like more

[ZZZZZR1]

You bought a great ZR-1!

Welcome!!!

Please post pictures and love to know more about your new car



David

[edram454]

thanks for all the advice. The zr1 is unique and only a few are around. I have always loved the zr1 and hoped to have one in my life time. My c5 is built and beautiful but I cant say it is a blast to drive. it is actually dangerous if one is not careful. with an auto transmission, if you slam the accel pedal down it can downshift 2 gears and all hell breaks loose, especially my rear tires, the loss of control in instantaneous. to race somebody on the street next to you is a scary proposition because you dont know how many gears the automatic trans will downshift on it's own. at 40 or 50 miles an hour it is dangerous to stand it on. it is like a lack of control of the vehicle. it is not paddle shifted. I can say that I have never read anywhere from any body that driving a zr1 was not fun. it is a fun car to drive. I bought it for the uniqueness, the mystique and the fun of driving which I was actually lacking. that is why my c5 has such low miles. I dont think it has 1000 miles on all the mods. tires and rims 100 or less miles. I hate to see it go but the thought of driving with fear is not fun. it has already done 2 360's in the middle of a major highway, thank God nothing happened but that woke me up. I have had faster cars like my 1200 hp prostreet mustang ran 8 in the 1/4 mile but I would drive to local shows to blow there mind. It had a manual valvebody gm built turbo 400 tranny. I lost a lot of money on that one and missed the corvette people who were older and more educated. Mustang crowds were a bunch of very young guys. I didnt fit in. I will take the riskier of the two and keep the zr1. It has good mods too and runs strong. As soon as it came off the truck, I put some more gas in it and took it for a quick ride around my neighborhood, I stopped to do a little burnout and boy did it light them up, I didnt move 3 feet and that thing was already roasting the tires. But you see, because of the stick and clutch I had control. My c5 would burn and then shift to second take off and at 3500rpm get in boost and start burning very hard while you are moving. I feel I joined the big leagues with my vintage zr1. You guys are great and is a big reason why I will keep her. Thanks for all you opinions and inputs.

Your friend,
edramos.

[John Boothby]

Welcome! Enjoy your Z! It will put a grin on your face all day long!