Honestly would you rather have a z06?

[phrogs]

Originally Posted by secondchance

Hey John,

Are you having issues with Bosch? May I ask what it is?

Well, Heres what I did, I replaced all the injectors with new brass ones, replaced all my fuel lines, replaced the fuel pump, accumulator, fuel filter, rebuild the fuel manifold, rebuilt the WUR.

Got it all back together and have it running pretty good but I think I need it tuned and Ill be in business.

[rhipsher]

Originally Posted by USAFPILOT

Rick that is my all time favoriteFerarri...and the most heavily produced model...someone correct me if I am wrong...not just the 512 but all Testarossa models. Anyway, the price just might get low enough for one of us to snag one someday. I've never seen one with that angle...the rear wheels tuck in a bit too far I think. Maybe a bit more rubber would make it better.

There is one on ebay in Dallas with 16K miles...Buy It Now for 88 grand. Hmmm...

I don't know a damn thing about a Testarossa. But it's so pretty (as Mohammed Ali use to say. In his case I'm so pretty. I guess when I get one I'll have to join a Ferarri forum and learn right. Even though the Z06 has everything you could want and if I had to choose between the two I'd always go for the exotic. Even when I take the Z to coffee and cars where there are way more exotic cars than my ZR-1 is such as the Ferarri's and Lambos even they sit up and take notice. And with my window down I always hear somebody say "Wow! A ZR-1. I park it. Pop the hood and walk into Star Bucks for a quad shot expresso and by the time I make my way back to the car the Ferarri and Lambo guy's are huttled around the Z looking it over and asking me all kinds of questions about it. Most of the Ferarri and Lambo guys are older gentlemen and remember when it first came out. And in the back of my mind I'm thinking why would these guys even care about this C4 ZR-1 when their cars are way more exotic and cost $200k-$400k? But for some reason they do.

[Kb7tif]

My 2cents says GM destroyed the rear end of the corvette c5. c6 is better but for me there would have to be a large performance upgrade to make up for the way they look. Sorry. 427 would be the only way id do it abd it will be a while before they are in "my range"

[WB9MCW]

And in the back of my mind I'm thinking why would these guys even care about this C4 ZR-1 when their cars are way more exotic and cost $200k-$400k? But for some reason they do.

They remember this TIME Mag Article

From Time Magazine

Business

The Pussycat That Roars
A 380-horse, $50,000 Corvette dazzles the motor critics

May 8, 1989

Although Detroit's automakers have designed and built every type of car imaginable in the past 90 years, they have never produced a world-class sports car
that could match a Porsche or a Ferrari. That may be changing. General Motors
will roll out its $50,000 Corvette ZR1 in September, and the automotive trade press is already gushing about the car with the sort of enthusiasm it usually reserves for $150,000 European exotics. "We have finally driven the ZR1 Corvette," raves Automobile magazine. "And without equivocation we can pronounce it the fastest and finest high- performance automobile America has ever produced. "It is certainly fast. The car has a top speed of 180 m.p.h. and can go from 0 to 60 m.p.h. in a blistering 4.2 sec., making it the fastest factory-built car in the world. Moreover, the Corvette more than holds its own in road- hugging tests against the $75,000 Porsche 928GT and the $180,000 Ferrari Testarossa. The soul of the new machine is a ferocious 380-h.p. V-8 engine that experts say is the most sophisticated ever built. The aluminum-alloy engine boasts 32 valves, four for each cylinder, and an innovative air-intake system that can sip oxygen from a single narrow throttle valve or suck it full blast from a wide-mouth intake, depending on how sharply the driver presses the pedal to the metal. Other high-tech bells and whistles include a slick six-speed computer-assisted manual transmission and a suspension system that automatically adjusts shock absorbers to the speed of the car. The bad news for parking-lot jockeys dreaming about taking the new Vette for a joyride is that the car comes equipped with a so-called valet key feature. When the driver switches it on before leaving his prize in an attendant's hands, half the engine's valves shut down. That turns one mean machine into a pussycat. Anyone wishing to buy a ZR1 anytime soon may be out of luck. Chevy plans to build only 4,000 in the 1990 model-year, and most of those have been reserved. "If you don't have an order in by now," says dealer Matthew Williams of Jack Cauley Chevrolet in West Bloomfield, Mich., "you probably won't be able to get one."


OR MAYBE THEY SAW THIS ONE OR ONE LIKE IT IN THE AUTO PRESS MAG'S


Lotus engine pushed Corvette ZR-1 into exotic company
September 12, 2004
BY DAN JEDLICKA Auto Reporter

Only one Chevrolet Corvette has been sold with a European-designed engine, which let the two-seater compete in the rarified high-performance world occupied by sports cars such as Ferrari and Lamborghini.
That Corvette was the 1990-95 ZR-1, and it's the most exotic production 'Vette ever built.
The standard Corvette was plenty fast with its conventional 245-horsepower V-8. But the ZR-1 had a custom 375-380 horsepower V-8 from Lotus -- the British sports car and world championship Grand Prix race car builder, which does work for major automakers. Both engines had a 5.7-liter displacement, but that's about all they had in common.
Why Lotus? Because Chevy had considered a turbocharged V-6, twin-turbocharged V-8 and even a non-turbocharged 600-horsepower V-8, but found them too noisy or inefficient. It needed a quiet, docile, smooth, economical engine at home in heavy traffic and on race tracks. Morever, GM bought Lotus about the time Chevy and Lotus representatives met in 1985 to initially discuss the ZR-1 engine, which took about two years to develop.
Such an engine never came cheap, so the Corvette ZR-1 was General Motors' most expensive 1990 car and its new flagship model. The ZR-1 announcement price was $58,995, but soon jumped to $64,138.
The ZR-1 got its model designation from the "ZR-1'' option package, which added $27,016-$31,683 to the standard Corvette hardtop's list price -- making it the most expensive auto option in Chevy history.
Of course, the highlight of the package was the Lotus-designed V-8; it actually was hand-assembled by Mercury Marine at its Stillwater, Okla., plant. While mostly known for boat engines, Mercury had a good reputation for precision engine building.
Buyers lined up to pay $80,000-plus to be among the first to get a ZR-1. Some dealers and private sellers were asking up to $150,000 for the ZR-1. The reasoning was that this was a sure-fire collector car. (A ZR-1 now is valued at $49,000-$55,000, with the highest price for the 1994-95 model)
About 3,000 ZR-1s were produced for 1990, or less than one per Chevy dealer.
"The ZR-1 gives you attributes of a $75,000 to $300,000 sports car," said former Corvette chief engineer Dave McLellan, who was in charge of the Corvette program.
This writer found during a test of a 1992 ZR-1 that it was the least expensive, most civilized and reliable exotic car, despite its humble Chevrolet insignia. The special V-8 whisked the car to 60 mph from a standing start in 4.3 seconds and to 100 mph in 11.5 seconds. It allowed an unmodified Corvette ZR-1 to average 173.8 mph for 5,000 miles in 1990 on a Texas track during a sanctioned run.
However, the ZR-1 still delivered an estimated 17 mpg in the city and 26 on the highway.
The Corvette ZR-1's hand-assembled 32-valve, dual-overhead-camshaft V-8 had a key-operated "valet switch". It limited horsepower to 150-200 when a ZR-1 owner handed the keys of the car to parking lot attendants or teen-age family members.
The Corvette ZR-1 got its world introduction early in 1989 at Switzerland's Geneva Motor Show and at a splashy French media launch. The overseas introductions were meant to underscore the car's world-class design. Corvette sales had been lagging, and the ZR-1 showed that GM's Corvette could compete with the world's top sports cars. The ZR-1 engine gave the Corvette an exotic car reputation it never had been able to offer.
However, the Corvette ZR-1 wasn't introduced until later in 1989 as a 1990 model. Things were held up because Chevrolet had designed a new dashboard for all 1990 Corvettes, which were introduced in the fall.
Besides the special V-8, the ZR-1 option contained such things as wider rear high-performance tires. The Corvette ZR-1 looked like a conventional Corvette to the casual observer, although it had wider rear bodywork to accommodate those bigger tires, which called for new doors, rocker panels and rear fascia.
The only other external mark was a convex tail with square tail lights in place of the standard Corvette's concave rear panel and round tail lights. There also were a pair of rectangular exhaust outlets to accompany the taillight shape.
Also standard on the ZR-1 was a thicker rear stabilizer bar and new FX3 adjustable suspension, with "Performance", "Touring" and "Sport" modes.
The special suspension -- optional for standard Corvette coupes with a manual transmission -- allowed the ZR-1 to handle better than most European exotic cars and helped make the car safe for average drivers with no high-performance driver training.
The ZR-1 came only as a coupe with a six-speed manual gearbox. After all, this was a very serious auto -- no cruiser for the open-shirt, gold-chain crowd that often bought Corvette convertibles with an automatic transmission.
Curiously, Chevrolet gave the regular 1991 Corvette the covex tail panel and square taillights previously reserved for the ZR-1, although it didn't have the ZR-1's oversized flanks and huge rear tires. All Corvettes got a new tapered lower nose, horizontal strakes instead of vertical slots in the front fenders and lower-restriction mufflers. The 1991 ZR-1 was officially rated at 375, instead of the 375-380 rating of the 1989 model -- not that anyone could tell a difference in performance.
Production problems in 1991 held down Corvette ZR-1 volume, and Chevrolet announced in 1993 that it would build only 380 ZR-1s annually.
That year, the car's horsepower jumped to 405. But about 4,800 ZR-1s had been sold, and it seemed as if most everyone who wanted the car had bought one. Also, standard Corvette horsepower had climbed to 300, which was more than enough for most 'Vette purchasers.
The Corvette ZR-1 was dropped after a final 448 copies were built for 1995. GM and Chevrolet had gotten lots of publicity with the car, and there seemed no need to keep a low-volume auto that was costly to build when GM was cutting costs to become more profitable.
By then, the Corvette ZR-1 had firmly established its reputation as being a world-class sports car.

################################################## ##############


THE HERITAGE --THE ENGINEERING AND THE HYPE BY GM --- THAT IS THE MYSTIC OF THE LT-5 AND THE ZR-1

THIS IS STILL MY FAV ARTICLE ON THE ZR-1

ZR-1 CORVETTE - MARATHON CHAMPION OF THE CENTURY
by Robin Jenkins
Last Update: 10/24/2004

Marathon running is a brutal sport. The Greek messenger whose 26-mile-jog is commemorated by the race died of exhaustion 2500 years ago -- but only after completing his mission. Today we more often celebrate Olympic sprinters instead, forgetting that endurance is a surer mark of health and determination. Perhaps because it takes less than ten seconds to watch a sprint, those who run for hours don't as readily capture our attention. The same can be said for automobile racing -- 24-hour races are rare; 5000-mile races even more so. But, lest a true hero be forgotten in annual disputes over which new car quarter-miles the quickest, consider the undisputed marathon champion of automobile racing -- the gutsiest distance-racer ever built for the public.

Beginning in 1990 and ending with the 1995 model year, General Motors sold 6,939 Corvettes designated "ZR-1". Not to be confused with its more primitive namesake offered 20 years earlier, this ZR-1 was both luxuriously appointed and the fastest car built in America at the time -- not only in acceleration but on the highway, too. There were two features exclusive to the new ZR-1: each car came with a purpose-built, 32-valve, 4-cam, aluminum, LT-5 engine; and each was three inches wider in the rear than its sister Corvettes, in order to accommodate wider rear wheels and tires. Neither feature was obvious to the casual observer, but one of them made all the difference.

"The Heart of the Beast", as the ZR-1's LT-5 engine came to be called, was a huge departure from GM's traditional manufacturing style. It was designed in collaboration with Lotus Racing of Great Britain, and perhaps because it was hand-crafted by the women at Mercruiser Division of the Mercury Marine plant in Stillwater, Oklahoma, it was destined to become the strongest thump in "The Heartbeat of America". The last of those amazing engines was pre-built in 1993 for installation in the 1994 and '95 model year ZR-1s. Yet, despite their age, LT-5 equipped Corvettes are thus far the fastest, mass-produced, distance-racers ever to appear on the planet.

The reason for the ZR-1's uncontested dominance at marathoning is that even the least potent of the LT-5 engines (375 hp) were designed to safely propel a Corvette to 180 mph, with absolutely no modifications, and still meet all EPA emissions and fuel-economy standards. On its first attempt, a 1990 model ZR-1 broke the world's record for covering the most ground in 24-hours. It ran all day and and all night, averaging almost 176 mph, including gas stops!

With the new 24-hour World Speed Record now in the bag, the VERY SAME CAR kept lapping the same eight-mile test track in Texas, until it had set a new World Speed Record for the longest specified distance -- 5000 miles, averaging almost 174 mph! Before this same ZR-1 finally pulled off that track, it ran two victory laps at over 190 mph, and Corvette owned TEN new International and World Records.

So, beginning with the 1991 model, the ZR-1 sported a tiny decal on the driver's side of the hatch glass, attesting to Corvette's new ownership of those national and international records; and by 1993, engineers had teased another 30 horsepower out of the engine. A few ZR-1s, whose owners tweaked the LT-5 engine beyond the factory's final 405 hp rating, have documented speeds in excess of 200 mph, yet remain fully tractable for general transportation. Few cars in the world, at any price, can reach such speeds in the first place, and fewer, still, are suitable for street use.

With a roll cage, a racing seat, open exhaust, and a 48 gallon gas tank, the record-breaking Corvette was by no means a street car, but it was unquestionably a production car, using its officially specified production engine. The prospect of succeeding with that innocent combination had been so laughable at the time that the press wasn't even officially invited to watch. Nobody in over 50 years had beaten the 24-hour speed record -- even when using imaginative combinations of exotic racing engines and purpose-built chassis. How could a mere production-class Corvette succeed where unlimited had failed?

Consider that the 175-180 mph speed range easily achieved by even the early, 375 hp, ZR-1 is comparable to current race averages in today's NASCAR events, where much lighter cars use the same size engine as the Corvette (5.7 liters or 350 cubic inches). Recall how many of those highly modified, NASCAR engines fail after less than 500 miles, and then ponder how the Corvette's LT-5 engine ran at the very same speeds for the equivalent of TEN Daytona 500s -- BACK-TO-BACK! That's a level of durability unprecedented in the automotive industry, a feat which has yet to be equaled by any production car, anywhere.

So it's not only that the ZR-1 is one of the few stock cars in the world that can comfortably run 180 mph; it's the fact that this car can do so, not just for hundreds, but for THOUSANDS of miles at a time! THAT'S what's impressive. Yet in calmer moments it could deliver an amazing 28 mpg at 65 mph, while displaying world-class cornering, braking and acceleration to complement its awesome highway speed. That was enough "all-around" superiority in performance for the media to qualify the ZR-1 as "King of the Hill", world-wide, when it was introduced -- a reputation it successfully defended through the end of its production.

Certainly there were a few exotic street machines which could outrun a ZR-1, even during its hey-day -- but they could only do so for short distances. And, given the growing popularity of turbos and superchargers (the LT-5 required neither), there will likely be a much more impressive crop of sprinters wowing enthusiasts in this new century. But, the Dodge Viper excepted, from 1990 until the end of the last century, no such exotics were produced in quantities greater than a few hundred, and most of them numbered less than a handful. Even the few competitors which moved from prototype to limited-production, cost from twice to TWENTY-TIMES as much as the ZR-1's already hefty 66-thousand-dollar sticker, and still they couldn't keep up with the Corvette over long distances. The Porsche team admitted their 962 just wasn't up to it.

The sole, mass-produced, ZR-1 challenger in the 20th century was the Viper -- and despite having a much larger engine, and no concessions to refinement, it still failed to equal the Corvette's highway speed until a year after the ZR-1 was out of production. Today's 21st century Vipers, with a 150-cubic-inch-larger engine than the LT-5 "small block", will certainly exceed an aging ZR-1's 180 mph top speed. But none of those 525 hp monsters have dared attempt the Corvette's 1990 marathon run, and neither have Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, or Lamborghini. Between 1966 and 1988, Ford, Mercedes and Audi at least tried -- but they all failed.

It's only in the 21st Century that the ZR-1 has seen its decade-old world records begin to fall -- but NOT to production cars. Except for the ZR-1, no automobile available to the public has EVER performed that well. In fact, the car that the ZR-1 beat in order to set those records was a one-off, hand-built racer, powered by an aircraft engine! Its driver, whose long-standing marathon record the Corvette thumped by a whopping 15 mph, was Ab Jenkins. I know the name because it's shared by my great-great-grandfather. And, as one would logically expect, the 21st century cars that have since broken the Corvette's marathon records are also one-off prototypes, with neither their engines nor their chassis yet to see a show-room, let alone mass-production.

So it's very unlikely that the world will ever again see a production package accomplish such a feat. And even if another licensable car does someday go that fast, for that long, the odds are against its ever being mass-marketed for thousands of happy enthusiasts. The Corvette ZR-1's achievement is thus a singular and enduring benchmark -- the high point in the first century of automotive history -- certifiably the only mass-produced car that, even with gas stops, could average over 175 mph all day and all night.

The heavy, elegant, ZR-1 could not only travel coast-to-coast distances faster than most private planes can fly them, it could do so with more amenities -- six-way adjustable leather seats, Bose stereo, air-conditioning, electrically adjustable suspension, F-16-style gold-reflective windshield, and monster brakes. Besides, the Corvette offered owners sleeker lines than anything propeller-powered -- except maybe the Mercruiser race boats sharing its engine's production facility. Odd, when you ponder it, that the engines of the fastest Corvettes ever sold to the public were designed in England and built by an American boat company! That eccentricity alone gives the 1990-1995 Corvette ZR-1 a unique bloodline -- a pedigree befitting the fastest production car of its time.

After fifteen years, the world has yet to mass-produce a marathoner which has proved itself the ZR-1's equal, but we can hope. The two-generation-newer C-6 Corvette, due soon at Chevrolet dealerships, is reputed to be even faster than the ZR-1; but GM hasn't yet shown the C6 can average 175 mph for the first 5000 miles of its warranty. And even if it can, the marathon records firmly held by the Corvette ZR-1 through the turn of the last century may now, by experimental prototypes, have been pushed out of reach for any production car -- let alone a mass-marketed Chevy.

But, for one brief, shining moment, the certified "King of the Hill" could be driven out of an American showroom and onto a public highway, confidently assuring its pilot that nothing sold elsewhere at any price could match its pace and still go the distance. Were there an Olympics for cars, the indomitable ZR-1 would still be wearing gold. She done us proud.

Robin Jenkins
Olympic August, 2004
################################################## #############

[tomtom72]

Thanks for the reprints Bryan!!!!.....yea, my fav is the one by Robin Jenkins...those write-ups make me realize just how different my Z is/was at the time from other American made cars.

IMHO, those guys "care" about our cars because they recognize good engineering and will compliment it readily. Or at least that's what I've experienced being on cruises with the people from exotic car forums. The F-car owners, M3 & 5 owners, NSX owners, lambo owners, AM owners, P-car owners, all say to me "who would have thought that GM would have made a car like this just to prove a point? And then go do the distance to time to speed runs and be successful!" Yea, they know more about those records than most of the corvette owners that I cruise with all the time!

To be honest, sometimes I'm guilty of "newer corvette envy".....
I think how much better the new ones seem versus my antique. I know one thing for sure. All my friends that own those exotics all spend a lot more $$ on maintenance than I do. Sometimes it's good to be a chevy!

[jonszr1]

the special thing about our zr1s is that they were way ahead of their time and most likely there will never be another special car of this nature built again by gm . i dont care if our prices our in the toilet . the enjoyment of caretaking 2 of these special cars i love . i have 2 so i can allways have one to drive . i could care less if i ever own a car other than the zr1 . to me its the cats meow

[JThomas]

I would prefer the Z06 because ergonomically, it fits me better, but I like the ZR-1 because of the special place in Corvette history it has. IMHO, the ZR-1 put the Corvette on the performance map to compete with the europeans. Honestly, I think the ZR-1 developments lead us to the Z06, that's why I own them both!

They both are a blast to drive also.

[WB9MCW]

WELL IF I CAN'T HAVE THIS SIX PACK


I WOULD STILL BE HAPPY WITH THIS 4 PACK

MEET THE BLACK Z's

[todesengel]

I am truly blessed, and can have pretty much any toy that I want (like a lot of us here), but I CHOSE (or rather the ZR-1 chose me). I drove a lot of cars, and kept going back, and forth, till my wife finally bought the one I kept talking about, my black 1990 zr-1. This is the same wife who had a gt2 sitting in the driveway for me 4 years ago when I got home because I wouldn't shut up about them.

The answer is NO, I may add another vette after owning this one, but you can bet your sweet @#$ it will be ANOTHER zr-1, and the current one will not be going anywhere.



Look at that sexy girl. How could I give up on her after waiting 20 YEARS to own it?

The latest and greatest is a game for another, I will drive what I like, enjoy what I drive, and be who I am.

[Z51JEFF]

initially when I answered this question it was a no brainer for me but I am liking the C6 Z06 more and more,not enough to not have a ZR-1 though.Now a nice Midyear Coupe,thats my next Corvette hands down.67 small block,Ralleys,4-speed L-79 Marlboro Maroon,tan leather.......................