After driving a C6 Corvette convertible at Club Sportiva, which is by far the most refined Corvette yet, getting next behind the wheel of Club Sportiva's 2007 Corvette Z06 was even better. Overall, the Z06 is a sinisterly powerful car with great looks that is still a little raw - standard Corvette DNA.

I will get a couple of the unforgivable issues out of the way, right up front... The Corvette has notoriously plastic laden interiors, buttons and controls that shame American ingenuity. It isn't just the surfacing, it is the quality of feel and touch when pressing buttons and interacting with the interior. Sure it has improved over the decades, but how long does it take GM engineers and marketing people to realize car enthusiasts don't want a shiny plastic interior experience. The problem is the Corvette's interior comes from the corporate parts bin and everything is hard shiny plastic and they don't want to develop a whole interior console for a single car line. A leather surfacing package is now available for a whopping $5,000, but that doesn't address the cheap radio and climate control buttons. Well, GM is moving in the right direction, at least. As a reference point, a $22,000 Mazda 3 has a far superior interior, to make my point clear.

How is the exhaust note? Well, it is subdued. Subdued? What?! It's a Z06...nothing should be subdued. It lacks an audible punch in the exhaust note category, disappointingly. The sound engineers, guided by the marketing team, should have said dial up the exhaust so drivers don't have to go out and install it after market. For another ~$1,500 (OEM cost), the bean counters at GM should have allowed the Corvette Z06 to have a sinister exhaust note to remind the driver that he/she is piloting a bad@ss machine. Instead, the Corvette team opted for an understated, plain (read lame) exhaust note. The entire group gets the blame for this from GM's marketing team, engineering community, program management and bean counters (of which I was one, at Ford Motor Company) for missing the opportunity to define the car with a menacing tune to match the splendidly powerful engine. I am calling it like I see it...

As such, firing up the car begins out on a somewhat anticlimactic starting point. And yes, I am being critical because the bar was set very high by GM's marketers and the auto press. Blip the throttle and it is not the rip roarious experience I expected, nor is the throttle as responsive as I would have hoped. I am not dumping cold water on the overall experience, just sharing essential first impression feedback as you climb in and start the car. It does get better, luckily, but right out of the gate the car has two strikes that you can't help avoid noticing continually while driving around. Normally, I'd save the negs for last, but GM really needs a disappointing slap on the wrist for a car that has been in production long enough they should understand what the target market wants and get it right, especially on the top of the line $75,000 Z06. Sure the$100,000 ZR1 is coming, but it is no excuse to leave any rocks unturned on the Z06. At $45,000 for a base Corvette, maybe I will take back my negs, but not for the Z06. Ultimately, I want to like the car enough to justify buying one, not looking for reasons to put up with its short comings. GM, are you catching this?

Now for the upside, finally. Once you dip into the throttle, you suddenly have no time to let your eyes gaze anywhere but far down the road. First gear is powerful, but not geared for sporty driving. Let's shift into second gear and this is where the fun starts. Third gear gets even better. There is enough power and torque on tap to peel up some serious asphalt. And cooler, the power just keeps coming across a broad power band. Even at 2,500 rpms, it will snap back your neck and keep your head pinned to the Z06 embroidered seat all the way to redline.

The pleasant thing about the Corvette Z06 is that around town, in normal daily traffic, the car is very reserved. Maybe too refined for my hardcore sports car preference, but impressive nonetheless. It isn't a light agile high revver, like the Lotus Elise but it isn't the heavy GT car like a Maserati GT or Mercedes-Benz SL either. It fits into a category like the Porsche 911, splitting duty as the high performance sports car that offers comfort and torque. A combination of raw performance and easy drive-ability. That is a tough balance to strike and GM has done a great job. Kudos.

I liked the heads up display, which also comes as an option in the standard Corvette. It doesn't save you much effort, since the dash is only a couple inches lower, but nonetheless, it is more efficient. The seats are very supportive and comfortable, as is ingress egress. Gas mileage can be surprisingly high for a big V8 as well. These factors make the Corvette a very livable daily driver without much sacrifice. Overall, for the market place, the Corvette is polished in many of the right spots, including a reasonable price for its high performance.

From a style perspective, this is the best looking, most aggressively designed Corvette ever. From any angle, the Z06 looks pissed off and ready to go. It is a mean looking car. The extra vent up front on the hood means business, as does the flared vent on the side behind the tire. The extra kick-up of the duck tail spoiler in the back is cool and functional too. The looks are probably one of my favorite features along side the brutal power.

For me personally, I am not a huge fan overall and it pains me to say that because I want to love the Corvette because it looks so good and has gobs of power. Yes I enjoy driving the Z06, but it doesn't make my top 10 list. A few insignificant issues worth the mention: When driving the Z06 in normal spirited driving scenarios, it has a heavy, dead pan steering feeling, which is okay, but not exhilarating or my favorite. The drive train is a little clunky and loud. From inside the car or out, you can hear it chatter when shifting. The CTS-V is the same, so GM's system inherently makes some clicking noises. Not a big deal really, but an entry-level Hyundai doesn't make rattling noise when shifted, nor should the Corvette. I prefer a lighter agile-on-its-toes driving experience which can be combined with a big brutal engine. NOTE: I actually don't like bagging on the car, so don't get the impression I like nit picking; it pains me to report these basic things!

The Z06 is a great car for most drivers, actually. The majority of Member's of Club Sportiva have really enjoyed the car tremendously. My preferences are not the norm, luckily for the success of the Z06. For those like me, who like the finesse of European cars, it doesn't quite work. This is disappointing because I want to like the Corvette. Cadillac's upcoming CTS and CTS-V look like they are dead on, so I think GM has turned the corner and the next Vette will be all it should be. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Labels: 505 hp, Club Sportiva, Corvette Z06, exotic car share club, General Motors, sports car