Transcription
[Music] [Applause] [Music]
Hi there, my name is Graham. This is my 2009 Corvette Z06. Yeah, I've had a turbo Civic built with like 400-something horsepower. I've had an old NX2000 SR20DET. I've had a Buick Skylark muscle car with nitrous. There's been a couple of other ones here and there, but, uh, nothing major. This is kind of the first step into something fairly [Applause] serious.
Is there a more iconic and recognizable sound? Is there a sound that you associate more with a specific country than a nice, lumpy cam idle on an American V8? The answer is no. Oh, we are in for a drive today, you guys. Let's go. We're going to talk about what else you could buy used for around this money or a little, a little bit more, and why this actually might be the best performance bargain. If you want big NA V8 power with a manual, what you're looking at is the last naturally aspirated Corvette Z06 with a manual. Up on the current pedestal is, of course, the new C8 Z06, but these two cars approach the whole NA thing from completely different directions in the realm of power delivery. This one I'm driving today makes just as much power as the new Z06, but who is cross-shopping a mid-engine, dual-clutch Corvette with a C6 anyway? Uh, but this was still at a point where, yeah, front-engine, of course, and before the C7 Z06 had a few overheating issues, especially on the track.
Now, I hope you guys are going to be able to hear [Music] me. Start out with an LS7, 505 horsepower. This now makes about 600 at the wheels, which is exactly how much the C8 Z06 has been making in factory form on the dyno. I mean, first impressions, the car is incredibly easy to drive. That's one thing I find about Corvettes. It's still a Chevrolet. It's still a Chevy at the end of the day. This has to be a daily driver vehicle, of course. This one's heavily modified, but in factory form, they have to be, they have to have some kind of quality of ease of use, and this still has it. Uh, I'm not sure if this has a short shifter on it. Feels like it's a little bit shorter, I would guess, than factory. The shifter is definitely a little bit shorter. Nice eight-ball shifter on here. Uh, it's got a ZR1 clutch. There's no issue getting off the line. It's got so much torque that you really don't need much gas. It's got everything you would need. These seats are amazing. He's got Recaro in here. Really good, comfy seats. I feel like I'm sitting like on the ground. Yeah, she's squirrely. I wouldn't say it's, it's not wagging its tail, but it's floating. Wow. Oh, that brake pedal feels amazing. Big six-piston brakes up front, of course. Stock, it's just got pads, that's about it.
[Music] Stupid. Just stupid fast. So it's an LS7. Um, they come stock 427 cubic inch, 7 liters. This one's got a Texas Speed stroker kit, so it's about 441 cubic inches. It's got a K1 crank, uh, Scat H-beam rods, uh, Molle pistons. It's got a big Texas Speed, uh, stage 3.2 cam. Heads are done. It's got an MSD Air Force intake. It's got Kooks long tube headers. It's got an off-road, uh, catless X-pipe. Got, of course, the exhaust. Toyo Proxes R888Rs on the back, which is kind of a must for this thing. And this car has, um, Bilstein shocks, and then they're modified by a company called Doug Rippy Motorsports. They do custom valving for, uh, Corvettes that see a lot of track time. And then it's got Delrin bushings all the way around. So it's, it's tightened up a little bit from stock, but it's nothing crazy, 'cause this is a street car. So I'd like to put coilovers on it at some point. I think that's the next step. I've talked to some guys, you say it's a night and day difference for the street, but for now, it's [Music] good.
[Music] Oh my god. [Music] Wow. The way it revs is [Music] outstanding. Skating out of the corner. So quick to rev. The power really comes on around 4,000, carries all the way to about 7,000 RPM redline. But it's, it has kind of, you know, there's still crazy torque from 2500 RPM, but it really gets going around 4,000. Like 10 minutes in the car, and the blips are easy, the shifts are easy. Visibility is amazing in these cars. The shoulder check's a little bit questionable, but everything else is great. Uh, he's, like I said, he's got the Z1 clutch. He also has the ZR1 front lip, which I pointed out immediately. I'm like, that's recognizable to any Corvette fan, anyone who knows the 2009 ZR1. And then he's gone ahead and put the ZR1 wing on the back as well. Uh, the gears are long in this car, but once you're in the revs, once you're going, it's not too bad. It does make it a little bit of a chore, and a little bit of a risk as far as getting arrested, to hit redline on the street. First gear will take you past 100 k an hour, or about 60 miles an hour in first.
Have you had any, like, holy moments? Yeah, a bunch. I kind of, I stepped up to the power slowly. Like when this motor was built, I, you know, I was spending time out in the country, went through a set of tires, just kind of learning it and, uh, building up to it. I don't want to be one of those guys on YouTube leaving a car show and crashing into a pole. But, um, anybody who's driven one of these, they want to point straight. So as long as you don't, your steering inputs aren't too aggressive, more like micro inputs, you can, you'll see, you can get all over it. It's, it's not too crazy. Well, I mean, I thought about supercharging it for sure. It comes to be around the same price at the end of the day. This thing is actually could handle a blower if I wanted to, but anybody who's an LS fan, I don't want to make any haters here, but I, I think an LS7 is one of the best NA motors you could ever have, and I don't need anymore. I mean, after that, it's all about the driver mod. So I, I'm not even at that point yet. So a regular C6 Corvette, I would supercharge. LS3 is such a good platform for that. These Z06s, I think are just a really sort of pure, kind of racy style car. I mean, it's, it's more than just a highway pull machine. So I kind of wanted any power, you know, it's instant, sounds good, and it's a six-speed, and you can take the traction control off. This, this has traction control disabled. So yeah, you got to be careful. You got to respect the car for sure.
Yellow's not my favorite color. It kind of works on a Corvette. You know, it plays up to the stereotype that some people associate with Corvette owners. It's funny, the owner of this car, Graham, was mentioning that he, you know, if you don't care about what people think, the C6 and C5 Z06, for that matter, are just amazing cars, are amazing driver's cars, and so incredibly capable. If you care what people think, you're not going to have the same experience. But I want to give a shout out to the guy who built this car. His name is Steve from, uh, PRP Automotive. They're based in Poco. I've only been in Vancouver for about five years and I've had a lot of trouble finding a shop I trust. That's a story for another day, but, um, this guy's incredible. And I'm not saying there's no other good shops around there, but if you guys are looking to build a car, he's got his own race program, he's got a lot of pride in what he does, and so I'm happy to give him a shout out 'cause this thing's great. The lumpy idle is just, that's just the best. The best thing. The entire car is just shaking back and forth. It's, it is breathing. It is, it is a breathing, living thing. That's why people love these cars so much.
So what else can you buy for around this amount of money? I mean, the C6 Z06 is an insane bargain, especially because C5 Z06s have kind of crept up to the same value, around, you know, $30 to $40,000 USD for a C6 Z06, which to me is insane, especially when you consider the only other car that came with the LS7 was, of course, the fifth-gen Camaro Z28. By all accounts, an amazing car. I've never driven one, but those are like $20 grand more than this. And I was trying to think of like, what other NA manual cars can you get in the used market for around the same money? And there's not a whole lot. If you want big power, that's the key. If you want like big, big power. GT350, hands down my top pick, but even those are trading for over 40. It's really not that surprising though, that engine is unforgettable. You can forget about the R8s, they're closer to GT3 money. Even 996 GT3s are 100K, and you could still have two or three C6 Z06s for the price of one first-gen Audi R8 V10 manual. So from there, logically, of course, my mind goes to the old DB7 V12 Vantage manual. And while values are all over the place, and the Vette would absolutely destroy it around a track, no question, it's still got 420 horsepower and an exhaust note worth 10 times what the car [Music] costs. But what about the E60 M5 V10 manual? Those are decent. They're a little bit heavier and probably a lot more expensive to reach 600 wheel horsepower. Of course, they come stock with around 500, same as this, but it's a little bit more of a grand tourer. Dodge Vipers. I looked at Dodge Viper prices. They are all over the, all over the place, excuse me, and a lot of times they are more expensive than this. That, that's probably the closest, although this would probably smoke most Dodge Vipers around a track unless we're talking like a later ACR, and those are way more expensive. You could probably buy three of these for a nice clean ACR [Music] Viper.
I was actually expecting it to be a little bit less drivable. Like that's always the worry when you go big cam, right? Is it going to make it annoying on the street? And there you go, like, you know, I didn't stall it, but it's a little bit choppy off the line. I'm sure if you got used to it, it would be totally cool, but that's the worry here. It's great. Let's go. Like there's just not enough road. Grrr, you're insane. I really hope you, uh, you enjoy this car for everything it is. I think you've done the right mods. If I had a C6, I would also keep it [Music] NA. That's just me. You know, we all have our preference. But less nose-heavy than a C7 Z06. I mean, I would love to get this on a track. This, it's begging for the track. I mean, you go 70, 100 on the street here and I'm getting my adrenaline pumping, I'm having a good time, but it's just, you know, the car is capable of so much more. Corvettes are crazy that you can get, you know, 7-liter plus of American pure, just NA power for so cheap. You know, not to say that this build is cheap, but the starting point of a C6 Z06 is not a lot of money, uh, especially when you consider new car prices, and the lack of manual transmissions, which makes the case for a C6 Z06 even that much stronger.
Thank you guys for watching. Thank you so much. Uh, thanks Graham for letting me have a go. Your Corvette, love it, dude. It's, I've always loved Corvettes ever since I was a kid. Thanks guys for watching. Uh, subscribe if you haven't already. Hit the like button, that really helps us out. We'll be back very [Music] soon.