Andi gave me a call; he'd just returned from from Spain, having attended as a journalist for the introduction of the 997 Turbo. For his write-up, he wanted to drive a 996 Turbo as a comparison and he offered his C6 Z06 in exchange. It seemed to be a good idea to me- I wanted more C6Z seat time, as my purchase may be postponed due to the possibility of a business purchase.

Andi and I met and we reaquainted ourselves with one another's car. We met up at a place where, years ago, we'd leave from to go racing. After a brief chat, we were off. Starting the engine, again I enjoy the show that the dashboard gives while doing its self diagnostics. Dimensionally, the C6Z is longer and wider, so I ensure that my mirror adjustments are good and I'm off. Getting out of my Porsche, the C6Z is the easiest transition compared to other sports cars because the ergonomics are somewhat similar.

I merge onto the highway, accelerating to blend in a little faster than traffic. I look down and I'm doing 95, so I slow down. The car is so comfortable and quiet other than mechanical sounds that it's hard to judge speed. I speed up, slow down, and juggle between gears to get a feel for the car- there is essentially no traffic. I nail the throttle in second, and at about 70 hit a small pavement irregularity. The wheels break loose and reconnect, jolting me immediately to about 75. Turning, there is less body roll than in my Turbo S. This car is definitely quicker than my Turbo S- then again, the Porsche ain't exactly slow. There's no spool-up; power is instantaneous, building from under 2000 rpm until all hell breaks loose above 4000 rpm. Although dyno graphs show a power drop approaching redline, the car seems to pull harder and harder in defiance of the papers. If you're reading this for education regarding a purchase, take this advice: if you go WOT in a ZO6, hold on and pay attention. It gets very fast very quickly and it's hard to judge speed due to the car's smoothness, so pay attention to the instruments too. Fortunately, engine braking is good and the 6-piston fronts and 4-piston rears get you out of warp speed quickly.

I hit the local roads near my home, and there are quite a few twisties. I pull some 0.6-.08 g turns and the car is planted. On small potholes, the suspension's rebound damping does a so-so job of pushing the wheel into the hole- the Porsche suspension damping is much sharper and quicker. Still, the C6Z is sprung very well and maintains perfect composure in corners with little skitter bumps. It seems to me that the Porsche has more travel and more body roll (though still very little) but better damping. The C6Z springs seem to progress firmer faster.

I've read and heard people complain that the Corvette chassis doesn't communicate well with the driver, but I find that to be untrue. The car communicates beautifully and for the three days that I had the car, I never felt squirrelly. If you know how to drive, the C6Z is easy to drive fast. I turned off the traction and stability and drove fearlessly- the car is very neutral. Powering out of corners, there is a progressive slide that is predictable- the slide is easy to avoid by simply gassing a little later. The Porsche doesn't slide-AWD and the heavy weight on the rear wheels, and the Porsche is planted and pulling like a beast out of a corner with no sliding.

Of course, the road is full of Camrys and Odysseys and the idiots who drive them. Evading a Highlander, the C6Z was composed under hard braking, turning, accelerating and flipping off the SUV driver. It's nice having such instant torque- I'd have had to downshift in the Porsche and would have lost a few seconds of stare-down and middle fingering the scumbague. C6Z brakes are awesome and compare well to anything I've driven in street driving, but I didn't get any track time to assess for fade. My Porsche has PCCB II, so a comparison would be unfair.

The verdict? Cars have come a long way in just the past few years. I remember when the 996TT was introduced and the awe it inspired- it just does everything well. Five years of evolution have yielded cars that are faster and more advanced with higher absolute limits, and the C6Z is a good example of this. The C6Z is definitely faster, and I like its gadgetry. The Porsche suspension is better. 996TT steel brakes are equal to C6Z brakes. While the C6Z is faster, it's close enough that a better driver in the Turbo S could beat a less-skilled driver in the C6Z, especially in twisties, so don't be too quick to race for pinks.

If I were in the market for a car today, I'd choose a C6Z over a 996TT. Since I already own a TT-S, I wouldn't sell it to get a C6Z, but I find the C6Z so impressive that its a priority of mine to get one.

Now, there is something else I'd like to bring up, and that's the mean-spiritedness of some people in this forum. Over on the Porsche forums, I reprimand the "car snobs". Over here, I think that some of you need to get a grip. Rest assured, every competent manufacturer knows how to make very fast cars- if Honda can compete in F1 and Porsche can win LeMans 28 times, please be intelligent enough to realize that they can make a consumer car that could run better than a 7:42 at Nurburgring. I am very glad that the C6 Z06 has set the milestones that it has, and I'm well aware that GM could make a car that ran a 7:32, as DID Porsche, as could Ferrari, Toyota and Ford. Consumer cars are built for specific markets with predetermined specifications and features. So, while I defend GM when some of you gripe about the Corvette's interior, for example, I also have to defend the other manufacturers who are building THEIR CARS FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS and don't give a rat's ass about what the Z06, 911Turbo or any other car can do. Last I checked, there is a 2 year wait for ANY Ferrari, and Ferrari doesn't even test Nurburgring.

Styling:
Both cars look cool, in their own way. Like AJ, I wish I had one of each....

Power:
The Z06 is faster, no doubt about it. Power any time, any RPM, any gear. Only thing that's missing is traction -- that's what the all wheel drive 996TT brings to the table. The Turbo S spools at 3500RPM, and you better hold on when this thing hits 4500RPM as the turbo hits hard in the midrange.. It's a blast to drive. But you have to drive it like a turbo car...

The torque curve and gearing is much more useable in the Z06 -- with a tall first gear that lets you make a quick getaway in the city from any parking lot and exceed the speed limit before even having to make a shift. You cannot do that in the Porsche. Drop the clutch, floor it, get a speeding ticket, then shift, versus, drop the clutch, wait for spool, go, shift, wait for spool again, ok you're finally speeding by the Z06 that's pulled over on the side of the road...


The clutch action is much nicer in the Porsche; it's just too damped in the z06. Porsche put a REAL clutch in the 996TT. If you mess up and engage it too harshly, it feels like you got rear ended by a freight train. Yet the pedal effort is light. Excellent job.


Driving Impressions (Handling):
The Porsche's turn-in attitude is *VERY* throttle/brake sensitive, whereas the Z06's is hardly at all. In the Porsche, I can be cornering only at maybe 75% of the limit, and if I lift off the gas, the rear end will step out and the front end will change lanes to the inside before the stability control intervenes to stop the slide. Note that the stability control intervenes in such situations even if it is turned off -- you cannot totally turn it off.

In the Z06, lift midcorner and you might get the slightest correction of attitude, but not much at all. If I really need to tighten my line midcorner I tend to floor it and throttle steer.

On corner exit, the Z06 is much better balanced -- I can control the attitude of the car and guide it to the edge of the road with my right foot with millimetric precision. The 996 Turbo S, with its always-on viscous coupled all wheel drive just power understeers. Since I know AJ prizes his front wheels, and the City of Irving likes their curbs, I didn't often test how precisely I could power understeer near the curbs.

Static balance is pretty neutral in both cars.

Braking in a straight line on smooth surfaces is very good in both cars, with the nod going to the Turbo S -- especially in repeated tests where the Porsche's Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCBs) resisted fade better than the Z06's brakes. I found the Porsche's ABS tuning to be more aggressive as well, especially in decresasing radius situations, where the Z06 finds itself ABSing too early, well before the limit of adhesion. This is a malady that has plagued Z06's since the C5 and has improved in the C6 iteration but is still not totally remedied. Note that the Porsche's PCCBs are a bit underboosted. On initial bite, the Z06's brakes feel better, but after some hard use, they don't feel quite as crisp. The Porsche PCCBs, like a good woman, just feel better and better the more you pound them.



I have cruised at 150mph for extended periods of time in both cars. The Z06 is smoother, quieter, and more confident. The Z06 seems to have a permanent mute/slow-motion button activated.


The springs are slightly stiffer the Porsche... but the shocks, especially on the rebound side, are signifncantly stiffer in the Porsche. You notice this going over big crests at speed. The Z06 will float for a fraction of a second, whereas the Porsche will immediately FALL back down with the road as it disappears under you. I like the shock tuning and ABS tuning on the Porsche a lot better. For an everyday driver, the Porsche does give up some ride quality for this improved damping.



Other misc impressions:
The Porsche has a rather blaah exhaust note, whereas the Z06 has a mute button cruise and a classic musclecar sound at WOT.

The Porsche is much smaller and easier to park -- there's about half as much car in front of you.

The Porsche has something like 3 cubic feet if tunk space plus 2 half-assed back seats. The Corvette has something like 18 cubic feet (can't remember for sure) of trunk space and no back seats. Makes more sense to me for this type of vehicle.



Both cars have decent lower seat bolsters, but the sport seats in the Porsche have shoulder bolsters that are greatly missed in the Z06.

The radio in the Porsche BUMPS. It's significantly better than the Z06 radio. The sat-nav in the Porsche also lets you enter destinations while moving, after agreeing that you are the passenger, a nice feature lacking in the Z06. On the downside, the nav is a non-touchscreen unit with the little etch-a-sketch type interface.

There is no dual-zone climate control in the Porsche, surprising for this price range. Z06 has it.

The Porsche's sunroof is a nice touch -- I wish the Z06 had one.


Both the 996TT and the C6 Z06 have mediocre interior materials. Ashtray bins, center stacks, etc -- both are subpar for cars this expensive. But then you look at the leather dashboard and Alcantara headliner and see Porsche at least paid attention to some things...

996TT has telescoping steering column but not tilting (997TT now has tilt/telescoping). Z06 has tilting standard and telescoping optional (part of 2LZ package). Even with 2LZ, it does not telescope far enough for a comfortable, good driving position for performance driving. I was more comfortable in the Porsche.

Other than the steering wheel position, I like the C6 Z06's driving position better because of the high center tunnel -- keeping my arms high for that la-z-boy recliner driving position that's so nice for long drives. The Porsche's lower armrests keep you more "proper" and upright. The wider z06 has more useable storage space for miscellaneous items in the center storage bin, and has a useable pair of cupholders, and most importantly, it has a place to put your phone! I couldn't find ANY place to put my phone in the 996TT.