PART TWO:

The Z06 Coupe!

This is the first-ever production Z06 Coupe, which was sent right from Bowling Green to Chief Engineer Tadge Juetcher in Michigan for drag times and road proving.

As The Tadge rolled into Autobahn Country Club in the new Z06 Coupe, we were on the car in seconds.

In terms of customer deliveries, the record-setting automatic transmission option discussed below will be about a month behind the Z06 Coupe. The order books are loaded – with more than 5000 pre-0rders taking months to clear before a car ordered today will see an owner’s driveway.

But for those who were first in line, the Z06 may arrive as soon as December. The Z06 Automatic and Convertible will each be a month or so behind those first manual cars.

In person, the Z06 looks about a foot wider overall than the standard Corvette, but is only about four or five inches of extra tire clearance room in reality. Even so, the design of the Z06 is greatly enhanced by these Z06 fender flares and the Z07 package shown on both cars below.

2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Coupe

PREVIOUS

Home from an amazing racetrack drive event in my old home-city of Chicago – and thrilled to report it was a smash hit! We have full 4K video reviews of 10 of the hottest new sports cars on the market in 2015.

But first, while 40GB of drive GoPro video files make their way on to YouTube….: the amazing Corvette Z06 Convertible basking in the late summer sun  of Autobahn Country Club.

We have been quasi-obsessed with the Z06 and the new Corvette in general over the past year. But with good reason! The car is amazing fun.

The Midwest Auto Media Association’s Fall Rally had a surprise guest: Tadge Juechter, Chief Engineer of the Corvette and Chevrolet Performance line.

His ride and special guest? the 2015 Z06 Coupe and Convertible.

We learned some fascinating details about the tech which powers the Z06 manual to a 3.2-second 0-60-mph sprint, as well as that which delivers an unreal 2.95-second sprint for the coupe with an automatic.

These numbers had just been run on the Milford Proving Ground and are still hot off the presses. The new eight-speed automatic is indeed faster than the manual, and is – Chevy believes – the quickest front-engine, rear-drive sprint time ever. In history. Of any sports car.

!

How outstanding are all the new Corvettes and Corvette Convertibles?

Juechter cites sales numbers that show a 3X increase in Corvette sales for the new C7 model. Amazing in itself, but even more so in that it has made the sportscar market segment one of the quickest-growing in the whole of automobiledom.

So what about that sprint time for the Z06 Convertible with the automatic? Chevy projects that it will be exactly the same as the coupe — making it one hell of an achievement.

Stay tuned for details on the 2015 Corvette’s integrated Performance Data Recorder — a system developed with Cosworth to run a built-in camera and software to overlay the video with various on-track performance data. The system works with a standard SD card, so you can pop it out and upload the videos to compare data, improve lap times and prove your heroic driving skills with the world.

Another world-first. Great stuff. The PDR will roll out in all 2015 Corvettes, not just the Z06.

All hail the Tadge!

2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Coupe

2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Convertible