Head to Head: 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 vs. 2008 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano

What is really amazing is that while sporting less power and significantly more weight, the 599 is faster or nearly as fast as the ZR1 in every category. No question that if speed is your only consideration, the ZR1 at its price is unbeatable.

 

prudence- Amazing the 599 is very nearly as quick as the ZR1 when it weighs ~500 lbs more and supposedly has fewer horsepower. Superior aerodynamics and the heavier weight give it better penetration at very high speeds, where the 599 passes the ZR1. For normal street encounters, there is no difference except the 599 is faster off the line and shifts much faster than your average Corvette driver. The ZR1 is a great car for the money (there it is again), but no Ferrari.

When I found out the ZR1 was going to be produced, I considered trading my 08 Z06 for one. I then thought for that much money, I could get a really nice 575M. So I did and could not be happier.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

"For the money" works both ways... for the money, the ZR1 is a great car.

But... for the money, there are other cars I'd still rather own.

 

Cool, but they didn't compare the exhaust notes. Certainly the music of a Ferrari v12 at 8500rpm has to be worth mention.
dave

 

Looks like the ZR1 walks away from the 599. Here's the Motor Trend VID.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZlGMX8G3B4

 

scary thing was the p-zeroes coming apart at speed. thank God didier theys (spelling?) felt it at 200mph.

would be interesting to see a scuderia go head to head. certainly if (when...?) ferrari throws a supercharger or twin turbos onto some of cars, there won't even be a conversation. Though it will outperform the Ford GT, I don't think the ZR1 will have the demand the GT has enjoyed...again, just a specialty vette - specialty mustangs are coming close, too, but they're still mustangs.

in 5 years the zr1 is just another specialty corvette - I think the 599 will be a genuine classic in Ferrari's lineage.

always my opinion - your mileage may vary

 

The tire issue bothered me. I replaced a rear on mine that got a pinhole at 3300mi. NEVER run high speeds on a tire that has been patched, it loses it's speed rating, and $600 for a tire is cheaper than a funeral. I wonder if the tire had hit something at a point in its life that led to the failure?
I just had a new Michelin PS2 throw a belt at 100+ on my W12. I felt it coming, very subtle. I was slowing when it happened, and really wasn't even a bad vibration. Tire temp went up 20 degrees right before/during. When I stopped, there was a 4" long bulge in sidewall about 3/4"deep, from tread to bead on front left. Never lost pressure (yet). I was lucky.
I look at tire temps and pressures constantly when I drive fast. Must have been huge heat buildup there, high load from the bank. Could have been ugly.
Vette did well, but I'll keep my 599.

 

Lee:

Do you find the tire pressure monitoring system in the 599 to be accurate?

 

If GM doesn't get their bailout, it will not matter.

How much money did they spend on this program and what return will they get?

 

I saw the car at the LA auto show a couple of weeks ago and I had the exact same feeling. While I can admire the car for what it is, I could not get over the silly idea of making a glass panel in the hood just to see a boring cast piece of aluminum. It shouted "gimmick" to me... something like the idea of the car itself.

At a time when GM can't even pay it's bills, low volume "halo" cars like this just show how out of touch and wasteful large companies can be. It's like a rolling version of flying a private jet to Congress to ask for an emergency loan because you're going broke next month.

I'm not saying GM should cancel the Vette. If it makes them money (and I assume it does), they should continue. What I am saying is that when resources are slim, management needs to find what is the best way to spend the existing limited funds in the most productive manner. As far as I can see, the ZR-1 is not one of them.

 

i'd like to see the drag race listed above with the 599 using launch control. Be interesting to see if it could narrow the distance between it and the vette by the end of the run.

 

Hi Gary
TPM in 599 is adequate, reads as well as any of them I've had, but is quite sensitive to pressure changes. PSI always low, reads sl more accurately in bar. But small changes in pressure are very well noted. Takes forever to get it to pick up a read when recalibrating, about 8-10 miles.
Neither car is for drag racing. Futa Pass, bottom-top-bottom x 15. F N'ring. Then the entire MM course x2. Then TF course x2. With friend, and luggage.
Clear would be kewl if it had 58IDA's. Bet they lose money on every one. I like it though, 'cause it's rude like my old Boss 429.

 

both Gm and Chrysler sell every Vett and Viper they can build. Its not wasteful, its just one of the only areas they are doing well in. It would be interesting if Chrysler could cut off all that doesn't sell well, and the attached infrastructure. And start from the top(Viper) and work its way back down the product tree. In the long run it might proves solid in that within 10 years everyone would know It only built quality products again, like it used to in the 1960s. GM cant do that because they are too big however.

 

FWIW my TPM is accurate insofar as changes in pressure go. The basic measurement is off by 2 psi on the right front and off by 1 psi on the left rear when measured against a calibrated gauge, but the changes in pressure are accurate and that's probably more important. I'd like to know when a tire is deflating rapidly and the system will work for that.
I check my tires before I drive anyway, just to be certain that I haven't picked up a nail that's slowly deflating the tire and the TPM system is really just an early warning system while driving.
A neat feature is the tire temp readout which is the only one I've seen in any car. It's probably pertinent only if you are driving at sustained high speed over an undulating course with lots of direction changes and braking, which will only happen at a track day and I'd rather track a Stradale if there's an opportunity for a track day.

 

If indeed the Corvette actually makes a profit as a division there is no doubt the company keep it to defray the loses they make on their normal POS lineup, but there is also the opportunity to sell the entire Corvette division to raise real money to make up some of the billions of lost shareholder equity the current team of monkeys running GM have managed to squander.

 

A- They make a profit on Corvettes, but fight for development funding. Bad news is the C7 next generation was put off to at least 2014 even before the latest meltdown.

Now the big three will rush to small cars, which, with gas at $1.50 and dropping, nobody will eventually want and they will be screwed again.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Congress should agree to fund the legacy costs of $12b and allow a chapter 11. Corvette will be sold to someone who cares like Prodrive and let the vultures descend on the carcass of what's left

 

As of last month there were still some brand new unsold '07 Vettes on dealer lots, let alone the '08's.

 

Absolutely right - you can by a new 2007 vette at the price of a mini

 

The ZR1 ran 7.26 at the Ring what did the 599 run?

 

A lot slower.

edit- Best time I could find was a 7:47, which is a few seconds shy of the Z06.

 

Go price out a 1967 L88 or a ZL-1. Certainly not the rare Ferrari, but by no means "just another specialty". Assuming the ZR-1 (like the previous ZR-1) is produced in limited quantities, in 30 years, it will have appreciated considerably.

As others have pointed out, they make money on these. It still wouldn't matter, as the Corvette is the "halo" car, so they'd make it no matter what.

 

There is no independant NBR lap time for the ZR1 yet. The SportAuto lap time ("Supertest") of the 599GTB at the NBR was 7.47. The corresponding (and comparable) Z06 Supertest time was 7.49. The ZR1 test will appear in the next months. Most likely, the ZR1 will do something between 7.33 (GT2) and 7.40. The 7.26 is just a factory claim (marketing driven...).

 

Maybe they sped up the tape ...?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6mEirkQN8o&fmt=18