Corvette Comparison

How does a 1999 Corvette compare to a 1999 Porsche ? Speed. Handling. Braking. Got a "cuzzin" interested in a used Corvette. He asked me about the differences between the Corvette and the Porsche. All I could tell him is that the Corvette floats just like my fibreglass boat.

I had a 2000 C5 Vette and now a 2003 C2. I think that's pretty close to what you are comparing. The Vette drives a lot heavier -- most likely for having all that engine in the front versus the rear. The Vette is probably a little slower, but I am sure it's close. The C5 has no back seat, but the coupe version has a huge 25cu.ft. trunk. That's bigger than a Town Car's trunk! The ride confort is fairly similar. Both cars rear suspensions thump hard on expansion joints (at least my C2 with the US030 does). 911's may be common, but the Vette's are absolutely everywhere, so the 911's win exclusiveness and cach�. I had to sell my C5 in the end because of that and buy a Viper. The Vette interior really gets old fast too. That's really a GM trademark, but the Vette really feels skanky within a few years. The Vette has a lot more and lower cost options for performance upgrades. It's very easy to get one going faster than a stock 911...

For all the reasons listed by PorschePRH, the Vette depreciates very quickly. So if you can live with the Vette's shortcomings, you can get decent performance at a low cost. I was tempeted by the C6 but fortunately one trip to the Chevy dealer to have my son's Prism serviced brought me back to my senses. Given the choice between having my car serviced at a gas station or that Chevy dealer, I'd pick the gas station.

The turning radius on Vettes is huge making it not as fun to drive just tooling around. You got to love that low end torque though.

Corvette is much faster (4.7 sec to 60) vs. 4.9-5.0 for the '99 911, and should whip the 911 around curvies as well. The Corvette is a great every day driver and a good value. As others have mentioned, the interior is the worst part of the car. The seats wear very poorly, and all the plastic parts exhibit bad shrinkage, poor stereo, etc. And it isn't at all exclusive.

Being the "car" enthusiast that I am, I have to appreciate the Vette. Dollar to dollar it is the BEST bang for the buck out there. I may even pick one up just to run on the track. I am not even sure that a 911 vs. C5 is a good comparison. Each has their strengths and weaknesses. It just come down to driver preference. Chad

Look at the lines on Chads post. Beautiful.... skirts, wing etc. So much better that the vette.

How do you figure that?

If he likes the vettes tell him to buy the Z06. I have a 99 C2 and I have driven a "normal" C5 (not Z06) in the track. The Porsche is by far better in handling and feeling, actualy the vette is awfull in the track. Now the Z06 is totally different. For the money I believe the Z06 it's a great bargin if he is interested in performance. A Z06 will be faster everywhere than a 996 (excluding GT3 & GT2) but they don't have the same felling or character. Keep in mind that every car enthusiast must live with a 911 at some point of his life.

Isn't that the truth!

Keep in mind tho, fellas. For very (and I do mean VERY) little $$$, you can have one bad *** track toy. I looked into these a little while back. Figure this: Buy a C5 (hardtop coupe - non Z06) - $18K-20K Mods: $1500 for coilovers exhaust - $1200 seats- $1500 total: $24K (high) For a seriously quick track beastie. Yes please. Of course for a little more, you could go a little further with StopTech brakes, the lot, etc..etc, etc... Chad

The Corvette comes with a free mullet upgrade too.

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the vette is closing in that's for sure... think if chevy decided to offer coilovers on the stock car as well as some kick *** brakes and slightly better steering feel... you'd surely have something there cause the new 400HP vette motor just destroys everything out there... wonder if a GT3 would pull it and if so by how much... probably not much at all...

My 99 996 did 0-60 in 4.65... motortrend mag also got a 99 to 60 in 4.6 and 13.1 through the quarter.... yesterday I raced my friend's 2004 corvette convertible... he couldn't get by me at all... close race... pulled him slightly on the top of 2nd gear... he also mentioned that his car had more than 350 hp... hmmmm my car is stock except for PSE... had I had a GIAC chip in there... well that would have been worth a car length or two eh?

The new ZO6 should be on the street next month and the engine is an LS7 7.0 liter NA V8 that puts out 505hp and 470 ft.lbs or torque. It also has dry sump oil as well as some carbon fiber parts and I think the weight is just under 3200 lbs. 0-60 should be around 3.7 seconds and the suspension will be better than any other stock vette. It will be a beast no doubt. The interior will be better than other vettes and if I wanted a track car, I would consider this, but I don't think I could stand the vette interior as an everyday driver. Besides, I really want a cabriolet. Base price $68,000. If you track your car, look out for experienced drivers in this beast.

Just saw an article on the ZO6 that beat the GT2 at the "ring". The only car faster was the Carrera GT. Will

where is that article... I've read others that say the Z06 can't beat the GT3... hmm is chevy getting creative with their marketing?

Remember, a small block chevy engine is a excellent racing platform, it can easily and cheaply be made to crank out 5-600hp.

Motor Trend Sept. page 18. It is a shame they eleminated the targa top in the ZO6 just to save a few pounds. I am just not crazy about the car in general but would love to have that kind of performance for the advertised price. It may be a few years before you can really have one at that price. Will

If only they could fit the LS7 into the 997. Can you imaging the performance of a supercharged LS7. I'm sure that you will see some insane performance numbers from Lingenfelter once they start to modify the LS7, but traction will be a huge issue. Hasn't Porsche designed a V8 for their LMP2 Formula 1 car? Anyway, I think the 997tt is suposed to have around 515HP, but I'm sure the price will be a bit north of $68,000!

I read the same article, it was a little misleading with respect to the Z06 vs GT2. I think the GT2 was faster in the loop by < 1 second (7 minute 42 second total IIRC) but when they listed the cars/times they listed the Z06 before the GT2 but with identical times. The also made note that it was a hot/muggy day when running the Z06. No doubt the Z06 is fast. It is gonna be tough to beat at twice the cost. CT

If you acted fast you could have bought one for sticker. Kerbeck in NJ and a couple of other big dealers are selling at sticker, but as you can imagine their allotments for this year are history. But there's always next year. Of course there's going to be lots of dealers with Z06s in their showrooms for $10 - $20K over sticker, but these dealers probably want the car for drawing people imto their showrooms. On the other hand if someone is anxious enough, I'm sure they will be happy to sell at the marked up price.

Of all the exotics, only the Porsche GT was faster with a time of 7 minutes 32 secs. They list a time of 8 min 07 sec for a 911. The lap record is held by Stefan Bellof in a Porsche 956. In 1983 he ran a time of 6 min 11 sec.

I don't care how fast it is. It still looks like crap. It is amazing how bad we Americans are when it comes to designing automobiles and even after copying Ferrari here and there, the Vette is still butt ugly. Looks okay from the windshield forward, but the lights (ala 360), hood scoop (ala 550 & 575), wheels (ala 430), front end (ala Ferrari) are all cheap knocks off of Ferrari. It could run the Ring in 7 flat and I still would not drive it, unless I was racing at the Ring. You get exactly what you pay for. There is a reason why Vettes costs what they costs and Porsche gets what is gets for its cars. Performance is only a part of the exotic sports car experience. Ferraris are weak on paper, but drive a 355 and drive a Vette back to back. I don't care which one is faster, the Ferrari is a work or art and the sound alone is worth the price of admission. But for you guys so focused on numbers, didn't a GT2 just run a 7:16 or something insane. Seriously, you guys arguing about numbers ever drive the Ring or even know how to drive either a 911 or a Vette at 10/10ths. If not, then the only thing that is important is what makes you happy when you drive.

I don't know Doug I have never thought my 996 Cab was the greatest looking car in the world. It kinda looks like a wasp. The Corvette rear end looks like a baboon. I think the Miata is better looking than both of them. Corvette's have a lot going for them. There are strong, meaning hard to break. Cheap and easy to fix and hop up. They have just grown to long and big for my taste. I don't get a sports car so I have room for golf clubs. The first real sports car was an MG. That's the right size just make it go like hell!

Miata??? Better looking than a Porsche. Don't like the way your Porsche looks. Well trade that Porsche in and get a new car. Why oh why would you buy a car that you thought was ugly. Just to have a Porsche. What's that called. Running different tires on front then back. MG first real sports car??? Forget 550s, vintage F-Cars, Aston Martins, E-Types, Muira and on and on. You should trade your 996 and buy a Vette and a Miatta if you really like them better. It would be silly to do otherwise. BTW, I don't golf, but I can fit 2 adults and my 8 and 9 year old daughters in my TT cab (plus a picknick basket, socer *****, frisbee and stuff), hit 0 - 60 in less than 4 seconds, go 190+, and have put 23,560 miles on it in a year with only a service, new tires and an oil change (not counting $ 16k in mods that were completely unecessary). Let see you do that in a Miata, Vette, or heaven forbids an MG. Haha, I cannot believe the MG stuff. That is great. Funny stuff.

I've owned both an '01 Corvette and now have a '99 911 Carrera. The only problem I had with the design of the '01 was the rear end was too big. I think the 911 has better lines overall still neither are a Ferrari or Lambo when it comes to sleekness of design. I enjoyed both cars but I feel more at 'home' in the 911. It suits me better in the long run. The Corvette was fast, great gas mileage (20 city & 29 hway) and very reliable for me. I was not that impressed with the build quality though. even though it was only 3 years old it started to squeak, rattle and grunt like an old man. The interior finish was subpar at best. However with that said, for being able to pick up a nice fairly low mileage one for under $30k now its a great deal to be honest. For the money its the most bang for the buck in overall performance and handling I think, at least in a true sportscar platform. (not including the rally cars such as WRXs and Lancer Evo's) -Richard

Doug I didn't buy the 911 for it's looks. I didn't buy it to impress people. I bought it for me. For the performance. When I'm driving I can't see the car and could care less what other people think. They don't really look at you anyway and could care less. Most don't even know what you are driving much less what year it is. I have owned 5 Corvettes and they are great cars. I almost bought a Miata it is a great car and fun to drive just not enough power to suit me. A sports car is a personal car so it must be all about me nobody else.

You have the right attitude. If you try to impress others, you'll never be happy because there will always be someone who won't like your car.Moreover, I agree that the vast majority of people couldn't care less what car other people are driving.

All of you have excellent points and to each his own. BTW the new Z06 has a shorter overall length than the 997. I wish that I could get a chance to drive some of the Italian exotics just to have the experience, but certainly nothing I would ever/could ever consider purchasing. I have been communicating with someone who has been on a waiting list for the Z06 and should get it in the next month or two. He used to race professionally and he offered to let me open it up after he breaks in the engine. Between his skill and the cars reported performance, it should be a fun ride. Despite the fact that it will never have the fit, feel, finish, or service department of much more expensive sport cars, I think that most enthusiasts on this forum can appreciate it for what it is.

To me the 911 is a true exotic luxury sports car that is both fun and comfortable (996). But the iceing on the cake is its ease of personalization with modifications. Both exterior and interior mods allows the owner to customize to his or her preferance and still be reliable and reasonably economical. Still we want more speed and handeling and the ZO6 is going to be a benchmark to compare to. I need my all wheel drive in the winter. But I want one of each. Will

I find the 996 to be slower and bad value for money, but it is a long term relationship. It has it's own character and you always enjoy driving it. On the other hand the Corvette is faster and great value for money especially the Z06 but not for long term. Its like your wife and an one night stand. The one night stand is great but for a night. In our case the Z06 is great if a friend has it and he let's you track it a couple times. Having said that the new Z06 might be my next car...track car that is.

I paid low $ 60k for my 355 with 18k miles, 30k service completed, and valve guide issue resolved or updated ($ 8,000 job). In 6 months, I bet 95 355s will be in the mid $ 50k range due to the high production numbers of the 360 and 430. That is about the price of entrance for a Vette. The Vette may beat it around the track, but the sound and the feel are awesome. IMO, the 355 is a work of art in the looks department. Why not consider one? You can get up to 96 months on 355s with good credit so your note might even be less than a Vettes. It might be easier to enjoy the experience than you think.

the 355 is one of the best looking ferrari's ever...

WOW!!! Thanks for the info. I'm going to start looking now. I thought entry points for decent previously owned Ferrari's were in the $130,000+ range. I was trying to stay around $70,000 for a 996 cab and then start the mods, but I think I will at least do some searching for a low mile Ferrari. To be honest, I haven't kept up or educated myself with the models/styles/engines/etc. because I thought they were more than just a stretch for me. Thanks again for the info!

It is cool. I just don't care how fast a car is, if it is ugly, I am not driving it. It is not like any of us our race car drivers or speed racer. If only a track car, then I would not care about looks. But I spend about 6 days a year at a track and 359 days a year off the track and all of my cars exceed my driving abilities. The 355 could be 0 - 60 in 6 seconds and I would still love if it sounded the same and felt the same.

Patience is key with Ferraris. I paid for four PPIs and looked a long time. People will ask crazy unrealistic prices for them and won't budge. Forget ones with only 5,000 or 6,000 miles and get one that has been driven and had the valve guides updated. Make sure you pay the $ 250 for a PPI and pay for a compression test if the valve guides have not been updated on pre-1998 models.