[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-VNeWe_GaY[/youtube]
Remember when the rest of the world used to make fun of the Corvette? It wasn’t completely warranted, yet there were some criticisms that both stuck and stung. Those days were officially pushed into the past when the new C7 Corvette arrived.
The 2015 Corvette Z06, however, takes those old notions, douses them in high-octane fuel, and sets them ablaze. That’s because it just might be the best bang for the buck performance machine on the planet.
Hell it might be one of the best performance machines on the planet *period*
[Disclaimer: Chevrolet threw us the keys to the Z06 and let us borrow it for a weekend. Fuel was used to generate noise, tire smoke, and a burning desire to own a new Z06.]
2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06: Bang for the buck… redefined
By Jeff Glucker
Apr 10, 2015
By Jeff Glucker
Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff
William Byrd
I think we should build a Glucker Index of performance to $s. Instead of just HP to $ ratio which ignores that HP is only one angle of the equation. I propose we do:
Square Root of ((HP*TQ)/((Weight/100)^2)*300-ft Skidpad g)/(Log10(Price))
For example. The 2016 BRZ would get a 2.82 on this calculation, the 2001 Mazda Miata when new got a 2.58, and the new Ford Mustang GT gets a 5.02 (EcoBoost 4.06)
This Z06 gets a 9.01
For more plebeian cars The Chevy Impala I-4 gets a 2.24 while a Charger R/T gets a 3.82.
An Ariel Atom (Base 300-hp one) gets a 8.30
Meanwhile a Bugatti Veyron earns a 10.39 and the 1991 McLaren F1 (Thanks in part to a dismal .86 of the skidpad) gets a 8.05
Help me refine this if needed. I didn’t want to penalize price too heavily as prices get astronomically more expensive for supercars.
We can call it “the Gip.”
Don’t we also add points for turbos, an odd number of cylinders, vent windows and more than one ashtray?
“How Gip is Your Car?”
Except GIP Index is an advanced analytic, not an arbitrary assignment of points for weirdness. The how jalop index was fun, but has little practical application.
I THOUGHT it was an advanced analytic — until the McLaren F1 scored lower than the Veyron; then I began to wonder if you were just making these numbers up…
I massaged the formula in many ways, but the absurd horsepower and torque of the 1200 HP Veyron overcame the F1 every time.
I’ve just re-run the numbers using MY scoring system and it seems you may be right: However many points the F1 gets for three seats (!!!) the Veyron gets more for four turbos (!!!!).
/sulks
…now if only the McLaren had a tape-stripe sticker package, bench seat and some ashtrays. Then we would see who is the winner.
If you simply divide the price by 10,000 instead of using a logarithmic approach, the F1 will be ahead of the Veyron, however due to the obscene price, the BRZ gets a higher GIP.
That’s like choosing Youkilis over Pujols.
Plus they’d have to release the shooting brake version of the F1…
…or the pickup.
I’ll need this data for each car I review going forward…
Good thing I saved the Excel file.
I’m curious… if it’s a manual, why are there still paddles on the steering wheel? Are they for controlling the rev match? If so that’s a really weird place for them. Must be weird to shift manually with your right hand while using a paddle for the rev match – you’d think it would just automatically do it when you throw it into another gear.
Great video as always.
Yep, they control rev matching. But not like that. One turns the system on, the other turns it off. GM did it so they wouldn’t have to design/manufacture/crash test two different steering wheels.
” it just might be the best bang for the buck performance machine on the planet.”
Ahem.
$12,699
According to the GIP, the ZX-14R is in the High-12s/Low-13s. Destroying even the Veyron.
Huh? for those of us a bit more mathematically challenged, is the higher or lower score better? I mean the Veyron and F1 provide a lot of bang, but at too many of the buck. The low Miata score suggests, it’s closer to a Chevy spark for instance.
Wait! You get two identical bikes for $12,699?