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Hey Guys...long time lurker, first time poster (no, no pics yet :p )
I've been following this thread with some amusement on both sides of the argument. Here's my take (in multiple parts):
1) It would be awesome to see the 2 cars run head-to-head on as-similar-as-possible tires to isolate the improvements. For academic purposes only, since stock-vs-stock they come with the tires they come with.
2) Given the anecdotal evidence presented here and a few other places..even with the same tires I would expect the Z/28 to beat the ZL1 in nearly all "track" scenarios. Notice I said "track"..as in a prepared racetrack where the racing suspension of the Z/28 can be maximized and the magnetic magic of the ZL1 would have a minimal impact compared to a "road course" like the 'Ring where the surface is varied and downright brutally bumpy in some places.
3) I think everyone in this thread is giving WAY too much credence to the "3 seconds faster thing". Did anyone consider (and if I missed it somewhere in the thread, my humble apologies) that the 3-seconds is just GM sandbagging the advantage the Z/28 showed so as to not make the ZL1 look "too" bad and thus hurt sales. Basically...trying to avoid the "Osborne Effect". I mean think about it...if one does rough extrapolation of the times and distances versus some other tracks with known lap times of all the interested parties...if we take the "tires are the only difference" tact then one could argue that the 1LE is just a tire change away from matching the ZL1 on many if not most of those tracks. $20k buys a lot of tires :p Are we going there? 'Cause that's where some of this logic train is headed if allowed to run its course.
Here's my best wild @$$ guess: Z/28 is actually 5 seconds faster at Milford. Will be 6 seconds faster after final tuning is complete and the car is release to production. About 1.5s to 2s is attributable to the tires. And the "newly revised lap times" won't be released until pricing and limited availability of the car is announced so as to not hurt ZL1 sales in the mean time. When announced, it will wind up being at least $70,000 with a very limited run which will push out-the-door prices over $100k to pure collectors and enthusiasts...thus ensuring that it won't cannibalize ZL1 sales.
Anywho...nice to meet you all and you may now continue your regularly scheduled equine gibbing fest :p
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