fiction:
-stock Z06 vs stock +03 Cobra is a drivers race
-C6 is lighter than Z06
-"base" LS2 is tapped at 400
Lets add some FACTS:
-stock Z06 .5 faster than stock +03 Cobra (if you call that a drivers race, so beit)
-C6 will weigh in around 100 more lbs than current Z06
-"base" LS2 has the following over current LS1/LS6
20 more ci
same flowing heads as LS6
90mm t/b
cam profile somewhere between LS1 and LS6
new 6500 redline (same as LS6)
I own a Z06 and I'm definitely not ashamed to say I think the Z51 optioned C6 will kick the $hit of a bonestock +'02 Z06. For anyone who knows anything about the chevy motors, the 400/400 rating for the LS2 sounds incredibly underrated. I think those will prove to be closer to wheel numbers. Probably 380/380 rw numbers with a much broader tourque band than the current LS1/LS6 due to the extra 20ci.
Throw in the Z51 option and the T56 with ratios like the current Z06, and it's going to kick major arse. It gives up 100lbs, gains extra hp/tq (not just peak, but extra area under the curve), and with identical tranny gearing, it should stomp a mudhole in the Z06.
God help my pocketbook when the Z06 comes out. But it won't be a 7.0 liter. It will be a 6.3/6.4 liter with most likely a sub 3000lb curb weight. That car will run 125 mph traps from the showroom when its released.
But I also like mustangs. And although the current Cobra wasn't exactly what I had hoped for in the styling and weight department, the motor can't be argued with. If they make an 06 Cobra thats under 3500lbs, and houses a blown, forged 5.4 powerplant, I will have an extremely tough decision in '06. Either way, my current '02 Z06 is most likely gone.
But don't be ignorant and diss the base C6. The f-bod might be gone, but the vette is alive and well and continues to see substantial improvement. The C5 was an extremely hard act to follow and I'll be damned if Chevy didn't do it.