Z06 Production info

[meyerweb]

Just got back from a trip to Bowling Green (and other places) and took the factory tour on Thursday. Our guide said that, while it can vary from week to week and even day to day, at that time Z06's made up about 1 in 3 Corvettes on the line. HOWEVER, my admittedly limited observation didn't corroborate that. Based on the cars I saw on the line, I'd say the number was between 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 were Z06s. It's hard to be sure, because sometimes there might be 2 Z06s with 2 Stingrays in between, but sometimes 4 or 5 Stingrays in between. But my best guesstimate is that at that specific time of that day, between 20 and 25 percent of production were Z06s. A lot better than the ~10% at the beginning. The tour guide pointed to a stack of boxes that each contained 6 Z06 high wings. He indicated they'd all be used very soon, and it might be a while before any more showed up.

A couple of other observations: they are building a LOT of Red Mist Corvettes. I saw more RMM body panels than Torch Red. But probably more Black and White panels than either red. Again, that reflects one short moment in time, and the day before or after might have had far more TR cars. I also saw one E-Ray, in the QC area. No idea what the issue might have been. Finally, and I found this amusing given the "fix" some are applying to their 2023 cars without the key lock under the license plate, all the Corvettes had a cable with a loop on the end hanging out of the trunk. My guess is that it was hooked up to the child safety release so that they could open the trunk without a key.

[chevyrules]

I would say the 1 for 3 being Z's was accurate when they were hitting 60+ a day. Let's hope they can achieve that again!

But thanks for the write up meyerweb!

[ABorC]

don't they produce a few of the same color in batches? maybe that's why you saw so many RMMs.

[dcbingaman]

White has been the most popular color for all cars and SUV’s for a long time. Black Corvettes have been favorites of the “Vette Faithful” for nearly as long.

Good to hear that more Z06’s coming down the line. A lot of guys and gals have been waiting a LONG time for this car. Hopefully they will receive their orders soon.

[John]

No more batch color production any more as they did prior to the new paint shop coming on line. They now make them individually colored, though same color back-to -back IF that is the next car scheduled by the master logistics computer.

[meyerweb]

don't they produce a few of the same color in batches? maybe that's why you saw so many RMMs.

Nope, not any more. The tour guide emphasized that they paint panels in the order of production, and not in batches of color. And there were very few cars of the same color back to back on the line. The new paint robots run separate paint lines for each color all the way to the nozzle, so clearing the nozzle in between colors wastes very little paint. In fact, the guide said they clear the nozzle between each set of panels every time, even if they're the same color as the previous set.

[shatter]

Did you see an ELB Z06 on your tour? Mine rolled off the line on Friday which I assume means it started being assembled on Thursday.

[meyerweb]

Did you see an ELB Z06 on your tour? Mine rolled off the line on Friday which I assume means it started being assembled on Thursday.

I honestly don't remember. There were some ELBs, but I don't remember whether any were a Z06.

[SheepDog]

Just got back from a trip to Bowling Green (and other places) and took the factory tour on Thursday. Our guide said that, while it can vary from week to week and even day to day, at that time Z06's made up about 1 in 3 Corvettes on the line. HOWEVER, my admittedly limited observation didn't corroborate that. Based on the cars I saw on the line, I'd say the number was between 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 were Z06s. It's hard to be sure, because sometimes there might be 2 Z06s with 2 Stingrays in between, but sometimes 4 or 5 Stingrays in between. But my best guesstimate is that at that specific time of that day, between 20 and 25 percent of production were Z06s. A lot better than the ~10% at the beginning. The tour guide pointed to a stack of boxes that each contained 6 Z06 high wings. He indicated they'd all be used very soon, and it might be a while before any more showed up.

A couple of other observations: they are building a LOT of Red Mist Corvettes. I saw more RMM body panels than Torch Red. But probably more Black and White panels than either red. Again, that reflects one short moment in time, and the day before or after might have had far more TR cars. I also saw one E-Ray, in the QC area. No idea what the issue might have been. Finally, and I found this amusing given the "fix" some are applying to their 2023 cars without the key lock under the license plate, all the Corvettes had a cable with a loop on the end hanging out of the trunk. My guess is that it was hooked up to the child safety release so that they could open the trunk without a key.

Visit the Motor Sports Park?

[meyerweb]

Visit the Motor Sports Park?

Yep, got 5 rapid laps. Yes, a bonus lap. About 2/3 of the way through our first lap the instructor in the lead car suddenly slowed way down, then led us into the pit entry. Turns out his left front suddenly went to zero PSI. So he had us wait there, went and got another car, and took us out again. By then he had seen enough to understand the two of us knew what we were doing, so instead of one easy lap and then gradually increasing speeds he took off like a bat out of "heck" and gave us 4 laps at high speed. Fun times, indeed.

[SheepDog]

Yep, got 5 rapid laps. Yes, a bonus lap. About 2/3 of the way through our first lap the instructor in the lead car suddenly slowed way down, then led us into the pit entry. Turns out his left front suddenly went to zero PSI. So he had us wait there, went and got another car, and took us out again. By then he had seen enough to understand the two of us knew what we were doing, so instead of one easy lap and then gradually increasing speeds he took off like a bat out of "heck" and gave us 4 laps at high speed. Fun times, indeed.

want one now?

[meyerweb]

want one now?

Nah. I wouldn't track it enough to do it justice. Touring is more my thing, now. An occasional lead/follow set like this is enough these days. (I've done NCM twice in my C7 and twice in my C8. Had the C7 at VIR a couple of times in similar situations, too.). My racing days are way behind me. I get too tired too quickly at my age with my health.

[davec81]

On my tour on the Monday after the BASH, I counted two Stingrays between two Z06s twice, once with four in between, and once with five in between (if my memory serves me right).

[Chentecruz]

My Accelerate Yellow Z06 competed Friday as well. Nice to know you may have seen it!

[VETTED53]

Friday must have been a good day for MECF members. My Hypersonic Gray HTC Z06 came off the line Friday also. R8C here I come!