After 3 yrs of automotive insanity with my modified 02 Z06 pushing 415 rwhp N/A I decided to do the right thing and trade the gross polluter in for an 07 hybrid.

I am an avid automotive enthusiast but no longer feel there is enough room with the booming population to enjoy a 500 hp car on the street, I have done my fair share of drag racing and even a track event at Laguna Seca.

Time to move on and embrace the needs of the environment and my pocket! I got a silver/blue interior 07 HCH with Navi a little over MSRP at $25k. They only gave me $20 for my Z06, I never thought I would actually pay to get rid of it!

I really like the HCH, I dont plan on modifying the motor at all but would like it to handle better. From day one I have been considering ditching the HCH rims for a set of 17" SI rims, and swapping the springs and swaybars for possibly SI parts unless there are cheaper/better aftermarket to use.

I gather that 3mm spacers would be required for the SI rims, where would I get the spacers? I have done the majority of the work on my old Z06 to include, shocks, exhaust, camshaft, brakes, you name it so Im capable of doing the aformentioned modifications myself.

Im only at 28 mpg after 120 miles or so on my first tank according to the digital readout, I realize that I unknowingly had the AC on thus far as I had the defroster on and neglected to turn the AC off afterwards. Is 28 mpg with the AC on about right, that seems kinda low. The recommended cold psi is 32, what are you guys running without inner tire wear? I heard someone say 40 psi, that seems like some inner tire wear would occur at that psi.

How does the tax break work? Can I still drive in the commuter lane without a passenger with an 07 HCH in the state of california?

Anyways, Im happy I finally grew up and made the transition to benefit myself and everyone else. Great site!

Congratulations on the purchase and welcome to the site, I hope you enjoy it. I love the Si rims and I am looking forward to seeing photos of the conversion. I have thought about doing that myself, but will likely wait until my current tires are worn through to lessen the financial burden.

If you do a search on here there are dozens of threads with tips on how to maximize your mileage, 28mpg seems low even on a fresh engine, but your mileage will improve after the engine gets a little broken in. Where do you live? Weather makes a big difference in the mileage of any car.

Many here run their tires at the maximum recommended pressure on the tire. Tire wear shouldn't be much of a problem if you keep it in the range suggested by the manuf. Good luck

I personally don't think the vetts get all that bad of mileage, you just have to show some restraint and not use all the HP on tap. But, a vette will never do what a HCH can do, and vice-versa. Both are great vehicles.

If I could have bought your vette off of you for that price I would have jumped at the oportunity, even if it is the "low HP Z06".

One thing that I have learned while driving my TCH, is I was driving all wrong to get good FE. I have adjusted my driving style, and I am now seeing 38-45 MPG routinly. If I had not adjusted my driving style, I am sure I would still be getting about 30-35 MPG. I would search the HCH forum and see what driving style produces the best FE for that car.

The tax break is a credit on your tax liability. Is is not a deduction, so you actually get all the credit back, or your tax burden is reduced by the amout of the credit. You do have to determine if you qualify for it, as if you must pay the alternative tax, the credit may not do you any good.

For the carpool sticker, I think you have to apply for it. I was reading that they have issued about 1000 of the "new issue" 10,000 stickers. This was for the applications between around october or novemebr. There are a bunch of applications that are still pending, so i have no idea how many stickers are still availiable. Either way you should fill out the paperwork and turn it in immediatly to increase your chances of getting a sticker. I doubt they will issue any more stickers after the current 10,000 are out. There is public outcry that they should not have even issued those 10,000 more.

It is nice to grow up, but at the same time it is nice to have fun. I congradulate you on your decision, even though, I doubt I could have done it. My wife keeps threating to trade the truck in on a new Z06, and I am sure she would have done it by now if we did not need the truck to pull the boat.

I live in the bay are near San Francisco, its cold up here so I have been using the defroster with the A/C. The vette wasnt stock, I was pushing around 470 at the flywheel, it would die upon approaching stop signs and intersections because of the aggressive cam I had gone with.

The car was incredibly fast and fun but I couldnt afford it anymore, it was always something with it whether it be $300 tires every 10k miles or something else.

The transmission was going on it, and it had to be smogged next year which it would fail with flying colors. Im not at the point in my life where I need or could afford a daily driven racecar, I make $15 an hour and live in a 10x10 room. It was insane. I paid for it a few years ago with the good tax free combat pay I was making in Afghanistan with the Army. Different times have called for changes in my life to embrace them and the needs of society.

If I can afford another one in the future I will certainly revisit my undying passion, I endured and sacrificed a lot of living to afford speed. Its expensive. Im going to school now and I have realized there are things more beautiful than the sensation of getting to 150 miles per hour in 15 seconds.

This isnt the fastest thing Ive owned, not by far. I had a 600 hp 98 Pontiac Trans AM, along with a 99 Suzuki Hayabusa putting down 180 whp that ran 9's in the quarter mile at 150 miles per hour, I had that thing to 200 miles per hour more times than I can remember.

Its time to move on, this has to be the most mature decision I have made in my life. I couldve gotten more than $20k for it for sure. I just didnt wanna deal with it anymore. I had it on craigslist about 6 months ago asking for $25k and I only got a handful of replies, and they all wanted to trade me what they were driving with cash.

After I pay off what left I owe on it I may get a set of Si rims/tires, sways, and springs and call it a day. If I ever get into a career where I can afford a 500 hp car again I will be getting a C6 Z06 whether GM is still in business at that point or not.

My wife works with a gentleman that just bought a new Z06. he was at the factory while it was being made, and met the people making it. he spent like two weeks there, and then when it was done, went across the street to the museum to pick it up. Amy wants one real bad right now, bt she knows it is more important for that money to be in the bank since we are looking to get property in the next few months. If we get the proerty on the lake we have been considering, I am sure she will either sell the truck and a 4runner or just go out and buy the vette t supplement the cars we already have. The only thing she has to decide is if she wants a normak vette convertable or the Z06. Her last performance car was an '01 Mustang Cobra Convertable, so she like the speed and the convertaable. I bet she get the 'vert vette as it is near as fast as last model's Z06 was.

I must say you made the right decision.

I'm interested to read how your wheel and suspension changes go. The HCH is my wife's car but it's nice to dream once in a while . At first I was concerned that driving an automatic (CVT) hybrid would be boring compared to my Outback XT (no Z06, but still quite fast), but I really enjoy the HCH. Trying to maximize the fuel economy is really addicting! That being said, it would be nice to have a little more cornering ability (to keep up momentum )

Your milage will improve a lot once you get used to driving the hybrid. There is a ton of information on this site to surf through to help you improve. Still, I would guess that San Fran is a pretty hard place to really get great milage with all of the steep hills.

That's too bad about the Z06...but good news on the HCH. I traded in an Accord for my HCH, but kept my S2000 (gets 11mpg on the track) for weekends and track fun.

2008 CRV EX 4WD
2006 HCH
2004 S2000

Past Hondas
2005 Pilot EX
2005 Accord EX V6
2003 Element EX 2WD
2002 Civic SI
1999 CRV EX 4WD
1998 Civic EX Coupe
1995 Civic SI
1995 Civic EX Coupe

I congratulate you on your selfless act....if more people out there thought this way, perhaps we'd not have to go to war every 10 years and screw everything up.

Well done.

Hey Vulcan - Did you take the Z06 to any events at the Reno-Fernley track (Reno, NV) or Buttonwillow or Sears Point? With what groups were you there? I have a great friend of mine in the Bay Area (South of Market to be exact) who is an instructor for some clubs out there. He actually bought the car that my '06 HCH replaced (350 AWD-hp '95 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4). My dad and I drove it out from Pittsburgh to San Fran in a few days - loved the trip. So there is a black 3000GT now living in downtown so wave if you see it. =)

--> Averaged 685 miles/week and 49.0 mpg in first year (35.7k miles from Aug 7, 2006 to Aug 7, 2007)

You can put some cool aftermarket rims on this vehicle, without losing mileage. i got these, and have suffered no loss in MPG. I too, am a gear head, and love hot rods, tricking out cars...so frankly, I try to do what I can to my hybrids to make them stand out just a bit.

Like on my Prius as well.