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Jay Leno gets pulled over while roaring in a Corvette Z06 convertible

No one is above the law, even if that person is a certain silver-haired auto enthusiast with a popular weekly video series about the cars in his garage. This week, Jay Leno experiences the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z06, but he also gets to have a meeting with some of California's Finest immediately after a high-speed blast. As opposed to the full-bore Z06 coupe with the seven-speed manual, Leno gets behind the wheel of the slightly heavier convertible version with the eight-speed auto. Being a droptop doesn't bother him too much, but Leno makes it obvious he wishes that he could be shifting for himself. Even if the auto is technically quicker, Leno says that swapping gears gives him something to do while driving. Of course, one of the major advantages of the convertible is the ability to listen to the Z06's thumping V8 unimpeded. With 650 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque from 6.2-liters of supercharged muscle, it already puts down impressive numbers, but the sound might just be the best part of all. Around town, the 'Vette is quiet enough to easily blend in with the rest of traffic. However, tip the throttle down and the valves in the exhaust open up to turn the engine into roaring monster. Be careful where you make this thing howl, though, because it's pretty easy for the police to take notice. The host finds that out the hard way in this week's episode of Jay Leno's Garage. Related Gallery 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Convertible View 18 Photos News Source: Jay Leno's Garage via YouTube Celebrities Chevrolet Coupe Performance Videos Jay Lenos Garage chevy corvette stingray chevy corvette z06

First 2015 Chevy Corvette Z06 engine blows up at just 891 miles

You've waited and watched and waited some more for the arrival of your 650-horsepower, $78,000 Chevrolet Corvette Z06. Finally, that joyous day arrives and you eagerly, but gingerly, begin to break-in the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 monster under your hood. Then 900-odd miles after delivery, your excitement grinds, quite literally, to a halt. That's what the owner of one 2015 Z06 claimed happened to him when a simple break-in drive resulted in a lunched engine. The owner, known as Lawdogg149 on Corvette Forum, says he was out breaking-in his car ahead of a January track event when it happened. "While making a pull from 35 miles per hour, I accelerated and shifted short of redline, and boom - the car began knocking. I pulled over and popped the hood. I could hear a loud knock coming from the No. 6 cylinder area along with a serious, grinding, metal-on-metal sound coming from the supercharger area," Lawdogg wrote. A subsequent trip to the dealer confirmed his concerns, with the service facility telling Lawdogg that the No. 6 valvetrain had failed. The dealer couldn't research the issue further, though, as General Motors requested the engine be returned for a more thorough evaluation. The good news for the Z06's unlucky owner, at least, is that GM will be covering the engine replacement under warranty, an expense that Corvette Forum estimates is a nearly $24,000 procedure. At this point, the two leading theories behind the engine's detonation involve a manufacturing defect – which could be why GM is so keen to tear the blown powerplant down – or a mistake on the part of Lawdogg. As Motor Authority points out, such an error could be something as simple as the Z06's owner accidentally shifting to first rather than third during his 35-mph pull. If, however, there's a deeper manufacturing problem with the Z06's engine, this might not be the only case we end up hearing about.

2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray convertible headed for Geneva debut

While most of the world is still coming down from all the hype surrounding the debut of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this month, we're already looking to the future. And according to Autoweek, the next chapter in the C7 story will unfold at the Geneva Motor Show in March. That's right, General Motors is reportedly using the Swiss stage as its venue to debut the Corvette Stingray convertible.
If this strikes you as odd, you aren't alone. After all, with a car that's such an American icon, we'd fully expect Chevrolet to unveil it here on our shores in either Chicago or New York. But according to Autoweek, GM is looking to boost export sales of its halo car, and since the C7 was engineered to compete with the world's best and brightest, showing it off in Geneva is somewhat of a smart move. What's more, those with sharp memories will recall that GM used the Geneva expo to debut the sixth-generation C6 Corvette convertible back in March 2004, so there's also a precedent.
Details surrounding the Corvette Stingray convertible are still slim, though we fully expect the 6.2-liter V8 and choice of either six-speed automatic or seven-speed manual transmissions to carry over unchanged. Prototypes spotted on the road showed the car fitted with a cloth convertible roof, as well.