[VIDEO] Pratt and Miller’s Corvette C6RS on Jay Leno’s Garage

By
Mitch Talley
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[VIDEO] Pratt and Miller's Corvette C6RS on Jay Leno's Garage


Even 14 years later, Pratt & Miller’s uber-rare C6RS is a monster on the street.

Comedian Jay Leno owns the very first of only seven C6RS models produced in 2006 by the legendary Pratt & Miller of Corvette Racing fame in a valiant attempt to produce the ultimate roadgoing Corvette.

Leno, in his current edition of Jay Leno’s Garage, takes us on a spin around the outside of his black on black car, peering under the hood and inside the rear hatch, before settling into the “comfortable” driver’s seat and cranking up this 600+-horsepower creation that provides listeners with a symphonic melody created by its normally aspirated engine.

Of course, this kind of supercar didn’t come cheap, and at $185,000 plus your donor Z06, it was right up there in Lamborghini and Ferrari territory at the time. Unfortunately, with the introduction of the 638 hp ZR1 from the folks at Chevy a few years later in 2009, at a much lower price, the handwriting was on the wall for the C6RS.

[VIDEO] Pratt and Miller's Corvette C6RS on Jay Leno's Garage


But we’re sure the lucky seven folks who bought one of these cars have no regrets.

After receiving their donor Z06, Pratt & Miller began the destruction of the car, removing the stock 7.0-liter LS7 engine and replacing it with their own 8.2-liter all-alloy engine built by Katech. The new powerplant put more than 600 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque on the road, similar to the ZR1’s 638 horsepower and 604 lb-ft of torque.

And it’s all that torque that really puts a smile on Leno’s face.

“Boy, just the torque, any gear you’re in,” he gushes. “It just pulls so nicely. This is a wonderful car.”

[VIDEO] Pratt and Miller's Corvette C6RS on Jay Leno's Garage


Leno praises the engineers at Pratt & Miller for the sum of their efforts. “You got something fast, you got something dependable, and you got something safe,” he says. “Engineers don’t like to let something out of their sight unless it’s right. That’s why this car cost so much. I don’t believe they’re probably making much profit on these even with the price they charge because it’s all in the vehicle.”

Without a doubt. Leno says his car has been “the most dependable” car and he’s never had anything go wrong with it. Quite a compliment considering the exotic nature of this creature.

Besides the powerful engine, his rare Corvette features a blueprinted Tremec six-speed manual transmission. Jay explains that blueprinting doesn’t mean a beefed up or stronger transmission, just going over it to create the perfect version of what it should be. “What that means is they go through it and make sure all the tolerances are correct, what they should be,” he says.

[VIDEO] Pratt and Miller's Corvette C6RS on Jay Leno's Garage


The resulting transmission shifts “like butter,” Leno claims. “It just shifts so nicely; it’s such a pleasure to drive.”

The car also includes features that were exotic at the time, like an Arvin Meritor Dynamic Ride Control suspension with a front lift system to clear obstacles, not to mention the extensive use of carbon fiber throughout the widebody conversion that features integrated ducts for cooling the brakes, Pratt & Miller’s C6.R “waterfall” hood and louvered fenders, center lock 18″ wheels on the front and 19″ wheels on the rear, and Brembo brakes with monoblock calipers.

Jay calls the C6RS interior “the greatest Corvette interior I have ever seen,” and no wonder, considering that Pratt & Miller put 150 hours of work assembling each one of them.

[VIDEO] Pratt and Miller's Corvette C6RS on Jay Leno's Garage


Unlike many of his C6RS counterparts, Leno has actually been driving his car, so much so that he now has close to 10,000 miles over the past 14 years.

Still not many compared to, say, a Silverado or a Suburban, but downright ridiculous for a supercar. He would have even more miles on it, but in the early months, he says he was afraid to drive it too much because he was afraid it wouldn’t pass future emissions tests.

That turned out to be a false expectation, however, as the car has religiously passed emissions every time, he says.

[VIDEO] Pratt and Miller's Corvette C6RS on Jay Leno's Garage


We know 10,000 miles aren’t many to put on a set of tires, but we certainly hope for Jay’s sake that he wears them out soon so he’ll feel OK with replacing them. He just hates to take them off when there is so much tread left, but we think it might be a wise move to go ahead and bite the bullet to prevent a tragic accident caused by the kind of blowout that killed actor Paul Walker a few years ago in a Porsche with dry-rotted tires.

By the way, if you’re wondering which is faster, the C6RS or the ZR1, Leno doesn’t say for sure, but he does point out that road tests of the two cars seems to indicate the Pratt & Miller version handles better “just because of all the race tech in it.”


Source:
Jay Leno’s Garage

Related:
Corvettes for Sale: A Rare 1 of 7 Pratt & Miller Corvette C6RS
Corvettes on eBay: Rare Pratt & Miller Corvette C6RS Supercar #003
Green Gets Mean: The Skinny on Jay Leno’s E85 Corvette C6RS

 



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10 COMMENTS

  1. Haven’t had much news about the C-8 Convertible lately. How about an update on HTC built and recent deliveries.
    Thanks, Ed l.

  2. With all the money Jay has, I’m surprised he’s hesitant to replace dangerous old tires just because they still have good tread left on them.

  4. Robert S. That’s probably true. But I thought it was funny in the video when he stomps on the gas and the rear end breaks loose. He admits it’s because of the thirteen year old tires and he tells us to keep checking our tires.

  5. Friggen awesome. Why would anyone want or buy a Mustang or any of the Mopars. Absolutely beautiful car with performance to match.

  6. Drove my ’07 Z06 twelve years and just over 10K miles. One day stepped on it in a curve in 2nd gear and almost lost it because tires were hard as a rock (with good thread). Next day put on a set of Sport Pilot 4S Michelin’s. Now the car is safe to drive again. JAY! GET NEW TIRES NOW!

  8. Ronnie, people drive on tires from fifty years ago! They want everything original even the tires. You can do it, but it’s very dangerous, especially at higher speeds.

  9. I used to drive one of my Corvettes with twelve year old Goodyear Eagle GS-D3s. The front tires were cupped and the rear tires were worn down to the tread bars. Around town they were barely OK but on the interstate they made the car shake. I replaced them with a new set of Nitto NT 555 G2s and the difference was like night and day. I will never be that stupid to run a set of old worn tires like that on either of my Corvettes again. I will do as Jay says to do.

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