Regguy1,
I have a C7, Z51 with mag ride and exhaust. Picked it up last September and drove it September, October and now off and on over the winter (I live in Iowa, not many nice days). Have around 6,000 miles on it so far. LOVE the exhaust option. Like the louder growl when I want it, but can turn it down when I pull in to my neighborhood so I'm not that obnoxious chick with the loud car. Also love the Z51 option - love the way the larger back wheels and larger brake rotors look. Gets lots of comments about why they look different from what locals are seeing at the dealerships (most dealerships here currently have non-Z51's). Haven't noticed it being rough at all, but keep it in Touring mode most often. Change to Sport once in awhile just for fun and like the option to do so. Hubby tries Sport mode more than I do, but he's a Ducati guy and likes to really feel the road. I figured the option would help later on resell (if I ever do) and for the cost it would be worth it, but who knows. We ordered and took delivery right before the Z51 went on constraint, but even if we had not I would have waited for the Z51 to be available just to have the options. We took her to Minneapolis back in October, nice whole day round trip with lots of highway and in town driving and just loved the ride on all roads. Very quiet on the highway and pleasant ride all the way around. No complaints about road noise or rough ride for my husband or I and we're 40 somethings with past back issues. We've had her garaged for most of the winter and it's been a super hard, super cold last couple of months here with lots of well below freezing temps, but have had no issues with tire cracking, etc. Did notice when we took her out earlier this week (it got to mid-50's for one day - today we have freezing rain, hail and 6' of snow in progress) that the seal around my driver door had just a little wind noise. It quit after half an hour or so - I assume it was just really cold when we started out and then it warmed up a bit. Good luck with whatever you choose - you will love it regardless - amazing car all the way around.