I love that red interior! I'd totally get a full red interior to swap into my black car. 
Anyway, I just bought a black 2007 Z51 3LT manual coupe. I love it! I don't really get this "low rent interior" and "inferior plastics" thing everybody waves around. I know I probably sound like a Corvette apologist here, and that's fine, but, seriously, how often do you go driving and randomly pet your dashboard? For me, that's roughly... I dunno, never. Granted, there are cars with exceptional material quality, like the original Audi TT. Everything in that car did actually make you want to touch it, and the Corvette doesn't do that, but it's not like '78 Monte Carlo Landau bad plastics. (My parents had TWO of these beauties.) From a visual standpoint, I don't think the plastic on the dash of the Corvette looks all that different from the plastic on the dash of my 997, except the Corvette dash is slightly shinier. /shrug I dunno.
Anyway, autocross-wise, it's a blast on good tires! I put RE71Rs on mine on the stock wheels and it's brilliant! My first time out in the car on a 48-degree rainy day and my first time autocrossing in something like 10 years had me 4th out of 19 in the non-Porsche class at the PCA autocross and 10th of 51 overall. The only cars that beat me were a couple driving a BUILT Z3 M Coupe and a single lucky run by an E90 M3, all three drivers have been autocrossing nonstop in those same cars for many years. It's really a joy to drive.
I've gotten to really like the convenience entry/start thing. I've never that that before. Not having to take your key out of your pocket to click the unlock or lock button or start the car is amazing!
The hatch area is capacious. The top is super easy to remove and install and has a nice, SECURED resting place in the hatch that doesn't eat up too much cargo space. All of this is leagues ahead of my old C4.
Parts are SO cheap. People constantly complain about the "Corvette tax" on parts, but, I mean, I picked up a set of factory split-spoke rims (18" and 19") for $240. TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY DOLLARS. I just paid $1,200 for a set of Porsche wide-body lobster claw wheels.
When it's running, make sure the harmonic balancer (okay, it's really a harmonic damper but that's not what everybody calls it) is nice and solid. Mine's wobbling (a common issue on LS2s, although my GTO never had it) and I need to replace it. And, erm, make sure your negative battery lead is nice and secure. When I bought my car it wasn't tightened down and it came off!
And on the comparison to the GTO... I had a 6-speed '05 6.0 that I bought brand new. Straight line grunt was, of course, similar - same engine, after all... But the GTO was portly. Let me also say, I loved that car. I had it for almost 5 years and I've never had a car anywhere close to that long before or since. But it was not brilliant at turning. The widest tire I could fit without rubbing, even on a stock suspension, was a 255 and for a 3500+lb car with 400hp, that's not sufficient. It was tremendous fun, but it wasn't what I'd call precise.
I wouldn't say the interior is far and beyond better than the C6. The silver plastic trim parts seem very similar to the dark gray plastic trim pieces in the Corvette and the glove box latches, center console, dash, door panels, all seemed very similar in feel and quality between both cars.
For whatever it's worth, I give the C6 my endorsement. It's great fun and I'm very happy I got one.
