Do the driving nannies on Corvette C7 Z06 help drivers improve their skills or reward mediocrity?

The concept of supermaneuverability is a very old one, dating back to the early 1970's, originating in the avionics and producing some very spectacular planes like F15.  In essence, what supermaneuverability does it replaces maneuverability based on the aerodynamics and human operated control surfaces and pilot's experience and skills with computer assisted system that allows a combination of aides like thrust vectoring and computer operated control surface to give an aircraft agility never seen before.

The concept mentioned above is slowly trickling into automotive world and is commonly recognized as driver aides aka NANNIES.  As cars become faster but also heavier and harder to control, these nannies become more and more intrusive and for all practical purposes, end up replacing instead of aiding driving skills.

Of course, there is another alternative: building a car that is stable by design, well balanced and aerodynamically sound and light enough to make it PREDICTABLE.  The matter of predactibility boils down to the driver gaining enough experience and familiarity with a specific car to be fully aware of the car's limits.  Of course, the more stable the car is, the less learning is required but still, learning is essential to gaininig enough comfort to exploit the limits of a vehicle.

Unfortunately, as the cars gain weight and require more power to maintain their competitive edge, the number of nannies and their intrusive nature increase.  Typically, the intrusive nannies are typical of luxury oriented vehicle although over the last decade, this trend has infiltrated the high performance arena as well. 

In the past, the number of nannies found on Corvette was held to minimum, both due to cost and limited need for such contraptions.  Apparently this is no longer the case with Corvette C7 and the consequences are rather interesting, as demonstrated by the Performance Car Of The Year tests conducted by Road and Track magazine.  Specifically, this refers to the track event that was part of that event and the time difference that was achieved between Corvette C7 Z06 and Dodge Viper ACR.

On the surface, it appears that the latest +General Motors flagship is a formiddable track vehicle (until it overheats), supposedly capable of keeping up with the real purpose built Dodge Viper ACR.  However, there is a small caveat to this conclusion: the driver has to be of mediocre variety while driving both cars., as of course the Road and Track writers would be.  An apparent "fear factor" can prevent a mediocre driver from exploring the actual limits of a car that relies on driver's skills instead of creating a sense of security from the intrusive driving aides.  As already mentioned, the newest Corvettes have a mind boggling number of nannies, including one called PTM (performance torque management) that allows an inexperienced and mediocre driver to rely on the on board computer assistance to detect the conditions allowing for maximum exit speed when negotiating a curve.

Unlike with the Viper, no driving skills or experience are needed to achieve results that may appear impressive, especially when other cars are driven considerably more cautiously not due to their actual limits but the PERCEPTION of limits.

From the marketing point, rewarding mediocre and senile drivers is a smart move, after all, this is where the majority of Corvette sales happen but from the evolutional point, this part can raise a few eyebrows.  After all, isn't this the origin of situations like the one described in the Planet of the Apes?

Like with F15, the results of removing human factor from the equation can be very impressive but they can also be very misleading as well, comparing the proverbial apples to oranges.

Why is this point being brought up?  For a simple reason that Dodge Viper happened to eradicate quite a few of the track records formerly held by the +Tadge Juechter love child, Z06.  All it takes is a skilled driver and when the driver has the necessary skill and experience, the margin between Z06 and Viper ACR is considerably greater than the results of the PCOTY would suggest. 

There is another part that is very peculiar regarding the PCOTY results.  When back in 2011, Dominik Farnbacher established the Nurburgring record driving the Generation 4 Dodge Viper, the experiece behind the wheel of the car amounted to the whole TWO HOURS.  Yes, in spite of what the rumours there may be and Chrysler's claims, this driver was not the driver of choice which further raises the questions regarding Road and Track writers driving skills, especially considering the rather sluggish results they managed to achieve with the winning overall Mustang Shelby GT350R.

If the reliance on the aides is what makes Corvette Z06 a competitive car, what is exactly a point of this car?  Racing against other mediocre drivers?