First time in a Corvette - what to expect?

[chris_w]

Hi all,

very excited as my girfriend has hired a 'Vette for the day this coming weekend for me (made my Valentines Day bunch of flowers look a bit lame but there you go...).

Was just wondering what to expect? Any tips? I have driving experience in a Lotus Elise but think this will be very different. Not sure if it's a manual or auto yet (would prefer manual) but any tips on driving the auto? Do you just stick it in D all the time or is there any advantage to taking over yourself etc.

Thanks in advance,

Chris

PS - anyone here in the New York area? Need to find some good driving roads so I can make the most of my time with the car???

[chris_w]

5USA said:

That's a fine gift so welcome to the world of P-O-W-E-R and T-O-R-Q-U-E !! It's gonna be an eye-opener after the Elise. These cars are chalk and cheese. If you don't get a stick-shift the auto transmission has learning programs although I find it quickly defaults in the interests of gas mileage. It is useful to change the auto down manually before some overtaking manoevers. There's 2 reasons for this. First it saves half a second waiting for the transmission to react. Second a full throttle kick-down is extremely vicious making life more exciting than maybe you had in mind, especially on a wet road. Good luck! Tell us how you get on.

Thanks for the tips! Just checking the weather and there's a 40% chance if rain on Saturday... b*gger!

Ok, this is where I reveal a scary lack of knowledge about driving auto's but how do I kick it down manually? Just want to be sure rather than lunch the transmission on a $50,000 car!

[chris_w]

te51cle said:

So, how did you like it ?

It's ok, I hadn't forgotton I promised to give you guys some feedback but I've just flown back to the Uk and busy fighting jet lag at the moment.

In short, really enjoyed it! Had a great day, thanks again for the tips. Will aim to do a full write up tomorrow (it's Thursday today right?!?)

Chris

>> Edited by chris_w on Thursday 26th February 17:28

[chris_w]

5USA said:

He's keeping us in suspense........... The public has a right to know! Give us the full gory details with no holds barred! No need to worry about the Official Secrets Act because it's all in the interests of UK/USA relations! Clare Short

Ha! Sorry, been a bit busy since getting back to the UK but here goes. You asked for no holds barred so that's what I'll try...


Pick the car up from the rental place in NY city and was very impressed. Was never that sold on the Corvette in the UK where it seemed a bit bloated but after five months looking at SUV's and utterly anonymous 'sedans' the 'Vette is a real breath of fresh air. Once inside though the effect is somewhat tarnished as, bar the extra toys, I feel I could still be in one of the aforementioned Jap-mobiles or, more likely, a lesser model in the Chevy range. The interior is just too low rent for a car with that level of performance and exterior promise. The cheap, shiny plastics that hadn't aged well (ok, this was a rental with 30K miles on it) just jarred and would irritate me as an owner.

But I hadn't bought this car, I had it for 1 day with only one thing in mind.... so I fired her up and was greeted with a lovely woofle. Engaged drive and moved off back to the apartment to pick up the girlfrend and was struck by the ease of driving the car. The auto certainly helped but the steering was light with just a little weight at town speeds and visibility was good. Once back at the apartment the girlfriend took one look at the car and decided she needed to be insured to drive it too so back to the rental centre to sort that out and another half hour wasted! On our way out of town we put the roof down (easy once you knew how but suprised it wasn't automated given that everything else was powered).

Up to higher speeds now and the car impressed with it's comfort. I'd been amazed by it's ability to soak up bumps in NY where the potholes are atrocious. The downside to the compliant suspension now became evident on the freeway where the frequent expansion joints highlighted a lack of tight body control. I know I'm used to the uncompromising go-kart like Elise but was still surprised and was slightly perturbed when taking fast sweepers to find the front and rear ends slightly out of sync.

At this point I was still busiest trying to negotiate my way through the cut and thrust traffic and it was here that I got my second biggest shock. I had reckoned that the auto box would not sit right with my own personal opinion of what constitutes a sports car transmission and that's what I found as I came off an exit ramp and tried to blend with tighly packed traffic on the George Washington bridge. I put my foot down and realised that it wasn't going to be quite enough so floored it whilst watching the car behind rapidly closing on my $3,000 excess behind... nothing happened! Well, not for an ice age or so it seemed. Then, as collision seemed unavoidable all hell broke loose and I rapidly transfered my attention from the rear view mirror to the now rapidly filling windscreen. It's a mighty motor no doubt and I'd just got a taste of what was available when not being hushed around by the auto box.

After stopping for some pictures we headed up the banks of the Hudson towards Bear mountain to some more sinuous roads. Clear of the city traffic it was now possible to play some more with the power available. It was a true revelation the way it piled on speed but most surprising was the easy manner in which it did it. The kick down could be violent but the acceleration never seemed as brutal as the digits on the excellent head up display (utterly fantastic - please tell me why every car isn't required to have this?) told us. I think this is because even in the upper rev range the V8 never sounded manic.

Funniest part of the day was driving through a pretty much deserted Bear Mountain state park and coming across another C5 in the opposite direction! Flashed lights and waved and was just like being back in the Elise back home!

Across the river (after a brief detour when the girlfriend managed to 'accidentally' navigate us to an outlet mall...) and onto the best driving roads we found all day. The 301 down to Cold Springs from the Taconic Parkway down through another state park was simply superb. Almost completely traffic free it was smooth, twisty and flowing and by my third run down it I was really beginning to flow. The smooth roads allowed the car to shine, really digging in on the corners and whilst I doubt I ever came close to the limits of adhesion it was great fun. The girlfrined and I swapped seats and the V8 goaded us into some juvenile antics (0-60 sprints and see who can register the highest speeds) but the car always felt composed, safe and robust.

That was until my third and final run down the 301 when the brakes squealed enough. First came the smell and then the softening pedal. They were cooked. I've no doubt that the auto box could take the blame for this (I was leaving it in drive so there was little to no engine braking) but even so, I was suprised and wouldn't consider the auto car suitable for any track work based on this experience without upgrading the brakes.

With darkness setting in and a light intermittant drizzle giving the traction control something to think about for the first time, we headed back to NY at a comfortable cruise. I took the time to marvel at the trip computers wealth of information and was surprised that we'd managed to average 17mpg for the day.

Overall, I was a little disappointed by the car but I would openly admit to having very 'European' tastes in cars. I'd love to try one with a manual as I think this would move it a lot closer to my idea of a true drivers cars and the suspension also had room for improvement. I'm probably being a bit harsh because the standard Corvette I drove was obviously built to survive daily use in the US and this is no mean feat. The suspension settings are a function of the terrible roads it has to soak up and it does so admirably. A more extreme setup might add smooth B-road fluency, some steering weight and feedback but would have made driving on the majority of roads we encountered a wince-inducing nightmare. The engine was, of course, the star of the show and the only criticism I would make of it would be it's long term effect on my driving licence!




Wow, that ended up a lot longer than I expected! Hope you all find it interesting and thanks again for the advice. I'll post some pictures later.

Chris

>> Edited by chris_w on Tuesday 2nd March 13:25

[chris_w]

C5RagTop said:

Hey Chris, nice one. Thanks for taking the time to post your 'adventure'. Incidentally, your 17 mpg was in US gallons. In good ole english gallons you returned 21mpg.

Thanks for the conversion, I know US gallons are smaller than ours but wasn't sure by how much. I was a little disappointed that the car wasn't more thirsty to be honest! I think the figure reflects how easy we took it when on the freeways saving the pedal mashing for the twistier stuff. On the run out of NY we averaged 22mpg which would make the 'Vette a good commuter in my book.

One other funny story I forgot was when we pulled up in three lanes of traffic at some lights and the four lads in the SUV behind us all wound down their windows and started calling out for me to rev the engine! Not wishing to disappoint I did the honours and they went crazy, whooping and hollering and revving their engine in reply! I guess the car's a bit of an american icon and just gets good reactions wherever it goes.

5USA - please email me via my profile about using the write up. Never been published before! I did try manual changing briefly as you suggested before, but was happier letting it do the work and allowing me to concentrate on the road.

Tried putting my photo's into Fotango's public gallery with little success yesterday... will try again.

Chris