Independents Day
Discussion
Saw a copy of The Independent on a news-stand this morning with a picture of a silver C6 convertible on the front page, so bought a copy. In the Motoring Supplement there was a piece on the New York Motor Show with another larger C6 picture and also the new Mustang which "has 440 bhp under it's aggressively styled hood". (Not another Holiday Hood!) Disappointingly there was not a single mention of Corvette in the article which was mainly about the new Land Rover Discovery and Jeep Grand Cherokee. I guess the Independent knows its readers, parked with two wheels up on the pavement in every high street. Land Rover's chairman says "our customers enjoy the fact that they have a vehicle with extraordinary off-road ability, even though they're secure in the knowledge that they will never explore that capability". Sad.
Bling-blingest car at the show was SL 65 AMG Merc with 604 bhp and 738lb/ft!! Guess we'll have to wait for the twin-engined C6 to keep up with that one.
Best article was about the Scimitar GTE which I always liked but have never owned. Made from 1964 to 1990 "..time has not been kind to the Scimitar; these days a GTE is only suitable for the penniless, ageing lothario or backstreet pub landlord. You can pick up a good runner for £1,500 or a beautiful example for £5,000". Seems a shame.
Bling-blingest car at the show was SL 65 AMG Merc with 604 bhp and 738lb/ft!! Guess we'll have to wait for the twin-engined C6 to keep up with that one.
Best article was about the Scimitar GTE which I always liked but have never owned. Made from 1964 to 1990 "..time has not been kind to the Scimitar; these days a GTE is only suitable for the penniless, ageing lothario or backstreet pub landlord. You can pick up a good runner for £1,500 or a beautiful example for £5,000". Seems a shame.
....well maybe!Most of the motoring programmes about geneva ignored the C6 convertible too. there's a piece about it in Motor Trend this month and it looks better in convertible guise. Still says no Z07 convertible but they promise that "the Z51 handling package will give the roadster 75% of the 2004 Z06's performance on the track". WTF?
There's also a test of the Z06-engined Caddy CTS-V pitched against the new S-Type R. Practically a dead heat, it concluded it was horses for courses and cliched it's way to a conclusion that the jag had it for finesse and handling whilst the Caddy was a sharp luxury sedan with a hot rod heart. And yes, the Caddy was quicker - 5.1 to 60 vs 5.2 and 13.4 over the quarter next to 13.6. It's still on my list of future possibilities.
There's also a test of the Z06-engined Caddy CTS-V pitched against the new S-Type R. Practically a dead heat, it concluded it was horses for courses and cliched it's way to a conclusion that the jag had it for finesse and handling whilst the Caddy was a sharp luxury sedan with a hot rod heart. And yes, the Caddy was quicker - 5.1 to 60 vs 5.2 and 13.4 over the quarter next to 13.6. It's still on my list of future possibilities.
jaytee368 said:
...and also the new Mustang which "has 440 bhp under it's aggressively styled hood".
Steve - was that in reference to the new shaped 2005 Mustang GT or the newer GT-R?
That must be the GT-R Mustang. Doesn't the Mustang GT (for new model) have 300BHP? GT-R is said to have 440BHP.
That Merc is an example of the power trip at MB going way out of hand. It probably weighs about 2 tons as well. If the much rumoured Blue Devil comes out, it would be a better performing car than the Merc in question but the Merc is more a highway cruiser and the Blue Devel IF it's released an all-out racecar much like the Competition Coupe or Mustang GT-R.
Change your name to ZR1 at least then it isn't colour specific so it doesn't matter if you paint it another colour and it's not specific to anything but the model so nothing else matters.
I thought the Blue Devil was going to have superchargers and not turbochargers? All seems to be rumours, anyway.
I thought the Blue Devil was going to have superchargers and not turbochargers? All seems to be rumours, anyway.
[quote]I thought the Blue Devil was going to have superchargers and not turbochargers? All seems to be rumours, anyway.[quote]
There have been both versions, the 6ltr has already run in both twin Eaton intercooled superchargers and twin Garrett turbo forms, as I understand it the turbos were concidered more responsive and more flexible than the superchargers.
As with all these kinds of projects its the bean counters that have the final say. They nearly killed the ZR1 at least twice during development, the C5 was up to pre-production stage and it was almost cancelled. I know the Corvette engineering team at Warren MI desperately want this car but at the end of the day if the money men say no its no.
There have been both versions, the 6ltr has already run in both twin Eaton intercooled superchargers and twin Garrett turbo forms, as I understand it the turbos were concidered more responsive and more flexible than the superchargers.
As with all these kinds of projects its the bean counters that have the final say. They nearly killed the ZR1 at least twice during development, the C5 was up to pre-production stage and it was almost cancelled. I know the Corvette engineering team at Warren MI desperately want this car but at the end of the day if the money men say no its no.
blackzr said:
[quote]I thought the Blue Devil was going to have superchargers and not turbochargers? All seems to be rumours, anyway.[quote]
There have been both versions, the 6ltr has already run in both twin Eaton intercooled superchargers and twin Garrett turbo forms, as I understand it the turbos were concidered more responsive and more flexible than the superchargers.
As with all these kinds of projects its the bean counters that have the final say. They nearly killed the ZR1 at least twice during development, the C5 was up to pre-production stage and it was almost cancelled. I know the Corvette engineering team at Warren MI desperately want this car but at the end of the day if the money men say no its no.
Yeah I read that GM were deciding whether to go with superchargers or turbochargers, and they decided on turbochargers and tested a turbocharged Blue Devil and then the car burned down. It was said that the project had then be scrapped because GM didn't have the financial strength to continue the project.
If the Blue Devil does go into production and is sold then it woulf be a world class supercar. The Z would have VERY competitive performance with the GT2, 360, etc and the Blue Devil would probably have better performance than these cars (although it would be compared with the GT3, Competition Coupe, 360CS, etc).
[quote]It was said that the project had then be scrapped because GM didn't have the financial strength to continue the project[quote]
I have worked in Detroit and various other places in the US for GM, Ford and Chrysler in the last 25 years. Believe me if they want something they get it regardless of the cost. It all depends on who is in charge at the time and what his personel bias is!!!
There are loads and loads of projects that the general public never get a sniff of, how many of you guys have heard of the V6 version of the LT5 that was destined to go into the Camaro/Firebird in 1992/3? The list is endless believe me.
GM in particular spend around $1M per day on R&D (besides the normal project work) a lot of which never goes anywhere.
I have worked in Detroit and various other places in the US for GM, Ford and Chrysler in the last 25 years. Believe me if they want something they get it regardless of the cost. It all depends on who is in charge at the time and what his personel bias is!!!
There are loads and loads of projects that the general public never get a sniff of, how many of you guys have heard of the V6 version of the LT5 that was destined to go into the Camaro/Firebird in 1992/3? The list is endless believe me.
GM in particular spend around $1M per day on R&D (besides the normal project work) a lot of which never goes anywhere.
blackzr said:
[quote]It was said that the project had then be scrapped because GM didn't have the financial strength to continue the project[quote]
I have worked in Detroit and various other places in the US for GM, Ford and Chrysler in the last 25 years. Believe me if they want something they get it regardless of the cost. It all depends on who is in charge at the time and what his personel bias is!!!
There are loads and loads of projects that the general public never get a sniff of, how many of you guys have heard of the V6 version of the LT5 that was destined to go into the Camaro/Firebird in 1992/3? The list is endless believe me.
GM in particular spend around $1M per day on R&D (besides the normal project work) a lot of which never goes anywhere.
Yeah I did think the finance-related explanation was just rubbish. GM the no.1 biggest car conglomerate in the world saying they haven't got the funds wouldn't be true. I mean like the Corvette venture probably took more money than intended. The finance excuse I'd put down as alledged and a rumour. It's all about the bean counters.
>> Edited by z064life on Thursday 15th April 23:31
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