Corvettes Dont handle.....

[b3any]

Whoever said Corvettes dont handle should ask the driver of the GT2 who's ass i kicked at Donington today. It was my first trackday in the vette and it impressed me more than i thought possible, the day started wet and i was running rings around everyone, all i can say about the Active Handling is Superb dont leave home with out it, as the track dried the vette was just unstickable and the brakes were almost unfadeable.... The highlight being of course forcing the GT2 to let me past as he couldnt lose me round the corners... Everyone in the pits was saying that they couldnt believe a Corvette would be so quick around Donny

So the Moral of the story is that the my Vette definetly does handle very well.. The question is what can i do to improve it for next time

Short Vid... www.samb0.co.uk/ocuktrackday/corvette.MPG



>>> Edited by b3any on Sunday 13th February 19:58

>>> Edited by b3any on Sunday 13th February 19:58

[b3any]

Short Vid www.samb0.co.uk/ocuktrackday/corvette.MPG

[viperdave]

[c4koh]

b3any said:

... Everyone in the pits was saying that they couldnt believe a Corvette would be so quick

Good stuff.. I'll bet the driver of the Porkie wasn't best pleased about it either ...er, just how much more did he have to pay for his "oh so much better in every way" car???

[ZR1cliff]

Well done that man ,its good to hear that the word is being spread.

[te51cle]

Good stuff. Craner curves are unnerving aren't they ! What speed did you reach on the straight before braking for the chicane ?

[atgsambo]

Must say the Vette was looking rather lush on the day and it showed that GT2 a few things or two.

And the noise

>> Edited by atgsambo on Monday 14th February 19:33

[b3any]

te51cle said:

Good stuff. Craner curves are unnerving aren't they ! What speed did you reach on the straight before braking for the chicane ?

Down the starkey straight under the dunlop bridge i got it up too 124mph before braking for goddards....

Craner Curves are great down hill off camber at 90+ mph..... Bit scary in the wet though



>> Edited by b3any on Monday 14th February 20:26

[atgsambo]

Heres a few more pictures of Beanys corvette in action

www.eventpics.co.uk/emAlbum/albums/Motorsport/Donington/TrackZone%2013th%20Feb%202004/Black%20Cars/Corvette/1425.jpg
www.eventpics.co.uk/emAlbum/albums/Motorsport/Donington/TrackZone%2013th%20Feb%202004/Black%20Cars/Corvette/1093.jpg
www.eventpics.co.uk/emAlbum/albums/Motorsport/Donington/TrackZone%2013th%20Feb%202004/Black%20Cars/Corvette/1006.jpg

Shame i didnt get a ride in , maybe next time eh

[LuS1fer]

Sad really, the US tests of the Z06 see it handing out kickings to NSX's and Porsches and put it right up there with Ferraris and Lambos but no-one ever gets to read them.

The C5 is a good car. A bit lardy in places but it's a damned fine car. Having said that, people often confuse handling with grip and the C5 thrives more on that than handling perfection.The vid of one kicking an Exige's butt should have put that myth to rest.

[b3any]

Whether it was handling or Grip it was kicking ass

[vetteheadracer]

I took my old C4 to Snetterton a couple of years in January for one of the EVO track intro days and that had no grip due to a combination of BFG rears, 500 BHP and torrential rain.....it was still faster around the track than all of the TVR's and also a Porsche 911.

[ZR1cliff]

500 hp?,you sure nige.didnt get it dyno'd near Oxford by any chance.

[MILF]

Cant help thinking that if Michael Schumacher was driving a Sinclair C5, chances are he would probably be able to out drive me in an Enzo.

Without wishing to degenerate your very fine car, until you know how good the driver was, its a little unfair to put down a GT2, merely because you managed to outdrive its owner. Judging from most of the people who can actually afford to buy a GT2 in the first place, he may well have been having problems with his heart pacemaker.

[c4koh]

MILF said:

Cant help thinking that if Michael Schumacher was driving a Sinclair C5, chances are he would probably be able to out drive me in an Enzo. Without wishing to degenerate your very fine car, until you know how good the driver was, its a little unfair to put down a GT2, merely because you managed to outdrive its owner. Judging from most of the people who can actually afford to buy a GT2 in the first place, he may well have been having problems with his heart pacemaker.

I detect a little bit of "raining on a parade" here!

The Corvette is a very underrated car.

For what reason I don't know, whenever it does do well (people of course conveniently forget their LeMans efforts :-) ) people trot out all sorts of excuses: bad driver in the other car, poor conditions on the other day, etc. etc. Winge, winge, winge.

Firstly, if the driver of the said GT2 was so poor, why aren't we hearing in other forums "my <insert car here> was quicker round Donny.."? Er: poor driving it may be, but it's still a very quick car.

Secondly, isn't the Porsche a "driver's car"... if so, we wouldn't expect anybody who plumps for a Corvette would be able to drive...

I am not saying that Michael Schumacher, given a lap in the GT2 and then the Corvette, wouldn't lap quicker in one of the cars: he would.

However, the Corvette has been, and always will be, tuned to "real-world", and that means conditions, and driver ability.

Surely it's better to drive a car that 90% of its owners can driver to 90% of its ability, rather than 10% of its owners driving to 100% of its ability?

That being said, the fact remains: on the same day, same track, same conditions, this Corvette outran a GT2.

For those who want to see that as "obviously" something wrong with the GT2 driver, good for you.

I prefer to see it yet again as a notch for the Corvette, a car which seems to bring on typical jealousies that something American or something inexpensive can't possibly be fast.

[Gixer]

Sounds like someone needs to view that old video of the Lotus getting its arse kicked as well

[b3any]

MILF said:

Cant help thinking that if Michael Schumacher was driving a Sinclair C5, chances are he would probably be able to out drive me in an Enzo. Without wishing to degenerate your very fine car, until you know how good the driver was, its a little unfair to put down a GT2, merely because you managed to outdrive its owner. Judging from most of the people who can actually afford to buy a GT2 in the first place, he may well have been having problems with his heart pacemaker.

You may be right but this was my first full track day and certainly the first in the corvette so i had no advantage over him, There were 2 groups on that day novice and experienced. He was in the experienced group and i was not, there was then open pit lane in the afternoon which is how i happened to kick his ass. It wasnt just the GT2 that fell foul. Various elises were outcornered! Scoobys, Supras, Renault Alpines etc. The only cars that were quicker on the day was an M3 CSL, A Slick tyred Tuned EVO and a guy in a Elise who was flying round.. It impressed most people in the pits.

[sjonnie]

At Top Gear they also say "corvettes don't handle", but if you know the cars, they are extreemly fast. As far I can see, didn't you made any modification to the C5.

What would happend if you did? Better brakes, coil-over conversion and add some power to the car?

I spoke a US military guy who lives in German, he owns a Z06 fully loaded, 500 hp. Nobody beats him on the track.

www.heartbeatcorvette.nl/heartbeat/fotoalbum/meetings/20040703_valkenburg/fame2004za_16.jpg

my old c4 vette, with coilovers:
http://pic14.picturetrail.com/VOL563/2751508/5770350/74042774.jpg

[viper paul]

Must say they talk in the same way about the Viper, both cars being Le Mans winners the Viper has fully adjustable suspension as standard........"American Cars dont handle" alwasy a pleasure watching them drive around a Porsche on the outside. Only problem I have ever had on the track is the fear of bending it due to the speed I can approach corners at.

Well done enjoy the car.....but long live all petrol heads!!!

[b3any]

sjonnie said:

At Top Gear they also say "corvettes don't handle", but if you know the cars, they are extreemly fast. As far I can see, didn't you made any modification to the C5. What would happend if you did? Better brakes, coil-over conversion and add some power to the car? I spoke a US military guy who lives in German, he owns a Z06 fully loaded, 500 hp. Nobody beats him on the track. www.heartbeatcorvette.nl/heartbeat/fotoalbum/meetings/20040703_valkenburg/fame2004za_16.jpg my old c4 vette, with coilovers: http://pic14.picturetrail.com/VOL563/2751508/5770350/74042774.jpg

No suspension mods, just have a Corsa Exhaust and uprated pads on the discs.