The C6 Corvette

[pure_ego]

Sorry it took me so long fella's

Here are some of the pics I got at the Corvette/SSR training class I went to at New Hampshire International Speedway in "Conqured" New Hampshire (thats how they said it! )

I'm no sports car fanatic, nor am I an expert at high performance driving so take my observations with a grain of salt.. especially you guys that know what i'm trying to explain hahah.

You'll notice it says Corvette/ .. <table style=filter:glow(color=red)>SSR</table> above..

thats because both of the high dolla chevies were represented at this shindig. We got to play wit' the SSR on the autocross track.. which of course was way to tight to really do much other than steer and brake like a madman.

Sorta sucks when you realize you have a 390 horsepower 115" wheelbased torque monstor under your ass that has traction control that they've rigged to be "un-cut-off-able". Imagine if you will...

. . come out of a tight turn whump down the throttle .. prepare yourself for much lighting up of tires and fishtailing only to have the motor go WHAAAAAmphphhpmmpp as the throttle is electronically limited to keep you from doing stupid things such as fish tailing and "making an exhibition of accelerating"

truly sucks.. anyway.. the SSR handles decently enough .. it's actually well balanced considering it's got a massive 6.0 liter V8 tucked under that hood. I can't remember the exact numbers... suffice it to say the original roadsters it's meant to emulate probably were 65/35 or some such basically useless weight ratio.. while the SSR is atleast 55/45, and I believe it's actually better than that if memory serves. Either way... it's a nice ride if your interested.. GOBS of torque.. which equals FUN AS poop BETWEEN REDLIGHTS! I'll go out on a limb and say with the optional 6 sp, and a good drive it could probably be a mid/low 13second factory ride. .. and of course the top is effin' awesome to watch it open, and close.

you may notice a big salad bowl lookin' thing on the hood... that was for some "dont' lose the tennis ball game" we were supposed to do.. i think it was to keep us from floggin' the SSR to death on the autocross... didn't work.. i lost the ball pulling out basically... haha

 

[pure_ego]

this dudes got the SSR in the curve pretty good

 

[pure_ego]

ok.. enough of that.. if you've got a SSR fetish let me know I've got a few other pics for ya.   Personally the SSR is a awesome little ride.. but for $50,000 i'll buy the Vette thank you very much.


The C6 Vette. . . you vette guys may recognize that burgundy vette in the background as the color that was cancelled after about 200 units were produced...  Magnetic Red i believe is the name (hint.. this car will be a MASSIVE collector car in 20 years)

The basics on the new vette are pretty nifty by themselves..

400hp/400 pnd. ft of torque.. 6.0 liter V8 etc.
Comes in 5 basic packages..
base - for you posers, the suspension is like your wifes accord.. (okay.. maybe not that bad.. but it's only good for showin' off the body and pickin' up ass)
Normal - good suspension for everyday use and maybe an occasional club day at the track.
Z51  - replaces the old Z06 platform with the hella tight high performance suspension, cross drilled rotors, and the supercar tires.. for the serious sportsman who doesn't care about ride quality.. just get me thru the turns fast!

the other two are the convertibles, manual top, and power top..   Corvette vin number 003 was there.. the first C6 Convertible made.. it's next stop after the training tour was the corvette museum in bowling green kentucky where all Vettes are born.



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[pure_ego]

The C6 Vette wasn't a completly new car from the C5... alot of it is.. but what wasn't broke.. they didn't fix. it still has the tranny mounted in the rear.. which gives it an amazing 51/49% weight ratio.. the frame is all new, and made out of lighter weight materials.. the body was designed to be MUCH more aerodynamic than ever before (hence the pop up headlamps going the way of the dodo) It's capable of a true 186mph (as we all know thats roughly 300kph) The reason for that was simple... if you wanna compete against the worlds fastest... you don't have to run with the other american cars, you have to be able to run with the european cars... on the autobahn.. flat out... which means you better have your poop ready to pull 300kph if you wanna be taken seriously. The vette can do it... as well as a 12.5 second 1/4 mile in stock form with the 6 speed and a pro behind the wheel. 0-60 is 4.2seconds... no it's not hayabusa fast, but poop thats fast for a car.. especially a stock car.

 

[pure_ego]

nutha..

that piece of steel sitting there... looks like aluminum.. thats what the frame is made out of... very thin stuff.. very light.. the whole damn thing is less than 3800 pounds. in comparison.. the SSR is 4700 pnds and has smaller dimensions..

 

[pure_ego]

you'll probably notice those two syringes stuck together on the rear wheel in that last pic... that was a device they used to explain how the optional magnetic ride control system worked... i'm gonna try to explain it so we can all understand the coolness of it..


Hopefully you already know how a normal shock absorber works.. if not.. you may wanna go "google" it before you read on...

ok..

the shock cylinder has the typical shock oil type stuff it in.. but it also has iron fillings in the fluid.. why? well because when the electro-magnet thats wrapped around the shock turn the magnetic field up it pulls all those fillings to the shock piston and makes the holes that the fluid flows thru smaller depending on how much juice you put to the magnet.. the smaller the holes get.. viola.. a stiffer shock!..

hopefully your still with me...

the computer works along with the abs, driver control, and magnetic ride system to constantly adjust the suspension stiffness (1000 times per second if need be) Thats all great right.. but how fast can it adjust say if i hit a pot hole? ..

well... say your driving down a road where the speed limit is 55.. so your doing 58mph.. But oh no!! There is a DEER!

you slam on the brakes... what happens in a typical car... the front end lurches over right? .. yes... you swerve to the left... all the weight shifts to your right front tire right? so now you have probably 80% of the weight of the car pushing on 1 tire.. the rear tires are doing basically nothing, and the other front tire has only 20% of the weight on it... your not using all the available stoppin' power are you?.. nope!

same situation in a C6 Vette with magnetic ride control..

your driving down a road where the speed limit is 55.. your in a vette.. so your doing 80 but oh no!! There is a DEER!

You slam on the brakes!..

in 15miliseconds the C6's magnetic ride control has realized that your front shocks need to be stiffer... much stiffer, and the rear shocks need to be softer... so it adjust..... -how far have you travelled since you hit the brakes? 15miliseconds isn't very long.. but still. .. you were going 80mph.. how much ground will you cover?

about 3 inches... 3 inches and the corvette has stopped the front from lurching keeping the car much closer to it's normal balance (51/49 if you'll remember from above) so now you jerk it to the right... the C6 just tightens up the left shock even more, and takes a little stiffness out of the right shock to help that tire keep as much weight as possible on the tire thats trying so hard to keep you from smashing the front of your sweet C6 vette.

pretty cool eh?

 

[1127 TO 1299]

nice!

 

[pure_ego]

they let us drive the 3 different vettes.. the base.. which admittedly is for "first time vette owners",,, or posers.

the normal with magnetic ride control.. which is simple awesome because you can feel it working the first turn you hit.. and there is ALOT of speculation that if it were equipped with the super car tires from the factory like the Z51 that it would out handle the high performance version.

the Z51 felt like a gokart with a jet engine strapped to the back... well they all really felt like they had a jet engine... but the Z51 was rough riding..and unbelievably agile/stable.. imagine what it must be like to ride on a cat as it goes flying thru your house on the carpet at break neck speeds... thats what driving the Z51 on a road course feels like.. I only thought I knew what "it handles like it was on rails" meant until I drove this car...

as stated before i'm no expert or whatnot... but I have driven enough high end/high performance cars to know that the C6 is simply the most intimidating car I've ever driven. The power is like the 'busa.... no not like that!.. haha I mean the power is ALWAYS avaliable.. touch the gas and your about to make some serious acceleration happen.. it feels rock solid at high speeds in a straight line and it will flat throw you back in the seat unlike any factory vehicle i've ever driven.

 

[pure_ego]

the other three cars we drove were the Porsche Boxter S, the Porsche 911 Carrera, and the BMW Z4..

My feelings towards those were...

the Beemer Z4.. sucked.. it looks like a wooden shoe.. my head was touching the head liner (i'm only 6') and it was quick... but nothing spectacular.. I'd rate it on my motorcycle scale of a 600 katana

The Porsche 911 Carrera was nice to drive it handles very well, and is stable.. i think they are outdated, and ugly though.. plus they are vastly underpowered compare to the vette.. and what exactly would you pay an extra $30,000 for a car with a 1/3 less power for anyway?

The Porsche Boxter S.. i hate to admit it.. but I really loved that little guy.. it was nimble, it was quick, it was light.. and it's ok to look at.. plus it just sounds mean from the driver seat.. haha.

Don't get me wrong.. the vette would stomp a mud hole in it's ass just by hitting 3/4 throttle.. but it was a very un-intimidating ride... sorta like a miata.. only quicker and more sure footed. I think I liked it for that reason... enough power to have fun.. but not so much that it felt completely insane like the vette. I'm sure I would be floggin' the boxster to death in a year after I became more accostemed to driving higher performance vehicles on a regular basis... i mean yeah.. i ride the piss outta the busa... but thats a bike ya know... the highest performance thing I drive on a regular basis is a frikkin' tahoe.. haha.. and that obviously does not compare to anything in these pics.

here is a pic of the ugly little Z4

 

[pure_ego]

the Boxter in action

 

[pure_ego]

carerra

 

[pure_ego]

good shot of the boxster

 

[pure_ego]

Z4 AKA - Wooden shoe

 

[pure_ego]

group shot

 

[pure_ego]

and just for the hell of it.. a shot of some stampeding gazelle that were running around in the Cabela's store in Conneticutt

 

[Henryace1]

The pics are great glad to hear you had a good time...

 

[Revlis]

Very Nice Bro... I keep seeing the New Vette's running around town and they really have a presence to them that the C5 never did...

Wrap one up for me will ya?

 

[PACIFICBUSA]

sweet.....

 

[BulletTrain]

Ahhh damn! Me likey... Me wanty...

 

[vincent]

Gonna be interesting to see what happens when the Z51 gets into the hands of some serious street racers. Damned things just won't look the same in our mirrors anymore without the pop up lights