jkheit

Hi All:

So I thought I’d write up my experience with Museum Delivery and getting my new and first Corvette and some of the reasons/decisions in getting what I got. It might help others make some decisions down the line. This is long! I tried to break this up into three sections: I. Deciding on the Car; II. Museum Delivery; and III. Thoughts on the Car.

But here’s the summarized version: 1) Buy a Corvette if you can (any model will do) <www.corvette.com>; and 2) Definitely, if you can find the time, do not hesitate to get the Museum Delivery option <http:www.corvettemuseum.com/ncm_delivery/index.shtml>.

I. Deciding on the Car
What I ordered: a 2009 Corvette Coupe. Here it is:






How did I get to even consider this car? Since, I have a HUGE bias against American made cars, caused by horrible experiences in the past (quite honestly, I felt I’d suffered enough), it was a bit circuitous. I have been a huge fan of Honda’s and have a 1991 Integra with zero problems. That. Car. Will. Not. Die. Unfortunately for me, I had an “opportunity” to own a Mercedes. A 2000 CLK. Although I have enough bile, I do not have enough invectives to do justice in characterizing my disdain for what a turd I feel Mercedes have become, and German cars in general. The electronics in those cars are horrendous. The mechanical failures, tremendous. And the costs to fix and maintain them, stupendous. To summarize, I basically shared custody of that car with the dealership. At this point, German cars are totally off my radar for a period to equal or exceed the banishment of US cars. Anyway, I give you that background so you know I’m a typical Anti-American, pro Japanese car wonk.

So Honda did two things to blow it with me. They discontinued/ruined the NSX and ruined the look of Acuras. I loved the original mid-engine NSX, and when I saw rumors they were going to bring it back with an AWD V10 (for what I hoped was around $100k), I set my sights on this: <http://www.autoblog.com/2005/08/17/new-nsx-to-get-v10-awd/>. Unfortunately, it looks like they will bring it back as a $160+k front engine car that looks more like this: <http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/231327/under_the_skin_of_allnew_nsx.html>. My lust for the car just evaporated and I resigned myself to getting either a Honda or Toyota with AWD and a stick (not really caring about what class of car offered those 2 basic features). Here’s the problem. There is no such car! And then Acura brings out the new Acura TL and adds a hideous snout <http://www.acura.com/index.aspx?initPath=TL> with AWD (currently no stick, but maybe they’ll offer one in 2010) for around $44k. So in a weird way, Honda took me down the path of forgetting my love of the mid-engine, and broke my desire for AWD (plus my commute changed so I did not need the AWD as I once did) with their various marketing moves.

And in walks GM Employee pricing on a random website click ad. Growing up, Corvettes were always cool cars to me, but they got a bit too “muscle/pony’ish” for my tastes as I got older. I also didn’t like how much nose was in front of you, i.e., how far back you sat in the car. I always liked cars where you were seated near the center. But with the C5 and the C6, the non Z06/ZR1 versions, the skin got sleek and the cabin got pushed forward. And I have been keeping an eye on its reviews, how with each year, the raw potential of the C6 became refined. The ‘07 handling tweaks that made it less of a chore towards the limits, further improved in ‘08 and ‘09. The big enhancements in ‘08/09 making the base Vette the rough performance equivalent of a C5 Z06. It’s become a tight little package, one inch shorter than a 911, but with the the explosive raw power of a Ferrari, and an efficiency better than all the exotics. Still, I had to bite my lip in checking out Consumer Reports. The ‘05 C6 is a black dotted blight. But things generally improved every year.

So here we are in the 4th year of the model, and I’m thinking, if ever you’re going to give this a go, if ever you’re going to let yourself have the kids dream of a super car, if ever you’re going to give American cars a shot again, this is probably it.

And considering my new found disdain for German cars, and the fact that other exotics (at one point I was considering the F430) are even more of an expensive pain regarding maintenance/upkeep, all the sudden the Corvette was leading the pack. With some research, I’m seeing the base car eating 911s' lunches for basically 1/3 to 1/2 the price. Plus, it’s lauded by so many as a great daily ride. Considering it beats most exotics performance-wise, it’s current Consumer Report grade card, when compared to those, is really rather good. And it does great, not just in muscle, but in handling. In fuel efficiency. In quality (although considering my opinions on German cars of late, that’s not a particularly high hurdle). Anyway, so here I am, decided, I’m going to go for the Corvette, and now it’s just a question of which one and with what stuff.

I decided on the base coupe for 3 reasons:
1. Admittedly, arguably, and subjectively, it’s by far the best looking of the 3 Corvette models. I don’t like all the “muscle” in-takes on the Z06 and ZR1. I absolutely loathe the tacky glass hood ornament window on the ZR1. Although I do like the lower/wider stance of the Z06. Actually the Z06 is ok, particularly in black, but, it suffered the following two maladies.

2. Targa top. Best of both worlds with regard to open top driving, while still having a very useful hatchback. It sounds wacky, but having a hatchback with the ability to haul stuff around really puts the Corvette in a unique class: a super car that is practical to drive and use as your primary car. This option is not available on the Z06 or the ZR1. I suffered in my 1991 Integra with no power windows, no power locks, no sun roof, no noth’n. For 18 years. I thought I’d replace the car before now. But here we are. And the money I saved, over 18 years, well, it wasn’t worth it. So I don’t plan on making the mistake on skimping on some creature comforts again. Glass roof. It’s on.

3. F55 Magnetic Suspension. For day to day driving, this, coupled with the Z51 sway bars, seems the best of all worlds. It is available on the ZR1, but not on the Z06.

As those three features only coincide in the base coupe, that made the decision.

So, once I decided on the base coupe, there were just several options left to pick:
1. Trim level. I went with the 3LT package instead of the 4LT, as I was going with Black on Black, and the two tone leather didn’t seem worth the added expense with that color scheme. I’m happy with this decision. But for those that like the two-tone, I think the 4LT may well be worth it. There were no other differences between those packages as far as I can tell.

2. Suspension. I like the F55 because of the way it analyzes the road and constantly adjusts the suspension to keep the tires planted. Kinda like traction control for your suspension. If you are taking a car designed for the smooth tracks on rougher roads, and plan on pushing the car there, there is a chance for the tires to take flight without the magnetic system. At least that’s my understanding. Frankly, I test drove the Z51, and the suspension was great, and very drivable even over bumpy roads. It’s more of a safety issue, for me, on non-track roads. The car drives great, and on a long trip, it was nice to put it on Tour mode and ease up the ride. It’s hard for me to quantify the difference, and perhaps it’s more psychological than real, but being in Tour, over long hauls, is somehow less tiring.

3. NPP Exhaust. Vroom vroom + 6 HP. This is one of those options I didn’t want to second guess myself on. The car drives great, but I can’t tell how worthwhile this is. I’m happy I got it.

4. Glass roof. I didn’t get the dual roof option because I know I’m too lazy to bother with two roofs. Also, there are after market suction cup visors you stick inside the car if the sunlight becomes too big a problem. Then there is the utility. On a car this low, the ability to just look up and see if the light is red/green is useful. So far I love this roof.

5. Navigation System. I’m pretty torn on this. The Nav system itself is serviceable, but frankly, the User Interface, and features on a Garmin Nuvi generally blow the doors off the GM Nav system. There’s no traffic. There’s no intelligent re-routing when it notices you’re going 30mph on a 70mph highway. There’s no downloadable points of interest (Traffic light cameras, etc.). The UI is just gad-awful in it’s design. So why am I torn? The integration with the Heads Up Display (HUD) is Absolutely Fantastic. Seeing a progress bar of when the next turn is coming up, with the name of the street/exit and an arrow pointing you in the right direction floating in the HUD is genius. Also, it seems the Nav and radio have settings that are stored for each driver/FOB. If there were an aftermarket Nav system that integrated with the HUD I would advise anyone to skip the GM Nav.

6. Chrome “Gumby” Rims. I thought they might be too much “bling” but they look good on the plain jane Black Vette. They are apparently easier too keep clean when compared to the polished aluminum rims, which reportedly stain from the brake dust more readily. Both are forged, for whatever that’s worth. The standard rims look fine, and this might be a place where I could have saved some money.

7. Museum Delivery Option. So I heard stories that you don’t want to get an American car that was made on a Monday or Friday, as the employees are either recovering from a weekend, or mentally preparing for the weekend, and not concentrating on the car. The Museum Delivery Option is similar to the “rubber ball” that some US car makers put on a car to indicate it needs special attention as it’s for someone important (e.g., an employee/family member). This proved to be true as they put a big sheet on the assembly line indicating Museum Delivery, and that a face-to-face with the customer is in the cards. That was my reasoning for it at the time, but later, it turned out that was less of the value proposition, and the experience of seeing the factory and museum, and the adventure of going there and driving back to NJ makes the option a great one, and a bargain at that. Also, the F55/Manual transmission combo, in the color/trim level I wanted was tough to find, so I had to place an order anyway.

II. Museum Delivery
So I place the order, and 2 months later I’m off to pick up the car. I hear most people get their order in about 1 month, but I think the factory was closed for a couple of weeks in the middle of my order.

Off I fly to Bowling Greens Kentucky, the location of the Corvette factory and the Corvette Museum, and drove over to pick up the car with my girlfriend. I flew into Nashville, and got a one-way rental from Enterprise to the Museum and stayed at the Super 8 that's across the street.

The Museum Delivery can last upto around 6 hours long, but they folks there let you make the experience as quick or detailed as you like. You can skip or speed up on any part of the experience you like. They really make the day all about you. But some of the things you can choose to do are: 1.) get a tour of the factory (about 2 hours), 2.) get a personal tour of the museum (about an hour), 3.) get an intro to your car (they go over all the details about your car, about things you can get for it as a museum member (you get a free year membership with the delivery), answering questions about how you can drive/push the car/maintain it/etc.) (about 1.5 hours), 4.) watch movies on the history of the Corvette (about 15 minutes for each of 2 movies), and 5.) shop at the gift shop and get your photo taken with your car. I opted to stick around for the entire thing, and although it was a bit of a long experience, I really enjoyed it all.

The guys at the museum give you a great tour of the museum and factory, and you actually pick your car up in the museum where they have it on exhibit. When you first drive up to the museum, they have about 10 signs that say “NO BURNOUTS” and next to every sign, you see skid marks/burn outs. Funny.



When you first walk up to the museum (and later, the factory) you see your name on the big board welcoming you.







That was a bit unexpected, weird, and really a great touch. And just as I got my eyes off the big screen and started to think about where I need to go, a tour guide recognized me (probably because I was staring at my name on the screen) and took care of everything from that point on. As part of the tour, you get a personal tour guide. They give out group tours at the museum to the public, but the personal Museum Delivery tour gives you greater access, and is more detailed, well, because it’s a personal tour.

And they do an amazing job of making you feel very appreciated. Not just the tour guide, but every single employee you run into at the factory. Not that they have to, but in fact they do. Our guide’s name was Ron and he worked at the factory over 30 years, is retired, but gives tours. If you get a chance, ask for Ron on your tour. He's great. The Corvette Museum is actually a non-profit and not owned by GM. It’s all donations. It is a very friendly and just strangely warm and welcoming place, in that you can tell the people there are very dedicated and love what they do. That sounds disgustingly cliché, but it’s actually an appreciable affect you pick up on.

The factory is really impressive. It’s kind of like ***** Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, except, instead of chocolate, they have Corvettes. Currently, they only produce about 80 Corvettes a day (Saturn/Other GM companies produce over 80 cars per hour). I think they can ramp it up to about 120 a day when there is demand. I was surprised at how very few people work in the factory. It is amazingly robotic. It’s rather magical with these robotic conveyors moving parts above your head and making them arrive in different parts of the factory simultaneously, building up sections of the cars, which in turn are moved to other stations just-in-time for more assembly. There are a lot of spiffy parts to the factory, but one highlight was “giving birth” to a Corvette. After a car rolls off the assembly line, there is a spot where they start the car for the very first time. They let one of us start one (I actually let my girlfriend start it), aka, give birth to it. Afterwards they give you an autographed “birth certificate.”



This is a rather ballsy thing to do, as I imagine the first time you cobble together a car with a bazillion pieces, there’s a fair chance some wire wasn’t connected and will need to be “debugged.” Anyway, they don’t always offer that on the tour (it depends on if they are ahead of schedule and a bunch of other factors), but it was a fun thing. The factory and the people working there actually changed my perception about US car makers to be very positive. Granted, most US cars are not made this way, and the folks at Bowling Green are likely the crème-de-la-crème of GM, but, nonetheless, it’s a very impressive setup.

Anyway, the factory tour is great. They take you to a bunch of spots in the factory that are normally off-limits and you get a real sense of how your car works.

Since you take delivery right in the museum, your car is on display.



I got to start the car for the first time there on display, as people walk by you, and you are part of the exhibit (kind of weird, but cool).



The museum, itself, has a boat load of great vettes. Rare ones. Classics. And a several cool looking prototypes. The black one in this photo (sorry I didn't get a clearer shot) was supposed to be the C5, but apparently was stolen/sold out by the designer to some foreign company. The Zonda looks a lot like it.



Also, the entire delivery/display area is viewable at the the museum’s web cam page <http://www.corvettemuseum.com/webcam/index.shtml>. That way, friends/family can watch some of your delivery. My cell phone rang a bunch when everyone saw me taking delivery. That’s really fun when folks you love see you beaming like 6 year old getting a longed-for toy on Christmas. I mean you want to hide it a bit so as not to seem like too much of dick around other people. It’s just a car afterall. But you, or at least I, could not help it. I just kept smiling like an idiot. Something about the set up at the Museum really makes taking delivery a Christmas-on-steroids like experience. Anyway, the web cams are not terribly exciting, I imagine, for others in and of themselves, but it’s really a very spiffy touch to have friends and family be able to join in your fun.

Then, you literally drive the car out of the museum into the loop in front (where I took the first drive around the loop, counter-clockwise, which you need to do to calibrate the compass in the rear view mirror of the car).



Overall, this was a fantastic experience. It’s amazing this option is not better known (outside the Corvette crowd). It’s a model experience that puts to shame every other car purchasing experience out there. Take your Mercedes dealer cappuccino and stuff it. Every other car buying experience, after this, will be rendered extremely deficient.

III. Thoughts on the Car
The car is reality distorting. I can blabber on and on about the performance, but it is difficult to convey without sitting inside the car. If you’re going, say about 70mph, and you hit the gas: in 6th gear you will really feel a great kick in acceleration, which is impressive as the car is running at around 1000 RPM. My Honda would STALL at RPMs that low in a gear that high. If you choose to do the same in 5th gear you, clawed hands will reach out from the seat and pull you back with a serious force, like some kind of jet plane launch off a aircraft carrier deck. Doing the same in 4th gear, I feel like I will start seeing StarTrek-like warp field star streaks. I haven’t had the guts to kick it into 3rd gear at 70 (which you can do), but I’m still breaking the car in, so I’m going easy. I was told that I should not go over 120mph during the break in period—check. No tickets or arrests on the way back.

A lot of folks talk about the car’s handling as being “on rails.” I don’t like that analogy. On rails, seems so confining. There is an open feel with this car. Kind of like the open control you feel when you're flying a plane. There is a feeling that at any moment, you can do anything. And that there is nothing you are going to do that will phase the car. When you turn the thing, pushing Gs, you feel the equivalent of stomach-butterflies, but through your hands. The car doesn’t just do what you say. It does better than your thoughts on what you wanted it to do. With just a touch of gas, you’re also feeling this push. This well behaved push, and you are realizing, the car is not even close to its limit. It’s like the car is telepathically nudging you saying, go on, nothing to worry about, it’s all fine. Overall, the power is mind bending, and the handling is just uncanny in inspiring confidence and giving a great feeling of control.

Alright, those are my “touchy feely” impressions on general handling and power. I’ll hit on specific features one by one from here on out.

Magnetic Suspension.
I like it. When I flip from one mode to the other (i.e., sport/tour), I’m not attuned enough to immediately feel an impact. On a long drive, like the one from Bowling Greens to NJ, having it on tour just made me less “tired.” In both modes, the car feels great. It doesn’t feel “floaty” or anything like that in tour. Just seems to smooth out some of the direct repetitive “thud...thud...thud...thud” of the highway segment drumming to be less injected into your skull. On twisties I put the suspension in “sport” mode, and the car felt really tight, and I got very good road feel. I’m going to put in the Z51 sways, and from what everyone says, that will make the suspension even more taught, and improve steering feel even more. The car is very balanced, it seemed to push into some turns and kick out in others in a really balanced, controlled and predictable way. I’m a little weary that the Z51 sways may unbalance that into oversteer, but it seems most here have not experienced that, which is encouraging. I love the balance of the car as is.

A little note on ice and snow. From what I read, most here suggest if you get into 3” of snow or more, just don’t drive the car. Everyone seems to agree on not driving it on ice. There are mixed feelings about driving it in the rain. Some feel it’s fine, others suggest otherwise. The old Mercedes CLK, rear wheel drive, was a cow-on-ice in the snow or heaven forbid on ice; standing still, it would literally slide off the road. The folks at the Museum were remarkably and surprisingly clear on this. They say drive it in snow and ice, no problem, other than be careful as you would in any other car in poor driving conditions. Still, from the stories I read I was planning on never driving it in the snow.

Never say never. As it turns out, somewhere in Pennsylvania, we hit snow. And not just snow. The roads were covered in sheet ice. Not the cold dry ice either. The snow was falling wet, and apparently there was rain earlier, which now was pure sheet ice; an undercoat of ice and a great glean of slicky wetness on top, apparently from the snow. Basically a slip-n-slide for cars. Interestate 71 turned into a parking lot, and at the time, I didn’t know how bad it would get, and decided to go off the GPS route and take a detour. Big mistake. The detour took me into really mountainous back roads through little towns. It was awful, and something I would dread in my front wheel drive Honda, much less a rear wheel drive anything. Here’s a surprise. The car performed beautifully! Having a stick helped greatly, no doubt, but I was shocked at how stable and planted the car was. The rear kicked loose once, when taking a hard right turn off a light, uphill, but in a very controlled way, and traction controlled kicked right in and righted my overly hard acceleration (I’m still getting used to having this much power under my toe). Being more sensitive to that power, I didn’t have any more problems the rest of the way through about 10 miles of mountain land ice driving, and then another 15 miles of interstate ice driving (the GPS detour actually ended up saving me time getting around most of the pile up in traffic).

Heads Up Display (HUD).
This is the greatest. I thought this would be a stupid distraction/toy. It’s very useful. Generally it shows your speed/tach and the number of Gs you are pulling in a turn. By the way. How did pasting Gs on your HUD make it by legal and not being able to program the damn Nav while moving got pulled? Are you kidding me. Putting the Gs on the HUD is an invitation to "test" and see if your car will stick at its reported limits (i.e., .96Gs). All I can say is awesome! Now if we can just get legal to let you over ride the Nav nanny, I'd be a lot happier.

Anyway, the HUD was distracting for about the first 15 minutes, but after that it disappears into your subconscious and you do not notice it, yet are aware of it. Being aware of your exact speed on the highway, particularly on long drives, without having to glance off the road, is safety boon. Also, the integration with the Nav system is pure genius. HUDs should be standard on all cars.

Navigation System.
I’m going to withhold final judgment on the Nav until I master it. I have yet to read the instructions. There are pros and cons. The two main pros are HUD and Key FOB/Driver Memory integration. The Nav projects a progress bar (telling you how close you are to your turn off), street/exit information, and big arrows showing you how to proceed to the next segment on your route. This is pure genius. I would go as far as saying, HUDs and this kind of Nav integration should become standard on every car. It’s a phenomenal feature. Also, the keyless FOB memory features of the car are great. When you approach with your FOB, the car recognizes you, re-adjusts the seats to your memory positions, puts on your last radio station you were listening too, and has your Nav locations specific to you. Very nice.

The cons. In sunny conditions the screen is difficult to read; it helps to crank the brightness and contrast way up, but it’s still no where near as legible as my iPhone screen under similar conditions. The User Interface (UI) for the Nav (and radio in general) is very 90’s in its appearance and design, despite the touch screen. It’s not very intuitive. I’m not clear on what the Nav can and cannot do as many features may be there, but are buried behind a yucky UI experience. Also, the Nav is still DVD based. As if that’s not bad enough, one DVD will not hold the entire database, they give you two DVDs (an east/west cost divide, that likely makes those living along the Mississippi groan in pain). As if that's not bad enough, each disc is region based. Meaning, if you want to find an address, you dont just type it in, first you must select a region (i.e., northeast, midwest, south east, etc.). There is no excuse, in 2009, to have a Nav based on DVD technology, much less, necessitating region selection. These should be based on solid state (i.e., SD card/USB thumb drive) memory, and make the entire database available at all times. Also, while you can upgrade the database on DVDs from year to year, you cannot upgrade the software on the Radio/Nav. There is no USB or other mechanism to update the software. Also, there is no traffic. No ability to automatically re-route when the Nav detects you’re stuck in traffic (e.g., going 15MPH on a highway might be a clue to re-route). It’s difficult to find points of interest, and I didn’t see anyway to find points of interest along your route!?! Any $200 Garmin GPS will likely out-do the the built in Nav.

If anyone made an aftermarket Nav/Radio replacement that integrated with the HUD and Driver Memory/Key FOB, I would advise getting that. The problem is, I know of no such well integrated systems. But, don’t get me wrong. The Nav does succeed at performing it’s basic function (i.e., taking an address and plotting a course to get you there). It’s just lacking many features that are standard in the GPS world, and one really wonders if GM is even paying attention to competitive products.

Sound System.
The 3LT package comes with the Bose XM system. It’s not that good. I’m not sure why, but the sound is not at all crisp. It’s a bit muddy. Too bass’y. It has an extremely limited equalizer, and pushing up the treble and mid tones and pulling down the bass help a bit. What I’m not sure about is if it’s the quality of the radio (or lack thereof), or if it’s the design of the car itself that’s limiting. Bose speakers, while not the greatest or most amazing, are usually pretty good. They should definitely be fine for in-car listening. I wonder if it’s a case of road noise (the run flats generally are loud drones at high speeds, which seem to be average speeds in the Corvette), the cabin shape/hatch back shape dynamic, shoddy placement, or other environmental issues that prevent better sound; or maybe it’s just a sub-par sound system. The Mercedes, and it pains me to give it any credit, jeez I hate that car, certainly had a very good and crisp audio system. The reception of stations and XM, on the other hand, are excellent in the car. The UI of the radio is presented on the Nav touch screen. I’m not a fan of its design. There is no overall list of categories (that are immediately apparent, at least). The general UI is just kludgy. It’s serviceable once you learn it’s quirks, and again, the integration with the Driver Memory/Key FOBs is great. Sitting in the car and having it remember your last station, for each driver, is sweet. The lack of iPod connector is bizarre. Scosche makes a connector, which I plan on installing soon. <http://www.scosche.com/products/productID/1451>

General Interior Trim.
I hear a lot of folks saying that German/Japanese cars generally offer better interiors. Frankly, I don’t see it. I guess it depends on the subjective import you place on various sets of features. For me, however, it’s not just what you put into the interior, and how it’s made, but what you leave out is important too. The excess of ill thought out button-puke that litters most “luxury” cars doesn’t make them better. It makes them the interior equivalent to the GM Nav system. The engine/trip computer is brain-dead simple, and gives you just what you need, quickly, well in reach. The column sticks use a very Honda, wired into your cortex, layout. The way god intended it. Although the cruise control is on the light stick, which is not terrible, and it’s not used so often that it matters much. I thought the start button was gimmicky, but is actually a nice feature. The cup holders are great in that they seem capable of handling and holding through significant G forces. The materials are quality, and the simplicity of the design is elegant and refined; those that think it's some how lesser for it...well I guess fair minded folks can differ in their subjective tastes in what constitutes "high end." To me quad tone ball sack leather from an eagle is not "high end" or refined. Putting the interior trim of a Merc, which is nice for the type of car it is, in a Corvette would make me want to heave. There is just enough in the car, and no more. More globbed onto this car takes away from what it is. A pure, high performance instrument. They have the right idea in that any other "fanciness" need be glommed behind a simple touch screen UI. They just have to improve the software *behind* that touch screen.

The leather. I read people complaining about it because it’s apparently not the hide from an embryo of an endangered species of cow. They’re nuts. It’s nice soft leather. Sure, it’s not quite the Coach leather of the seat I have at work, but it’s great. We’ll see how it holds up, but it feels great.

The general fit and finish is great. No real gaps. No squeaks and rattles (knocking wood). It’s a tight little cabin.

The Seats. I found them comfy. They are not the best seats I have ever sat in, but certainly not bad. I drove over 1,000 miles in about 20 hours and they felt good. But they certainly have room for improvement. First, there is no reason why the seat lean/tilt is still manual while the rest of the seat is all electric. It’s not that it’s a big deal to just set the seat angle, it’s just that it would be nice for the angle to be stored in memory and reset for the driver. This holds for the steering tilt and the rear view mirror. All of these should work with the driver memory system. Next, the seat is a tad high. It would be nice to be able to lower it another inch or two, to just get that low car fee. The lateral support is ok, but certainly could be a bit extended to hold you a bit more in a car capable of the Gs like this. Finally, it would be great to have a head rest and some protection from the back roof for us taller guys. Overall the seats are good, but after reading about the cushioning, it remains to be seen how they hold up.

Noise. This is not a Mercedes. You will not be able to hear the the finer subtleties of your classical music collection. You'll certainly hear road noise from the run-flat tires. Surprisingly, you only hear the engine when you should, when you rev the heck out of it. I get the impression that the car could stand another layer of insulation, but then again, that would add to the weight of the car. I get the feeling that I’m only a thin, civilized, distance from the fires of engines of war in the car. For example, the car has an awesomely positioned arm rest. It lets you lay your arm on the rest and flip shift very comfortably. This is the second most comfy shifter I have experienced (the first belonging to the wrist shifting MR2 of the late 80s). If you pop the arm rest, there is a nice, albeit shallow, storage bin with DC power outlets. This storage bin is not just a storage bin, it’s also a sandwich warmer. All your stored items come out toasty warm. I hear there are spots in the hatch back area with similar thermal transfers. I understand you can by some insulation against the heat and the sound that are easy installs. Despite all the above, the sound is fine, and I’m not bothered by it. It’s not a church, and I’m not there to pray. It’s a bat out of hell car, and the noise level is appropriate for the nature of the car.

Shifter. It’s a good shifter. Easy to learn on. Honestly, you can pick any gear, hit the gas, and the car will go. First gear is going to take me some time to master. I’m still not feeling the optimum shift point to haul into 2nd to maximize launch speed. It, impressively, is the weakest gear. I’m used to cars where your start in 1st really dictates the success of your launch, and where the power/thrust behind the following gears is, relatively, more tame. Those are not Corvettes. Every additional gear, gets progressively more intense in the “jet propulsion” it introduces. Well, with the exception of 6th. But frankly, I don’t know about 6th. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to test that gear out appropriately, because I think you need to be going well over 100 to get at RPMs that would really give that gear a decent work out. Anyway, it is a great gear box. I read a lot of folks complaining about earlier gear boxes, and I cannot speak of them, but I like this gear box. I know there are good shifter replacements that offer shorter throws, I think MGW is favored, but I’m not feeling a great need to go this route as it seems the short throws come with the need to use more force.

Glass Roof. I love it. Nothing but blue skies. The weather hasn’t allowed me to take the targa top off, but I’m sure I’ll like this during the summer.

Bluetooth. It’s serviceable. It does not download your contacts. For voice dialing you have to program all your numbers over again in the car. That is a big downer as keeping lots of numbers in sync is tough. At high speeds there is enough road noise that it’s sometimes difficult to hear people. I had people note that they heard me “ok” but did express difficulty hearing me at high speeds. For example, I “imagine” it would be difficult to hear people and for them to hear you at over 110MPH. This may also be a function of the iPhone, which I’ve read may have an issue in outgoing sound quality over the Corvette Bluetooth system. My Joby Zivio Bluetooth headset still seems to be the best thing for hands free talking in high noise areas. At more moderate speeds, like 55MPH, people reported the sound as good, although they would still hear road segment “thumps”, but reported them as not distracting. Clearly there is a LOT of room for improvement here.

Acura is currently king in the bluetooth quality department. My friend has a new MDX, and you cannot hear any road noise, and it sounds like my friend is talking on a landline. Also, they support full phone contact transfers. Hopefully the Corvette will improve with time, and import the contacts, not only for the phone numbers, but for addresses that can be used on the Nav as well.

Hatchback. This sounds nuts, but having a huge trunk/hatchback is a big selling point. I haul things around a decent bit. Moving stuff from house to house. Moving geeky stereo/computer equipment. Luggage. For the type of car this is, it has an absolutely obscene amount of stowage. Even when compared to “normal” cars, like a Honda Accord/Civic, the space is in back is great.

Looks.
The car looks really great to me. The perspective from inside the car is intense. The snout is a presence. The tire fenders flare like the silhouetted curves of a hot chick waiting for you in your apartment.



Your blood starts to run a bit more purposefully, and a smirked smile rides right up on your face, whether you want it to or not. You know it’s right where you want to be. It’s like getting into some kind of lean, agile, fighter-jet-meets-batmobile high-tech-precision machined-fury. (I don't have a wide angle camera, so unfortunately, the above picture doesn't do any justice to what you actually see from inside the cabin).

People will look. People will stop and talk to you. But it seems to bring smiles to most folks, and acts as nice ice breaker...whether you want it to or not.

Here is one of the greatest feature surprises of the car. PEOPLE GET THE HELL OUT OF YOUR WAY! On the way through Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, any time I drive up behind someone, they get the hell out of the way. Most times before I get on their tail. The rest move when they notice, and they tend to notice quickly. I thought once I get in NJ this would end. NJ drivers are just the pits of the earth. It’s so retarded in NJ, that often times the right lane becomes the passing lane. Yet, even in NJ, people GET THE HELL OUT OF YOUR WAY. There must be something ominous about this lean low-slung thing appearing on your tail that makes you want to get the hell out of the way. In all my years driving, no matter how fast I approach, no matter if I flash, in NJ, people never get the hell out of your way. I was so in awe, I would involuntarily giggle like a school girl every time it happened. After a while, I’d dead-pan “land shark” as I approach, and smile as folks GET THE HELL OUT OF YOUR WAY! If I had known this was a feature of the car, I would have gotten one a long long time ago.

Handling/Power.
I already gave my general impressions. And as I’m still learning the car, I’ll leave my general impressions that the steering is accurate/precise. It has good feel. I’m not sure what it’s like at its limits, because, frankly, I don’t have the guts to push the car to the limits. I ***** out way before the car does. That may change, but for now, I’m greatly impressed. The power is insane. There are new worlds of maneuvers that have opened up. Passes that, before, were dangerous/reckless, are non-events because you move from 60-90 in a blink of an eye; it’s as if you’re launching off a dead stop and everyone else is stalled. And I “imagine” that the acceleration even at high speeds like 100, is still amazing.

Fuel. I averaged about 21.5MPG on my trip, at speeds that do not maximize gas mileage. I can see that there is a good shot on getting over 25MPG after break-in and under normal driving conditions. The tank capacity is 18Gal. Actually, there are two tanks with a siphon pump between them. That way the car is more balanced when pushed around turns. Anyway, that’s absolutely fantastic engineering to extract so much power, so efficiently. Something that the Japanese and the Germans car makers are incapable of doing. Amazing.


So. If you’re in the market for a really, REALLY sporty car/Corvette, I highly recommend you consider getting the Vette with the Museum Delivery option. It seems they pay extra care and attention to the car they build just for you, and it’s really a fun thing that makes getting the car that little bit more special. It’s also a fun adventure getting back home.

Anyway, it’s my first new car in about 18 years, and I’m really just jazzed. I really enjoyed the trip to Bowling Greens, and am enjoying the car. As always, your mileage may vary.

Best regards,
John

MarkRx

best read ever! now every time you park it and walk into a store count how many times you turn around and look back at it. and also every time you are approaching your car you'll instantly get a **** eating grin on your face.

LSTHREE

John, congrats on your new corvette. I can identify with you as I did the museum delivery back in April. It is an awesome event followed by all good times driving one of the best cars made in the USA! Enjoy the ride and don't forget to wave!

mte.smiles

Very nice write up. We experienced pretty much the same things you did when we picked up our 07 Vert almost two years ago. I added Z06 sways and an Elite Engineering reinforced tunnel plate to my A6 F55 and it really tightened the car up nicely.

Gannet

Congrats on your new Vette! You did everything perfect, except you skipped the Buyer's Tour.

I enjoyed the fulsome writeup, although I suspect it's too long for the attention span of most CF inmates. For their sake, allow me to provide Cliff Notes:

Guy buys first Vette, takes Museum Delivery, loves everything. Converted (so far) ex-import fan.

AORoads

Congrats! I'm gonna read the whole thing.....a little later (really, I will).

ClovisFox

Congratulations John. Nice looking ride, and nice write up. It took me two beers to get through it. Your experience reminds me of my NCM delivery last year. You are so right, if you can, it is the only way to take delivery of your new Corvette.

Enjoy the ride...Gene...

bimmerborn

Fantastic write up John. Congratulations to you.
I read the whole post twice in middle of my work

DustyDan

Great review, great car.

Just seeing mine in the garage makes me smile at the thought of the fun miles ahead.

May you enjoy your ride for many years to come !

dvilin

CQRT

Wonderful and thoughtfully detailed write up John . .many thanks.

Beautiful car, beautiful lady and wonderful photos - - -can't wait for the next chapter as you enjoy the car.

Best wishes - --your holiday present came early this year!

Enjoy !

rbrcs

Great write up John. Like the OP said you will turn around and look back at the car every time you park it. One suggestion, get in touch with Ed at nakidparts.com and order the Mild2Wild for the NPP, you will love the exhaust even more. Enjoy the car and keep the smile on your face.

Cal Vert Man

Gannet is right . . . most of the CF folks will miss a great write up. Great looking ride. Glad you found us.

Welcome to the botherhood . . .

BD Z06

Nice writeup!

I was there a couple of weeks before you for my buyer's tour (my Z06 rolled off the line 11/12). I have done three buyer's tours but never a museum delivery because of the distance. Good luck!

peter pan

Congrats on your new Vette and American cars are not all junk. One awesome write up and glad I did not get the Nav

danl72

Congrats.

DAC17

I've read a lot of write-ups on the C6, and this was, hands-down, the best.

Congrats on the purchase, and good luck with a fantastic car.

WaFp

Awesome writeup! I couldn't agree more. Having just taken ownership of my new Vette...the whole story just makes me smile!

CHARMR

Ditto

Enjoy. Loved reading this.

jkheit

Thanks! Yea, I notice that. I almost wish I would get a ding because I've contracted CovettePark'itis: the malady of trying to find a spot remote enough, but not so overtly seperated so as to draw attention, so people stay the heck away from your Vette. But I do smile a lot every time I see it.