SDLS1Rider

As a person who has children late in life. I wondering how some of you deal with a teenage driver in the house would obviously want to drive your vette. This would be a big consideration when your vette is a C7 Z06. C4, C5, even LS3 C6 were mild compared with the new Z06.

Of course I could just say no. But how do I teach a teenage to drive stick when the only manual in the garage is a 600 rwhp car? The bigger problem is worrying about a moment of youthful exuberance can get your child wrapped around a telephone pole. But one can expect the inevitable request to take the vette to the prom.

I'm sure a good number of you have already had children grow up with corvettes, or other high performance cars. I am looking for feedback for your kids driving a high performance/highly modified car.

Monkey D. Luffy

I did not allow my teenage son to drive my corvette.

Big Lebowski

I think teaching them to drive stick on your Z06 and letting them "drive it" or take it out on their own are two VERY different things. I think it would be great for them to learn and enjoy this beautiful machine with you in the car, but I think letting them take it out depends on the maturity of the kid.

Ultimately, this machine gives most adults more than they can handle, much less an inexperienced driver with still developing decision making skills.

Mine will not be learning or driving my Z06...mostly because I do not stop driving it long enough for anyone else to!

6104696

My kids (ages 19, 18, and 16) don't drive manuals and have not exhibited interest in learning. They have exhibited interest in the Z06, though.

However, my wife has strict instructions to immediately sell the Z06 should anything happen to me, without letting the kids play with it at all.

When i had a Mustang GT (also manual), she was permitted to let the kids drive it after my demise if they wanted to. But it was a much more sane level of overpower, though.

spearfish25

My daughters have zero interest. That's my consolation for not having a son. I type this while recovering from a vasectomy this morning, so it's final now. No teenage boy will ever be behind the wheel and wreck my Z.

rsilver

I have done road trips with my son since before he could drive. We drove route 66 2 times in my 69 BBC 4 speed coupe that was his grand dads. We have done numerous others when he was young including my cobra and camaro. I was always with him and he was responsible. He is now 27 and I gave him my dad's 427 BBC survivor when he was 23. He has proven responsible. He has driven my c7 z06 numerous times on road trips also. I think the key is road trips. You get a real sense of how responsible and considerate they are and then you can make a decision . Plus its a good excuse to spend some time with your kids on the road. Its the best indicator IMO. I would not let them drive it around town. thats an invitation to a joy ride and its impossible not to street race when another kid pulls up next to them. They have seen me do it many times as an adult, so I didn't set a good example. But I showed them how dangerous it is in this day and age on the street. both of my kids have been to the track with me and i did a good job with my limited ability to scare the sh*t out of them. It all depends on the kid and the circumstances.

racerns

Obviously a different performance level, but my father allowed me to drive his vettes when I was a teen. I first autocrossed his '85 when I was only 15 and I learned how to drive stick on his '90 ZR-1 and autocrossed that. Now my son is about to get his learners permit and I am faced with the same decisions. He has not shown the desire yet to drive the vettes, as I was much more into cars than he is at that age. He will learn to drive stick on the same '90 ZR-1 though.

dbs1vette

My first reaction was going to be-Oh hell no. Then I remembered not only letting my kids drive my 500hp 69 camaro as well as letting one of the girls BF's take her to prom in it, I also let my boys drive my 600hp 67 camaro on occasion.

I do remember the one boy (who ended up being an army sniper and now fairly responsible) bringing the 400hp SSR home with the roof stuck while he was trying to lower it at 50mph, which he was told was a no go. Not long after that when I was out of town, I came home from an out of town trip and before going in the house checked the 525hp gmc awd C3 trucks computer read out that would tell me the top speed driven in the last 21 days. 121mph. Later with a turbo and another 125hp I managed 155mph out of it, but hey...I'm the one paying for it, right? Of course the son denied it, but seeing as both of the younger daughters, the only ones home would never drive over 55mph, so I knew it was him.

A few years ago I was parking the 04 Z with a 600+hp 416 in it at his house and told him to take it out occasionally and keep the carbon blown out. Wrong thing to say. A few days later, this returned sniper man tells me he got racing a sti on the way to work. A few days later...a rear end needs repaired. Hmmm.

So...unless I'm onboard, NO, I wouldn't be loaning my C7Z (if I had one) to my teens (youngest now is 25). Heck, would not let the 30yr olds take it out now that I think about it. He still owes me $5k with the other car fixes...hehehhe

davepl

I used my C6Z to teach my oldest teen to drive a stick, but only while I was with him.

So if I'm there, sure. I wouldn't loan it out though. He's a super-responsible kid, but it's a lot of car for someone whose frontal cortex isn't done baking yet. All in due time.

RBK

First of all learning how to drive a "stick" remains "nostalgic" for many today, but for the very young, likely to be something they read about a few years from now. Secondly, teenagers experiment with "limits", while judgement is forming. We have seen some here act foolishly and no doubt all of us take a risk on occassion. I sincerely believe that taking your kids out to a safe place to show them how to use a stick shift is a father/child "bonding" opportunity, but to consider then turning over the keys under any circumstances, is an unnecessary risk. I am less worried about the car than what happens to your children. Just because some have done it and it worked, in no way suggests it is wise thing to do - my two cents . I might add I put one of my sons on my lap when he was 5 while driving a turbo porsche, and my other two grew up on Autoweek, buying fast cars out of the gate. However, one memory I do have that lingers, is when I was 16 and my father gave me the keys to his car, I totaled it the first time out. Best

jim2092

Negative by themselves. If I had this car when I was a teenager, I would be dead. Two of my good teenage buddies should have died in a '66 big block Corvette accident. It is a wonder they survived. The car was totaled at excessive speed.

I have 70 year old friends who should not drive one.

dbs1vette

Yikes...at 155 in an 05 GTO a few years ago on a deserted looong NV highway, well deserted except for that speck in the distance that turned into a highway patrol, and a few 160 blasts in the 600hp 04Z...I'm not sure my cortex is through baking yet, or has had all common sense baked out of it by now.

Thinking of trying for 200mph at the Mohave Magnum Mile in Oct. no sense left at all!!!

Nadovedan

Prom...Rent them a limo and avoid the headache.

dbs1vette

No limos where I lived at that time, and the daughter...I could trust her. The car came home with no issues, as did the daughter. She said her BF wouldn't go over 45 after the PRE prom speech I gave him...and no on 1st base for him as well.

Now a couple of the other daughters...

Nadovedan

Hahaha

Bill Dearborn

I let my 3 kids drive my 71 LS6 and 86 Vettes. The 71 with the big engine and auto trans scared them since it responded very quickly to their inputs but the 86 with 230 HP was down about 100 HP to the 71 and didn't scare them as much. My son took it to his Prom but it was an all night Prom in a not very good section of town so I met him at the site and when he and his girl went in to ballroom I took the car home and met them the next morning. That way it wouldn't be parked where it could be damaged or stolen.

I let both of my Grandsons and my Granddaughter drive my C6Z. The biggest problem with letting your son drive the C7Z is tearing up the clutch. Remember, the car doesn't produce 650 HP at around town engine rpms even when wide open. When you first start teaching him you will find yourself sitting still at a stop sign with a nervous kid who doesn't want to damage dad's car and all they can do is keep stalling it.

You will have to be at your best to be able to remain calm and just tell them to take their foot off the gas and let the clutch out slowly so the engine's great low rpm torque can get the car moving. My granddaughter spent 15 minutes at a stop sign trying to get the car moving. We even had people stop who thought we were having a problem with the car. That made things worse since it added to her nervousness and embarrassment.

Luckily, with the C7 Z06 you will have a feature that I didn't have with the C6Z. Hill Start Assist. It will make it one hell of a lot easier to get them going. I remember one incident with my first grandson where he was trying to make a right turn on red onto a street with a moderate level of traffic. He looked both ways and then looked back to his left and saw the oncoming car was a good distance away. He let out the clutch but since we were on a slight upgrade he didn't give the car enough gas. We lurched out into the intersection with the car jumping, almost stopping, and jumping again. Instead of going 5 mph we were going 2 mph in a jumping bronc. In the meantime he got far enough into the intersection the on coming car had to stop while we puttered along gaining speed slowly. At a certain point the engine rpm got up to 700 or so and it was able to get the car moving faster. It took several days but he got so he could drive around town and then I said you are good enough to take it to the Prom. That was in 2010. My second grandson started driving the car in 2013 and he pretty much smoked the clutch while trying to get the car moving up hill in front of my house. Both of them got good enough to do a little autocrossing with the car. The first grandson had to be chewed out because he didn't use enough gas to win. He had a confused look on his face as I said you aren't going wide open throttle and are losing to a car that has 300 less HP than you. After chastising him a couple more times he finally opened it up and beat the other car. The second grandson took to autocrossing like a fish to water. First time on the course he spun the car due to letting off the throttle at the wrong time but after that he did 7 more runs almost perfectly and he was fast. Of course I was sitting in the right seat coaching them telling them when to hit the gas and the brake. As with other people I coached I got the complaint from both of them that they never once heard me say brake, just gas, gas, gas, gas. The video shows I did say brake once in a while.

Imagine doing a few autocross events with your son and both of you enjoying the car for what it was designed to do. It will get you closer to him than any other activity as you can discuss what each of you did right and wrong and it will be a bonding/learning event for both of you.

Bill

PLRX

Will Did you buy a C7Z06?

sunsalem

MissVroomVroom

We have a 13 year old son, and we've started discussing what the plan will be once he drives. I can see letting him drive the Vette to school on occasion for fun (and to show off, let's be honest) as it's only a couple of miles away. Unless something drastic changes between now and then, he's got a good head on his shoulders, and he's not really into speed. I can see him driving like an old lady!

Either way, I plan to insist he learn to drive a stick. Whether on my Corvette, Cowboy Troy's Camaro, or if I buy some beater that I'll unload once he gets the hang of it.

He did recently say that if we plan to buy him a new Corvette when he turns 16, he'd like it to be grey. I told him he must be doing drugs if he thinks he's getting a new car at that age.

Cowboy Troy

He will get a new Grey one when he 16. He our papoose. I'd like some of that wampum a little bit later 'Lil woman.

It all in my Will.