What's the best way to decrease speed of a car to allow a teenager to drive? Perhaps this sounds silly but I'd like to allow him to drive but I wouldn't entirely trust any teenager. He's very responsible and mature for a 17 yo but still...

Someone mentioned closing off one side of the intake but even tho this is before the mass air sensor I'm afraid this will lean out one bank or lean out the engine too much and cause damage. Besides it sounds too easy to undo (I was once a teenager too despite all the ill rumors).

Is there a "non-performance" chip out there? I thought about a restrictor plate but where would you put it and would it work safely anyway? This would be a lot of work and then I couldn't have fun.

 

I have an adjustable RPM rev limiter on my MSD 6AL.

I can tune it down to 4600 and up to 6600 RPM.

4600 RPM can still be very fast though. I imagine you could fab up some restrictor plate between the throttle body and the plenum?

 

You may consider having a custom chip made or see if you can find something that will create slack in the gas pedal so the TB butterflies will never fully open. ???

 

The ECM has both RPM limiters and MPH limiters. Could burn a "teen chip". :D

 

Man that would suck to drive the only vette in town with a 3500 rpm rev and 75 mph speed limiter... :lol:


[Modified by VetteNoob, 4:41 PM 9/9/2003]

 

With all due respect, If you are asking this question you should reconsider the offer for him to drive your Vette...

You are either prepared or not - If I had doubts, maybe some parent / child time together would get them off to a decent start in the Vette :cheers:

Just my 2c :steering:

 

Hahahaha!! Poor kid. .......can we get these for civics too. . . . . :D
Totally get a anti-speed chip using the RPM and MPH paramaters.
You should at least let the kid know "it isn't running right though."
Good luck with it!

(They also sell something you can plug into the diagnostic port and it will record how the car was driven!)

I am so glad I drove a 68 mustang in HS.
No way my dad could completely detune that or watch me with electronics!!!
Good Luck!

EDIT: I understand you letting him drive it w/o trust if it is for homecoming Thats cool.


[Modified by USAsOnlyWay, 5:11 PM 9/9/2003]

 

Thanks for all the advice. Does anybody have a number, url, or email for something.

I trust him more than any of my other children, but most teenagers drive too fast. Putting him in a Corvette unrestricted is asking for trouble. I'd let him drive my 350 dlly but it's "gay Dad".

I thought it might be rather simple to plug something into the diags port and set a few parameters if it was being made.

I respect others opinions it may not be a good idea not to let him drive if I don't trust him, but I don't trust any of these teenagers. No amount of talking is going to assure me esp with a hotrod. I'd rather trust a rev limiter knowing even this doesn't assure safety if they don't assume responsibility for it. The 350 7.3(ugh a Ford) sounds good. I'd put them in a tank if I could. :)

 

As a recent teen myself I would say that the first couple times he will be freaked about driving your car and drive it like grandpa.

Now if he gets to drive it a lot he will get used to it and then start to drive it like any other teen.


I still remember the first time my parents let me drive their new LHS. I drove it very nice and slow. At least when i started driving I was slow.

Funny thing now is that I drive my Vette slower on the street than I have any of my other cars, and it is the fastest. Guess I don't feel I need to prove anything anymore.


If you trust your kid then trust them and let them use the car. If you are worried they will crack it up then don't let them take it. I am shure he will be as nervous as you about taking the car for the first few times..... GL in your decision.
:blueangel:

 

Throttle stop of some kind. Shorten the cable, or alter the throttle blade cam somehow.

 

:bs With all due respect, your nuts if your going to let your 17 year old behind the wheel of a vette. Last week a friend of mine called me to tell me to look at the front page of the paper. There was a piece of a car that used to be a late model camaro with a modified LS1 engine. Only a month before this car had been brought to my friends house for a water pump repair. The dad had bought it for his 19 year old son who "was a very responsible teenager". He's dead now. The power went to his head and he got out of control. He hit a honda head on and the young girl that was driving it is in critical condition. What adds insult to injury is the dad had been told many times that this was too much car for a teenager. You can't tone down a corvette enough for a teenager to keep them safe unless you put a briggs and stratton engine in it. Wait till he's about 30 before you let him drive it.

 

Thank you for sharing your kind reply.

I have grandchildren now and still remember my youth. It's a scary thought.

I have one dead niece who was killed last Feb. as a passenger in a car driven by a girl who was legally intoxicated. She was one of the most fantastic, intelligent and gifted kids I've known. She often talked "shop" with me about being some kind of surgeon. And she would have made it.

My middle girl was almost killed this last November in a small four cylinder Plymouth. She was driving too fast for conditions. Thankfully she recovered but with some scars including the face and a very pronounced limp from a broken hip and leg. Thankfully it turned her life around and she's attending a small Christian college and doing well.

So it doesn't matter what kind of car it is. If it will go faster than 35 it can kill or maim. And almost any car will pass 80. As some have pointed out it's the responsibility of the driver.

However, the more power the more likely a kid is to be tempted. And peer pressure "to hammer down and see what she'll do" is a tough decision for a child to resist.

That's why I'd like to detune the car for those special occasions when I let him drive it. If I can't then he can drive the dually. Might not be as kool but it's huge and slow (4x4 too). Of course he can wreck it as well and do more damage to others with it.

You can't protect them from everything. Sooner or later they will be old enough to do foolish things anyway. I'll bet most of us did. And we're still here to debate this.

When he's out of the home and drives his own car like a bat out of hell, there won't be much I can do about it. As long as he's under my roof in my car I'll increase his and others safety as much as possible.

I'm almost sorry I stirred up all this but perhaps it will serve someone well.

 

Personally I think whatever you try will be ineffective. You either trust him or you don't. Or you have to figure a higher power is going to be looking out for him if he strays. Only you know how you brought him up. Kids are resourceful. If you are going to let him drive it on a periodic basis then if he wants to he and his friends are going to figure out how to bypass whatever controls you put on it.
My son's 24 now and both he and I can relate to both of us doing seemingly stupid things speed wise over the years. Heck, in the early 1960's a couple of us would go out on a Sunday morning every once in a while and race our dads on some deserted road to see if we could beat 'the old man'. Our moms thought all of us were crazy.

 

With all due respect, sir...

Show some testicular fortitude and DON'T give the kid the keys to a Corvette.

You're concerned about how he will drive the car, as you should be.

He will do burn outs. He will see how well it corners. He will get challenged by ricers and others (we all do) and he will respond with testosterone; not good judgement. He will test his limits and the cars. A Corvette is a wonderful machine that can give the operator a false sense of security right up until it's too late...how many times have we read, right here on this forum, of a guy that just picked up his new Vette and never made it home? And these are middle aged guys with years of driving experience. Why take the risk with a driver with just one year under his belt?

I know you love him and want to express that to him...

Show him by exercising good judgement and self restraint yourself. Don't let him drive the car.

JMH $.02 :seeya

 

Don't beat yourself up for wanting to don something nice for your kid. I wanted to buy a trans am for my 16 year old. Thank goodness I didn't do it. The other guy, that lost his son recently really trusted his 19 year old also. The best thing to do is let him buy is own vette when he gets old enough and can afford the insurance. Good luck, it sounds like you will do the right thing.

 

i remember my teenage years. i think i totalled out 6 cars in a matter of 2 years. it wasn't until i had to buy them myself that i started taking care of them.
b.t.w. 4 of the 6 were late 70's trans ams. i am still beating myself up over it. see what those things are going for on e-bay now?