First Driving Impressions
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From: In a parallel universe. Currently own 2014 Stingray Coupe.
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Glad you are enjoying the new ride. Life is good. 
Racer
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 262
Likes: 1
From: St. Petersburg FL
I've owned my '01 MN6 vert for about three months and keep expecting the "thrill" to wear off, but it hasn't and I don't feel it will.
Since I've been asked the "mid-life crisis" question a number of times now, I decided to go along! I bought CD's of my old LP's including Bad Company, Belinda Carlise, Pat Benatar, Foreigner, etc.. My wife laughs when we drive along with the top down listening to the CD's too load.
My 12 year old daughter actually asked me to turn the volume down!
Roy
Since I've been asked the "mid-life crisis" question a number of times now, I decided to go along! I bought CD's of my old LP's including Bad Company, Belinda Carlise, Pat Benatar, Foreigner, etc.. My wife laughs when we drive along with the top down listening to the CD's too load.
My 12 year old daughter actually asked me to turn the volume down!
Roy
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 11,308
Likes: 1
From: The Beautiful Greater Bay Area California
Originally Posted by FiberglassFan
You are among like minded people here, and I for one, totally relate to your story. I have owned Lotus and other sports cars most of my adult life, and NON of them have the balance of power and comfort and style and handing as the C5. I really love mine., as you will ever-more-so in the months to come.
Race Director
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 19,459
Likes: 48
From: Schaumburg IL
CI 7-8-9-11 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '06-'10, '13
Nice story glad you are enjoying the car. Just be careful, and remember the Active handeling won't defy the laws of phyiscs...
you already got Mod fever as I see you are going to put Stingers on
and you already found this forum, so the fun has just begun.
enjoy that car and be safe 
glad you are enjoying the car. Just be careful, and remember the Active handeling won't defy the laws of phyiscs...you already got Mod fever as I see you are going to put Stingers on
and you already found this forum, so the fun has just begun.enjoy that car and be safe
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 6,420
Likes: 5
From: "This is not a psychotic episode, but a cleansing moment of clarity."
Thanks, for all the terrific replies. Regarding the handling and the laws of physics, no worries. I'm a pretty conservative driver who just likes to throw into the curves every once in awhile when no one is looking. No street racer here.
This weather we're having in SoCal this week just makes me so glad that I went with my original intent to buy a vert.
My 21.5-year-old son was heading out the door with his long time girlfriend today to get some lunch. Forgetting that it was Friday the 13th, and on top of that, the 12th anniversary of my own mother's death in a single car accident, I tossed him the keys and told him to have a good time. He's a good kid, cautious and conservative himself, so I wasn't worried, until I started thinking about superstitions that I never pay any mind to anyway. Still, I was relieved when they arrived back home an hour later, grinning from ear to ear. The first thing my son said was "Not bad for a Chevy." He drives a Ford Ranger.
He was just trying to be funny. Then, my son said, also tongue in cheek,: "Thanks, Dad. It was great to see how it felt to be rich for a little while." I took the opportunity to remind him that's why he needs to work hard in school, and at his part time job, so he can buy one for himself one of these days.
I'm hoping he IS inspired to get out from in front of the computer playing video games in his spare time, buckle down, and make a great future for himself.
As for burning the CD, I just used the Roxy CD burning program I have and went to it. No magic. While my son was out, I watched most of the video that came with the car when it was new. Picked up some REALLY good, useful information, which made me appreciate the advances in this car all the more! I discovered I had options I still wasn't aware of!
So... what kind of music do you guys and gals like to listen to when you're hurtling down the highway? My playlist today included:
Light My Fire - Doors
Radar Love - Golden Earring
From The Beginning - Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Barracuda - Heart
Reeling In The Years - Steely Dan
Beginnings - Chicago
Some Kind Of Wonderful - Grand Funk
First We Take Manhattan - Jennifer Warnes
Smoking Gun - Robert Cray Band
Face The Face - Pete Townshend
One Fine Morning - Lighthouse
That's all I can recall at the moment. There are others on my first disc, but I plan to create several more with good driving music. We're having fun now, boys and girls!!
I'd keep writing, but I just remembered -- I have an errand to run. RIGHT NOW!!
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Racer
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 318
Likes: 0
From: Gilbert Arizona
Well spoken JMC. I also appreciate what FiberglassFan had to say, "balance of power, comfort, style, and handling" pretty much sum it up. The thrilling ride and the 'suck you to the back of the seat power' is awesome. This C5 is just incredible, as I said I am 58 and still can not wait for the weekend so I can drive her. This is my fourth Vette which is an 01 coupe, but my first C5. I am trying to figure out a way to justify buying my wife a vert, so that I -- ooops, so she could enjoy the convertable ride. Odd, but I also had a 65 Wildcat Charcoal in color, those were the days, no I take that back, THESE are the days - C5 , Silver, Coupe, 6 Speed, paid for ! Not braggin, just proud. Thanks for sharin your story.
Intermediate
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 25
Likes: 0
Life is a Good Drive
Summer '05 was my first drive in my C5 and the smile has not wiped off yet. I eat, sleep and drink that Corvette feeling!!! Never understood Vette owners before and totally relate now.
Took it to Summit Point and did 130mph in the straight with alot left to go, just a short straight. Damn they did a good job designing this car!!
After 18 years of kid cars and vans I feel like a kid again!!
Never understood Vette owners before and totally relate now. Took it to Summit Point and did 130mph in the straight with alot left to go, just a short straight. Damn they did a good job designing this car!!
After 18 years of kid cars and vans I feel like a kid again!!
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 6,420
Likes: 5
From: "This is not a psychotic episode, but a cleansing moment of clarity."
Originally Posted by dwilcox
I also had a 65 Wildcat Charcoal in color, those were the days, no I take that back, THESE are the days - C5 , Silver, Coupe, 6 Speed, paid for ! Not braggin, just proud. Thanks for sharin your story.
I just turned 46 yesterday, but I've been driving since I was 13. When my parents would go to the track for an afternoon at the races, that's when I'd grab a set of keys to go see a girl in a neighboring city or hang out with my friends, or whatever. Learned how to drive from watching Speed Racer, believe it or not. That's where I learned to accelerate through the turns -- seriously. It's a wonder I lived to tell the tale. Anyway, my father bought the Riviera from an old lady who put maybe 32k mi on it before he bought it. My father (God bless his soul) also drove like an old lady, and it drove me nuts. He'd drive 30 in a 35 MPH zone. The weird thing was, he was a real "type A" personality, except when it came to driving, I guess. If he knew I was driving his car (at all, let alone in that manner), he would have absolutely killed me dead. No question about it.Anyway, I remember just stomping on that pedal from a dead start and feeling the rear end lift up and the wheels spinning as I caught rubber. But this is ten times better than that old guzzler which got about 8 miles to the gallon. THIS car is a rocket (also paid for, by the by) and I am really loving it.
And I'm glad that my kids are so much better than I ever dreamed of being at their ages. God love 'em!
These are definitely "the good old days".
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 4,776
Likes: 142
From: North of Atlanta GA
St. Jude Donor '05
Originally Posted by poolhustler
JMc......
You mentioned that you burned a CD and played it in your Vette. My daughter burned one for me and I can't get it to play. I tried it in the stereo and the disc changer and it wouldn't play in either.
How did you burn it??
I have an '02 coupe.
Thanks,
Russ..
You mentioned that you burned a CD and played it in your Vette. My daughter burned one for me and I can't get it to play. I tried it in the stereo and the disc changer and it wouldn't play in either.
How did you burn it??
I have an '02 coupe.
Thanks,
Russ..
gotta be music Cd format.
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 4,776
Likes: 142
From: North of Atlanta GA
St. Jude Donor '05
Hey JMc, did you get a chance to check out http://www.corvettesoftv.com/homepage.htm a great group of folks!
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 4,776
Likes: 142
From: North of Atlanta GA
St. Jude Donor '05
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 947
Likes: 0
From: MS
Originally Posted by JMc
I put a deposit on my '02 Silver vert with A4 plus active handling and performance 3.15 axle on Sunday, picked it up Monday and have been out driving every chance I can get ever since. The top is so incredibly easy to put up or take down, that it makes no difference to me that it is a manually operated device. I have had other convertibles (and still own another one) and the hassles of putting the top up and down has always been a PIA to me. Not so with the new kid in the garage.
This evening, I went for a top down sunset drive out on the windy two-lane roads in my area. I live in Southern California wine country and was driving around the rolling hills and grapevines as the sun faded. It was awesome.
I just love the precision feel of the steering, braking, acceleration and handling. It's all about control with this car. And I personally have never owned a car with this much raw HP and torque since the 1965 Buick Riviera with the Wildcat 454 V-8. But instead of driving like an ocean liner, this thing feels SO RIGHT.
With the bumpier ride, I almost feel like I'm sitting in one of those great Autopia cars from Disneyland circa 1968, but without the track rail in the middle of the street and training wheels keeping me from running off the road. That's what the active handling is for.
I burned a CD with all my favorite driving songs and had an absolute ball listening to the music, feeling the wind in my hair and hearing the rumble of that stock exhaust that's going to sound so much better when I throw on the Borla stingers eventually.
It's taken me a couple of days of fiddling with the seat controls to come up with settings that finally fit me like a glove. I can't recall ever having so much available power on tap whenever I decide I'd like to run up to the speed limit (and maybe a couple MPH beyond) in a hurry.
At last, I understand why Corvette owners wave to one another. It's a joyful acknowledgement that we are driving something very, very special.
I passed by one guy in a C6 and I waved, but never saw whether he returned the courtesy, because his windows were up and tinted, and I never really saw him as we were heading in different directions. But at least I did my part as the new guy on the block.
More great news... We've got some very talented mobile paint repair guys around here. I have a paint scrape on the lower front and some chips out of the front license plate filler plate thingy and got an estimate today on reparing both by blending with new paint and clearcoat. One day and $150 is going to do it, with a warranty for as long as I own the car. A bodyshop wanted to pull the whole front end, keep the car for a week and charge me $950 to repaint the front clip.
I'll be sure to post some before and after pictures.
The top is so incredibly easy to put up or take down, that it makes no difference to me that it is a manually operated device. I have had other convertibles (and still own another one) and the hassles of putting the top up and down has always been a PIA to me. Not so with the new kid in the garage.This evening, I went for a top down sunset drive out on the windy two-lane roads in my area. I live in Southern California wine country and was driving around the rolling hills and grapevines as the sun faded. It was awesome.
I just love the precision feel of the steering, braking, acceleration and handling. It's all about control with this car. And I personally have never owned a car with this much raw HP and torque since the 1965 Buick Riviera with the Wildcat 454 V-8. But instead of driving like an ocean liner, this thing feels SO RIGHT.
With the bumpier ride, I almost feel like I'm sitting in one of those great Autopia cars from Disneyland circa 1968, but without the track rail in the middle of the street and training wheels keeping me from running off the road. That's what the active handling is for.
I burned a CD with all my favorite driving songs and had an absolute ball listening to the music, feeling the wind in my hair and hearing the rumble of that stock exhaust that's going to sound so much better when I throw on the Borla stingers eventually.
It's taken me a couple of days of fiddling with the seat controls to come up with settings that finally fit me like a glove. I can't recall ever having so much available power on tap whenever I decide I'd like to run up to the speed limit (and maybe a couple MPH beyond) in a hurry.
At last, I understand why Corvette owners wave to one another. It's a joyful acknowledgement that we are driving something very, very special.
I passed by one guy in a C6 and I waved, but never saw whether he returned the courtesy, because his windows were up and tinted, and I never really saw him as we were heading in different directions. But at least I did my part as the new guy on the block.
More great news... We've got some very talented mobile paint repair guys around here. I have a paint scrape on the lower front and some chips out of the front license plate filler plate thingy and got an estimate today on reparing both by blending with new paint and clearcoat. One day and $150 is going to do it, with a warranty for as long as I own the car. A bodyshop wanted to pull the whole front end, keep the car for a week and charge me $950 to repaint the front clip.
I'll be sure to post some before and after pictures.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 6,420
Likes: 5
From: "This is not a psychotic episode, but a cleansing moment of clarity."
Originally Posted by Batmbl
Just had some mobile paint work done on my black '99. Was less than thrilled with the results.