6 speed Z51 car... very nice. Bet it's been a blast to drive already!

 

I may have spent more time test driving this car than I have driving it after I bought it! So I have not driven it as much as I would like. Maybe tomorrow I will be able to stretch its legs a bit- perhaps a drive into Indiana.

 

go for it! Covered in snow here in NC. Roads are fine but at the risk of salt I try to drive the truck instead.

 

Costco batteries are awesome. That's all I've ever purchased for years.

 

I tried the upside down deal once ,it took days of waxing to get the wrinkles out .. LOL Nice find..

 

I tried a couple of times to turn it figure it was easier for everyone to turn their screens

 

Welcome aboard. Yeah this forum rocks!

 

Fabulous...congrads...

 

An inauspicious beginning to what would prove to be a very enjoyable road trip yesterday. We had to jump the car on the dealer's lot when I test drove it last week and having received the "pull key and wait...." message a couple of times I was fairly certain the battery on the car was on its last legs. Interestingly, I placed the battery on my charger and after 8 hours of charging it showed a full charge the night before, but when I went out to start and warm up the car for our "Sunday drive," the battery (which was stickered 2013) was dead as a doornail.

I've installed dozens of batteries before and this car has the easiest installation I have ever performed. Very straightforward and I had the fresh battery in the car in a matter of minutes and my wife and I were off and running.

To say I was amazed at how well this car ran, would be an understatement. Now in the +97,000 range, the car drove like a new car (OK maybe a few more squeaks and rattles). I must have had a tail wind, because the car was averaging 33.6 mpg cruising along at a steady 70mph (180 miles round trip including quite a bit of in town driving, we wound up with an average was 28.9 mpg--- still very respectable). My wife pronounced the passenger seat comfortable, and this bodes extremely well for future road trips.

I just had to get my (new to me) Corvette out for a drive before putting it up for the winter. My car cover arrives Friday. Today I washed the car, treated the convertible top and seats and topped off the tank and will await warm days and dry streets to uncover it and give the car some exercise (should winter not cooperate, I have battery tender).

By the way, the car is a Christmas present from my wife; I think both of them are beautiful and both of them are "keepers!"

 

From the pics, that car doesn't look anywhere near 97k miles. You did well!!

Glad you're able to get out and enjoy it before weather hits... one of the biggest reasons I live in TX.

Congrats, get the column-lock-bypass installed when you can, and pray for nice days to drive it!

 

Yeah!!

 

Welcome to the Forum and congratulations on your very sharp looking C5!
What a bummer to have snow before you could get your first real drive in. But, great that you still were able to get it out for at least one good spin before covering and putting her away for the winter. We'll hope for an early Spring for you and all our snow belt friends.

 

Welcome and congrats on the C5. I would like to stress one thing in regards to the battery. C5's are known for being hard on batteries and it is an absolute must that you have a sealed battery. There have been a number of cases where non sealed batteries have leaked acid. The computer is directly under the battery and an acid leak can cause major damage. I personally use an Optima Red Top on my 99 C5, I actually just replaced my battery today. The Red Top I just replaced lasted 10 years and 3 months. I hope my new Red Top does as well, I might add that I always have a battery maintainer hooked up.

 

I had seen where the Red Top was a highly recommended battery- and of course no way of knowing what was in my car for the last 16 years, except the battery that was in it was a standard type and it had lasted just shy of 5 years. No evidence of leakage- but the car was very well detailed before I bought it (the engine compartment would pass for showroom new). So you are getting 2x the life out of your battery of choice and no worries over leakage! That's great.

Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge- what a great group of people here.

I looked into the Red Top when it appeared my battery might be dying. When the battery died the next day and my wife and I had planned our day around our first road trip in the car, I needed something right away, so I went to Costco and bought one of their Interstate batteries. I have used Interstate for years and never had any issues with them. Granted, never in a Corvette, however. Should the Interstate let me down- it was only $81 out the door. Should it leak, however, that would be penny pound and pound foolish; I will keep a close eye on it, this may end up being a stopgap. Any signs of trouble and I will go over to the Red Top.

I've got a tender/charger that I can use to maintain the battery over the winter months, -- although I hope to be able to drive it often enough to make that unnecessary. Wishful thinking in the Midwest, right?

 

Tough to drive like that?

 

Welcome to the greatest forum on the internet

 

That's why we have seat belts

 

Nice. That has the Z51 handling package, right?

 

I believe so- there is no code on the window sticker, but it states "Performance Handling Package" and I think that is the same thing as "Z51"? Just a $350 option.
The 6 speed manual "standard" actually an option in this car was $815. I find that curious. The automatic was actually/literally the standard.
Polished wheels @ $1,200 a questionable value given current tastes- but I like them!

I wonder how common are C5 convertibles optioned out with the performance goodies?

 

The production codes should be on a sticker in the glove compartment. Fully loaded Vettes are fairly common. Here is a link to facts regarding production options.
http://www.vettefacts.com/C5/2001.aspx