Well, I finally got the C6 on Friday, the 27th. Considering what I’ve read on the forum, I think it was the right move to go to Kerbeck. There was just simply no BS, they did what they said they would do, and what more can you ask? The car was ordered on 19 April and delivered 5 weeks later. I’m sure there are other forum dealers who are the same, but I certainly have no complaints with Kerbeck (and kudos out to Mike Bellino). The deal was OK, especially for this time of year, MSRP-1000, and because there was no delay in ordering, I was able to sneak in the time frame to get the GM 1000 incentive too.

Coupe, LMB/Cashmere, solid top, 1SB, MN6, Z51, U3U

It was a sunny day, and the car is even prettier ‘live’, as others have mentioned (and in an unabashed plug for LMB, this color is alive!). I took it pretty easy coming back to NY and even as I approach 1000 miles now, I’m still limiting myself to about 4500RPM, no stomping the throttle, no heavy backing off, gentle on everything. I stopped off at home to pick up Ellen, pack the car and continue on to the lake house in Vt. Of course that night all hell breaks loose and we drive in torrential rain and lightning up the Taconic and Route 22. In terms of speed, I’m not taking it too easy and am pretty surprised at how good it is even in these conditions. In between rain storms we hit thousands of bugs, and of course the dirt road to the house is a mud field. Any of you Zaino nuts, don’t look at the pix, you’ll have a heart attack; there were enough bugs on the front to make soup for a starving third world country.

Just regular pix (except for the bugs and mud); no mods yet and maybe won’t ever except for a few cosmetics (just got the windows tinted this morning, maybe some SS duct screens).
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gnwest...stco/my_photos

It rained every day for the next 6 days. I don’t know how many times I washed the car, but I think I was in rain for 500 of the first 700 miles (no leaks, btw). Even the one day I thought I could take her out for a few minutes to bed the brakes while the sun peeked out, I barely got 8 stops when the sky let loose again. The brakes are impressive and easily modulated, not the absolute best I’ve used, but certainly up in the 95th percentile, and so far, no squeal. I really think I need to go through the bedding again, this time using 80mph or more. The brakes are so big that I don’t think I really even got them hot enough coming down from 60-10 (8 times in succession). Some of you have complained about the clutch action, but for me, I think the clutch/gearbox is excellent; nice take-up and easy modulation, well placed shifting gates, CAGS never came into play unless I was daydreaming in traffic. The pedals are well placed for heel and toe (though it’s the first car since my ’67 MGB where I’ve had to use the ‘toe’ on the accelerator (actually my fat foot kind of spans the distance and I just roll over to the right to get more throttle). I’m glad I got the Z51 and the lower ratios.

I came home Friday on a beautiful sunny day. Top removal is quick (no help needed at all) and stowage is excellent, but the wind buffeting is a bit much over 60, so I’ll leave it on except for those slow country cruises. Definitely, this car pulls g’s with no drama, no sweat. The grip is superb and even though I’ve been really hustling down the twisties, I don’t think I’ve invoked the traction control (I am leaving everything on until I get to know this car better). I love the way this motor pulls from about 3000 up and can’t wait to see what full throttle will do. I’ve become addicted to entrance and exit ramps where you can just keep squeezing on the power; as far as I can tell the traction control allows modest and controlled drift without interfering. I hate getting tickets and this car is going to be bad for me! I’m also getting off on how fast you can gobble up the distance in between the packs of cars on the expressways (spent all day yesterday doing that; I would suspect that 100+ tickets are expensive so I should stop. Need to get the V1 in too!) I’ll start using it harder and harder shortly, and playing with the traction control. This car is fantastic. I think it performs even better than it looks, although it does seem to lose some composure over rougher roads. It’s not scary in any way, it just feels something like a hydroplane when it is skittering from sponson to sponson. Maybe the softer suspensions do better over broken pavement, but there’s no way I would give up the flatness of the Z51. The only complaints I can come up with I think are really nit-picking; maybe as I get to learn the car more, there might be more things, but right now I’m a pretty happy boy. In a sense, driving in the rain was an advantage; it lowers the speed where things begin to get a little edgy. The steering is really good in terms of accuracy and placement, but I feel it is a little ‘dead’ in terms of road feel. Maybe I just need more time (or speed? Ha, what an excuse: ‘Officer, I couldn’t feel the road so I had to go faster’). The lights, again not the best I’ve owned, but pretty damn good. I like the separate fogs, and although I don’t like the idea of DRLs for all cars (takes away from the visibility advantage for bikes), I kind of like the yellow ones here. Even the backup lights are good and I like the way they kind of look like a racer's air diffusers. HUD is great, in no way is it distracting, and my eyes love not having to refocus to the dash (don’t worry you whippersnappers, it will happen to you too !). I wonder why they didn’t make the gauges look the same as the ones in the dash though?

I take it back. I do have a real complaint. The Nav/radio interface is cumbersome at best (and the DIC isn’t much better: one-way ‘toggling’ down long menus is really lame). It will accept the fact that you’ve chosen to go another way and re-calculate the route (I’ve been in a BMW that insisted you to go back!) Not being able to change destination on the fly sucks. I’ve seen many worse (try the BMW iDrive), but I just expected in a new model that they would have learned from other’s mistakes. What next, we won’t be able to change radio stations without a notarized letter? NO excuse for not being able to play mp3, nor for having no direct connection for a player. The work-around for me is to just use my mp3 radio sender, but the sound would be better with a direct connection. Truth is, right now I’m just happy listening to the motor!

I can’t get used to how much attention this car gets. I’m used to it with antique boats, but never so much in a new car. I’ve probably had ten conversations with strangers in the last week about it. Of course I was stopped twice by cops on my first day. First time because he didn’t see a plate (on paper tags), but really he just wanted to see the new C6 and talk about his own C4! (Officer: “How much horsepower?” Me: “Do I have to tell you?” Officer: “Yes”). The second really doesn’t count because it was a stop-everybody registration and drunk check, but he couldn’t stop looking at the car and didn’t even notice I had no stickers or plates! And what is it with well-endowed women??? (Could it be that well-endowed women like well-endowed cars? Sorry, don’t mean to be unPC here, it’s just the facts as I’ve experienced this week)

Love the car, I think it will be even better as I get to know it, and as long as the electronic ‘brains’ don’t take a crap and die, I think I’ve made a good choice (preaching to the choir here). I just can’t get this stupid grin off my face. BTW, do you buy the air dam in multi-packs? This thing hits everywhere in NY! And some of you lower your cars? I envy your roads! I can’t even get out of my own driveway (I’ve started mocking-up little transition ramps already).

OK, I got flamed last time for writing so much, and I don’t suppose it will be any different this time, so have at it. Some of you like to read and have fun with this and that makes it worth it, others just stick to one-liners and smiley faces or whatever.

 

Why bother posting if you're gonna be that vague?

 

Congrats on the new car. Sounds like you don't have a bit of buyers remorse!

 

That is exactly the color combo I would choose. Looks great. congrats!

 

Glad the looks aren't spoiled by the black wart on top

 

Great write-up - thanks for sharing and enjoy!

 

Glad to hear that you are enjoying your new car and that your first impressions were favorable.

 

Congrats! Great color, start beating on that car immediately!

 

Glad to hear you're loving it. Gotta love that color too. The first LMB I saw in person was when mine arrived at the dealer. It definately looks even better in person. Enjoy!

 

It's all in the details. Thanks for the post and it only gets better!

 

Congrats and enjoy!

 

Congrats!!!

 

congrats

 

Thanks for the write-up!! That blue is gorgeous for sure!!

 

Couldn't agree with you more. I've had mine a couple of days longer, although a lot less miles. These cars are awesome. Enjoy the ride!!

 

I bought the exact same car from Kerbecks in Feb. Good choice and now that the weather is nice, have taken it on two road trips and it is just terrific. The best road trip car that I have ever owned. 27.1 mpg Annapolis to Bowling Green. What a car, 4400 miles now and just a slight hint of brake squeel, not enough to care about--Enjoy--Ed

 

Virtually same specs as mine..............great post thx.

 

Gotta love the long on-ramps.

 

Thanks very much for a great post. Your excellent comments and obvious enthusiasm are highly contagious and make the wait even more difficult!

Very nicely done.

 

Have my C6 Z51 coupe, MN6, 1SB, polished wheels and XM radio (machine silver/ebony) a little less than a month and I agree with your review. Took it moderately easy for the first 500 miles, uses no oil, runs great, no mecahanical, quality control or esthetic gripes, goes very, very, quickly and lots of fun to drive. Have the CAGS eliminator, but haven't installed it yet. Gearbox is fine, rarely hit the skip shift feature. Awesome handling, agree the steering could use a bit more low speed effort and has a somewhat dead feel on center. The steering wheel looks somewhat out of place in the car. Too big in diameter, not thick enough and styled like it was meant for a Malibu; though I understand a proper 3 spoke wheel is in the works for next year. Magnificent engine, with plenty of power for any conceivable want. Can't imagine the 500 HP Z06!! Bluetooth as an option would be nice, as would a coat hook and a coin holder for tolls/parking loose change. Great looking car, never fails to draw stares, comments and questions.

Was treated very well by the dealer, appreciated the personalized service they gave during the sale, wait and (finally), the delivery. Considered a Carrera 997 as an alternative, but chose the Corvette after extensive test drives in both cars on the same day. Would make the same choice again, even if they were priced the same (which, of course, they were not). This is my first Corvette, but I doubt it will be my last one. Best sports car I've owned in decades!