- gorgeous color -enjoy!
New 2007 - Initial Impressions
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 328
Likes: 0
From: Duluth ( near Atlanta ) Georgia
New 2007 - Initial Impressions
First: I again thank all those here on the Forum who have patiently answered questions and provided information during my research of the C6.
Car: 2007, Coupe, 3LT, MX0 \ A6, CC3, Monterey Red with Titanium Gray.
Initial impressions - at approx. 140 miles: What a very impressive car. I was going to write ‘impressive Sports Car’, but more and more I am convinced that the C6, well equipped, is a Grand Touring Car – with many Sports Car capabilities. But few of the compromises inherent in many classic Sports Cars, including earlier Corvettes.
I had test driven 2 2006 Coupes with the A6 trans. back in July. ( Impressions posted here. )
I had not been in or even near any Corvette since then, as I waited for discounts to develop ( enlarge ), ordered and then awaited the build & delivery of “MINE”. I picked her up Monday.
I am trying very hard to stick close to the Break-In recommendations in the manual. This is very difficult, as this is my only vehicle + Daily Driver – and the commute into Mid-Town Atlanta typically moves at close to 75 \ 80 – or moves at a crawl. But I am doing the best I can. Passed by more cars driving inbound this past 2 mornings than in all of the past 5 years. ( OK - Slight hyperbole. )
The ride and handling are much as I recalled from my test drives. One certainly is aware of rough \ patched \ broken pavement, but the ride is quite reasonable, for a car as low and biased toward handling as the C6. I happen to have to drive to work on a road that carries almost continuous, very heavy truck traffic and is always in poor shape. My C6 ( one reason for a non-Z51 ) handles this road as well as I could have expected. The one ride-related thing I have noticed is that on a long bridge deck at 55-ish where the sections have seams and each section is very slightly bowed up, there is a bit of bounce, in addition to the impact felt at each joint. Otherwise, the ride is quite acceptable, and that’s the only negative I’ve encountered in this realm. Not significant, since I only drive over a section like this for a minute or so once each commuting day. I am much more aware now of steep street & driveway entrances, etc. – due to the low front.
The interior comfort and ergonomics are excellent. The transparent roof gives exactly the feeling I was hoping for. The driver’s seat is very supportive & adjusts to fit me ( 6’ – 0” at 240-ish ) very well, indeed. The instruments are clear and well positioned. The controls for the DIC & HUD require moving my head a bit to see the markings, but I’ll rarely need to change much while driving. The HUD is wonderful.
The interior is a well designed and well crafted piece – to my eyes. Could several aspects be upgraded? Sure. But nothing I have seen or touched strikes me as cheap. And there are no rattles, squeaks or groans that would indicate anything not screwed ( glued, welded ) together in the interior or the underlying structures. ( Again, I drive daily on very rough roads! ) Good news & kudos to the Corvette design team - and the assembly workers!
I have not yet sampled the acceleration ability. I have applied WOT only a couple of times – briefly & in fourth or fifth gear. Something to look forward to this weekend, as I plan to pass 500 miles on Saturday or Sunday.
In stop & go traffic, the driveline seems to have a bit of slop \ slack \******, causing on \ off throttle to be somewhat less smooth than I’d hoped – and than I remember from trying to simulate this in a test drive. Tried it in “D”, in “S” and in “S” with paddles activated – essentially locking the trans. in second gear. Basically all the same. Hm. Perhaps the manufacturing tolerances in the drivetrain stacked up wrong on my particular example – this is something I have not seen mentioned here.
MPG. Well, clearly it is [ way ] too early to make any meaningful observations here regarding what my long term fuel mileage will be. Yet I note that even with a new, “tight” motor, a miserable commute home last night in the rain, and the fact that when I picked her up the avg. mpg were at something like 13.0, the mileage is up to about where my GXP ( V8 5.3L four speed automatic 3600# ) would be after a representative \ typical week of my driving – just over 19.0. I am encouraged.
I plan to drive north on Saturday and likely also on Sunday – toward Blue Ridge \ Chatahoochee National Forest, Cleveland, Georgia. Many excellent back roads in that area. . . I expect to put over 200 happy miles on her. And take her over 500.
A few quick pictures – from a local park the afternoon I picked her up:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...5cropfront.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...opfrontlow.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...E/P1130778.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...E/P1130761.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...E/P1130793.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...E/P1130787.jpg
Car: 2007, Coupe, 3LT, MX0 \ A6, CC3, Monterey Red with Titanium Gray.
Initial impressions - at approx. 140 miles: What a very impressive car. I was going to write ‘impressive Sports Car’, but more and more I am convinced that the C6, well equipped, is a Grand Touring Car – with many Sports Car capabilities. But few of the compromises inherent in many classic Sports Cars, including earlier Corvettes.
I had test driven 2 2006 Coupes with the A6 trans. back in July. ( Impressions posted here. )
I had not been in or even near any Corvette since then, as I waited for discounts to develop ( enlarge ), ordered and then awaited the build & delivery of “MINE”. I picked her up Monday.
I am trying very hard to stick close to the Break-In recommendations in the manual. This is very difficult, as this is my only vehicle + Daily Driver – and the commute into Mid-Town Atlanta typically moves at close to 75 \ 80 – or moves at a crawl. But I am doing the best I can. Passed by more cars driving inbound this past 2 mornings than in all of the past 5 years. ( OK - Slight hyperbole. )
The ride and handling are much as I recalled from my test drives. One certainly is aware of rough \ patched \ broken pavement, but the ride is quite reasonable, for a car as low and biased toward handling as the C6. I happen to have to drive to work on a road that carries almost continuous, very heavy truck traffic and is always in poor shape. My C6 ( one reason for a non-Z51 ) handles this road as well as I could have expected. The one ride-related thing I have noticed is that on a long bridge deck at 55-ish where the sections have seams and each section is very slightly bowed up, there is a bit of bounce, in addition to the impact felt at each joint. Otherwise, the ride is quite acceptable, and that’s the only negative I’ve encountered in this realm. Not significant, since I only drive over a section like this for a minute or so once each commuting day. I am much more aware now of steep street & driveway entrances, etc. – due to the low front.
The interior comfort and ergonomics are excellent. The transparent roof gives exactly the feeling I was hoping for. The driver’s seat is very supportive & adjusts to fit me ( 6’ – 0” at 240-ish ) very well, indeed. The instruments are clear and well positioned. The controls for the DIC & HUD require moving my head a bit to see the markings, but I’ll rarely need to change much while driving. The HUD is wonderful.
The interior is a well designed and well crafted piece – to my eyes. Could several aspects be upgraded? Sure. But nothing I have seen or touched strikes me as cheap. And there are no rattles, squeaks or groans that would indicate anything not screwed ( glued, welded ) together in the interior or the underlying structures. ( Again, I drive daily on very rough roads! ) Good news & kudos to the Corvette design team - and the assembly workers!
I have not yet sampled the acceleration ability. I have applied WOT only a couple of times – briefly & in fourth or fifth gear. Something to look forward to this weekend, as I plan to pass 500 miles on Saturday or Sunday.
In stop & go traffic, the driveline seems to have a bit of slop \ slack \******, causing on \ off throttle to be somewhat less smooth than I’d hoped – and than I remember from trying to simulate this in a test drive. Tried it in “D”, in “S” and in “S” with paddles activated – essentially locking the trans. in second gear. Basically all the same. Hm. Perhaps the manufacturing tolerances in the drivetrain stacked up wrong on my particular example – this is something I have not seen mentioned here.
MPG. Well, clearly it is [ way ] too early to make any meaningful observations here regarding what my long term fuel mileage will be. Yet I note that even with a new, “tight” motor, a miserable commute home last night in the rain, and the fact that when I picked her up the avg. mpg were at something like 13.0, the mileage is up to about where my GXP ( V8 5.3L four speed automatic 3600# ) would be after a representative \ typical week of my driving – just over 19.0. I am encouraged.
I plan to drive north on Saturday and likely also on Sunday – toward Blue Ridge \ Chatahoochee National Forest, Cleveland, Georgia. Many excellent back roads in that area. . . I expect to put over 200 happy miles on her. And take her over 500.
A few quick pictures – from a local park the afternoon I picked her up:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...5cropfront.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...opfrontlow.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...E/P1130778.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...E/P1130761.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...E/P1130793.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...E/P1130787.jpg
Last edited by rayainsw; Nov 8, 2006 at 09:12 AM.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 20,054
Likes: 44
From: Swansea IL
Originally Posted by rayainsw
In stop & go traffic, the driveline seems to have a bit of slop \ slack \******, causing on \ off throttle to be somewhat less smooth than I’d hoped – and than I remember from trying to simulate this in a test drive. Tried it in “D”, in “S” and in “S” with paddles activated – essentially locking the trans. in second gear. Basically all the same. Hm. Perhaps the manufacturing tolerances in the drivetrain stacked up wrong on my particular example – this is something I have not seen mentioned here.
Great color choice too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Tom
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 328
Likes: 0
From: Duluth ( near Atlanta ) Georgia
A6 trans...
"I would expect a totally smooth, seamless and fluid feel to a modern day automatic equipped drive train."
I agree.
Odd.
Perhaps this will "heal itself"...
- Ray
Many smiles per gallon, so far!
I agree.
Odd.
Perhaps this will "heal itself"...
- Ray
Many smiles per gallon, so far!
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 11,920
Likes: 107
From: God's Country, ID
Originally Posted by rayainsw
"I would expect a totally smooth, seamless and fluid feel to a modern day automatic equipped drive train."
I agree.
Odd.
Perhaps this will "heal itself"...
- Ray
Many smiles per gallon, so far!
I agree.
Odd.
Perhaps this will "heal itself"...
- Ray
Many smiles per gallon, so far!
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Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 4,254
Likes: 5
From: Anaheim Hills, Ca
Thanks for the very descriptive write up. I notice the same "slop" in the drive line, I have manual though. 950 miles on mine now. I think you'll be okay with the break-in too. Nice looking ride!
