"Mr.Li" (bobbbbbbbbbbby)
10/03/2014 at 12:48 • Filed to: None
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"Mr.Li" (bobbbbbbbbbbby)
10/03/2014 at 12:48 • Filed to: None | 14
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(Full disclosure: I was recently hired at GM and I wanted to drive a new Vette so bad that I... well I didn't do much, but I got pretty lucky and scored one for a week with no mileage limit so I did what any Jalop would do and took it to Illinois' playground, Wisconsin.)
The rules are pretty clear: no teaching people how to drive a manual, no participation in parades, no taking Canadian citizens to Canada (take anyone else, just not Canadians), and no smoking in the car. I'm no psychologist but when people say one thing most humans also immediately consider the opposite, like when you think of the mission statement of the society for women engineers and wonder what happens to man engineers in the process. So when I saw all the fun things I couldn't do I began thinking of the fun things I could do. Naturally I wanted to take the car to the track. Really anytime a jalop gets behind the wheel of anything they think, I should take this to a track, but this was the new Stingray, and it was basically made for a track so my jalop urges were extra strong. Unfortunately, I was told by multiple people of authority that I could not take the Corvette to the track of any kind for any reason, I was advised not to even let the Corvette see, smell, or think of a racetrack lest I blue ball the incredible beast. So the point is GM let me drive a track ready z51 Stingray for a week and the best thing I could think to do with it was drive it for 1400 miles to Wisconsin and back, with my dog, and girlfriend.
It was awesome.
Years ago, when I was but a young engineering student, before I knew stress from strain, before I fashioned a hydraulic bike crank arm from duct tape and a 4 mm Allen wrench, before I would get caught up in reminiscing about college life, someone posted a similar story about their experience in a C6 Vette in the same program here at GM, and it stuck with me so I thought I'd do a similar post to inspire someone else to keep their chin up after getting a sub 50% score in thermo (B+).
There's not a whole lot I can say about the handling that hasn't been said already. The steering is freaking precise, I work with the people that made that steering happen, and they told me about it so going into it I knew I should expect some great feel, but wow, the communication is telepathic and quick. There is a definite decrease in effort in touring and eco mode which was great for the long haul I had, but the emotional conveyance factor of the sport and track mode was unreal.
The engine. its like... well, here, I drive a 556 hp vehicle and I was caught off guard the first time I rev matched 3rd gear on the highway and traded clutch for throttle. The response is unreal, telepathic even, and the dual mode exhaust is perfectly set up so you don't get highway drone but if you paint a gigantic 11 in front of your buddy's house at 3am it still wakes up the his neighbors. And that seven speed though. that seven speed. that seven speed manny with rev matching is the metaphorical tits, it makes everyone a freaking professional driver, at any point in time you can downshift to whatever gear you want, and take off like a bullet, it's insane. I thought rev match would be the biggest gimmick and now it's probably one of the things I miss most. I suggest you got test drive one before you bash it cause it's, like I said, the metaphorical tits.
The dash is super cool, comes with built in video games like a 2 axis g meter and 0-60 timer (particularly fun if you set it 50-80), lots of different configurations and includes a lap timer, shows the album art for Pandora even if your into that, very cool. Eco mode is legit I think, I didn't use it much, but it keeps you in 4 cylinder mode as much as possible which is nice for the daily commute, still lets you rev match and destroy tires.
So yes I may be both a fan boy and an employee but the new Vette is something unlike any other Vette, and deserves a test drive from every Jalop ever. After these 1400 miles of badass aggressive driving I checked my average mpgs: 27.
My CTS V wagon is for sale at a reasonable price now, consider me hooked.
Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz)
> Mr.Li
10/03/2014 at 13:16 |
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aww, whosagooddoggy?
n54 & s38
> Mr.Li
10/03/2014 at 13:19 |
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Great post. Cute dog too. He looks excited!
Crest
> Mr.Li
10/03/2014 at 13:21 |
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I'm so jelly
Andrew T. Maness
> Mr.Li
10/03/2014 at 15:06 |
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Define reasonable price...
P.S. Roadtrips in a Stingray with your significant other are just the best thing ever.
http://theroadlessdriven.kinja.com/i-drove-the-20…
ifonlyihadthemoney
> Mr.Li
10/03/2014 at 16:52 |
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Ey Bob, miss you.
Great read and glad that you're enjoying Michigan :)
Love,
Disco
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Mr.Li
> ifonlyihadthemoney
10/04/2014 at 15:16 |
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sorry I didn't get to see you while I had the vette, next time.
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Mr.Li
> Andrew T. Maness
10/04/2014 at 23:26 |
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Woah uncannyly similar trips, great car right, it doesn't seem like you got the vette through the ambassador program like I did though, and if someone's interested in the *only* manual V wagon for sale they can message me ;)
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Andrew T. Maness
> Mr.Li
10/05/2014 at 11:59 |
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No I got the car as through my GM guy as a press vehicle. Very much looking forward to driving the 2015 targa version and of course, the Z06.
I will pass that information along to the appropriate parties.
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Mr.Li
> Andrew T. Maness
10/05/2014 at 15:15 |
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btw
http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/…
Rico
> Mr.Li
10/06/2014 at 14:53 |
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He looks just as happy as you do!