When you have dreamed of something all your life (not necessarily obsessed or driven) and it finally comes to pass, there is no doubt as to the raised levels of excitement and even adrenaline that begins to dominate your waking and sometimes your sleeping hours. I experienced this in spades. I am at the age where I was giving up hope of ever owning a high performance sports car and it was not because I could not afford one. I have become a pragmatic and practical person through the years and there are certain dreams that I have, if fulfilled, would be selfish, and a waste of time and money. Really. But having the opportunity to indulge, for a short time, and at little expense, is the best of all possibilities.
I learned some interesting things, and some things were confirmed for me, as I began my trip in the 2000 Corvette on July 15, 2010, en route to Saskatchewan, via Edmonton.
I learned very early that heads turn when you go by. People of all ages will gawk, stare, admire, and give huge grins to show their approval. The car is a work of art and even busylizzy says it has beautiful lines and is more beautiful closeup. Very few drivers will ignore a Corvette as it passes them, or as they pass by on the four lane highway. The biggest reaction is from other performance vehicle drivers. They will slow and drive alongside for a while, admiring, and so you can admire what they are driving, and if it is a young buck, there will be subtle manoeuvres to goad you into a race. Were I younger, no doubt I would have succumbed to such challenges. They are a test of manhood, are they not?
Driving the Corvette was a surprise in that it was more comfortable on a long trip than I thought possible. I was concerned (mildly) about the harsh suspension and the loud engine and exhaust note, but neither was an issue. It is quite quiet and even on a rougher road and hard acceleration, the very airtight cabin was a calm shelter, especially with the 4 speaker Bose sound system. Speaking of which ... it had a nice feature of auto power boost as the road noise increased so there was never any fiddling with the volume controls.
The car is equipped with a 400 hp engine and a 6 speed manual gear box. You can only begin to imagine the power and acceleration unless you have driven one of these. The first time I power shifted under hard acceleration I gave myself a really good scare (the good kind) and like a chocolate lover in a Purdie's shop, I couldn't get enough. The problem of course, is that there are laws in the land, the most important to driver's being speed limits.
After a while, I began to understand the three 'lockouts' engineered into the manual 6 speed transmission. Top left is first, straight down is second, up to the right is third, straight down is fourth, up again to the right is fifth, and straight down again is sixth. Reverse is far right and up. I found that in certain cases, first to second was not working. I discovered that when the revs are high, as in moderate to hard acceleration, the shifter slides like silk into second, can't miss. When the revs are down, as in just putzing around town, second gear locks out and you just go to third. Fuel economy, you know. The most obvious lockout is reverse when the car is in motion. This alleviated my fear of hitting reverse when cruising to fifth on the freeway. The third lockout is clever. The transmission 'knows' when you are accelerating to sixth or gearing down to fourth, when you are in fifth gear. It 'knows' this by the revs which are either increasing, or decreasing. So, you never have to wonder where the shifter will lead you, down to fourth, or down to sixth. Once you get used to this, it is wonderful.
The engine has 360 ft. lbs. of torque so there is always power in all gears at all speeds, within reason. Passing situations are never a concern because one needs so little room to pass. Gear down, hit the gas, the rocket takes off, pull out, pass, pull back in and tap the powerful four wheel disc brakes and the job is done. No sweat.
Cornering is phenomenal! There is no body sway whatsoever, only lateral G forces as you power your way through tight curves. Taking 50's at 100 is child's play, although not in the wet. The suspension and wide tires hold the car to the road like fly paper.
There were a few times when I decided very suddenly to stop for a photograph. I needed next to no distance as even a slight pressure on the brake pedal gave a sure footed stop with no 'diving' or skidding. The idea with performance cars is that if it goes fast, it better stop fast.
Creature comforts are many on this car. Taking the top off is a breeze and there was still room for my luggage under the hatch when the top was stored. Full leather, full power seats are very comfortable and can adjust so many ways that they could fit anybody. Full thermostat climate control, separate for each side, makes it very comfortable without ever dealing with settings and knobs. Exterior temp. readings let you know when you can take the top off or when the next cold low is coming and you better get the top on.
There is a full array of instrumentation, including air pressure in the tires, and many of those can be displayed on the 'heads up' display projected onto the windshield almost in you line of sight as the driver. Just a glance, a few inches to the lower left and I could monitor the tachometer, speedometer, oil pressure and engine temperature, never having to take my eyes off the road. Much easier spotting the radar traps that way. By the way, I had zero traffic violations on the whole trip, not that I did not deserve any.
My biggest surprise about this car was the fuel consumption. When I knew I was driving a Corvette to the prairies and back, I budgeted a lot of money for fuel, especially because I knew it would need high octane, the most expensive fuel. The mileage feature on the car gave me immediate fuel consumption, average on the current tank of fuel, and also, at the average rate, how many kilometers I had left in the current tank of fuel. My overall average for the whole trip was 36.2 miles per gallon, or for the metric minded, 7.9 litres /100km. I was amazed!
I was very reluctant to return the car on Wednesday evening after I had cleaned all the bugs and road dirt off of it. As I handed the keys to my friend, very relieved that I had done no harm to his baby, he revealed to me the real reason that he let me have it. He knew I would fall in love with it. Anybody would. He asked me in all seriousness if I wanted to buy it. He offered me a price and then told me he had his eye on a newer one. What a scoundrel he is. I am still thinking about it.
1 comment:
Even though cars mean nothing more to me than getting from here to there, that was actually interesting :)
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