PUNISHER VETTE

What CHANCE said is true. make sure you know your son them make sure he has some experience and then see how he can handle the pressure. I also grew up in the presents of vettes so it might have helped. just make sure he is a good driver first. unlike the guy that kept wreaking. if he crashes make him pay for it. that is the key to everything, make him pay for a lot so he gets that feeling of responsibility and will learn not to waste his money doing stupid stuff.

Here is a article on thatevent data recorder (EDR)/ black box that give you a lot of info on how he drives. this one looks like only if he crashes but i know you can get ones that send data to your computer and you can view it anytime he is driving or have it warn you if he isn't driving properly.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,141048,00.html

cv67

If you really want to get him one, take him to an autocross so he can really learn some skills and some respect for the vette. I bet after a day of that his chances of pulling some stunt on the street are very low.

Darkgh0st

I still think back to all of the stupid sht I did when I was 16-18. I had no tickets, no accidents but almost killed myself many times. If I had my C4 back then I'm pretty sure I wouldnt be posting this right now. In hindsight I'm surprised at how critical I am on how I was back then VS. How back then it wasn't a big deal, nothing matters, and you're invincible.

As far as all of the people saying how it varys from person to person, it only takes 1 time for someone to show off or do something stupid. I can't think of any 16 year old that would NEVER test the limits of his car and show off with it. It just doesn't happen.

skateparkdave

With Grace and with Nathan Plemmons (if you know a good tuner) and finnally I also think cuisinartvette has a good suggestion.

I thought a mechanical stop on the throttle body linkage may be another option in answering your initial question.

In this pick of mine (90 l98) it shows a factory mechanical stop that stops at WOT.
#1 Shows where it stops.
#2 Shows the stop itself.

I think a industrious person could fashion an extension of the stop that makes it stop earlier at a desired setting. A "governor" if you will.

Chance

I understand what you're saying... but there's a chance I might not be posting if not for my C4.

I'm thinking of one incident in paticular. I was doing some very foolish things, but I'm certain that if I'd been in almost any other car, I may have been in a serious accident. I think the C4 protected me.

CentralCoaster

C4 gets me into lots of trouble and gets me out of most of it. Kinda like most weapons.

MNorlander

Tell him if he wants a vette he can buy his own. If he can manage to work and save up he can manage a vette.

scottydog

I think that will be my approach. It will take him a couple of years to save up enough $, and by then he will have gotten some experience under his belt. It will also be some incentive not to rack up tickets and accidents.

It's pretty striking how much more kids take care of their cars if they pay for them. My daughter drove the first car I gave her into the ground, but it's a whole different story with the car she paid for. Washes it, doesn't want to run up the mileage etc etc. Where I live all the 16 year olds show up at high school on their birthdays in new BMWs and mustangs, even a few new Corvettes!

Besides, a 66 Mustang is a pretty cool high school car, even if it is the 6 cylinder model.

gigaglytch

...what?

EDIT: Then again, one of the reasons I got the Corvette is because I also take college courses at Penn State. I'm a junior @ McKeesport Area AND I take college courses at the Penn State campus. That, according to my dad, is the best news to him. He always said "Don't worry about paying for the vette so soon," because I really want to get a full-time job over the summer break, so he doesn't have to pay for it. He's encouraging me to stay in school, and in college over the summer, and I love him for that.

Another reason I have the vette; I'm sure if some of you guys remember when I joined, My dad had a 2005 ROUSH Mustang GT. That car was stolen. But, for the 6 months we had it, I learned how to drive stick-shift, and I could drift and recover the car better than my dad I guess it came naturally. BUt, because I had control, he trusts me in a corvette.

I doubt I'm gonna put a lot of miles on the car. This corvette is only for car shows, friends' houses, and the drag strip in New Alexandria, PA. 152K+, and in a year, I'm rebuilding the motor.

Biff Buyer

c4's have great saftey crash test ratings

Hackesak

when i turned 16 my dad had the C4 which i now drive. I drove a dodge durango for awhile while my dad let me take the vette out on the weekends and such. Learning from experiance, i did do stupid things but none that involved other people or other cars and the thing scared me. You live and you learn. I now drive it everyday and love every minute of it.

Id say work him into it so he sees it as something special and not some honda he can go tear up

C4driver99

everyones got there own opinions. THE ONLY ONEN I LIKE IS Nikki6 but thats besides the point. Yea ive been stupid blah blah blah. Who hasnt. All youlittle goody goodys have done some serious stuff you just dont wanna admit it. I regret it now but looking back I think DAMN THAT WAS FUN I want a HONEST opionion now. Think to yourself why do you drive the C4 you drive today. Because its fun, sporty, YOU LOVE IT AND DESERVE IT(well atleast in your own eyes). Give the kid a chance but also give him a good talking too before hand. I remember the day my dad took me out to find my vette. Its priceless!! and I knowyou guys feel the same way. We cant make the decision for you. Thats your job as a father but the govenor **** NO WAY. Its not worth it. If you have that on there he does not deserve the car and please no flames on me for this post im only speaking from personal experiece and thought out words. Goodluck to you and your son and I hope it works out

USAFPILOT

My advice if you get him one is to get as cheap as you can find. Have him work on it fixing it up so he desires not to trash it. Also, get one with 16" wheels, because he is going to burn the tires of it on all four corners every chance he gets. Having a model with the best brakes available will be good. I got myself in trouble as a kid because I was driving a 69 mustang with manual drum brakes at all four corners. Having a car that can stop is so much safer. The problem with a Vette is most new novice vette owners spin them out. If yo are giving him a vette make sure he knows how to drive it and what the limits are, because a vette can bite you and offers almost no protection in a crash. Its better than a motorcycle I guess. If you want your 16yo son safe...get him an F350 Dually Quad Cab Powerstoke 4x4...the only problem after that is whether or not he kills someone with it instead of himself.

ericcer

I have used LT1 Edit to limit my car when it was in the body shop. I trust no one except close friends with my car. I programmed it for a max RPM of 2k and max speed of 20mph. It sure was a peace of mind knowning that they could not abuse the car.

Another time my wife and her kind of Corvtte nut friend borrowed the car and I gave it a max speed of 55mph and max rpm of 4k. I also reduced the timing quite a bit past 3k to reduce the power.

I think there ought to be a hand held prorammer or maybe built in as part of every new car a way to limit a car's performnce. When my kids get to the driving age I sure will be getting a car I can program myself to have some peace of mind.

GIJoe

My bro-in-law had his 84 since he turned 16..paid cash that he made from many years of mowing lawns.He is one of the most responsible people I know... (hes 25 now and still has the same car)

...anyway... it all depends how you raised him, what you taught him, etc. They can be just as dangerous as any other car, or safer than any other car... just teach him the rules of the road and that power can be dangerous if used incorrectly. I know plenty of 16 year olds that drive like grandma's, I also know plenty of 16 year olds that I wouldn't give the keys to a Festiva to either... it all depends...


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