Ron Brubaker

After Dave Hill and his wife Karen, had gotten settled in from their flight, into a windy, cloudy and chilly 25 degrees, a small group of 15 treated them to a wonderful meal at one of our finer Denver restaurants. Over 3 hours later we all left, having blown many a
New Years resolution to lose some winter weight gain.

We woke Sunday to a beautiful blue sky and temperatures in the upper 40’s for the Dave Hill presentation.

An dozen met for a Sunday brunch with Dave and his wife, at his hotel, I passed as I was still trying to recover from last night’s meal. After which we started the preparing for the arrival of the Corvette attendees.

Dave started his hour-long presentation around 3pm to a full house.
Also included was a 9-minute film of the Z06 24 hr endurance test.

Now a synopsis of the latest ALLOWED news from the Man Himself.

The 50th Anniversary Vette will be introduced during the month of May, and be the official Indianapolis 500 pace car.

The car will start being shipped 7/22/02 from the factory.

The pricing of this option is not yet set, although it will not be a outlandish amount. And it will be offered for the coupe and convertible ONLY.

It will include the obvious badges, with an upgraded interior and a innovative high tech suspension, even above that of the Z06. And there will not be any increase in the engines power.

The C6, while they are testing the alpha model presently, will be delayed in its introduction. It should only be a short delay, but no definite date was given. Also Bob Lutz has signed off on the new design and it doesn’t seem that he has had any negative impact on the new car.

Dave felt that this car will be a significant improvement over the C5. They will continue to offer the current 3 types.

Some of the above information gave out of the question and sometimes answer session.

He said there are no plans in the future for a mid-engine Corvette, nor will there be offered any paddle shifters or a Teutonic type automatic/manual shifter (although they might be offering one in the new 2 seat Cadillac.

Hopefully, I have not forgotten or misquoted any of this. And if any of the other Forum attendee’s wish to correct or add to this, please feel free to do so.

Overall, it seems as though the Corvette has a bright future.

Also Rollie Purifoy drove down in a 2002 yellow Z06 convertible, which was simply a great idea. And unfortunately GM will not consider building this combination.

Jinx

Sounds like you all had a good time with Dave but he didn't say much that wasn't already well-known.

At the very least he confirmed many of the more conservative rumors about 2003.

By "three different types" for C6 does this mean the same kind of glue-on hardtop for the performance model or can we look forward to something more graceful?

.Jinx

tome

Did Dave say / indicate that the 50th will be limited production, or an option for anybody to get?

RedWhiteandBlue

He stated several times that they do not want to make it a collector piece stuffed away in a few people's garages. They intend to make enough to satisfy demand, and it will be priced accordingly. He said that he hoped everyone in the room would be able to afford one.

One other thing is that the interior has been reworked; he didn't say how...

ShanMan14

:cool:

Ron Brubaker

GM will continue with the coupe,covert & hardtop(probably as it is now).

FirstVetteZ06

Did Dave Hill mention anything regarding "427" or "LPE" type cars for the 03 model year? :confused:

MitchellDavidson

Great. We still have 350hp. Same year Viper gets 500+ and the mustang gets 390. ... :(

peccles

I wonder if this "innovative high tech suspension" is a preview of the base or Z06 C6
suspension. Will it only be available in the 50th Anniversary package? Maybe
it will provide the ride comfort of the C5 base supsension with the handling
prowess of the Z06 suspension.

Paul
'00 Nassau Blue FRC

SteveJ

A big surprise for me is the lack of paddle shifter option plans. Maybe this is their way of steering people to the Cadillac, just as putting in a better engine and suspension was their way of steering people to the hardtop, which is less costly to produce. The BMW M3 is offering the paddle shifter option now. It's not something I'd personally be interested in, but it's an ideal solution for someone who has to contend with traffic jams and still wants a manual.

revo1059

Let them put 1390 HP in the Stang, I still think the Vette kills it in overall sports car experience. How many people look at a shiny new Mustang that has just been washed and do a doube take on it? I know people look at a Vette. As for the new Viper, it looks like they turned it into an overgrown Honda S2000, they went vanilla with the styling.

Just my 2 shiny pennies.

Senna1994

I agree with Revo, who cares that the Viper has 500hp (they sell what 2,000 a year) or the SVT Mustang has 390. Why worry so much about numbers on a sports car that is balanced and refined enough to enjoy everyday. If all you care about is HP buy a used Camaro and spend money on the engine. Is anybody else on these boards a bit tired about oh the Mustang and Viper will have this much Hp, how about enjoying the car for its capabilities by spending the money on a driving school.

War Machine

Thanks for sharing your story Rob. :cheers: :flag

SWCDuke

Right on! Instead of whining about horsepower and zero to sixty times why don't you guys just go out an buy a junker '74 Nova and put a 502 crate engine in it. A Corvette is about sports car virtues, which are exemplified by a car's abililty to hot lap a race track, but we hardly ever hear about that. Whenever I open a "I went to the track" post is just more dragstrip drivel.

There've been enough magazine tests and comparisons of a Z06's track prowess in the last two years to show without equivocation that it is the best track car regardless of price. The question is: Are you a good enough driver to hot lap a Corvette? Whatever acceleration deficiency it might have is more that made up for by superb brakes and a forgiving nature, which makes it easy to drive even for a relatively experienced amateur. I won't bite back like a Viper, and a Mustang isn't even in the same ballpark, but you still need to think and use two feet to manipulate three pedals. I don't think the whiners have the cajones to take their Corvette (or any other car) hot lapping.

As far as the Mustang is concerned - all those cams and valves, all that mass and bulk and even with a SUPERCHARGER it won't make as much power as pushrod LS-6. Sheez! Gimme a break!

Duke

SteveJ

I agree completely. And you don't even need a Z06. The stock coupe with decent tires does quite well on the track. The Pilot Sports I put on mine made all of the difference hot lapping.

Doughan

Good inside information! Thanks! I also agree that the Corvette is much more than just HP rating and 1/4 mile times. It's an American legend. People put flags on their cars after 9/11. I drive an American flag! :yesnod: :flag

yellow01

SWCDuke,

I do agree, and based on what I've seen you post have a high amount of respect for your opinion - but -

There are some of use who would LOVE to hotlap our cars, but for various reasons cannot afford it - either the school, the track time, or the risk to the vehicle (or any related insurance costs to minimize that risk).

So, that leaves me to get enjoyment out of 1) have one of the best looking sports cars on the road, and 2) one of the fastest on the road (in the street environment).

I'd just like GM to maintain #2. That's all.

Jon

Illini Steve

I'm surprised by this too. Given that Pickups, SUVs and Korean cars are starting to come with 5 speed autos, and the new 7 Series BMW with a 6 speed auto, to not offer an improved automatic is a shame. As past sales statistics show, not all Vette buyers want a manual trany.

ZROne

If you go out to hotlap your car, and you have a 100-200HP deficit in the car, you will lose. That's why we'd like more power. Plus most people will use the straighline power more than the stick in turns. Brakes can be upgraded for a marginal cost. I'd also be surprised if Ford doesn't just improve the power of the SVT, isn't it the Saleen's that give the C5-R's fits now? What makes you think they won't be able to make it stop and handle just as well? <heh>

The 50th Anniversary thing sounds kind cool, I need a nice cruiser for my daily driver and the convertible might wind up looking really nice with the package.

sirhC

MitchellDavidson

Because I want a sports car.

The corvette can handle, great. So can the Viper. So can the SVT Mustang (almost as good I bet)

Why do we want Hp? Why do YOU want hp? Why didn't you buy a S2000? They handle and stop FAR better than your corvette and have better lap times on tight tracks. Of course, it also has AC, stereo and looks nice?

Why? Because if your on the freeway and some jerk is ridding your **** and then tries to pass you in a Lexus you can't do anything about it.

Who wants to buy a 47k+ sports car only to have people say "nice car, but why didn't you buy a Mustang and save 10k? It's faster"

I know I know, who cares, I bought the car for myself bla bla. I'm sorry that's BS. You care, I care, we all (all but maybe 5%) care what people think about us at least a little. I for one would be urked if a 100% bone STOCK mustang where to drive away from me in my new off the show room floor corvette.

We should not expect to be faster than the Viper at nearly 140% the price, but surly we can expect to be faster than the Mustang?

If you want to see something funny, take a 2003 Viper, top down with a girl in the car, and put it up against a 2003 Z06 vette, hard top because it's a SERIOUS performance car! The Viper will not just walk but RUN away from the z06 while working on his tan.

To me, that is not acceptable. Give us more hp so we can at least hang with the mustang. I never thought I would have to say that.... :rolleyes:


[Modified by MitchellDavidson, 12:13 PM 2/22/2002]