MTPZ06

I know theres a few guys I've seen on here out of Hawaii...just curious how many there are over there?

I have an opportunity at work for a promotion to Oahu, so I'm just curious about things like accessability to good service centers, dealer or independant? Don't know...just putting feelers out there to see if the Islands are vette friendly I guess.

SSMOKE

I would say that we are Vette friendly. Last night I went for a drive with three other Z06's and a coupe. We have a good time on the weekends and there are some fast cars for sure. Traffic sucks during the day, all day, every day.

Not sure why you are interested in good service center accessibility, but to answer your question, there is only one shop here that I trust to work on my Z06. It is private and I found them while I was looking for someone to install a Supercharger on my old Trailblazer SS. There is a dyno and while I know of others (dynos) this place is the only shop that I know of that works on American muscle.

I have a good relationship with one of the Chevy dealers, but avoid them as much as possible.

I can not imagine someone NOT having a good time working a promotion in Hawaii. It is a great place. My guess is that you might find other more enjoyable things to do than to hang out with a few cool guys that have fast Corvettes though. If you have anymore questions LMK.

MTPZ06

Thanks for the feedback. Just want to know what I'm getting myself into...its a minimum 2 year commitment if I take the opportunity.

Blk 08 C6

go for it whole bunch of them out here.keep an eye when you get here for a blk.z06 with a APR wing.good friend of mine.real nasty silly fast.see you around.

Michael_D

Moving to the island would be a great excuse to buy a vert 427!

Blk 08 C6

youd be the 1st one to have it here if you get it.thiers a carbon z06 only one on the island running around leaves in the hawaii kai area.

SSMOKE

My bad. I was thinking (probably because of your AVATAR) that you were promoting an event and were going to be here for a couple of weeks. Like I said, it is a great place. Two years is a pretty long time and the thing about Hawaii is you will either love it or hate it. If you love it, you will want to move here. If you hate it, you'll be ready to go in 10 days. FWIW There is no track.

REAL, NASTY, SILLY FAST is an understatement.

You definitely won't have to store your car in the winter.

It is one sweet Carbon.

MTPZ06

Cool...was looking at the Hawaii Kai area.

Michael_D

Reviving this thread... I just spent a couple weeks on the Big Island. I'm looking to move there now.... I did not see many C6's at all. One vert GS, but that was it. Lot's of great roads on this island, but there also seams to be a lot of unmarked police running around in what looked to be their personal vehicles. I'm afraid if I take the Z with me, I'd be in trouble all the time.

But anyway, I was wondering if there are any sort of road course races on this island?? Or any other avenue for folks with sports cars to actually drive them, legal events or anything??

To be clear, I'm not suggesting driving like an idiot on public roads or unsanctioned road racing.

Les

I think they may have done some drag racing at the old Kona airport a long time ago but there are no racetracks on Hawaii now unless something has changed recently. There's a forum member with a black Z07 in the Kona area who I met up with when I was over there about 1.5 years ago. He's a really nice guy with a sweet car and an even faster motorcycle. Other than that there are misc. Vettes scattered around. Hawaii 5-0 does drive unmarked cars quite a bit- as I think about it I can't remember seeing any marked cars but they probably have a few. It's a beautiful place with some sweet scenic drives but, like over here, there aren't many good places to play hard.

TapOut

Big island definitely has a lot of nice roads, but you're not going to find much in terms of fast cars, or car clubs out there. Definitely no racetracks or legal sanctioned car events (Besides one small road course that gets setup once in awhile in a large parking lot).

We have a fair amount of fast/nice cars on Oahu, and definitely a good amount of Vettes & Exotics. As for the roads and weather, I personally wouldn't want my Z out here, and that's why I leave it at my other place back in CA. I have a lot more car buddies and sick rides back in cali, so I keep the Z there for those types of activities. The roads here in HI aren't all that great, and the constant random sprinkling and or mist will keep the car cleaning nuts busy 24/7. Plus like others have mentioned, the traffic alone would drive me crazy in a manual car. And don't think the traffic gets better on weekends....it actually gets worse!

In any case, there are absolutely 2 types of people that come to HI (Besides military). There is the 25% that love it here and move, and the other 75% that realize living here isn't like a vacation and grab the first flight back to the mainland.

Voytek

I spotted a black Z on Kauai a couple months back


One day, I'll be driving my Z around the island

Michael_D

Thanks for the input fellas....

Those were the thoughts floating around in my head.... I put about a 1000 miles on the rentals, driving around the island. Some great roads for pushing a performance car, but there's no way to do it with the amount of traffic throughout the day. It would drive me crazy to not be able to push the car from time to time. I didn't buy the Z for bragging rights or passive admiration. I bought it because I like to drive. Seams to me that no one on the island is in a hurry other than tourists. Locals seamed very content to drive under the speed limit. Hell, after two weeks there I was doing the same thing. I'd probably be better off with a soft topped Jeep.

TapOut

There's a reason why we have "Minimum Speed Limit" signs here! lol And that's also why I have a lifted Tacoma and a luxury SUV here, and my Z back in CA. Although I would LOVE to have my car here sometimes, I just worry about not having the full "supporting" staff here. What I mean by that is having wheel/tire, performance and dealers that I would trust with my car like I have back in CA. And I don't have the large group of car enthusiasts to go on cruises and racetracks with like I do back home, so it just seems like it would be a waste to have a Z or any other really high performance car here.

However, if you really want a sneak peak of how the car guys "get down" in HI, just go on youtube and look for videos posted by RSKY STUDIOS. You'll also see clips of the black blown Z with the huge APR wing that the guys above were talking about.

Blk 08 C6

no track on Oahu closed since 2006 for different reasons.they have track on kauai.maui and big island.

TapOut

They closed the track in Ewa so they could start all the new housing projects. Sucks since now there really is no more land left on Oahu to build a new track on.

Blk 08 C6

not in Ewa its in Campbell Industrial Park just before you go inside.your right about building new houses its all over ewa beach.rumor I heard part of the runway at barbers point to lease on a month to month basis.its just a rumor and I don't get my hopes up anymore andjust get disappointed again.we will see suppose to be this year.In the meantime we have no choice but the you know what just don't get caught.been here since 1993 and start running at the track from 1998 tll they shut it down on april of 96.some of us had a chance to get on the superferry when they start running around 08-09 year to go to maui and other islands but some people here didn't want it so they got rid of it.sooo frustrating.politics I was thinking some got to do with it.finish ranting now.

TapOut

Here's a recent video of MotorTrend taking a Ferrari to the Big Island....so this should give you an idea of what it's like to drive a fast car in a slow place! lol

Michael_D

How weird.... One morning walking across the hotel parking lot I saw an FF. I didn't recognize the car as a Ferrari so much, as I did the emblem on the front of the car and the LED headlights. The owner / driver was just getting into the car as we were walked by to our rental. I didn't really pay much attention to it, as I thought it was sorta ugly for a Ferrari. Right as we were behind it, he started it. Then I started noticing it.... Quite loud and raspy at first, then it tamed down a bit. The only difference with the car I saw, and the one in the video, is the one that I saw had the tail pipes in the center, not to both sides. Different engine maybe??

MTPZ06

I know this is an old thread...but its mine, and its pertinent. My company came back to me 3 years later and made me an offer that makes sense now. So, it looks like me and my C6Z are headed to Oahu in the next few weeks.