550 mile report on Crystal Red/Brownstone
10-08-2013, 01:48 PM
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
550 mile report on Crystal Red/Brownstone
Paint is gorgeous and love the Brownstone.
There are so many gizmo's that it takes several days to figure out how to use them.
There is a noticeable difference in the settings between touring, sport and track in feel, handling and sound. Initially, most of my driving was spent in sport mode.
I went out in the country on my favorite driving roads with lots of turns. I can say at this point that I cannot make my mind let me go as fast as the turns will take in this car.
It has much more torque than my 2012 C6 base. The cornering and handling is outstanding. It comes out of the sharp turns with tons of torque and it is hard to get the rear end loose in sport or regular track mode. I did shut off all the nannies and the game changes and it can get out of control real quickly
I have been driving it pretty hard with little breakin and love the exhaust in sport and track modes.
Saturday I drove 100 miles to Eureka Springs AR Corvette weekend.
It rained the whole way. I left Springfield, Mo at 6:15am in the dark on my way through Branson, Mo.
There are long, huge hills in the Ozarks on the way to Branson and I though I would try ECO mode all the way to Eureka Springs since I couldn't really run the car hard in the driving rain.
The ECO mode change from V4 to V8 is barely noticeable, but can be felt if paying attention. There is a setting on the display that shows a small V4 in green when it kicks in a small red V8 when it kicks out. Basically V8 mode up the hills and V4 on straights and downhill.
The car is very quite on the highway with a small amount of road noise coming from the rear. Changes on different highway surfaces. Overall very quiet cockpit. Ran with cruse set at 75. After Branson turned on curvy hiway 86 and ran the back roads taking most turns 15-20 miles/hr faster than the signs even though it rained hard at times. Didn't push too hard. Whole trip in ECO.
Averaged 25 miles per gallon on the 100 mile trip through the mountains and curves with a fair amount of down shifting in the curvy sections. Auto rev feature is pretty slick feature.
When I hit hiway 62 at Berryville AR is was raining so hard I could hardly see and water was standing on the hiway. Could hear the water rushing on the underside of the car. Hiway 62 picked up a huge amount on tire noise coming from the rear of the car. After hearing reports of rear ends having no fluid, I stopped to check it out. Was just a fluke 5-8 mile section of the road because it happened no where else. There must be certain surfaces in the rain the Michelins don't take to because that was the only road that it was noticeable.
The rain died down in Eureka Springs later in the morning and there were hundreds of people coming by to look at the 3 C7's that were there. Wes Milby had a Premier edition and another person from Nebraska had a NRB with Kalahari Z51.
Seems like most of the folks really liked the Brownstone interior. I almost ordered Kalahari, but I am glad I didn't.
Still raining on the way home. Kept it in ECO for the most part. Set the Exhaust setting open all the time for awhile. On the hills outside of Branson, you could noticeably hear the exhaust drone at 1500rpms in the V8 mode and it would stop when it kicked into V4 mode. Noticeable enough difference that I turned the exhaust setting back to normal after a while.
Lastly, when in town, I now have been driving in ECO with the exhaust open, because I want the sound. Doesn't kick into ECO until in 4th gear anyway. Set the steering on sport all the time. If I get into a few turns where I want to have a little fun, I switch to Sport or Track.
In town on rough roads, the track setting can get pretty harsh and even the sport if you are just going point A to B. Much smoother in touring or eco.
If you are in the mood for having fun, the sport or track mode is where it is at.
Great car. Glad I sold the C6 to a friend. It was a great ride, no regrets on spending the extra $30k on the C7.
Be glad to answer questions. Will post pictures this afternoon after lunch.
John
Last edited by Jpiatchek; 10-08-2013 at 03:20 PM.
10-08-2013, 01:56 PM
#3
Picked up my Crystal red/brownstone Z51 Magnetic ride 7 speed with exhaust on September 30 from Reliable Chevrolet and Wes Milby. Very pleasant delivery experience. Two trucks and 8 vehicles arrived that day on the transports. VIN 1238.
Paint is gorgeous and love the Brownstone.
There are so many gizmo's that it takes several days to figure out how to use them.
There is a noticeable difference in the settings between touring, sport and track in feel, handling and sound. Initially, most of my driving was spent in sport mode.
I went out in the country on my favorite driving roads with lots of turns. I can say at this point that I cannot make my mind let me go as fast as the turns will take in this car.
It has much more torque than my 2012 C6 base. The cornering and handling is outstanding. It comes out of the sharp turns with tons of torque and it is hard to get the rear end loose in sport or regular track mode. I did shut off all the nannies and the game changes and it can get out of control real quickly
I have been driving it pretty hard with little breakin and love the exhaust in sport and track modes.
Saturday I drove 100 miles to Eureka Springs AR Corvette weekend.
It rained the whole way. I left Springfield, Mo at 6:15am in the dark on my way through Branson, Mo.
There are long, huge hills in the Ozarks on the way to Branson and I though I would try ECO mode all the way to Eureka Springs since I couldn't really run the car hard in the driving rain.
The ECO mode change from V4 to V8 is barely noticeable, but can be felt if paying attention. There is a setting on the display that shows a small V4 in green when it kicks in a small red V8 when it kicks out. Basically V8 mode up the hills and V4 on straights and downhill.
The car is very quite on the highway with a small amount of road noise coming from the rear. Changes on different highway surfaces. Overall very quiet cockpit. Ran with cruse set at 75. After Branson turned on curvy hiway 86 and ran the back roads taking most turns 15-20 miles/hr faster than the signs even though it rained hard at times. Didn't push too hard. Whole trip in ECO.
Averaged 25 miles per gallon on the 100 mile trip through the mountains and curves with a fair amount of down shifting in the curvy sections. Auto rev feature is pretty slick feature.
When I hit hiway 62 at Berryville AR is was raining so hard I could hardly see and water was standing on the hiway. Could hear the water rushing on the underside of the car. Hiway 62 picked up a huge amount on tire noise coming from the rear of the car. After hearing reports of rear ends having no fluid, I stopped to check it out. Was just a fluke 5-8 mile section of the road because it happened no where else. There must be certain surfaces in the rain the Michelins don't take to because that was the only road that it was noticeable.
The rain died down in Eureka Springs later in the morning and there were hundreds of people coming by to look at the 3 C7's that were there. Wes Milby had a Premier edition and another person from Nebraska had a NRB with Kalahari Z51.
Seems like most of the folks really liked the Brownstone interior. I almost ordered Kalahari, but I am glad I didn't.
Still raining on the way home. Kept it in ECO for the most part. Set the Exhaust setting open all the time for awhile. On the hills outside of Branson, you could noticeably hear the exhaust drone at 1500rpms in the V8 mode and it would stop when it kicked into V4 mode. Noticeable enough difference that I turned the exhaust setting back to normal after a while.
Lastly, when in town, I now have been driving in ECO with the exhaust open, because I want the sound. Doesn't kick into ECO until in 4th gear anyway. Set the steering on sport all the time. If I get into a few turns where I want to have a little fun, I switch to Sport or Track.
In town on rough roads, the track setting can get pretty harsh and even the sport if you are just going point A to B. Much smoother in touring or eco.
If you are in the mood for having fun, the sport or track mode is where it is at.
Great car. Glad I sold the C6 to a friend. It was a great ride, no regrets on spending the extra $30k on the C7.
Be glad to answer questions. Will post pictures this afternoon after lunch.
John
Paint is gorgeous and love the Brownstone.
There are so many gizmo's that it takes several days to figure out how to use them.
There is a noticeable difference in the settings between touring, sport and track in feel, handling and sound. Initially, most of my driving was spent in sport mode.
I went out in the country on my favorite driving roads with lots of turns. I can say at this point that I cannot make my mind let me go as fast as the turns will take in this car.
It has much more torque than my 2012 C6 base. The cornering and handling is outstanding. It comes out of the sharp turns with tons of torque and it is hard to get the rear end loose in sport or regular track mode. I did shut off all the nannies and the game changes and it can get out of control real quickly
I have been driving it pretty hard with little breakin and love the exhaust in sport and track modes.
Saturday I drove 100 miles to Eureka Springs AR Corvette weekend.
It rained the whole way. I left Springfield, Mo at 6:15am in the dark on my way through Branson, Mo.
There are long, huge hills in the Ozarks on the way to Branson and I though I would try ECO mode all the way to Eureka Springs since I couldn't really run the car hard in the driving rain.
The ECO mode change from V4 to V8 is barely noticeable, but can be felt if paying attention. There is a setting on the display that shows a small V4 in green when it kicks in a small red V8 when it kicks out. Basically V8 mode up the hills and V4 on straights and downhill.
The car is very quite on the highway with a small amount of road noise coming from the rear. Changes on different highway surfaces. Overall very quiet cockpit. Ran with cruse set at 75. After Branson turned on curvy hiway 86 and ran the back roads taking most turns 15-20 miles/hr faster than the signs even though it rained hard at times. Didn't push too hard. Whole trip in ECO.
Averaged 25 miles per gallon on the 100 mile trip through the mountains and curves with a fair amount of down shifting in the curvy sections. Auto rev feature is pretty slick feature.
When I hit hiway 62 at Berryville AR is was raining so hard I could hardly see and water was standing on the hiway. Could hear the water rushing on the underside of the car. Hiway 62 picked up a huge amount on tire noise coming from the rear of the car. After hearing reports of rear ends having no fluid, I stopped to check it out. Was just a fluke 5-8 mile section of the road because it happened no where else. There must be certain surfaces in the rain the Michelins don't take to because that was the only road that it was noticeable.
The rain died down in Eureka Springs later in the morning and there were hundreds of people coming by to look at the 3 C7's that were there. Wes Milby had a Premier edition and another person from Nebraska had a NRB with Kalahari Z51.
Seems like most of the folks really liked the Brownstone interior. I almost ordered Kalahari, but I am glad I didn't.
Still raining on the way home. Kept it in ECO for the most part. Set the Exhaust setting open all the time for awhile. On the hills outside of Branson, you could noticeably hear the exhaust drone at 1500rpms in the V8 mode and it would stop when it kicked into V4 mode. Noticeable enough difference that I turned the exhaust setting back to normal after a while.
Lastly, when in town, I now have been driving in ECO with the exhaust open, because I want the sound. Doesn't kick into ECO until in 4th gear anyway. Set the steering on sport all the time. If I get into a few turns where I want to have a little fun, I switch to Sport or Track.
In town on rough roads, the track setting can get pretty harsh and even the sport if you are just going point A to B. Much smoother in touring or eco.
If you are in the mood for having fun, the sport or track mode is where it is at.
Great car. Glad I sold the C6 to a friend. It was a great ride, no regrets on spending the extra $30k on the C7.
Be glad to answer questions. Will post pictures this afternoon after lunch.
John
10-08-2013, 02:23 PM
#6
Corvette fan
Great stuff. Thanks.
10-08-2013, 02:29 PM
#7
Instructor
Thanks for the heads up on the Brownstone. I am going with CRT and was going to go with Kalahari. Will have to rethink that.
Last edited by manic mike; 10-08-2013 at 02:31 PM.
10-08-2013, 02:36 PM
#8
Drifting
NICE!! I'm anxious to se your pics, please try and get a couple that clearly show the Brownstone and CRT together. This is the exact color combo I have ordered and have never seen the two together on one car. 
I'm anxious to se your pics, please try and get a couple that clearly show the Brownstone and CRT together. This is the exact color combo I have ordered and have never seen the two together on one car.
10-08-2013, 03:58 PM
#11
Racer
Member Since: Sep 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
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Great write up, congrats!
I tried weather mode, and it works great, doesnt feel weak at all...
How do you get the exhaust set to stay open at all times? I'm guessing I need to go into track mode, then go turn off the exhaust sound management feature while its already in track mode?
I tried weather mode, and it works great, doesnt feel weak at all...
How do you get the exhaust set to stay open at all times? I'm guessing I need to go into track mode, then go turn off the exhaust sound management feature while its already in track mode?
10-08-2013, 04:46 PM
#13
Racer
Member Since: Sep 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 432
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10-08-2013, 04:48 PM
#14
Melting Slicks
Very nice looking car. The BrownStone does look really nice and should be easier to keep clean looking. I think that is the color combo I would choose.
Last edited by craig04c5; 10-08-2013 at 04:54 PM.
10-08-2013, 04:56 PM
#15
Instructor
Thread Starter
550 mile report continued
I put a link for pictures on the first post.
The first four days I had the roof out. Does not seem to be as much buffeting as in the C6. Maybe just my imagination, but my wife didn't seem to mind. The top is as light as a feather and easy to store.
The first night I parked it in the garage with the top out and the next morning when I walked in to the garage, the whole garage smelled like leather. The stitching looks very good.
Last Friday night we went to a breast cancer function and I had a little too much wine and my wife drove about 8 miles home (first time to drive C7 as she is not a car person) She knows how to drive a stick, but it has been a while since she drove one. She did just fine and I even noticed a little grin every now and then as she got on it. Very easy to drive.
As others have posted, the hatch has to be shut hard when the windows are up. However, if you just push slightly in the middle with your hand it shuts all the way.
On the big hills going to Branson, the cruise control kept speed constant at 75 with no problem. Just does not have a lot of juice in 7th on the highway.
Fit and finish inside and out looks very nice. Does not seem to have any noticeable gaps. The brownstone interior is very rich looking and it got wet some last Saturday and didn't seem to bother it at all.
Visibility for me has not been a problem. Still have to be careful backing even with the camera. Camera works good.
I am 6ft 220 and the car is very comfortable. The stereo is OK, but nothing spectacular. Can get a lot of bass on it with the setting.
THe weather feature on the display is nice and lets you search anywhere in the country for currently conditions. Has a 5 day forcast too. Infiniti doesn't have that on their NAV. Also the voice recognition on the NAV works excellent and I didn't have to repeat. Much easier to use than the one on the Infiniti or other cars I have owned.
The hockey stick tach on the dash and HUD is pretty cool and fairly easy to move from one configuration to the other once you learn how to use it.
Don't do blue tooth or ipods so I can't comment. I'm am an old school 66 year old that listens to Oldies on XM. No chrome wheels.Wish it had a CD player.
In contrast to other reports, I think the rear hatch area looks fine and have heard others say they like the carpeting. I think the dash looks just fine without the carbon fiber and glad I didn't spend the money for suede trim and seat inserts.
Monday I am going to have clear protective coating put on the front and will drive it to Florida in January. Very comfortable car for a sports car. Hope this helps to answer questions to those of you that are waiting or wanting to order.
John
The first four days I had the roof out. Does not seem to be as much buffeting as in the C6. Maybe just my imagination, but my wife didn't seem to mind. The top is as light as a feather and easy to store.
The first night I parked it in the garage with the top out and the next morning when I walked in to the garage, the whole garage smelled like leather. The stitching looks very good.
Last Friday night we went to a breast cancer function and I had a little too much wine and my wife drove about 8 miles home (first time to drive C7 as she is not a car person) She knows how to drive a stick, but it has been a while since she drove one. She did just fine and I even noticed a little grin every now and then as she got on it. Very easy to drive.
As others have posted, the hatch has to be shut hard when the windows are up. However, if you just push slightly in the middle with your hand it shuts all the way.
On the big hills going to Branson, the cruise control kept speed constant at 75 with no problem. Just does not have a lot of juice in 7th on the highway.
Fit and finish inside and out looks very nice. Does not seem to have any noticeable gaps. The brownstone interior is very rich looking and it got wet some last Saturday and didn't seem to bother it at all.
Visibility for me has not been a problem. Still have to be careful backing even with the camera. Camera works good.
I am 6ft 220 and the car is very comfortable. The stereo is OK, but nothing spectacular. Can get a lot of bass on it with the setting.
THe weather feature on the display is nice and lets you search anywhere in the country for currently conditions. Has a 5 day forcast too. Infiniti doesn't have that on their NAV. Also the voice recognition on the NAV works excellent and I didn't have to repeat. Much easier to use than the one on the Infiniti or other cars I have owned.
The hockey stick tach on the dash and HUD is pretty cool and fairly easy to move from one configuration to the other once you learn how to use it.
Don't do blue tooth or ipods so I can't comment. I'm am an old school 66 year old that listens to Oldies on XM. No chrome wheels.Wish it had a CD player.
In contrast to other reports, I think the rear hatch area looks fine and have heard others say they like the carpeting. I think the dash looks just fine without the carbon fiber and glad I didn't spend the money for suede trim and seat inserts.
Monday I am going to have clear protective coating put on the front and will drive it to Florida in January. Very comfortable car for a sports car. Hope this helps to answer questions to those of you that are waiting or wanting to order.
John
10-08-2013, 04:59 PM
#16
Instructor
Thread Starter
10-08-2013, 04:59 PM
#17
Drifting
Fantastic pics!! I knew I made a good color choice with CRT and Brownstone!! 
Now if I can just get my car released from the Nashville pen so I can enjoy it before the snow settles in!
Now if I can just get my car released from the Nashville pen so I can enjoy it before the snow settles in!
10-08-2013, 05:02 PM
#18
The Consigliere
Member Since: May 2006
Location: 2023 Z06 & 2010 ZR1
Posts: 22,236
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Excellent report. I was one of the guys you took the time to speak to (and I also had a nice conversation with Wes - I bought a car from him over the phone a couple years back in a great transaction and it was nice to meet him), and I spent some time looking at your 7. Very nice color combo.
Ya know, some folks who don't own and drive Corvettes will suggest you can't drive these things on wet roads, around blind curves, on less than perfect surfaces, in cool temps etc.
The 6 did that just fine with an intelligent pilot, and given the improvements in the 7, I would think it would do at least as well and likely better. From your report it sounds like it drives out quite well.
It was nice to meet you and I appreciate the time you gave to me and others answering questions.
Ya know, some folks who don't own and drive Corvettes will suggest you can't drive these things on wet roads, around blind curves, on less than perfect surfaces, in cool temps etc.
The 6 did that just fine with an intelligent pilot, and given the improvements in the 7, I would think it would do at least as well and likely better. From your report it sounds like it drives out quite well.
It was nice to meet you and I appreciate the time you gave to me and others answering questions.
10-08-2013, 05:07 PM
#19
Instructor
Thread Starter
Brwnstone
You won't be sorry with the Brownstone, BIll. And it smells so good. Only combination that doesn't have black carpeting either.
10-08-2013, 05:12 PM
#20
Instructor
Thread Starter
Conversation with you
Excellent report. I was one of the guys you took the time to speak to (and I also had a nice conversation with Wes - I bought a car from him over the phone a couple years back in a great transaction and it was nice to meet him), and I spent some time looking at your 7. Very nice color combo.
Ya know, some folks who don't own and drive Corvettes will suggest you can't drive these things on wet roads, around blind curves, on less than perfect surfaces, in cool temps etc.
The 6 did that just fine with an intelligent pilot, and given the improvements in the 7, I would think it would do at least as well and likely better. From your report it sounds like it drives out quite well.
It was nice to meet you and I appreciate the time you gave to me and others answering questions.
Ya know, some folks who don't own and drive Corvettes will suggest you can't drive these things on wet roads, around blind curves, on less than perfect surfaces, in cool temps etc.
The 6 did that just fine with an intelligent pilot, and given the improvements in the 7, I would think it would do at least as well and likely better. From your report it sounds like it drives out quite well.
It was nice to meet you and I appreciate the time you gave to me and others answering questions.
