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PART 2
Index of topics:
Weekly Newsletter – Contents
PART 1:
1) Corvette Sales – 2004 Calendar Year - NEW
2) 2005 Corvette Pricing, Color Combinations Available
3) 2005 Corvette Color Change
PART 2:
4) Driving the C6 Corvettte, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
PART 3:
5) 2005 Corvette Pre-Delivery Process
6) 2005 Corvette Transmission Trouble
7) 2005 SSR
PART 4:
8) 2005 Corvette Accessories
9) 2004 Custom Painted Fuel Rail Covers
10) Parts Department Offerings
11) GM Rebates/Special Finance Rates - NEW
PART 5:
12) GMPP Details, MajorGuard – UPDATED
13) GM Employee and Supplier Eligibility
14) Weekly Constraint/Production News – UPDATED
4) Driving the C6 Corvettte, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
DRIVING THE C6 CORVETTE
By Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Through my relationship and my family’s history with Chevrolet, I am fortunate enough
to get a lot of opportunities. Occasionally, those are opportunities are beyond the
friendships I have made as a result of my association with Chevrolet.
One such opportunity is driving the C5-R, which remains one of the most rewarding
experiences I have ever had. Through the efforts of my father and his relationship with
Chevrolet, I can say I’ve actually driven one the most incredible racecars to ever come
out of the U.S. As a result of that race and the attention that it created, both dad and I
were “adopted” by the Corvette brand team, the race team and Corvette fans everywhere.
As a Corvette enthusiast myself, I am very proud to be part of the Corvette’s history.
Recently, I was given the opportunity to spend some time in a pre-production C6
Corvette. When I say, “spend some time,” I mean I have had this car for almost two
months now. When I say “pre-production,” I mean one out of the first 100 or so pilot cars
run down the Bowling Green Assembly line. It’s a black Z51 six-speed with a Cashmere
leather interior. From what my friends within the Corvette brand team tell me, it has
every option available on a C6, minus the painted roof panel.
I have a Precision Red Z51 C6 on its way, so I was anxious to see what the newest
Corvette is like. When they told me I could be a test pilot in exchange for an honest
appraisal, I snatched the keys, or key fob as the case may be.
Looking at the car, I’ll have to admit, I like the covered headlights. It makes it look a lot
like the C5-R and brings it into the 21st century. I also like the sharp lines on the body,
especially the creases at the tops of the fenders and quarter panels. It makes it obvious
that it has some 63-67 Stingray DNA in it. The side scoop looks good too and I also like
the chopped off rear end.
The rear of the car looks good. It has a little C4 in it, which is by no means a bad thing.
Overall, I think it’s a great looking car. It comes off more hostile and tense looking than a
C5, but it’s easily recognizable as a Corvette. The colors seem to play a part in how it
looks too. The metallic colored cars have more going on, in terms of how light plays off
of the sharp edges, while the darker cars have more of a purposeful look to them. I’m
sure the aftermarket will have a field day with the new body, especially the hood. I was
thinking a ’67-style big block stinger-type hood would look pretty cool.
On the inside, the car seems much more finished than a C5. The light tan interior in the
test car is pretty nice. I think the brushed aluminum parts wake up the black instrument
faces and break up some of the tan color on everything. The gauges are neatly arranged
and easy to read. The information center is a good feature, as on the C5. The tester also
has the optional navigation system, which is a nice, 21st century feature. It’s hard not to
want to fiddle with it all of the time, but most regular stereos are like that too. The
speakers are clear and the sound system is good for a production car. As always, the Bose
people did a good job with matching everything up to work well inside the car. Seating
position is good and the range of adjustment can meet pretty much anyone’s needs.
Enough with the gadgets though. Let’s get to the hardcore stuff; performance.
The car handles great. It’s really a pretty neutral-handling car. You can flick the wheel,
stab the throttle and easily drive it like a big sprint car if you’re so inclined. I’m sure
there’s some more handling left in there, but it would compromise the everyday ride. The
test car is a Z51. I like it so well that I ordered option Z51 on my red C6. It may be a little
on the stiff side for some compared to the base car, but it feels just about right to me. It
seems like it’s sprung a good bit differently than a C5. Actually the C6 with Z51 seems to
be better mannered overall than a standard C5. I also noticed that on rougher roads, the
new car doesn’t seem as jittery as the old car. There’s going to be some shaking going on
in any performance car on a rough road, but the C6 seems to take it a whole lot better
than a C5. In terms of handling and ride, the C6 is a car you can drive every day and not
be tired of . The C5 was also like that but the C6 is like that and then some. I imagine that
a lot more C6 Corvettes will become daily drivers, which is a concept you couldn’t even
contemplate in a number of great Corvettes from the past. As far as braking goes, it stops
very well for a street car. They’re firm and stop the car extremely well, which is what’s
supposed to happen.
My favorite thing about the 2005 Corvette is the LS2 engine. You can really feel the
difference, especially in the higher RPM range. The new engine is much freer-breathing,
which is important on a twisty road or a track day. I did what I was supposed to with the
test car, which is to give it a good workout. The engine never flinched. It never ran over
210 degrees and in almost 2,000 miles of powershifting and back-country road trips, it
never used so much as a drop of oil. What really surprised me though was the fact that
it’s showing 19.8 miles per gallon on the computer, which is amazing considering it’s
been driven like it was stolen the whole time.
We took it to a local track and with a timing device attached, ran a string of consistent
12.7 quarter-mile times. Zero to 60 was a little harder to master without the traction
control activated but it was typically 4.7 to 4.9, which is pretty serious for a street car.
These are numbers that some of the old 427s and 454s laid down in their day, which are
impressive, regardless of when they were recorded. Around town, it pulls a lot like a well
behaved big-block, delivering the reward of big-engine torque without solid lifters to
adjust or plugs that fuel foul. If it were up to me, I’d give the engine guys a raise.
Fit and finish on the car were as good as any I’ve seen on any original Corvette. The
panels all line up well and there are no squeaks or rattles to mention. Usually, early
production cars are the opposite, so a finished production car should really be nice.
Now all I need to do is work on the right people at Chevy to be a test driver for the next
Z06.
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Kens Weekly News - Oct 22 - Part 2
