Corvettes owners who cant handle their cars!!!

[graytoad]

I thought I would share this link to a compilation of videos of idiots loosing control of their Corvettes. It made me think about two things: First, those new Vettes are wicked quick and you got to wonder how many people will get into their power far beyond their driving capability. Second: I also thought about when 'we' are together at one of our annual gatherings and how we are all feeling rather 'sparky' and I sure hope this kind of stuff never happens to any of us.

The first clip in this is kind of long but when he crashes, note the destruction of his wheels: super ouch!

http://youtu.be/V1Y1j7myUBQ

 

[Rob]

It's funny you mentioned this. I was having a conversation with somebody recently about this very subject.

This coming April, it will be 20 years that I've owned my 1990 Corvette ZR-1 - with "just" 375 hp. Over the years, I've been criticized by other ZR-1 owners for not modifying my car.

I see guys going out and buying brand new C6 Corvette ZR1s with 638 hp, and then they spend thousands of dollars more to modify it to get more power, and I laugh.

Before I go spending thousands of dollars to modify my Corvette for more power, I'm going to first spend a few thousand dollars, enroll in a 3-4 day high performance driving school like Spring Mountain or Bob Bondurant, and learn how to handle what I've already got.

Even with just 375 hp, it's still enough to get yourself in a heap of trouble if you're not careful, and not capable of handling the car's current performance potential.

It's nice to be able to brag about how powerful your car is, but if you really want to impress me, prove to me you can handle it.

 

[GizmoQ]

I thought I would share this link to a compilation of videos of idiots loosing control of their Corvettes. It made me think about two things: First, those new Vettes are wicked quick and you got to wonder how many people will get into their power far beyond their driving capability. Second: I also thought about when 'we' are together at one of our annual gatherings and how we are all feeling rather 'sparky' and I sure hope this kind of stuff never happens to any of us.

Why is it the first two names that come to mind as I read this are Cubby and Phred
But seriously, I've driven with them and Onalaska and I trust them.

The other thing is.... Stuff Happens. Just always need to be vigilant, head up, and paying attention, assessing options all the time. Cruising with our group is a joy to me because everyone is considerate, no one is driving beyond their capability and there's no pressure to do so which is great!

I've cruised with a couple local supercar groups here in St Louis and it seems like everybody's trying to prove something. I'll stay with them when it gets spirited, but when Elwood says enough - enough is enough, I'll just meet them at the next checkpoint. (Those damn ugly Lotus Exiges are just scary fast in the twisties!)

The first clip in this is kind of long but when he crashes, note the destruction of his wheels: super ouch!

I did the exact same thing on my first Autocross. Luckily, I just went 4 wheeling through the grass. He unloaded the front wheels trying to get a little quick acceleration then tried to turn. No grip up front so it won't turn, turn more, front dips and skids, weight shifts, then the back comes around. My instructor beat it into me repeatedly, "Fast = Turn or Brake or Accelerate. Anytime you use two together, their only half as good."

 

[XLRATING]

Before I go spending thousands of dollars to modify my Corvette for more power, I'm going to first spend a few thousand dollars, enroll in a 3-4 day high performance driving school like Spring Mountain or Bob Bondurant, and learn how to handle what I've already got.

My instructor beat it into me repeatedly, "Fast = Turn or Brake or Accelerate. Anytime you use two together, their only half as good."

I agree with both. Been to Spring Mountain & learned a LOT, you just get so much more out of a high performance vehicle, & more fun out of it too, with some training. That said, I very much "behave myself" driving Victor-V - which "only" has 443 HP - mainly because I don't drive it enough to learn how it reacts. So I've had some moments of the V trying to get sideways when I didn't want that (like when I thought I would try to get the baffles to open up from a nearly dead stop when not in DSC). I'd probably be fine if I drove it more, since I have no problem pushing Beauty. At the same time I cannot imagine getting a C7 & taking it out & really getting on it right out of the box with no experience - although lots of people do that & it makes for entertaining videos.

One instructor at Spring Mountain repeatedly said something about tires that really stuck with me: "Tires are dumb. They can only do one thing at a time." Same point as Gizmo's instructor - if you're accelerating or braking hard you can't also be turning.

 

[hawkeye372]

It's funny you mentioned this. I was having a conversation with somebody recently about this very subject.

This coming April, it will be 20 years that I've owned my 1990 Corvette ZR-1 - with "just" 375 hp. Over the years, I've been criticized by other ZR-1 owners for not modifying my car.

I see guys going out and buying brand new C6 Corvette ZR1s with 638 hp, and then they spend thousands of dollars more to modify it to get more power, and I laugh.

Before I go spending thousands of dollars to modify my Corvette for more power, I'm going to first spend a few thousand dollars, enroll in a 3-4 day high performance driving school like Spring Mountain or Bob Bondurant, and learn how to handle what I've already got.

Even with just 375 hp, it's still enough to get yourself in a heap of trouble if you're not careful, and not capable of handling the car's current performance potential.

It's nice to be able to brag about how powerful your car is, but if you really want to impress me, prove to me you can handle it.

Thats how i feel about my xlr. Yes there are just a few conversions I would like to do with my 06 base. 1 get rid of the round exhaust tips and go with the rectangle ones, ( they look better in the rectangle bumper end) 2 get the brake calipers power coated to a different color (besides the standard ugly grey color) and get the hood and trunk liner like these. thats all for right now unless something really catches my fancy i like what gizmo did with the xlr plaque in the engine compartment.

 

[onalaska]

It's funny you mentioned this. I was having a conversation with somebody recently about this very subject.

This coming April, it will be 20 years that I've owned my 1990 Corvette ZR-1 - with "just" 375 hp. Over the years, I've been criticized by other ZR-1 owners for not modifying my car.

I see guys going out and buying brand new C6 Corvette ZR1s with 638 hp, and then they spend thousands of dollars more to modify it to get more power, and I laugh.

Before I go spending thousands of dollars to modify my Corvette for more power, I'm going to first spend a few thousand dollars, enroll in a 3-4 day high performance driving school like Spring Mountain or Bob Bondurant, and learn how to handle what I've already got.

Even with just 375 hp, it's still enough to get yourself in a heap of trouble if you're not careful, and not capable of handling the car's current performance potential.

It's nice to be able to brag about how powerful your car is, but if you really want to impress me, prove to me you can handle it.

Rob, you are so right. When I went to the Bondurant school of high performance driving they told us that the price for the two day class will be the least expensive thing we could do to make our cars go faster. At that time the price of a ZR-1 include a two day training course at Bondurant and there were a number of new ZR-1 owners there.

 

[b_pappy]

I wholeheartedly agree with Rob on this one. I was speaking with Dick Guldstrand about doing some performance mods to make my C5 faster. Somewhere along the line I decided to take teh Bondurant 3 day class. D. Guldstrand laughed and said more Corvette owners should do that. This was basically money out of his pocket, but what an improvement in the way my car learned to drive , or maybe it was the way I learned to drive.
Later my son and I took shifter cart classes too.
Great fun! I encourage everyone to consider it.
Bruce

 

[Crimson Pearl]

When I purchased my first car, my beloved 66 GTO, my older brother had a conversation with me that could be summed up as "with great power comes great responsibility". He had purchased a new 396/375 hp Chevy II Nova in 1969. By this time, it had an open-chamber head 427 that was probably at or over 500 hp.

I realize that some of these Corvettes are over 500 or even 600 hp, which is a lot more than my 66 GTO has, but the principle is the same for me - Don't drive like an idiot!

The fact that I still have my GTO after 41 years speaks toward the fact that I was never one to be out doing stupid things with it. I also don't do stupid things with my XLR. I have noticed that that type of behavior seems to appear when a group of cars (or motorcycles) are together.

I guess part of it is that I have just had to work too hard to acquire the things I have and I just don't want to take any chances with them. I probably drive like Grandma, but it has served me pretty well up to now.


BTW, my insurance agent has a ZO6. He let me drive it a while back. It is brutal. I can see where one could get it "out of shape" in every gear. It just seems like too much temptation. I guess I'll stay in the "less than 400 hp" club

 

[hawkeye372]

Yes I agree. Don't drive stupid. Because these cars (vettes and any 400 hp and over) are super fast. My mom even told me when I first started driving. "Only if you are the only one on the road then she will think about getting me a vette". So 42 yrs lt took me to get my "vette in a tux" as people here are calling it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[graytoad]

.........
.................

I guess part of it is that I have just had to work too hard to acquire the things I have and I just don't want to take any chances with them. I probably drive like Grandma, but it has served me pretty well up to now.
..............


Well I am a Grandma (actually I prefer Granny) but I DON'T drive like a Grandma and I do consider myself a very good driver. I also realize my relatively limited experience with super aggressive driving as I have never spent any time on a track and the streets are certainly not the place for it and I do not want to crack up any of my vehicles.

Drive Granny Drive!!!

 

[cubby558]

Dirty Harry

As 'Dirty Harry' (Clint Eastwood) said in Magnum Force---" A Man's got to know his limitations"

 

[airmike]

As 'Dirty Harry' (Clint Eastwood) said in Magnum Force---" A Man's got to know his limitations"

t

thats a great quote, but how do you know your limits if you never reach them? kinda like tightening a bolt untill it breaks, then loosening 1/4 turn. thats what tracks are for, alone.

 

[Crimson Pearl]

As 'Dirty Harry' (Clint Eastwood) said in Magnum Force---" A Man's got to know his limitations"

As I recall, he also said "So, do you feel lucky?"



I have some reasonable idea as what my limitations are. I'm pretty confident at what level I can drive. It's the other folks that worry me.

The drivers in the video that were on a track or on a controlled course in a parking lot are understandable. Not a bad place to find your limitations if you're determined to do so. The scary ones were the ones losing control on a public highway and endangering others!

I'm not worried about you, Cubby. I've noticed to like to bring up the rear and keep the stragglers on pace. But some of those folks in the video are a public menace!

I've not seen any examples of someone doing something foolish or driving recklessly during any of the XLR events that we have attended, but my experience has been limited to short runs in and around the cities in which we have held events.

 

[Stella]

Here's a clip I had seen on YouTube awhile ago. After reading about idiots on the road,well there in a parking lot. http://youtu.be/Q7Lz24LOw4A . Wouldnt wanna be the next owner after these a-holes. Probably on mommy and daddy dime.
I think once you know and understand the capabilities of what you have theirs no problem pushing the bar alittle as long as your not putting anyone else but yourself in danger. How do you know what you can do unless you push yourself. Isn't that what racing is? Some of Those c7 accidents looked like the driver didn't have a clue.

 

[onalaska]

Sign up for the Bondurant Z06 experience and then you can drive the heck out of someone else's car and not worry about destroying yours. I had a great time for two days and you get to do all the driving on a closed course you can stand. Z06 = 505 HP with a standard transmission on the track, on the oval, on the full course at the Firebird speedway and they allow you to push it as hard as you want!

 

[XLRATING]

Sign up for the Bondurant Z06 experience and then you can drive the heck out of someone else's car and not worry about destroying yours. I had a great time for two days and you get to do all the driving on a closed course you can stand. Z06 = 505 HP with a standard transmission on the track, on the oval, on the full course at the Firebird speedway and they allow you to push it as hard as you want!

Same for V Series Performance Academy at Spring Mountain. You can drive V coupes, sedans, & wagons, stick or auto. I would NEVER track my personal car, it's more fun with someone else's you don't have to worry about.

I know my limit! - 110 mph on a road course. At least so far. Probably pretty lame but next chance I get I'll see if I can do better. Even in someone else's car there's still a factor of not wanting to tear me up!

 

[cubby558]

Watch the video again. If you can't keep the car your driving within its limits, you know you've gone beyond your limits!!

thats a great quote, but how do you know your limits if you never reach them? kinda like tightening a bolt untill it breaks, then loosening 1/4 turn. thats what tracks are for, alone.

 

[airmike]

Watch the video again. If you can't keep the car your driving within its limits, you know you've gone beyond your limits!!

I still say you don't know the "limit" until you've gone beyond it. If you go 20 mph in a straight line I'm willing to bet you are within the cars and your limit , but when do you actually KNOW you have reached the limit for said situation. You can keep improving, and improving but do you have a little bit left untapped? Only one way to know for sure, and it better be at the track.

 

[mtrocket]

I still say you don't know the "limit" until you've gone beyond it. If you go 20 mph in a straight line I'm willing to bet you are within the cars and your limit , but when do you actually KNOW you have reached the limit for said situation. You can keep improving, and improving but do you have a little bit left untapped? Only one way to know for sure, and it better be at the track.

I knew my limit when I hit 141 MPH on a little two lane west of Billings. This was before I installed the rear sway bar; the front end was getting that "floaty" feeling. That is when I KNEW I reached my limit. Haven't had a chance to try it again since I've installed the sway bar... one of these days I will and I again will know when my limit has been reached. Hopefully will be above 141 on the same stretch of road....

 

[BusaMan]

Rod, methinks that some of the folks from "back east" might have a little difficulty dealing with the fact (!) that we have empty highways to drive out here in the west, where we can do speeds that they can only imagine being reached on a race track, in fact, we can usually go faster (due to absence of turns). Our dangers involve the aforementioned cops, wildlife, rogue crosswind, car/bike mechanical issues, etc.

I was on a road in NE Utah where you could see every inch of the road for over a 10 mile stretch. Same sort of thing in California, on the back roads around Edwards AFB that I used to drive. We have a road east of Pueblo (recently paved) where there's about a 10 mile stretch without so much as a driveway or cross street, and where traffic is non-existent between shift changes. Reaching 200 mph on that road is not that rare. We have a road out to a town called Beulah, upon which a former customer of ours took his Lamborghini Diablo over 225 mph.

Pretty tough to do that in any east coast state that comes to mind.

Tim

I knew my limit when I hit 141 MPH on a little two lane west of Billings. This was before I installed the rear sway bar; the front end was getting that "floaty" feeling. That is when I KNEW I reached my limit. Haven't had a chance to try it again since I've installed the sway bar... one of these days I will and I again will know when my limit has been reached. Hopefully will be above 141 on the same stretch of road....