jazzlove
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2003
- Messages
- 78
- Location
- San Antonio
- Corvette
- 92' rd/rd/wh vert, 6 sp: 05' mag rd/cash Z51 6 sp
Just got home from our trip to the Smokys (and the Dragon), via Bowling Green. We took NCM delivery last Friday. Impressions are definitely in order, I'll try not to be long-winded...
First- NCM delivery is everything, everyone who has been through it, says about it; totally VIP treatment from 0745 until 1400 (in our case). There were 4 couples taking delivery that morning. We each got a host, who spent the whole time with just my wife and I alone. Our host was Bruce Robel, who did a great job!. He even went to lunch with us. It started with a 2 - 2 1/2 hr tour of the plant. When we got there, the scrolling marque above the plant entrance welcomed us each personally. Incredible experience, everyone was super friendly... Then a 2 hr tour of the museum, again, incredible.... Then we signed all the paperwork, and then Bruce went through our car with us from A to Z. It was a really fascinating and informative experience. We highly recommend it to anyone purchasing a new vette.
Then we took our baby over to the Smokys and put 400 miles on her in 2 days. The weather was great, peak Fall colors. Tail of the Dragon is everything it's cracked up to be, a vette owner's dream-come-true. The second day we ran it, we got to it via the Foothills Parkway. For those who know it, we got to the intersection at 129 and turned left going into the Tail,... We saw off by the side of the road, in a graveled area by the lake, a line of 9 vettes, from C3 through C6. We pulled off to say hi, and it turned out that they were from a CAC Southeast community forum group (there for the obvious). They were really a great goup and welcomed us with open arms. It was serendipity that we showed up when we did, they were just getting ready to take off. We joined their line. It must have been a real trip for all the other cars, and motorcycles to see 10 vettes in a line, really haulin' ass through the curves. It was truly a blast.
We stopped in Memphis overnight to see relatives and then drove her home yesterday; 12 hrs from Memphis, to our driveway in San Antonio, 700 miles.... great road car... rockin' down the highway in total comfort..., a trip out West is next, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Brice Canyon National Park, Dinosaur National Park, and home through Denver to see friends...
Second- The car. First, we own a 92' C4 vert, 6 sp with the hot differential, and we really love her. I've never driven a C5. Our C6:
Mag red/cashmere, 1SB, Z51, 6sp, nav, polished wheels.
So the difference between the cars was HUGE. Depressing the C4's clutch is like pressing on a thick green branch on a tree compared to the effortless motion of the C6's clutch. It took me a while to get used to it, at first, I even killed the engine once or twice:L. The steering also requires much more effort than the C6. As you might expect, the difference in handling between the 2 cars is like night and day. On one hairpin in the Tail, I got up to 0.94 G, and the car felt like it was on rails! A guy in a C6 identical to ours, in the group, hit 1.04 G in the same curve.
Back to the car... Power. Any time you want it. Power. Razor sharp handling, big torque, blistering acceleration, even with traction control on,... scary with it off... Beautiful sound system, despite comments to the contrary. We took our Delphi Roady2 XM radio with us, it worked great in the C6, with no halo wart! We also took about 20 of our favorite CDs. The interior is defintiely a big upgrade from our C4. Beautiful, comfortable, quiet, even with the top off,... OH, and by the way, while the exhaust is quiet, it has a very healthy growl when you get on it... (Going through tunnels in the Smokys, downshift and get on it... awesome sound!!)
Did I mention the power?
The navigation system is unbelievable. It's my first experience with one, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it was accurate 100% of the time for us, and we went from BG to the Smokys, and then back home to San Antonio, for a total of 1856 miles... The features and capabilities of the system are very comprehensive. It knew every paved road we took during the trip. The voice activated feature is really cool, and it works great. Because it does so much, it takes awhile to learn to use it properly.
The finish is beautful, no orange peel. In the sunlight, the mag red looks like the old Candy Apple Red from the 60's, deep, with the added highlight of the metallic flake.
Did I mention the power......?
Everywhere we went, people wanted to check the car out, got lots and lots of great comments and questions.
Much thanks to Gary Cockriel, Judy Janko, everyone at the NCM, the plant, and especially to our host, Bruce Robel for a wonderful and unforgettable experience. Our next vette will definitely include NCM delivery.
It was coincidentally, my 57th birthday that Sunday, definitely the most memorable one of my life to date...
First- NCM delivery is everything, everyone who has been through it, says about it; totally VIP treatment from 0745 until 1400 (in our case). There were 4 couples taking delivery that morning. We each got a host, who spent the whole time with just my wife and I alone. Our host was Bruce Robel, who did a great job!. He even went to lunch with us. It started with a 2 - 2 1/2 hr tour of the plant. When we got there, the scrolling marque above the plant entrance welcomed us each personally. Incredible experience, everyone was super friendly... Then a 2 hr tour of the museum, again, incredible.... Then we signed all the paperwork, and then Bruce went through our car with us from A to Z. It was a really fascinating and informative experience. We highly recommend it to anyone purchasing a new vette.
Then we took our baby over to the Smokys and put 400 miles on her in 2 days. The weather was great, peak Fall colors. Tail of the Dragon is everything it's cracked up to be, a vette owner's dream-come-true. The second day we ran it, we got to it via the Foothills Parkway. For those who know it, we got to the intersection at 129 and turned left going into the Tail,... We saw off by the side of the road, in a graveled area by the lake, a line of 9 vettes, from C3 through C6. We pulled off to say hi, and it turned out that they were from a CAC Southeast community forum group (there for the obvious). They were really a great goup and welcomed us with open arms. It was serendipity that we showed up when we did, they were just getting ready to take off. We joined their line. It must have been a real trip for all the other cars, and motorcycles to see 10 vettes in a line, really haulin' ass through the curves. It was truly a blast.
We stopped in Memphis overnight to see relatives and then drove her home yesterday; 12 hrs from Memphis, to our driveway in San Antonio, 700 miles.... great road car... rockin' down the highway in total comfort..., a trip out West is next, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Brice Canyon National Park, Dinosaur National Park, and home through Denver to see friends...
Second- The car. First, we own a 92' C4 vert, 6 sp with the hot differential, and we really love her. I've never driven a C5. Our C6:
Mag red/cashmere, 1SB, Z51, 6sp, nav, polished wheels.
So the difference between the cars was HUGE. Depressing the C4's clutch is like pressing on a thick green branch on a tree compared to the effortless motion of the C6's clutch. It took me a while to get used to it, at first, I even killed the engine once or twice:L. The steering also requires much more effort than the C6. As you might expect, the difference in handling between the 2 cars is like night and day. On one hairpin in the Tail, I got up to 0.94 G, and the car felt like it was on rails! A guy in a C6 identical to ours, in the group, hit 1.04 G in the same curve.
Back to the car... Power. Any time you want it. Power. Razor sharp handling, big torque, blistering acceleration, even with traction control on,... scary with it off... Beautiful sound system, despite comments to the contrary. We took our Delphi Roady2 XM radio with us, it worked great in the C6, with no halo wart! We also took about 20 of our favorite CDs. The interior is defintiely a big upgrade from our C4. Beautiful, comfortable, quiet, even with the top off,... OH, and by the way, while the exhaust is quiet, it has a very healthy growl when you get on it... (Going through tunnels in the Smokys, downshift and get on it... awesome sound!!)
Did I mention the power?
The navigation system is unbelievable. It's my first experience with one, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it was accurate 100% of the time for us, and we went from BG to the Smokys, and then back home to San Antonio, for a total of 1856 miles... The features and capabilities of the system are very comprehensive. It knew every paved road we took during the trip. The voice activated feature is really cool, and it works great. Because it does so much, it takes awhile to learn to use it properly.
The finish is beautful, no orange peel. In the sunlight, the mag red looks like the old Candy Apple Red from the 60's, deep, with the added highlight of the metallic flake.
Did I mention the power......?
Everywhere we went, people wanted to check the car out, got lots and lots of great comments and questions.
Much thanks to Gary Cockriel, Judy Janko, everyone at the NCM, the plant, and especially to our host, Bruce Robel for a wonderful and unforgettable experience. Our next vette will definitely include NCM delivery.
It was coincidentally, my 57th birthday that Sunday, definitely the most memorable one of my life to date...
The appears to be a fantastic car and it's the first vette in a long time that has me this excited to get my hands on one. Congrats on the purchase and hope you enjoy many more great times with your car.
