Weekend learning experience

[Highway Man]

This weekend my wife and I decided to go on a little road trip in the vette which is a 92 LT1 by the way and we decided to go over to Effingham Illinois which is home to Mid America Motorworks. We live in southern Missouri so we decided to go east on 60 hwy and enter Illinois through the southern tip which is Interstate 57. Well, we arrived at Effingham and went first off to visit Mid America Motorworks and I must say that we both throughly enjoyed seeing the cars in the museum and did a little shopping in the retail section. This was especially enjoyable to me-it was like being in a Corvette candy store. Those of you that have been there know what I'm talking about. I would sure like to attend the upcoming festival in September but I already have another committment and that is visiting both my sons who are serving in the military- one in the Air Force and the other a Marine. The learning part had to do with traveling in the vette. As much as I love driving that car I came to the realization that for the wife and I it just wasn't our cup of tea for long trips. I'm pushing 60 on the calendar but I am still in very good health. Maybe I'm just spoiled to traveling in the wife's Buick which is super comfortable and almost gets as good gas mileage as the vette!lol! Anyway just a little experience I thought I'd share if anyone is interested. Happy trails!

 

[John Robinson]

I had a little trip one day in July 700 miles and cannot wait to do it again and again and again. As for me I was raised on MG's Jaguar, Austin Healy Sprits. Fiats. BMW's and yes Cadillac s Buick's Oldsmobile's Citreons Fords & Chevy. Along with a 1960 Vette that was bought new and sold after 250K for more then it was bought for new. As for my age lets just say If I live as many more years as I already have I will be as old as Moses.

I applaud you and your wife for striking out for such a nice trip. You are right the C4 will not ride like a Buick but then it was never designed to be that kind of car it was designed to be a world class sports car that was able to stop quickly, Go Fast, and pull nearly 1 g in cornering. For those who have never experienced sports car ride and handling it can be a bit harsh But when you see a BMW or a Porsche of the same vintage as your Corvette you will know that in its day in racing it would beat those other cars so badly they protested to the SCCA that they would not compete against them so the SCCA put them in a class all by themselves. So maybe the ride will be a little more enjoyable knowing that it was designed to be that way for a reason and that is the Corvette was and is still the only mass produced sports car that is the class of the world in what it does for the price.

 

[XLR8]

Nice trip - thanks for sharing it. MidAmerica is a sweet destination, and in fact has been the location of the last 2 CAC CruiseFests. Those who were lucky enough to be able to attend have come back raving about the place, the people, the treatment, the excellent hospitality Mike and Staff have shown. Glad to hear they continue the tradition.

If you've considered upgrading your model Vette, you may want to consider a C5 for your next one. It's more refined and comfortable for long drives, though purists complain of losing the wraparound cockpit feel to it.

At any rate, that's been my experience since I've owned both a C4 and C5.
Jane Ann

 

[Dad]

Got to agree with this thread, Kay and I have covered much of the US of A in our C5s and the C6. After we finished the first Corvette Action Center get together in Auburn, she was the smiling face that checked you in, we drove to Portland OR. and when we returned to Ohio I had a new granddaughter in South Carolina. Re-packed some clothes and drove on over to the East end of this great land. Not quite coast to coast but a long drive none the less. Most of the 30 some trips of 1500 miles each I have made to South Carolina have been in Corvettes with little or no discomfort, the STS wasn't to bad either.

Easy ride and no discomfort as compared to our only trip in the C4 into Canada through Michigan. After that trip it was off to the dealer to order a new C5, May of '97. We didn't get a '97 but one of the early '98s became our best ride ever. Early this month we drove the C6 1,700 miles through the south to visit my brother and included a Corvette museum stop. Don't pass up their new lunch counter, it's great.

That, for us youngsters in our seventies, has been great and we're looking forward to many more trips.Save the wave......

 

[Highway Man]

Extra input about our trip

Thanks all for the very good feedback and also for sharing your experiences! Don't get me wrong I love my C4 and have no intentions of getting rid of it. I love everything about it and have intentions of keeping it for a long time. I thought of including this in my original thread but didn't because I don't like to be negative but here goes. I don't know if its just me but our trip would have been a lot more enjoyable if it had not been for the condition of the highways in Illinois. I haven't been in all of the lower 48 states but I have been in a lot of them and from memory I must say that Illinois must have the worst roads that I have ever traveled. It seemed like at times we were either hitting or trying to dodge potholes or were cascading over huge rises in the pavement. I was traveling at either posted speed limits or lower and it was one of if not the worse traveling experience I have ever had. We have gravel roads here in Missouri that are smoother than the highways in Illinois. I was very concerned about what the poor conditions of Illinois' highways were doing to my vette. In fact I have an appointment with a local shop on Wednesday to put my car up on a lift so I can inspect the undercarriage of the car for possible damage. I know when we got back into Missouri the road conditions were certainly better than what we had been subjected to. In fact when we got on Interstate 44 and headed toward home it was so smooth it was like riding on glass compared to Illinois. Now for any of you that may be residents of Illinois I do not mean to come off trashing your state because I think Illinois has some beautiful countryside and I loved seeing the acre after acre of cornfields. Some of you maybe are in the process of raising cane with your state government over road conditions there and if so I applaud you because they certainly need to hear about it. I maybe wrong on this but I always thought of Illinois being one of the more prosperous states and I can't understand why the roads there are so poor. Will it stop me from going back? Probably not but when I do I am probably going to try traveling on secondary roads because they couldn't be any worse that the interstates in Illinois. On top of that a visit to Mid America Motorworks is certainly worth the trip I'm just going to be a little more choosey over which roads I travel. Well, I guess that's enough of that and for our little weekend excursion that was the only bad part of the whole thing. Happy trails!

 

[Clive]

Furthest I've Been

The furthest I've driven my car was to Boston and back. Great trip and thoroughly enjoyed it.

However, if one wants a cramped ride, try 13 hours total in a '76 MG Midget. 11 feet bumper to bumper and only 4 feet wide. The Corvette feels downright luxurious by comparison.

Maybe next year a trip to Corvette Heaven.....Bowling Green!

 

[Corvettedude95]

The wife and I have had our Corvette for only 2 weeks, but will be driving to VA next month for a wedding. We will be taking the Corvette because I've already put too many miles on the Mustang (2011 5.0) and I want to keep the miles down. Plus, I want to see how the Corvette is on "long" trips because we plan to go home to Kentucky and drive the Corvette.

Thanks for sharing the trip details and I hope the trip for us will be an enjoyable one.

 

[English Guy]

I had a little trip one day in July 700 miles and cannot wait to do it again and again and again. As for me I was raised on MG's Jaguar, Austin Healy Sprits. Fiats. BMW's and yes Cadillac s Buick's Oldsmobile's Citreons Fords & Chevy. Along with a 1960 Vette that was bought new and sold after 250K for more then it was bought for new. As for my age lets just say If I live as many more years as I already have I will be as old as Moses.

I applaud you and your wife for striking out for such a nice trip. You are right the C4 will not ride like a Buick but then it was never designed to be that kind of car it was designed to be a world class sports car that was able to stop quickly, Go Fast, and pull nearly 1 g in cornering. For those who have never experienced sports car ride and handling it can be a bit harsh But when you see a BMW or a Porsche of the same vintage as your Corvette you will know that in its day in racing it would beat those other cars so badly they protested to the SCCA that they would not compete against them so the SCCA put them in a class all by themselves. So maybe the ride will be a little more enjoyable knowing that it was designed to be that way for a reason and that is the Corvette was and is still the only mass produced sports car that is the class of the world in what it does for the price.

Growing up, members of my family had various MG midgets, Triumph spitfire and stags tho my favorite was an xjs Jag. Cars, I was told all having a distinct character of their own. From what I can remember, more time was spent tinkering with them rather than driving them but imagine that was what made them so appealing in their own way. It sounds like you may have spent part of your childhood here in the UK. Either way it sounds like your folks really knew their cars I'm in my early 40's and thankfully see these cars around from time to time. Best wishes, I enjoyed reading your letter/post.

 

[orlandjoe]

Drove the '66 to Effingham for my 7th Funfest and it was a blast. I just do the Saturday visit 200 miles each way. The steering wanders a bit and no cruise control, but I wouldn't say it's uncomfortable. I drove alot of pickup trucks in my day so maybe that's why the coupe feels OK. Can't beat the fun on the Interstates with people honking and waving.

 

[Toms007]

The wife and I drove our 94 (when we had it) on several trips that took us 800+ miles in a single day. When asked about riding that long in a "Corvette", my wife said it was like sitting in her Lazy-boy at home. We have not done quite that long of trips in the C5 yet, but it is very comfortable as well. Does it ride like a Cadillac or a Buick......No, but as stated earlier, it's not supposed to, it is a sports car. And as such it will never ride like a luxury car, although the newer Corvettes are getting closer (C5's and C6's).

Speaking of nasty roads, it wasn't very long ago we would say the same thing about Missouri roads. They have improved some over the last few years. With budget constraints the way they are roads seem to be a good place to cut (at least for the fat-cat politicians who drive those luxury cars we were talking about earlier ).


Fight the urge to take the Buick, if you have the means, look at a C5, your wife and yourself will be very impressed.

 

[Toms007]

Orlandojoe, now that was a pretty good trip in a 66. Back 30+ years ago we had a 64 coupe, now that was not anywhere near as comfortable as the C4 or C5. After driving in it for about 100 miles, I was absolutely ready to get out for a stretch. You have my admiration for driving the 66.