In my last installment, we did some baseline testing for slalom and skidpad on my Corvette in stock form. In my fantasy world, I'd get to do three subsequent tests to see what kind of impact each of my planned modifications would have: one test with the new Michelin Pilot PS2 ZP tires, one with the new Pfadt dampers installed (with the old Goodyear tires), and then a third and final test with both the Michelins and the dampers.
Unfortunately, logistical limitations will only likely allow that one future final test. But in the mean time, I was curious to get some subjective street driving opinion on the Michelins I recently had mounted.
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Categories: Chevrolet, Editors' Personal Cars
Well, it's taken longer to get going on the Corvette upgrades than I had expected. The main issue was logistics, as I needed a convenient time to bring my car to our test facility to obtain the baseline commentary and performance numbers in stock condition. But that finally happened last week.
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Categories: Chevrolet, Editors' Personal Cars
By Mark Takahashi Photos by Scott Jacobs, Kurt Niebuhr and Mark Takahashi
muscle car n : any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving.
The muscle car wars have once again been ignited and fans of the holy trinity of American performance -- Camaro, Mustang and Challenger -- have never been happier. Ford has fired the latest shot across the bow of Chevy and Dodge, with the revival of the revered 5.0-liter V8 in the 2011 Mustang GT. It seemed fitting then to pit the new 'Stang against our long-term Camaro SS and Challenger R/T, both of which are also powered by stout eight-cylinder engines.
For this comparison, we motored along a meandering stretch of pavement that curls high above the Pacific Coast. Each section of the route included similar portions of highway straightaways, curves and choppy road surfaces. Editors Mark Takahashi, John DiPietro and Warren Clarke charged into the mountains for a raucous yet enlightening afternoon of driving and debating. In the end, our rankings were unanimous and our number crunching backed them up. It's a tough job, we know, but somebody's got to do it.
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Categories: Chevrolet, Comparison Test, Dodge, Ford, Muscle Car
Last week was a good week for the Corvette. Ever since I bought the car, I've been planning on making a few minor aftermarket modifications to help remedy what I saw as the car's greatest failing -- it's lack of driver-car communication. What I want is not necessarily "more" Corvette, just "better" Corvette.
After talking to other Corvette owners and searching the enthusiast Corvette forums, I came up with three mods that I thought would be the most cost effective: the driver seat, tires and dampers. In my last post I wrote about the adventures of swapping in a new driver seat. Now the other two components have been procured.
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Categories: Chevrolet, Editors' Personal Cars
A heads-up display (HUD) is offered on only a handful of vehicles: several Cadillacs, the Chevy Corvette, BMW 7 Series and Lexus hybrids. In terms of tech, a HUD isn't exactly rocket science, although the automotive version did evolve from initial use in aviation.
Though some find HUDs distracting, the feature helped me keep my eyes on the road while testing a 2010 Lexus RX 450h Hybrid. And on my speed.
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Categories: BMW, Car Audio and Technology, Chevrolet, Hybrid Vehicles, Lexus, Test Car Notes
Driving a 2010 Chevy Camaro 2SS last week, I was reminded that it's light years more advanced than the muscle cars of my youth. Back then, an 8-track tape player, a set of Craig PowerPlay speakers on the rear deck and an EQ booster hanging from the dash was the ultimate in car audio. Yes, I'm really that old.
The Camaro SS I tested had a nine-speaker Boston Acoustics audio system, a CD/MP3 head unit with AM/FM/XM radio, a USB port in the center console for plugging in an iPod or a USB drive loaded with tunes and an aux-in jack.
But the downside of having so many music choices is that sometimes I just don't know what I want to listen to, which is why I've been listening to Pandora a lot lately. And why I was stoked that the bitchin' Camaro's Bluetooth audio feature allowed me to wirelessly stream the Internet radio service.
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Categories: Car Audio and Technology, Chevrolet, Muscle Car
As James noted on Wednesday on his TFTC, there was some hubbub regarding Inside Line's latest Mechanic post. Some commenters wrote that just listing a bunch of cars is lazy journalism. Oh, great. Where does that leave CarPool's Weekly Top Three, the pinnacle of lazy automotive journalism? Unloved and scorned, that's where. WTC -- the John Gosselin of blog posts.
It's actually been busy here at storied Edmunds editorial offices the past couple of weeks. We've started to build up editorial coverage of pre-production cars (i.e., cars you can't buy yet). We have plenty of advanced coverage and spy shots on Inside Line but not necessarily on the Edmunds site. We suggested adding links to Inside Line (see, lazy) but our execs don't just want links, they want actual stuff you can read. So yours truly has been eyeballs deep in pre-production models.
This makes me mildly qualified to highlight the three vehicles that I'm most excited to see come out in the next 12 months. They follow after the jump.
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Categories: Chevrolet, Ford, Weekly Top 3
If you've been reading Edmunds and Inside Line for any length of time, you've probably seen that we don't think too highly of the Corvette's seats. We've written that they are flimsy, lacking lateral support and seemingly designed for "old fat men."
Personally, I don't blame Chevrolet all that much. Considering the typical Corvette buyer, the seats are fine. They're adequately comfortable and, on most trim levels, have adjustable bolsters for a bit of extra lateral support. But I also happen to fully back our assessment. And when I bought my 2008 Corvette coupe I knew the factory driver seat had to go.
My main disappointment with the latest Corvette has always been its lack of communication about what's going on with the car's grip at the limit of adhesion. And I suspected the seat was part of the problem -- if you're driving aggressively and sliding around on the seat, you're going to have to hang on to the steering wheel tighter and brace yourself with your left leg. Neither is good for feeling what the car is doing. Getting an aftermarket seat seemed like a way I could help address the problem.
Unfortunately, adding an aftermarket was a little more complicated than I originally thought.
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Categories: Chevrolet, Editors' Personal Cars
Well, the Olympics are over. These were the "green Olympics" apparently; you probably saw Nissan's full-brand ad with the 2011 Leaf being promoted at the end, and the 2011 Chevrolet Volt was in attendance at the games. It looks like Hollywood might just have a new love to replace the blackballed Prius.
To get a prediction on which one's going to be the next eco-greenie darling of celebs everywhere, we have Senior Editor Bryn MacKinnon promoting the virtues of the Volt while Senior Automotive Editor Brent Romans talks up the Leaf. The loser has to buy the winner a tofu wrap for lunch.
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Categories: Chevrolet, Face-Off, Nissan
Maintaining order in today's society is no small feat, and the frontline soldiers in the battle against anarchy are the men and women in blue that drive their black and whites. While you'll occasionally hear us griping about speed traps and revenue generation, we truly respect and appreciate all they do.
In this vain, we present the latest Face-Off - an homage to the cars (not SWAT vans or battering rams) behind the badges. This installment pits Associate Editor Mark Takahashi's favorite cop car, the current Dodge Charger against Photo Editor Kurt Niebuhr's Chevrolet Camaro B4C. So hop-in, we're in hot pursuit of a winner.
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Categories: Chevrolet, Dodge, Face-Off
We have a winner ladies and gentlemen. According to our beloved readers, the Travolta-Cage Cup and the title Best American Car goes to the Chevy Corvette. Is anyone really surprised? To celebrate, fellow winner Brent Romans is out in his own Vette terrorizing the good citizens of California with terrifying, smoke-billowing doughnuts.
Your regularly scheduled Face-Offs shall resume next Monday. Let us know if you'd like to see any in particular.
James Riswick, Face-Off Ayatollah
Face-Off Tournament Graphics by Mark Takahashi
Categories: Chevrolet, Face-Off
This is the big one. The Face-Off to end all Face-Offs. American versus American. Icon versus icon.
In one corner, defending the Chevrolet Corvette is Senior Automotive Editor Brent Romans, who just came in from polishing his own Vette out in the garage. In the other, more fair and balanced corner is Automotive Editor John DiPietro defending the Ford Mustang he doesn't own.
Get your votes in by Sunday night. The winner will be announced Monday at 10 a.m. PST.
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Categories: Chevrolet, Face-Off, Ford
As Mark noted in our first Editors' Personal Car blog post, this new series details our experiences with the cars we actually own -- the cars that we coughed up our own hard-earned cash for. We're hoping to give you a glimpse into the joys and pitfalls of ownership, as well as share why we bought and love them. For our fourth intro installment, I'll be providing details on my 2008 Chevrolet Corvette.
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Categories: Chevrolet, Editors' Personal Cars
Let's face it, a Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 are mom mobiles. With apologies to our videographer Evan Barthelman who owns a Crev, they aren't the most masculine vehicles on Earth. There's nothing wrong with that, girls need to buy cars too. But I didn't want my mother's CR-V as my first car 11 years ago (go ahead, call me spoiled, I am), and I wouldn't want to own one today. The RAV4 may have a beefier optional engine, but that's about it.
Now let's take the new 2010 Chevy Equinox that happens to be in our office at the moment, a crossover SUV that's gunning for the top-selling Crev and RAV. While I wouldn't say I'm in love with the styling, it's handsome enough and looks more substantial than the Japanese king pins without resembling a 'roided out Buick Rendezvous. Is it the most masculine vehicle on Earth? No, not at all, but that description would probably fall to a Dodge Nitro or a Hummer or something completely awful. Basically, if for some reason I was interested in an SUV, I'd want something just macho enough that it wouldn't look like I knicked the wife's keys. I think the Equinox does that.
Here are some other things I like about Chevy's new crossover.
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Categories: Chevrolet
Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the Final 4 in our January Madness (yeah, doesn't work without the alliteration). As the updated bracket to your right indicates, your winners from the first round were the Chevrolet Corvette, Ford SVT Raptor, Ford Mustang and in the only close contest, the Ford Flex. Either way, big wins for Ford with only one car standing in the way of a grand Ford off.
But that car is of course a doozy, and representing it is an owner. Senior Automotive Editor Brent Romans donned his forever-classy Wild Horsepower Out in the Barn T-Shirt and defended the Chevrolet Corvette, the oldest and arguably the most storied nameplate in this competition. However, the argument could be made that the vehicle he's facing off against is even older, or rather the F-150 truck upon which the SVT Raptor is based. Wearing a Vince Carter jersey for the occasion is Executive Editor Paul Seredynski who survived accusations of pervasive anti-GM bias to arrive once again facing another car from the General. Good luck.
Voting for this competition end Tuesday, January 26 at 2 p.m. PST. The Tournament Finals will go live Thursday January 28.
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Categories: Chevrolet, Face-Off, Ford
