[s-cars] LAF Weakend NAC

[pkrasusky at ups.com]

Teddy-

Again, I agree the Vette (C6666666 - darn Vegas induced haze I tell ya)
is near undoubtedly better than the GTO in likely all aspects, I dunno,
like I said, I guess I just "expected" that and found the GTO amusing.

My experience was limited to 8 maybe 25 second runs, yours sounds much
more extensive and your recount of their compare / contrast attributes
is therefore likely much more vernacular than mine.  While I stand by my
CTS-V underwhel-ment, I agree it's likely better under differing
conditions than I had.

On more recent note, 5k miles on Volvo S80 - good.  14k on more recent
S80 - not so good.  Tranny couldn't handle it, was actually clicking on
accel / decel before I even departed - go figure.  Nearly had to walk it
over Brooklyn to LI bridge in 2 mph traffic the day 'after' - fun!
Beware silver '06 S80's for sale - with busted rear windows...  damn
Crooklynites found trying for the Never Lost Nav to be unsuccessful, but
found me MP3 player locked in console just fine...  bastids.

-Paul run away from "executive lease" used cars K.



-----Original Message-----
From: Theodore Chen [mailto:tedebearp at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Friday, June 16, 2006 4:46 PM
To: Krasusky Paul (WQQ2PXK); t44tqtro at gmail.com
Cc: s-car-list at audifans.com
Subject: Re: [s-cars] LAF Weakend NAC

i have to check it out when i go to vegas again.  hope it's still around
by then.

i believe you mean the C6, which is the newest corvette.  there is no 
C7... yet.  at least not on the market.

i'm rather surprised you liked the GTO better than the vette.  i've
gotten
a fair amount of seat time in both cars on autox courses, and the vette
has it all over the GTO in every performance aspect.  i thought the GTO
was a little too ponderous and softly sprung - no doubt GM's attempt to
prevent the GTO from cannibalizing vette sales.  also, the trunk in the
GTO isn't very usable because of the fuel tank.  except for the addition
of the rear seats, i'm not convinced the GTO has that much more space
than
the vette.  however, the GTO does offer serious bang for the buck.  a
400 hp, 6 liter V8 in a good chassis for $32k list (street price likely
significantly lower), and if you buy used, these things take a big 
depreciation hit.  i'm rather tempted myself, but i still think the
suspension is too soft.  you can get performance parts for the holden
monaro, which is the same car in australia, but you'll probably have to
import them.

as for the CTS-V, i love the performance.  i drove it back to back with
a C6 vette, and the CTS-V felt like a 4-door version of the vette.
slightly
slower, a little bigger and heavier, but i didn't think it gave much
away
in handling.  the C6 was the base package and may have been more softly
tuned than the CTS-V.  but the CTS-V has the heart of a C5 Z06 ('04-'05
with the 5.7 liter LS6 engine) or a C6 ('06 with the 6 liter LS2) and it

sure as heck isn't slow.

of these cars, i'd take a CTS-V, mainly because i like having a 4-door
for stealth.  i don't need any more speeding tickets, and yes, i'm
getting
old.  i like having a little luxury and refinement, which is why you
don't
see me driving a WRX or lancer evo.

you missed one of the best things about the C6 and CTS-V: the stability
control.  normally, i hate stability control and i turn it off in any
vehicle i drive.  BMW's DSC is especially annoying, because it
aggressively
cuts throttle when it detects a little sliding, and takes a long time to
give it back.  i drove a C5 Z06 and the LS6 CTS-V with the stability
control set to competition mode (the guy next to me wouldn't turn it
off,
but he set it to competition), and damned if the stability control
didn't
actually help to go faster.  i could feel it intervening as i
trailbraked
into corners, and as i accelerated out of corners.  the stability
control's
intervention was minimal, and i only noticed the slight pulsing in
the pedal at extreme moments.  in the corners, when you'd normally get
understeer from entering too hot, the stabilitrak pulses the inside rear

wheel brake to help rotate the car.  that's not something anybody, not
even
michael schumacher, can do.  there's an SAE paper about GM's "active 
handling" technology, and it's an interesting read.  unfortunately, i
don't
seem to have a copy any more.

GM's stabilitrak is far better than the offerings from BMW, audi,
mercedes,
etc.  it's the only one that didn't make me want to turn it off.

if i owned a vette or CTS-V, i would drive it with the stability control
in competition mode.  i don't think the GTO offers it.

-teddy