You can buy a base Vette (07) with no options for $40K if you negotiate hard but not many dealers order one without options. If they have a 0% for 60 deal I will seriously be looking at one.

 

I haven't driven a new Vette. But you hear good things about them everywhere. So... I wandered over to my local Chebby dealer and took a look.

Yes, it looks pretty sexy - in a cheap tart sort of way.

And yes, I'm sure it performs just dandy.

But fit and finish were disappointing. And overall it just seemed to lack what my car has in spades: refinement.

I also have two doc friends who have new Vettes. When I ask them about long road trips, they both admit that 1.5 to 2 hours at a stretch is the maximum time they can tolerate driving one. Then they've gotta get out, stretch the muscles, and shake out the stiffness.

I can drive the 928 all day and still feel fresh. Once again, refinement...

 

Well, I post this and go to work so I can make money enough so I can choose what I want instead of being "guided" by budget.

I will finish the 78. As I said, and its soon. Just got the TT started for assembly, trans is assembled, etc.

I already have the V1 Supercharger, so thats a forgon conclusion too.

My point in bringing this up is that an existing 928 I have had has been a bit soft, even the 75k 89 I took apart and H is trying to sell off in parts (all very good parts BTW). I put new shocks on an 85 auto and drove that - but it was an auto. For the concerns that I have not had 928s to drivem I have! Really!

I drove the 89 for almost 45k miles in less than 2 years. I put another 30-40 on three other 928s, maybe more. I can't even remember. I know them. This may seem a bit egoist, but I can feel them way better than most, whats up, whats down, what off, whats on, and whats worn or broken. I'm just good at stuff like that. I went back this last spring, and drove my retiree parent's volvo - it had a bobble at the 2-3 shift and the 1-2 shift. 3 months later, they find out the TC blew up. A slight rattle was a destroyed Catalytic. Nobody feels this stuff this early - I do.

I have lived, breathed, slept, eaten, and sweated out 928s for 7 years now. I don't specifically have them for exclusivity, but I have them because of thier size, thier hatch while still being a sports car, and thier balance and speed.

Back to my 78 - it will be all new. Some of you may not understand all new. I mean down to bushings on the rear sway bar new. I mean rear lower arm bushings. I mean stuff like brake lines throughout, booster, slaves, seals, etc.
New-bolts-for-the-cam-covers-new, people. That new.

The little white things that attach to the windows as they go up and down the window reg bar new.

Not one Porsche freaking relay electrical system new. No LH to have a hissy fit, new.

So its crunch time. This car has to show me its worth it after all this money and work, or its gone. Every single 928 themed 928 thing could go easily, and I could have some good cash to start a Z06 fund.

The Vette's seats sucked monkey *****. I thought it was broken when it moved back three inches as I pounded on the accelerator pedal. Thats minor. Details can be big, small, or deal killers, it depends on the person. "Interior quality" well, the 928 is not up on that list at all. Neither are the vettes, but the electronics are newer, and simpler.

I didn't start this to **** peope off. You all know I am no 928 hater - maybe its biggest fan boy - but I am honest with what I see, and I don't lie to myself about what a 928 is when it has 100k or more on it. Thats why I take them apart. I wouldn't rip apart a vette that was under warantee - I would drive the damn thing and enjoy it and sleep soundly. I probably wouldn't even touch the damn radio as it has bluetooth and XM. What else do I need?

The 928s shifters are like rowing through melted butter. I am seriously concerned about this on the 78, and I have spent MUCH time on the system to make it somewhat more modern. Rear Flaming-River Ujoint, no movement, and a front heim joint, with a short shift is what i have done, with new mid-mount bushing. I don't know what else I can do, but the S2000 has the best shifter in the business, and its where I am shooting for feel.

Even though the vette's seats were sucky, I was still quite comfortable. And it was an auto. I have to drive a manual to say anything about the shifter.

 

Jadz - I only disassemble them to find the true car I want. I may find, after all this time, that when its built the way I want it, its not the 928 I want at all!

 

Have you see the aftermarket for the Vette? Lights, suspension, wheels, tires, air intake, cams, whole motors, computer tuning like its a Dell, rear end ratios.

 

Brendan
There are SO many aftermarket everything for the C6......superchargers, turbos, exhaust, cams, intake, on and on.....you can get a stock Z06 to 500whp pretty easy with just chips, headers, cams and exhaust.....I would imagine a stock C6 could be easily over 400whp.....the turbo S/C kits are stupid powerful....1000hp & beyond...but quite pricey....I have heard of smaller local builder who can build a TT vette for under $20k that will put down 800+whp with good driveability..... Its just a factor of how many are built....they build so many vettes every year, around 35K.....

 

Just watched Corvette Summer last week. What a movie!
There really is a lot you can do to those things after you get them.


_dan

 

That one is nice Chad..but if I were to go retro racer look...this Duc would fit the bill..

 

I understand all new.

I understand the purposefulness of "every-nut-and-bolt" engineering. I think that working on a 928 taught me that. The German Engineering mind does not know the concept of shortcuts.

I am waiting patiently for your posts about inital shakedown runs, tuning, fine tuning, and tracktime.

I liked your big metal snail avatar better, it was a reminder of big things in progress.

I am especially interested in your Honda-esque shifter. The Honda daily-drivers I have owned have been the most perfect ergonomic vehicles I have ever had, but the modded 2nd gen Miata I test-drove had by far the most "telepathic" shifter.

 

Brendan, I thought the R8 was on your radar?

 

It is. Currently, 36-42k is much more attainable than, um, 100k.

 

Brendan,
When choosing a sports car, especially and older/classic one you really have to find the one that or one's that suits you best. If you really love a car then it shouldn't matter if theres something faster, newer, or more advanced than the car you love. If thats the case for you then I don't think you've found "your car" yet.

 

That's a good point. There is something appealing about a car that has had labor intensive design work go into all of the components that make it a car. You may not be able to appreciate it until you take one apart but a 928 has had engineers pouring over the tinyest of details with regards to optimal design, not cost saving. Japanese cars are like that too, they will completely change component designs and tool up costs are not the mindset.

A Corvette is a great final product but cost control was high priority for the design team. For example, the front and rear suspensions share a common casting for the uprights. For someone like me that admires mechanical design that's a problem, you just know that compromises are present because the rear suspension points have to attatch to a place that would also work as a steering knuckle etc. up front. I have a bad memory of working on a mid 70s Chevy as a youngster, I was having difficulty installing 2 of the 4 bolts that held the carb on. Why? someone had determined that they would save a certain amount of money by only drilling and tapping 2 holes instead of 4 so GM made a number of cars that way, 4 holes are still in the carb but only 2 on the manifold. You can guess how well that worked but they saved .01 cents per car. For me personally I could never own a Vette ('cept a unique ZR1), no matter how all-conquering fast it is or how good of a job they've designed it to sell at a great price, I would be nagged by knowing that the front and rear suspension share components and that carb experience is like a skeleton in the closet of GM. I hope I don't offend any Corvette owners, you have a great car, I just have different appreciations like JEC31 brought up. I appreciate that the 928 was designed with enthusiasm and with emphasis on mechanical design and not cost, that means more to me personally than bottom line performance and cost.

 

Good post Mike.

Yes, we're way of topic from plastic American icon machines now... sorry Brendan.

Over the last couple of years I have had 3 in-depth educational exposures to German Engineering:

1) The not-always-enjoyable experience of working for an American plastics engineering team while they learned the hard way how to deal with a very German design/assembly engineering team as our customer - and amazingly enough while that customer learned how to deal with us.

2) I program an English-language-version of a high-end coordinate-measuring-machine software that was completely developed and refined in Germany.

3) Working on a 928 - ~125 steps to change a timing belt.


I have made two observations from these experiences:

A) The German Engineering mind approaches everything from the starting point of "theoretical perfection", and then uses all methods available to force reality to get as close as possible to that perfection. If that's not close enough, new methods MUST be developed. Only as a last resort (and under heavy pressure from cost-and-timing management) are the specifications and goals lowered from "perfection" down to "maximum possible".

B) If he (or she!) owns the idea, no matter how bad it is, the German engineer will defend it to the death - and then make it work!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soon we will hopefully be working with a team from Honda, I can't wait to learn from that experience also.

 

There is nothing similar in my opinion, between a Vette and a Porsche 928. If I wanted a Vette I'd buy one, but I don't want one, nor have any desire to test drive one. I get into my 5-speed S4 every day and love every mile I drive in it. I have no interest in anything else.