racerxrick

The plan is/was to sell the 951 though I admit I have developed cold feet on that part of my recent purchase. I may need to selll it to fund gold chains so I can drive my new car!

I wound up with a "deal" on a 10' Grand Sport Corvette with all the right parts and I chose not to resist. It is a 6spd Z16 packaged car with the close ratio trans (only Vette with that) and hand built dry sump LS3. The car has magnetic ride control with the all the zo6 suspension and brakes (14" 6 piston up front!). It has the dual mode exhaust and I already have the baffle switched. It has the optional "Heritage Package" with the two tone sport seats and silver Grand Sport hash stripes on the fenders. Also has the optional chrome wheel package, glass roof, NAV (a poor one) and 3LT package. It even has the optional dealer installed ipod cord and metal pedal covers that were on the orginal invoice and build. Bluetooth works great and the car was smooth and quiet (other than a rattle in the drivers door...hey, it IS a Vette!) on the ride back from Houston.

I have a automatic 11' Vette available so I drove it and my son pulled gears in the GS while we tried em' out side by side. The GS walked the auto car much more than I expected and with a 19 year old operating the shifter (though he has a manual Vette too).

The car is really stuck around corners though I have had to adjust to flogging the RPM's to make her fly compared to the part throttle rush of the 951. I'll have to try them out side by side from an 80 roll...I suspect the V8 will win as much as i would like to see my efforts in the 951 win over.

The close ratio trans is really fun and the shifter is spot on. However coupled with the 3.42 rear gear the highway mileage takes a dive...at least in the real world. My son's C5 gets 27+ at speed and I only averaged 21 from Houston.

The car has all the coolers from the factory including a rear diff cooler (reminds me of my 951). The automatic (non z16) Grand Sport gets the assembly line LS3 while this one is built in the same shop that assembles the z06 and zr1 engines. Word is the tolerences are "liberal"...it sounds great.

The car is a solid inch lower in the front and 1/2" in the back compared to the standard Vette. Weight is just a tick over 100lbs heavier than the zo6.

The first times at speed I didn't care for the feel as much as the 951...because it felt "floaty" compared to the locked down feeling of the steering in the 951. I'm feeling comfy with it now and am really happy with the cornering.

My favorite part though isn't driving it....I LOVE looking at it, to me that is one sexy car with the wide fenders and 325's on the back.

racerxrick

two more wide angle shots

CyCloNe!

very nice!

bumper87

Very sharp, one drives around my neighbourhood. You must immediatly get a borla exhaust setup for her. Its one of the nicest things i;ve ever heard

racerxrick

yeah...though not needed (already has the factory dual mode exhaust with a "man switch" added to manually open it via remote control!)

racerxrick

thanks!

BC

Love those. And its black, too. Great.

Jeff N.

hehe...just wait till you have to buy new rubber for that beast...

Tedro951

Rick, I confess. I'm a vette lurker. A friend of mine sold his 2011 ZR1 and i thought he was nuts, but the 2012 Turbo S he pulled up in eased the pain.

I'm hoping for a 2014 Vette in 2021...at my budget for toys!

Have fun with it!

racerxrick

well actually I have already been running 285/30's on the back of the 951 and those aren't cheap. Plus I know the manager at a big tire store!

The car came with three new Nitto Invo's and one of the fronts was about 50%. $230 retail and I bought one for $190. Not that much more than I've been spending on the 951!

btw....the Invo's feel very good so far.

racerxrick

wow...I hear the base Stingray is gonna have similar skidpad numbers and more horsepower than mine.

I just caught the last part..funny Ted. Well, ya' know I am buying this as the new model comes out, oh and it doesn't hurt that I work for a dealer (bought $250 over what we had in it). I can do that if they are 30 days old.

mudbuddha

Rick, I hope you keep the 951. Modern cars and technologies are nice but I'd still keep the 951, I feel more connected to it and it to the road than cars using technology to counter act its weight- it's just more fun with these old school cars. With that said, strolled onto a Corvette/Lotus dealership one time and did gawk at the GS and ZR1 for a little bit. Something about wide arches, big wheels, big brakes are just attractive to me. I can't imagine me owning one though...too big and floaty.

racerxrick

yeah...I drove the 951 to work this morning with wide open 6 lanes (I may have tried her some). Love the pull of the (larger) turbo at part throttle. The Vette is bigger and the steering lighter (hence "floaty") however the GS does feel VERY glued through corners.

mudbuddha

I like the GS. I remember seeing it on the road a few years back- it was blue with the white and red stripe piping, and ZR1 sized rubbers- pretty cool. Oh don't get me wrong, these cars with magnetic ride control and modern day suspension designs have very nice handling out of the box- that and really wide performance rubbers. It's just all these electronic gizmos and yet still somewhat a heavy car at the end of the day so you still have to wrestle these cars around a bit. I am just rambling here but going back to wide fenders/tires combo, I just installed some KWv3s in the back keeping the TB and it woke the car right up. And btw, since you like wide tires, I decided to "upgraded" to 315s section-width- my old school version of traction control.

racerxrick

yikes...steamrollers, and I think the 285's on my 951 look huge.

and regarding weight, probably lighter than most realize. A 3LT Grand Sport like mine has a curb weight of only 3311lbs (about 300-400 lbs. heavier than my 951). The lightweight and great traction allows the car to 1/4 mile with much highre horsepower (i.e. supercharged cars) at 12.2@117