FWIW, "Two other Open Road Racing events happen annually in the U.S. the Big Bend Open Road Racing organization happens in West Texas every April, and the Sandhills Open Road Challenge happens in Arnold, Nebraska every August." Source is Wikipedia
https://bborr.com/
https://sorcrace.com/

 

I've done 130mph/210Kph on the Autobahn (in a Ford Mondeo Estate behind a Porsche 930 Turbo) but on my most recent trip to Germany we never topped 117mph because of traffic and speed limits, despite having an Audi S5 Sportback, 3.0 TDI that would easily have reached 150.
Speaking to a Munchener on a flight home recently, he said you have to drive at night to find clear roads. Doing 150mph at night is not my thing.

 

I agree. I have always disliked corvettes and would never consider owning one as they are just not my style.

But as an auto enthusiast, this the fact that GM copied a Ferrari and pretty much nailed it should be celebrated. If you don’t like knock offs and prefer the real deal, totally understand that but that is a very expensive proposition which most can’t attain. Having the performance at a fraction of the cost available to a wider audience is a good thing for humanity.

BTW, I also bought the gas cap.

 

More and better competition is good for all of us.

 

I had never considered buying a Corvette in my 40+ year lifetime. The interior quality and general front engine rear drive limitations kept me from it.

Ive owned 5 porsches, 12 Audis, 4 bmws and 40 or so other random cars.

When the c8 was introduced it really peaked my attention. GM had wanted the last generation car to be this one but the engineers never could get the green light. The engineers said they had reached the limits of the front engine rear wheel drive platform. The last generation zr1 super Corvette was no faster to 60mph than the z06 because it was severely traction limited.

The c8 changed all that. The 500hp stingray is sitting on a chassis that can handle 1000hp and still be usable.

Since 2020 ive purchased 3 c8 Corvettes now. I still have several German and Italian cars.

The c8 is a no excuses car imo. I honestly cannot find fault in the interior quality anymore. I can see not liking the design language (i didn't at first but once living with it the ergonomics are incredible. I actually reach out less than in my 911 for settings). There aren't cheap playskool looking plastics anywhere anymore.

The actual track performance is absolutely outstanding. I did a two day racing school in one and the car has outstanding limits and handling characteristics and the gm magnetic ride control that is licensed by Ferrari because of how good it is simply cannot be compared to PASM. Not that the Porsche has bad handling by any means but the actual shock control on mag ride vs pasm is another playing field.

I have zero thoughts that the stingray is "better" or "worse" than my pcar. Its different. Both have outstanding characteristics that shine imo. The pcar is magic in its handling. The chassis is so mature that cornering is at least as enjoyable as the c8. The straight line stability is better in the c8 imo. They both sound so different and so awesome at full song i like both equally. The idea the c8 has a pushrod v8 in it from Chevy means if i blow one on the track some day there will likely be 5 thousand dollar used ones i can put in whereas it was 25k on the pcar. The pcar has other worldly visibility and driving position imo. It shrinks around you. The c8, like a supercar, does not. Theyre just different imo but i have to say im proud of gm for producing a performance car that for the fist time in my life has been an American car that i really wanted to buy (outside perhaps a new ford gt (gt40).

 

In 2011 I remember taking my 997.2 C2S to 140 mph on winter tires...to which my g/f at the time exclaimed "slow down" ! lol

Up here in Chicagoland suburb highways, I see these jackals ***-houses going 110-120 mph routinely in cars that approach instability at those speeds. Chevy Malibus and the like. It's the f* Wild West up here.

Hence the need for the vaunted Turbo S.

 

But then you wouldn’t have the 992.

 

I enjoyed your description. You make me wish I could wrap my head around owning one.

 

Your post is as accurate as it is honest, even if it may never be fully appreciated on a Porsche Forum. Similar to you, I’ve owned 5 Porsche, 3 BMW, 2 Mercedes and 10 Audis over the past 30 years. In fact, virtually every performance car I’ve owned has been German with the exception of a 2006 Corvette Z06. It was a reluctant purchase from a friend who owned an exotic car dealership in NY.

It was bright yellow, had a 7.0L V8, a six speed manual and was a hard to find model at the time. I didn’t really want the car but my friend said “ everyone should own a Corvette at least once before they die” and I couldn’t refute his logic. I bought the car in March, drove it all Summer and sold it for a $5K profit that Fall. It was the first car in a long time that made me smile while I was behind the wheel. It was a 3100 lbs. with a 505 HP 427 and the handling was far better than I had expected. That said, the interior was crap, the seats inadequate and the run flat tires were terrible.

In 2020, my 75 year old father in law ordered a new C8 Stingray and I helped him pick it up at the Bowling Green Factory Museum. After 500 or so miles behind the wheel, it occurred to me that this $75K Coupe did some things as well as my 2018 GT3 and a few things even better. The only flaw I could find was a lack of steering feel compared to the feedback of the excellent electric steering on my 991.2. Otherwise, I was so impressed that I called a Chevrolet Dealer that week and asked to be put on his list for the next Z06.

That was more than two years ago and thanks to supply chain challenges I’m still a year from getting my car. When it arrives, it will be a mid-mounted 670 HP, 5.5L Flat Plane DOHC with an 8 Speed DCT and World Class handling for less than $150K. My Dealer is holding more than 4,000 customer deposits and the car will likely be out of production before his 3000th customer is served. Who would have ever thought ten years ago that buying a Chevrolet and a Ferrari would be such a similar experience?

 

If didn’t need back seats (yes even the worthless 911 ones) I’d definitely be seriously looking at a C8 to see if I really liked it.

 

One a year?

May I ask why?

Seems like a lot in a 3 year time span.

 

yes i more or less got on one list after another knowing i could drive the car for a bit and see if i really liked the color and options and still sell it and pocket some money. Im pretty happy with the options i have now although Im not usually a cheesy sticker guy but they do add value and i e gotten to kind of dig them

 

C8 looks fantastic and has the performance to meet its looks. We’re lucky in this day of turbo engines and increasing electrification that a car like that still exists.

 

I am a Porsche guy and have owned many different models, Cayenne, Cayman, Taycan, Macan and 30 911's of various flavors. I am also a Corvette guy and have owned around a dozen different Corvette's, but the difference is I would never own any other GM product as they are all crap.

 

A few years ago I drove by the pre launch party hosted at a large dealership . I stopped in to look at the cars , talked with a few repeat corvette buyers , and was more welcomed than a few of the replies I read on the thread , I found the car interesting but wish it was the V8 mid engine PDK that Porsche could have built . I did learn a lot about the car and its design that Nick had not shared .

Fast forward to present the Z06 is a beast . I started looking at 1/4 times and quickly saw that. young woman named Emelia Hartford broke all the records . Shes young, talks fast , and brings a lot of enthusiasm to breaking those records . Since she is lighter and can drive it makes sense that beat the chevy drivers (mostly men) who weigh more in the same car .

Here she is in the Z06 . Car sounds great !!