[Zardoz]

With impeccable timing, GM has announced the first 200-MPH Corvette:

ZR1



Is it just me, or does anybody else think GM should be working on 200 MPG cars rather than 200 MPH cars?

[Eli]

I suppose you are right but I would sure take one.

Nissan is also set to release the New Gt-R it will do zero to 60 in 3.3 seconds which is pretty fast. My Prius is not nearly as fast as that, actually if you tromp on the gas it actually goes slower because the electric motor will shut off.

[sittinguy]

look at the brakes on that baby,,,, I got wooOOD

[dukey]

anyone that can afford that car
can afford the fuel bill

[jboogy]

Freakin' supercharged supercar and I love it , once the people at the edges slide into destitution and poverty and their forced to stop driving , oil supply might keep up with the demand of the wealthy elite who will be the ones driving this car. I'd go with the ford GT though.
http://www.automotive.com/2005/12/ford/ ... /misc.html

[mmasters]

That looks hot.

[Specop_007]

Any news on price? That car is HOT.

[jboogy]

I think I read last week about 100,000 , this means dealers will be asking 200,000 , if it's limited production , which it probably will be. The GT was supposed to retail at between 135,000 and 150,000, you can't get one for under 200,000. Pure dealership greed.

[master_rb]

sport cars are my weakness, come on, everybody has to have at least one

now give me (stick shift a must) 350z, mustang GT, rx-7 (twin turbo), 3000gt (twin turbo), supra (twin turbo) etc........... and a nice mountain countryside curvy road - pure pleasure

[lawnchair]

Nope. Never got the fast-car bug. Perhaps it's because I've walked enough 50 mile hikes and pedaled enough 400 mile tours to step back and be awed when going 70 mph in a Corolla. You can't use much of that super power on the highway (at least, not too many times), and I can't see spending that much to go around in circles.

Conspicuity is *not* my game plan.

[FreakOil]

Men drooling over sports cars. This has to be the worst thread ever. I've never understood this apelike attraction to big, farting machines.

[idomar]

Pfffst, Corvette,

this is what you want if you want to show off,

Koenigsegg


[img][IMG=http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/655/ccxblackmx8.th.jpg][/img]

[jboogy]

I'll try to explain Freakoil , I had two good friends who were brothers when I was 13 , we remained good friends well into our twenties . The younger brother was into engines , motorcycles , go-karts , the older brother not so much( he developed an affinity for caddy's and el dorado's )where the younger bro' got the fever I don't know but when he worked on motors I was right there with him , I loved taking stuff apart and rebuilding it so it worked better. Once we were old enough to drive this turned to cars , I think as teenagers fast cars were about status , competition , attracting females, adrenalin rush from high speeds. They say the car bug gets in your blood and I've found it's true , now for me it's about the rush from speed , but more important I think rebuilding my current car( 1970 dodge charger) is a form of therapy , it's like how some build bird houses , some play guitar , some do yoga , some converse with strangers through a modum ,alot sit in front of the TV with a cocktail. I'm very mechanically inclined and I like to drive fast so this seems natural to me.It's how I unwind and find some peace for myself , away from everyone for awhile.As far as new sports cars that don't require re-building and constant maintenence I think you have guys that like to just go fast and maybe enjoy the attention. It's genetic in some guys , I'll bet there were two cave-men racing right after the invention of the wheel.

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FreakOil', 'T')his has to be the worst thread ever.

[strider3700]

Any word on when this will be released? GM's stock took a hit today when the CEO mentioned that the all electric volt may not be ready for release in 2010 which was the expected release date.

[vision-master]

Well, I have a sports coup and it's fun. 28 mpg on the road with a 200 hp V-6. No rocket but still run to drive (Monte Carlo SS).

OK, I'll bite, I still miss my old 1970 Torino 429 SCJ. :crying:

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('idomar', 'P')fffst, Corvette,

this is what you want if you want to show off,

Koenigsegg

[fireplaceguy]

The '07 LS7 engine (that's the current ZO6) makes 505 HP from the factory and gets 25 mpg on the highway at anything near legal speeds.

Add a mild cam, headers, better valve springs, re-write the chip and (unfortunately for your kinuckles) install a stronger clutch and halfshafts and you can easily surpass the HP/torque numbers and real world performance of the new ZR1 right now - no waiting...

The laptop/data logger/weather station gizmos show 0-60 in 2.9 at a density altitude of 5900 feet with good injector duty cycles and no knock retard. You're well past the limits of tire adhesion at these power numbers, even with the street legal drag radials, and it's all about the launch control (yours and the computer's!)

Sure do covet those carbon ceramic rotors. That's phenomenal braking combined with a huge reduction in rotational mass and unsprung wieght! Costly, but it will translate nicely into our future fleet of high efficiency vehicles. Calculated over the life of a car, repeatedly accelerating the rotational mass of cast-iron brake components uses a lot of energy.

I have no problem with the automakers exploring these technologies through racing programs and high-performance street cars. Ultralight brake rotors that last the life of the car? Cool. Engine management computers derived from racing that yield extraordinary efficiency and ULEV EPA ratings? (Sure - how did you think the Prius does it? By jetting a carb?) Very cool. Lightweight carbon fiber body parts? That's why you generally walk away from 200 MPH crashes in Indy/Champ/F1 cars. That's a high degree of safety at extremely low weight. (If they're not tight enough you may have bruises that look like a tattoo of your harnesses, but you still walk away!) Very very cool. A company that stays in business by selling what consumers want now, thereby funding alternative vehicles for the future? Beats your only other choice!

For perspective, Toyota's spending in motorsport has exceeded a billion a year in some recent years. This money buys an aerospace grade research program, rolling test beds, a dream training ground for engineers and a nice PR program, all rolled into one. Over the last decade, Toyota's had a strong presence in Champ Car, F! and now Nascar. With time and access, I have no doubt that I could document all sorts of knowledge gained here that helped make the Prius what it is!

These new technologies are expensive and production techniques always need to be ironed out, so such things invariably start at the top in the enthusiast market and trickle down from there. The refinements and efficiencies that make these technologies viable for the masses will be learned at the expense of the enthusiast, who is also far more sanguine about living with any unanticipated bugs. We're the beta testers, if you will...

You'll see a lot of this stuff in future high mileage hybrids and electrics if we hang on long enough. In the meantime, Corvette buyers are funding the production research on these technologies. This is simple, elegant and voluntary. Works for me...

[oowolf]

Car "culture": the apotheosis of human depraved indifference to the planet.

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('oowolf', 'C')ar "culture": the apotheosis of human depraved indifference to the planet.