Although I have to admit that it was somewhat by "feel," as a McKamey
instructor, I have driven most cars that are out there and think that I have
a pretty good grasp by feel on how good a car is. The C5 I drove (which the
2000 hardtop has a bigger rear swaybar I'm told) turns in incredibly well,
and with it's monster torque, it can get out of a turn a lot quicker than an
RX7, which is primarily what I'm comparing too. I'd say that the RX7 is the
car to beat in SS as it stands, and in my opinion, the C5 can probably run
with it in all circumstances, whereas the C4 can only do it some of the
time.
As far as your argument of looking at results around the country, I'd
counter with the idea that has been pointed out many times before, namely
car setup and driver skill. As with the C4s this year, there are not nearly
the number of national caliber drivers in them as there used to be. If you
compare results of the C4 this year, I don't think you can make a fair
comparison. With the C5, my understanding is that the normal ones push no
matter what you do when driven to the limits. The 2000 hardtop seems to
have fixed this problem. Again, I don't think you've seen any top drivers
yet in this car (but that may quickly change......)
As has been pointed out, in my neck of the woods, Stacy Molleker has been
doing pretty well in his car. This is with just tires and an alignment.
More can still be done to this car, and is most likely being done. I know
of a past national champion somewhere in the country also that just
purchased one of these and is thinking about running it........
Stay tuned for Nationals and then make the call on which is the better car.
Ron Bauer
-----Original Message-----
From: Ben Thatcher <bthatch@juno.com>
To: ronbauer@aa.net <ronbauer@aa.net>
Cc: autox@autox.team.net <autox@autox.team.net>; bspvette@topica.com
<bspvette@topica.com>
Date: Monday, July 10, 2000 10:02 AM
Subject: Re: C4-C5 Corvettes in stock
>Ron, is this from how the car feels or from some objective testing? The
>reason I ask is that the C5 Corvette is very impressive from a feeling
>perspective. It is designed to be the "Lexus" of sports cars.
>
>I based my statement on results around the country. Very few national
>level events have had C5s winning in SS and they aren't even on the
>horizon at Topeka. In fact, early model C4s with the L98 motors are still
>the hottest Corvettes in SS.
>
>On Mon, 10 Jul 2000 09:18:38 -0700 "Ron Bauer" <ronbauer@aa.net> writes:
>> I'm not so sure about this comment. I've driven both cars, and at
>> least in
>> SS trim, the new 2000 model C5 hardtop seems to me to be a VERY good
>> car to
>> have for the class!
>>
>> Ron Bauer
>> Y2K S2K
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Ben Thatcher <bthatch@juno.com>
>> To: autox@autox.team.net <autox@autox.team.net>
>> Date: Monday, July 10, 2000 8:42 AM
>> Subject: C4-C5 Corvettes in stock
>>
>>
>> >The C4 Corvettes have consistently proven to be faster in autocross
>> than
>> >C5s. Speculation that the new Z06 will dominate is yet to be
>> proved. What
>> >looks good on paper, from factory hype and enthusiastic Corvette
>> magazine
>> >articles doesn't mean a thing until our top drivers/preparers put
>> their
>> >skill into them.
>> >
>> >Remember, when Chevy rolled out the C5, EVERYONE was talking about
>> how
>> >much better they were than the C4. Didn't work out that way on the
>> >autocross course.
>> >
>> >Ben Thatcher
>> >86 C4 in BSP
>> >
>>
>
>Ben Thatcher
>Apex Benefit Services & Motorsports
>Stockbridge, GA
>Phone 770.474.1402
>FAX 770.474.0938
>
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