Month: December 2011

Motor Trend recently tasked their editiors and writers to come up with a list of the Best and Worst cars they drove in 2011. Corvette owners have rightly taken offense to the comments from Associate Online Editor Jason Udy who named the 2011 Corvette Grand Sport as the worst car he drove in 2011. Not only did he give the Corvette this dubious award, but he took is a step further by saying the Corvette “lacks soul”.

Udy first named the best car he drove all year as the Ferrari 458 Italia, although he claims that the Cadillac CTS-V Wagon, the Ford Mustang Boss Lagnua Seca and the Lecus LFA were all the top of his list.

As for the worst car he drove, here are his comments:

Worst Car – Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Trying to figure out the worst car I drove in 2011 is only slightly easier than deciding on the best car I drove all year. The TSX wagon comes to mind – nothing wrong with it per say, it just didn’t wow me. The VW Jetta TDI was equally disappointing. The power was nice and the DSG shifts insanely fast, but the stark interior with hard plastics wasn’t enough. The Fiat 500 Sport manual was much slower than I expected. But, the biggest disappointment for me would have to be Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport – surprising because I have always preferred the simplicity of American cars over exotics. Is the Grand Sport fast? YES! But, it just didn’t feel special, like it had no soul, which is a shame for a car with an uninterrupted nameplate dating back to 1953. Hopefully GM can improve the C7 Corvette and ignite some passion back into America’s sports car (and ditch the transverse mono-leaf suspension).

I don’t know Udy and wouldn’t presume to know his motivations for naming the Corvette Grand Sport the worst car he drove in 2011. If he doesn’t like the car, fine, say that. But to say that it lacks souls reeks of link-baiting and knowing the Corvette community the way I do, I fully expect to see our fan boys push back against such an outrageous statement.

And judging from the comments posted on the Corvette Forum regarding the selection, I would say that the push back has already started.

Does Udy have a valid claim or is this just rhetoric designed to increase page views? Leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts!

Source:
Motor Trend

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[VIDEO] 2012 Corvette Z06 Centennial Edition Competes for Motor Trend’s Best Driver’s Car
[VIDEO] Motor Trend Tests the 2012 Corvette Z06 Centennial Edition
Motor Trend: The Truth about the C7 Corvette

Want to see what extreme acceleration looks like? In the latest video from High Tech Corvette, the crew filmed a twin-turbo Corvette C6 boasting over 1,500 horses cruising down the highway. When the driver drops the hammer, this C6 Corvette leaps from 50 mph to over 170 mph in just seconds.

This Corvette just flat out moves and covers the 50 mph to 170 mph in about 10 seconds. One of the scarier aspects was the bit of wiggle around 85 mph as the rear wheel drive sports car struggled to maintain grip with all that torque.

Some of the mods on the Corvette are new headers, high-flow catalytic converters and a fully customized twin-turbocharger setup.

High Tech Corvette says the speeds were recorded using GPS and so they many not be accurate. After watching the video, we don’t need no numbers to see how scary fast this twin-turbo Corvette is under full throttle!

Source:
Motor Authority

Related:
[VIDEO] LMR Claims Title as World’s Fastest Corvette ZR1
[VIDEO] LMR Tests Their Texas Mile Twin Turbo Corvette in GM’s Wind Tunnel
[VIDEO] LMR’s Twin-Turbo Corvette Sets Standing Mile Record at 231 MPH

GRAND-AM’s Spirit of Daytona announced today that Richard Westbrook will be joining the team for the entire 2012 Rolex Sports Car Series season. Westbrook will be driving the No. 90 Corvette Daytona Prototype along with returning Spirit of Daytona Driver Antonio Garcia.

Westbrook joined Corvette Racing last year as one of two part-time endurance race driver. He won the FIA GT2 Championship in 2009 and earned podium finishes in 24-hour races at Le Mans (third in GT2) and Daytona (third overall) in 2010. He is a two-time Porsche Supercup champion (2006-07) and in 2008 he won an ALMS GT2 class victory at Road America.

“I’m delighted to have joined SDR for 2012. It’s a very exciting time to be joining the GRAND-AM championship with all the new cars and in particular the new Corvette,” added Westbrook. “We all know how good looking the car is, but now we will work hard to make it a success on the track, and I’m relishing the hard work that lies ahead.”

“We are very excited to have Richard behind the wheel of our new Corvette. This is a very exciting time for Spirit of Daytona,” said team owner Troy Flis.

“Everyone at Spirit of Daytona is thrilled about Richard joining our team. We are working very hard to make sure that we perform at the highest level and are challenging for a championship at the end of the year,” said Flis. “Our focus now is to be prepared for the 50th anniversary of the Rolex 24 in a few weeks and to carry that momentum for the entire season.”

Westbrook will begin the 2012 race season with Spirit of Daytona at the official three-day test weekend, the Roar Before the Rolex 24, scheduled for Jan. 6-8, on the 3.56-mile road course at Daytona International Speedway.

Earlier this month, the ALMS rumor-mill had Westbrook racing for Spirit of Daytona in GRAND-AM and Garcia moving to a full time position in the ALMS with Corvette Racing. Although there is only one weekend where the GRAND-AM schedule conflicts with the ALMS, this announcement by Spirit of Daytona may put that rumor to rest.

Source:
SPEED

Related:
[RUMORS] Garcia Gets Full Time Ride at Corvette Racing; Beretta Could Be Out
Corvette Racing Announces 2011 Driver Lineup