GM's Auto Show In Motion 3/17-3/20/05 at Monster Park, S.F.

[Litespeeds]

http://www.autoshowinmotion.com/Loc...-479C-87C8-5FC78671769B}&location=SanFran0305

If you ever wanted to test drive the new C6 Corvette on a specially designed road corse, similar to an high speed autocross, well here is your chance. I have been to several of the Auto Show In Motions and it is definitely an auto lover's delight. There are about 150 different vehicles from many different auto makers for you to test drive on specially design road courses that are similar to autocross courses. You can drive as fast and as hard as you'd like but just have to keep the car under control without hitting the cones. They will provide refreshments and even lunch and at the end, all you have to do is fill out a small survey and you will get a gift which is usually a t-shirt.
I would strongly advise everyone to register and go on either a Thursday or Friday because the weekend is so crowded that it will cut into your drive time. I will be going there on Thursday around 9:30 and will stay probably till about 1-2pm. Might even go back on Friday.

Would be great to meet a few NSX owners there so if any one can make it, please post a response so hopefully we can get a small group together. If not, have fun and drive wrecklessly! :biggrin:

 

[spartan2-3]

Thanks for reminding me, I do have the invite voucher someplace, I will surely go

 

[juejaimon]

Hey Sid... thanks for the notice... i'll be there on Sunday morning....

 

[specrtd]

I looked at the site and was wondering how much $$ all this would be? Do you just need to register?

 

[NSXrunner]

let me know how it turns out. i didn't attend the last one down here in SoCal because I attended one sponsored by Caddy last year and was disappointed becuase they really didnt let you do anything and gave you dirty looks and threatened to throw you out if you tried to do anything "fun" like going fast on the course. (I drove the caddy XLR and got a warning for going a little fast) bah!

 

[Dave Hardy]

You can drive as fast and as hard as you'd like but just have to keep the car under control without hitting the cones.

Not quite true. I didn't hit a cone the whole day, but was told to slow down in the Z06, was yelled at for drifting a Grand Marquis, and was finally kicked out for getting an Echo to do the "pissing dog" routine. Maybe as fast as you like and as fast as I like are different...

 

[calexand]

I have been to these before, and really enjoy them. I like to use the event to compare the non-GM cars to eachother mostly, but do drive the Cadillacs and Corvette too.

Thank you very much for posting this, Litespeeds!

Chip

 

[Litespeeds]

I looked at the site and was wondering how much $$ all this would be? Do you just need to register?

It is complete FREE. Just go to their website to register a time to show up. The earlier the better, before the crowds start to show up. Weekends are usually a madhouse so definitely arrive early on Sat. or Sun. I am taking the day off of work to have fun on Thursday so hopefully I will see some of you there. But then again, if I don't know you, I will probably just end up walking right by you unless you are standing next to your NSX Either way, it will definitely be alot of fun.

As for Dave Hardy,
You must be an animal in a good way. Most of the people there don't say much unless you really look like you are out of control. The employees there are just ordinary people and don't know how to push cars to the limit so their view of your drifting is out of control. They just want to make sure people are safe and the cars not damaged. Remember, this is not an AUTOCROSS or a RACE. It is just a free test drive comparison between Chevy vehicles and many other makes and models for your evaluation.

Have fun everyone. :wink:

 

[Litespeeds]

Hey Sid... thanks for the notice... i'll be there on Sunday morning....

Just make sure you go early Steve as you know how crowded it gets on the weekend. Right now it seems that not enough people actually know about this event as there are quite a bit of open time slots on the weekend. Maybe you will be lucky and be able to drive all the cars you want to. Have fun and let me know when you plan your next fun drive.

 

[Dave Hardy]

As for Dave Hardy,
You must be an animal in a good way. Most of the people there don't say much unless you really look like you are out of control. The employees there are just ordinary people and don't know how to push cars to the limit so their view of your drifting is out of control. They just want to make sure people are safe and the cars not damaged. Remember, this is not an AUTOCROSS or a RACE. It is just a free test drive comparison between Chevy vehicles and many other makes and models for your evaluation.

Have fun everyone. :wink:

Car - check
Cones - check
Parking Lot - check
Corner Workers - check

Looks like an autocross to me And yes, I am sure it looks like I'm out of control from outside the car.

 

[spartan2-3]

Just got back from the event.

You are only allowed to drive the C6 2X. You can drive an "AT" and/or a "manua"l trans. I would recommend requesting for the "Z51" package on one of your drives, you can definitely feel a slight advantage on the firmer suspension. (The regular C6 felt too soft and bouncy). They will NOT allow you to drive SOLO, you need an instructor to ride with you.

The other courses (sedans/ luxury cars/ SUV's) You can not exceed 30MPH, once they here the tires squeel, you will get an automatic warning.

The lines were longer during the early hours and shortened @ 4PM+.

The event was over all fun and entertaining, I would highly recommend it

enjoy

 

[ss5153]

THANKS spartan2-3! I'll be going there tommorrow at around noon. So they only limit 2x for the C6... How was the C6??? Did you get a free Corvette T-shirt like last year? :biggrin:

 

[Litespeeds]

Romeo,
When I was leaving the event, I saw a red NSX parked towards the far left of the parking lot. I am assuming it was your car. Looks great. The total miles was something like 71K if I remembered right. Has a black top and 02 rear valence. Looks sweet!
I was very disappointed in the driving event. The road courses were way shorter and easier than the one they had set up last year at Alameda Point. They actually only will let you drive the Corvette C6 only once. I was lucky enough that they did not pull my tag on my wristband when I took out the automatic first. Then I jumped to the CTS-V which I was really impressed. They didn't pull my tag again so I went to the C6 manual. The C6 definitely is no where as performance oriented as last years Z06 but for most people driving on public roads, the C6 is very refined and comfortable.
The Luxury course is a joke as it is so short. The passenger car course was pretty good and if you get a chance, make sure you take out the Saturn Ion as you will be pleasantly surprised. I also highly recommend taking out the Cadillac CTS. Those are the 2 cars that exceeded my expectations.
The course workers were definitely alot less forgiving regarding speeding this year. Maybe because the courses are so short that they can see and hear you better than at Alameda Point. In any case, for those who have been to this event at Alameda Point, you will definitely be disappointed. For those who have never been to any driving event such as this, you will have alot of fun. Enjoy!

 

[calexand]

I went today and had a good time. I may go back tomorrow just to drive the Corvette a couple more times. There were two problems, though.

As mentioned, the luxury car course was way too short. If GM couldn't balance out the space among all the courses, I don't know why they chose the Luxury cars to be the short course one. The course for full-size SUVs was much longer, with lots of curves, and that makes no sense to me.

The other problem centered around one worker. Most of the course workers were fine as long as you didn't go too crazy with the cars. But one guy on the standard sedans course was alarmed by anyone going over 20 MPH around the course. He would run up to your car and yell "EASY! EASY! SLOW IT DOWN!" while flapping his arms like he was trying to take off -- even if you weren't even squealing the tires (yes I tried not squealing them once to see if it made a difference, but it didn't).

I watched him for a while, and he did it with almost everyone. It became enough of an irritant and distraction of evaluating and enjoying the cars that I said something to another course worker about him. That person said that he found the guy really annoying too, and had complained about him to management. He said he was happy to be able to now go say that customers were complaining about him too!

But again, it was a lot of fun overall, with the Corvette being the highlight. On the Corvette course, the co-driver (they have co-drivers on the Hummer "off-road" course and the high performance car course) told me "When I say go, floor it and keep it floored until I tell you. Don't chicken out on me.". I can't imagine more beautiful words. (When I told my wife, she asked me if I told him "I have waited my whole life to hear those words -- will you marry me?")

By the time I got to the corner near the concrete barrier at pretty high speed and he said "OK, brake", I was quite ready to brake -- it did not feel like a cop out. I'm sure there was a lot of safety margin for those who reacted slowly, but not knowing the car or course, it was plenty exciting for me.

I have to say -- while the Corvette feels crude and clumsy relative to our balanced NSXs, it sure can accelerate well. It feels like you just lit off a solid fuel rocket behind your butt.

They told me they will run the course even in the rain tomorrow, as long as there is no lightning. That should add an extra thrill. Watch for me if you are there mid-afternoon (picture to left), and come say hello.

Chip

 

[spartan2-3]

Thanks Sid, yes that was my car and I agree with you in every aspect, the luxury car course was like 10 seconds (very short), the Saturn ION was very impressive (thought about getting one for a daily driver :smile: ) I was surprised on how torquey and smooth their supercharged engines were .

Chip, yes they would be all over you if you squeel the tires, towards the end I didnt want to drive anymore since they kept yelling and warning me , All I did was turned off the TCS and of course the tires will squeel :biggrin:.

For the guys going make sure you drive the Z51 Vette, it felt a lot more stable than the regular vettes. You will know its the "Z51" by checking for the "drilled rotors".

NSX VS C6, Having driven both 05 NSX and C6, though the vette is faster, it did not have the same ride quality as the NSX, the vette still rattled and felt somehow sloppy. I would still choose the NSX over the mighty vette :smile:

SS153, no they didnt provide the T-shirts :redface:
enjoy

 

[calexand]

Spartan, I looked at your NSX in the lot (I parked my Lexus right behind it in fact), and was amazed at how new and beautiful your paint looks. I could not find a single stone chip on the entire car. Did you repaint it recently? If not, what is your secret? I do drive mine as a daily driver (except when it rains, which is why I drove the Lexus yesterday), but I get stone chips on the front to an annoying degree.

Also, I remember your userid, but cannot remember if it belongs to someone I know. Maybe you can drop me an email or PM to remind me of your real identity. You know mine -- I am not too secret about those things.

Chip

 

[spartan2-3]

Spartan, I looked at your NSX in the lot (I parked my Lexus right behind it in fact), and was amazed at how new and beautiful your paint looks. I could not find a single stone chip on the entire car. Did you repaint it recently? If not, what is your secret? I do drive mine as a daily driver (except when it rains, which is why I drove the Lexus yesterday), but I get stone chips on the front to an annoying degree.

Also, I remember your userid, but cannot remember if it belongs to someone I know. Maybe you can drop me an email or PM to remind me of your real identity. You know mine -- I am not too secret about those things.

Chip

Chip, you didnt look close enough :biggrin: , I have stone chips all over the bottom front end :redface:, my hood and trunk has swirl marks that needs to be buffed out.

We recently had an NSX carwash day (last week @ my house) and its been sitting in the garage since then, washing frequently and Zaino is the only secret I can think of, Hmmmmmm wait, the last wax I used was "Detailingdynamics" could this be the new secret , I've gotten so much compliments since I used their products maybe its the secret Im unaware about

I have left over products from "Detailingdynamics" (compliments of Mike) , you are welcome to try it

You disappeared from the forums for some time, welcome back.

(sorry Sid didnt mean to rob your thread :biggrin: )

-Romeo

 

[ss5153]

Just came back from the event... raining but Fun! Fun! Fun! First they showed us a GM safety video, then to the registration. I've been to these events before, so the first thing was to get marked on the wrist, so I can have the privilege to drive the Hummer, and the Corvette. I test drove the Cadillac CTS first, then the BMW 4.4i, then Corvette I go... :biggrin: Line wasn't very long, about 8 people in front of me in the manual. The attendant said I could drive it 2x, so both times I drove the manual, and yes I got the Z51 package for both times. On my first run, I was just getting comfortable with the car and made adjustments, and getting used to the instrument panel. My co-Passenger told me to pull up to the stop sign, and then floor it! I did, and Wow! I felt the rush... :smile: then, on my second run, I had a feel of the car, so I did a full acceleration, and redline 1st gear, WOOOOWW!!! It's a monster! Then as I shifted into 2nd gear, I could feel it pulled very hard... it pulled me back into the seat! Then I had to brake quickly as I'm going into a left turn But overall, it was a cool experience. But I didn't like the car's feel and handling... compared to my NSX. But the straight line acceleration was very impressive. The styling was pretty nice. After that, I was ready to go home, but then I wanted to test the SSR and the Hummer, did that, and got my free lunch, and filled out a survey, and got a free T-shirt with C6 in the front, and Hummer on the back... all in a day! Too bad it's still raining, cuz I took a day off from work for this, otherwise, I would stay a little bit longer. :tongue:

 

[amgnsx]

SS5153

thanks for sharing some insights/ looks like u had fun even in the rain he he he.

i think you should have atleast tried if the H2 if can really go over stuffs. like over the Vette or something. he he he, oh and then take a photo with a big :biggrin: on your face while holding an NSX banner.

 

[whiteNSXs]

I went to the event today and drove the Vette. It did not even feel fast when I floored the pedal. The car felt heavy and sloppy. The interior is flimsy and the door rattles. I don't know. My CTSCed 11-year-old feels 10x more solid and agile. This event just confirmed, at least to me and my wife, that GM products are just inferior. BTW, that Hummer is probably the dumbest thing on earth. The huge spare tire took up most of the trunk room. Come on!!
Steve

 

[spartan2-3]

The vette was sloppy and still has that cheezy interior, the leather was cheap and thin and the C6 didnt feel to stable (improvement on Z51), I felt the car wobble on the 1st straightaway when you hit some sort of a "dip". The back is just too damm ugly (IMO). The power and TQ was there but the car still lacks quality. Steve is right, I'd take a SC NSX anyday over the C6 :tongue:

The SSR concept is a real dissapointment, from the outside it looked tempting but the interior, sheez Civics and Corrolas has better quality than that. Just look @ the interior of the SSR

 

[juejaimon]

The vette was sloppy and still has that cheezy interior, the leather was cheap and thin and the C6 didnt feel to stable (improvement on Z51), I felt the car wobble on the 1st straightaway when you hit some sort of a "dip". The back is just too damm ugly (IMO). The power and TQ was there but the car still lacks quality. Steve is right, I'd take a SC NSX anyday over the C6 :tongue:

The only think i liked about the vette was the "push button" door opening feature.... i think its a big improvement from the vettes of the earlier days....

all in all... it was okay.. i still like the setup at Alameda Point better in past years... the runs here were extremely short

 

[ss5153]

The SSR concept is a real dissapointment, from the outside it looked tempting but the interior, sheez Civics and Corrolas has better quality than that. Just look @ the interior of the SSR

:biggrin: HA HA HA, speaking of the SSR Truck, it's phony man! They claim it has 390 HP/ 405 Torque, but the track was setup so short and curvy, you can't even test it's power! I didn't feel safe while driving the SSR around the short curvy tracks, was afraid it will roll over, piece of junk, and they want MSRP$ $42,555 for the base price #!%#!!#!#