eyeballs19
06-26-09, 04:22 PM
A week ago I was sitting with Scott at Superior, 800 miles from home, doing the pre-flight briefing on my white w/ebony loaded manual. Scott had given me a great deal, and we had worked everything out in 3 days. That is THE way to buy a car.
The car was beautiful (perfect paint, by the way, at least to my eyes). Had a fantastic 800 mile, 12 hour blast home that day, varying the speed constantly but getting to know the car. And after another 300 miles this week, I have already developed strong impressions (mostly for those who are lurking like I was, trying to learn about the car):
-- first off, this thing is a total delight to drive. Everything you read is true. I have owned and driven some exceptional cars, but the overall balance of this car makes it the best I have driven-- it just all works together. The power is addicting, but I was surprised most by the manual tranny. It might be my favorite part of the car. Just love the linkage and the feel. It is so much better than my '08 Z06
-- the overall quality seems good. The V replaces an '03 BMW 540i, which was made of better plastics and is more finished (little things--they carpet the roof of the trunk), but the V has it where it counts. The Recaros are exceptional.
-- While the car has been great, and Scott was excellent to work with, I am a little disappointed with the local dealer and the factory. The car came from the factory with 4 wheels out of balance. Especially the fronts. Not a big deal while breaking it in since I never sat in a single speed band. But not what I expected-- my BMWs and Porsches have been like glass when new. Then when I went to the local dealer to do a 1K oil change and to balance the tires, they somehow killed the battery and had to keep the car for an extra day to check it out. I'm guessing that the wash dudes left it in accessory mode, but they claimed it was because they didn't park it in reverse. I know the manual says to do so, but does it really need to be in reverse to shut down the electronics like a C5? Not a great introduction to the service network.
So the car is amazing, and I grin just thinking about driving home. I just hope the rest of GM doesn't let down this stunning engineering accomplishment.
Brett
The car was beautiful (perfect paint, by the way, at least to my eyes). Had a fantastic 800 mile, 12 hour blast home that day, varying the speed constantly but getting to know the car. And after another 300 miles this week, I have already developed strong impressions (mostly for those who are lurking like I was, trying to learn about the car):
-- first off, this thing is a total delight to drive. Everything you read is true. I have owned and driven some exceptional cars, but the overall balance of this car makes it the best I have driven-- it just all works together. The power is addicting, but I was surprised most by the manual tranny. It might be my favorite part of the car. Just love the linkage and the feel. It is so much better than my '08 Z06
-- the overall quality seems good. The V replaces an '03 BMW 540i, which was made of better plastics and is more finished (little things--they carpet the roof of the trunk), but the V has it where it counts. The Recaros are exceptional.
-- While the car has been great, and Scott was excellent to work with, I am a little disappointed with the local dealer and the factory. The car came from the factory with 4 wheels out of balance. Especially the fronts. Not a big deal while breaking it in since I never sat in a single speed band. But not what I expected-- my BMWs and Porsches have been like glass when new. Then when I went to the local dealer to do a 1K oil change and to balance the tires, they somehow killed the battery and had to keep the car for an extra day to check it out. I'm guessing that the wash dudes left it in accessory mode, but they claimed it was because they didn't park it in reverse. I know the manual says to do so, but does it really need to be in reverse to shut down the electronics like a C5? Not a great introduction to the service network.
So the car is amazing, and I grin just thinking about driving home. I just hope the rest of GM doesn't let down this stunning engineering accomplishment.
Brett