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Yesterday was a fun one despite the heat here in TX.  A friend invited me to go to the track with him for open test and tune.  He's a member at MSR south of Houston.  Nice facility where I've run before...over 2 miles and between 15-20 turns....some slow and some quite fast.  Can be run clockwise or counter and they were running clockwise.  After the rains there was a lot of water off track, but the track had dried nicely before any runs.  30 minutes for cars and 30 minutes for bikes.  Good open track program.

He first took us out in his 2016 Porsche Cayman GT4 sporting Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s.  Stick shift car.  Naturally aspirated six cylinder.  What a great drive.  He pushed it but not overly hard as the car is just too darn nice to go off track with when there's standing water.  Super balanced and I'd have to give the rubber a thumbs up for a street legal tire.  Perhaps not the best tire, but very solid.  All the nannies were shut off and the car is about as low tech as you can get.  Great feedback from the road and damn was it balanced.  Great power, braking, etc...  What impressed me the most was how forgiving it is of road nasties while still providing great feedback.  Super impressed.  Sits a bit low to drive around town IMO so I'd be leary of using it as a daily or taking it up a steep driveway / curb.

The MX-5 Cup car was what we really came to have fun in.  This one has a couple of years on it so it's not the brand new upgraded motor, but it's a fun little ride and a true road car.  This one we pushed hard, especially when a friend that had just blown a motor and replaced it with the new one came on the track for a challenge.  Great fun!

It's only a matter of time and money, right....LOL

HS

 

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8 hours ago, HiWire said:

Here's one of my dream cars,  peak Aston Martin (the V12 Vantage V600 with 7-speed dogleg manual) – why are the best cars always the rarest?

 

I remember Chris Evans saying Gordon Murray told him the V-12 manual Vantage was the best daily driver ever made.

Edit: Sorry, that's the Brit Chris Evans, not Captain America.

https://www.hotcars.com/top-gear-25-sick-cars-from-chris-evans-huge-collection/

Edited by Hopstretch
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1 hour ago, Hopstretch said:

I remember Chris Evans saying Gordon Murray told him the V-12 manual Vantage was the best daily driver ever made.

Edit: Sorry, that's the Brit Chris Evans, not Captain America.

https://www.hotcars.com/top-gear-25-sick-cars-from-chris-evans-huge-collection/

It sounds like a recipe for fun if I ever heard one. I like that Aston has been earning their credentials through racing since their big comeback in the early '00s – taking on established giants like Porsche, Ferrari, and team Corvette, especially in endurance racing, is a tough job for a smaller company. Their cars from the 80s and 90s were kind of like living fossils.

TV presenting and production must be lucrative in the UK. That's quite a collection of rare cars that Chris Evans has assembled.

Edited by HiWire
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Porsche announced the new 6-cylinder 718 Cayman GT4 and Spyder (with 6-speed manuals) – this might cause the price of the older 981 GT4 to finally drop a little and some of the more conservative owners might take them out of storage:

https://www.evo.co.uk/news/22794/the-porsche-718-spyder-and-718-cayman-gt4-are-finally-here

rp-gt4-5.jpg?itok=m_9yTIUk

rp-gt4-6.jpg?itok=m1LS6LnH

rp-gt4-8.jpg?itok=Pi22s6wu

Edited by HiWire
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Heh, I already talked to Sam about this one. 414hp 6cyl is the exact same output as the e9x M3's V8, but in an even more athletic package (700-750lb expected weight difference.)

It's 33% less than the 911 GT3 with only about 17% less power. Looks fantastic. I actually like that yellow/orange (not quite sure which it is).

Sam, Spring delivery; seems like you'll have plenty of time to sort out what's going to head out.

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I'm being baited...LOL!

It'll be interesting to see if there's any impact on the 2016's.  With the Porsche market being what it is now I doubt it.

Stunning cars...2016 and the 2020's will also be fantastic.  The sport buckets are great for a track car.  Less so IMO for a dual use.  Only other minor whine is the car does sit low.  Again...great for a track car.  Houston would chew it up something awful...rough roads.

I'm in lust...  I need another garage.

HS

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  • 4 weeks later...

The all new midengine Corvette Stingray was introduced yesterday. 

Set to go on sale next year with a “base price under $60K”. 495hp naturally aspirated V8. 8 speed dual clutch automatic transmission only. 0-60mph in under 3 seconds.

Hope they get the QC worked out on this. The Caddy ATS-V I bought in 2016 was a lemon that the factory bought back.

 

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6 hours ago, Laowei said:

The all new midengine Corvette Stingray was introduced yesterday. 

Set to go on sale next year with a “base price under $60K”. 495hp naturally aspirated V8. 8 speed dual clutch automatic transmission only. 0-60mph in under 3 seconds.

Hope they get the QC worked out on this. The Caddy ATS-V I bought in 2016 was a lemon that the factory bought back.

 

I was thinking that very thing today...hope they get the QA/QC correct.  Having a first year model when it is a collector's item waaaaaay down the road is one thing.  Driving (i.e. paying for) a new car with niggles is no fun.

I have to give Cheby (yeah...that's what I call chevrolet) credit for pushing the envelope.  Bold move going mid-engine.  8 banger, mid-engined American muscle car is pretty nifty.

HS

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On 7/19/2019 at 6:44 PM, HemiSam said:

I was thinking that very thing today...hope they get the QA/QC correct.  Having a first year model when it is a collector's item waaaaaay down the road is one thing.  Driving (i.e. paying for) a new car with niggles is no fun.

I have to give Cheby (yeah...that's what I call chevrolet) credit for pushing the envelope.  Bold move going mid-engine.  8 banger, mid-engined American muscle car is pretty nifty.

HS

 

Here’s a profile shot. Chevy certainly borrowed the styling ques and proportions in this view from the Ferrari 458. 

 

830A83D6-A4D6-4F33-95E7-B676ED493B7B.thumb.jpeg.2959be6a0bf0b542d70e115cdc78713f.jpeg

Edited by Laowei
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On 7/21/2019 at 10:00 PM, naamanf said:

610cbda0-c8-corvette-2.jpg

Camero rear end ?

I thought I mentioned it in here, but turns out it was on FB in a thread with a buddy who just got a 718 Cayman S. I think virtually every angle of this car is great, even rear 3/4 (7/8?), but the tail-on view able is incredibly Camaro-esque, which is a very bad thing, aesthetically.

Why the shit did they think that was a good idea?

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8 hours ago, MexicanDragon said:

I thought I mentioned it in here, but turns out it was on FB in a thread with a buddy who just got a 718 Cayman S. I think virtually every angle of this car is great, even rear 3/4 (7/8?), but the tail-on view able is incredibly Camaro-esque, which is a very bad thing, aesthetically.

Why the shit did they think that was a good idea?

Probably the same reason they decided to put a car like the Pontiac Aztec into production.

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1 hour ago, Laowei said:

Just searched..... and this might explain it. From the Pontiac Aztec Wiki page: 

“The Aztek was styled under the direction of Tom Peters, who would later design the Chevrolet Corvette (C7).”

http://hse-econ.fi/tervio/MediocritiesAndSuperstars.pdf

Basically, firms are risk averse. They would rather hire someone who has done something before, even if they did it badly, than hire someone who has never done something at all.

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