C5 still alive

In prep for selling the Corvette, I washed it a few days ago, and today I took it to a nearby school to take some pics for the ad.  Here are a few of the pics:

Later in the day, I took a 30 minute drive in the Corvette...it still feels so powerful and it sounds like the American muscle car.  Still love that.  I do feel strong side forces when taking curves, therefore I slow down in them.  Steering takes more effort in curves too.  The Boxster can take curves faster without the same sense of side forces, and steering is effortless at ALL times.

UPDATE on June 19, 2013:  Happened to look at the charger on the Corvette today, and a red light was on...meaning trouble in the battery.  It should be yellow for charging or green for fully charged.  I got in the car and nothing was lit.  Battery was dead as a doorknob, which is weird because I just drove the car yesterday!  Anyway, I did a quick search on the internet, and got a decent batt from Autozone. It is a Duralast Gold for $115, so I called to be sure they had it in Keizer, then took off in the XB with the Optima to trade in.  Got the batt back home and it fits and everything seems to be running.  Car starts right up.  From discovery to good as gold took maybe one hour, haha.

Indian Summer?

I'll take these beautiful days of Indian Summer, breezy or not.  It might have been 5-10mph this AM, but I saw the breeziness at home, so I brought my SNAFU to the field for playing in the wind.  It was plain old FUN, just horsing the light and agile SNAFU in the the breeze.  Mike came out too, and did the same with his Uproar, and Steve E with his Blade 450.  He must be good because he made the chopper look very stable in the gusty conditions.  Wind was out of the south so I did all takeoffs and landings on the short N/S runway, with landing rollouts of under 5 feet all  the time.

The wind and sun were perfect for drying off the roads, so upon returning home from flying, I changed into clean jeans immediately and vacated the premises in my Corvette.  Ahhhhh, it was sublime taking about a 45 minute drive just around town...from West Salem south on Commercial/Liberty/Skyline, east on Kuebler, north on Turner Rd, 22 and 25th St, back west on State, Marion, and Edgewater.  I love this Corvette and have to wonder about the benefits of switching to the 2013 Boxster.  I would love that roadster, but would I love it enough to warrant spending nearly $60k on it?  Just the thought of being able to do it gives me a charge, and it is the only other brand car (Porsche) that I lusted for in all my previous years besides the Corvette.  Great dreaming!  Life IS good!

EC5TACY

Well, that is supposed to look like ecstacy but with my C5 Corvette!  I took the C5 out today on a 50.5 mile jaunt into the countryside.  With no real plan, I headed through town on 22, exited near the prison, headed further east to McClay, north to State St, and then back into Salem.  Once in West Salem, I did the little loop on the twisty rural road that connects Orchard Hgts to Brush College road.  Headed then to get gas on Wallace but they were crowded so I just came home.  Played some CD mixes on the stereo, but mostly listened to the engine purr and sometimes roar during the drive.  It was indeed ecstacy to listen to.  While I may be remotely considering a Boxster, I still really do enjoy the power and even the handling of the Corvette C5.  I need to wash that baby now.

Here she is after I washed her that day:

New Hankook tires and Z06 repro rims!

Top Off Cruzn!

Just got back from a 63 mile jaunt in the Corvette with the top off.  It was about 65F+ but with wind it felt pretty cool at times, so I put the heater on now and then.  I drove east on Silverton Rd all the way to Silverton, then south from there through the beautiful forests of Silver Falls State Park.  Came down through Sublimity and onto Hwy 22 to return home.  The 63 miles probably took about an hour and a half.  It was a very satisfying drive, just listening to the wind and the engine.  Did not play the radio once.  Home by 11:00AM.  Gave a wave to one mag red C6 on Glen Creek as I returned home, but I don't know that he saw me.  Maybe it was Oh Al.

Before and After

The C5 with the stock thin spokes and Goodyear runflat tires:

Here are the new repro Z06 rims from West Coast Corvettes, 

with Hankook Ventus V12 Evo tires:

Half and half?

Rarin' to go with new rims and tires:

C5 + CR = CF (Cruzn Fun)

Holy Moly the weather was totally sunny, dry, and warm as forecasted, so Tad and I took out the Corvette and the Cayman R for a run up to the Evergreen Air Museum.  It's just a nice drive up there, and a good place to park, rest, and use the facilities.  They tricked us today though, and there is construction that blocks off the restroom in the airplane building.  The IMAX building was closed after we got inside, and the space building was locked up.  The museum was being set up for a wine tasting event called "the SIP", and there was also filming in the parking lot for a TV show called "Leverage".

There were some neat planes and choppers at the east end of the parking lot behind the space building, so we mosied over and Tad got some pics.  Here's a F-4 Phantom in Oregon National Guard scheme, and a  F-104 Starfighter in NASA scheme!  SWEET planes, and the Phantom is HUGE.

We had a good drive up via Brush College, Spring Hill, 221, and the road past the Monrovia nursery farm.  We drove back by way of 99W and Brush College Rd.  It was 56+ miles RT, and well worth the perhaps 2.5 gallons of gas.  Vroom vroom, no radio needed at all when you have a Corvette and Corsa exhaust to make sweet music.  Once in awhile I heard this German music faintly, lol.  Just kidding Tad, I love the sound of  your CR!

Yakkin' and Cruisin'

Took the Yak to the field on a gorgeous day of mostly sunshine, dry, calm to light winds, and over 40F.  Had 4 flights filled with many slow rolls, 4 pt rolls, rolling circles, loops, square loops, cuban 8's and reversed ones, avalanches, stall turns, and spins.  The Yak and OS 120 Surpass III performed very reliably and smoothly.  Jer flew his Yak too, as well as his small electrics.  Joe flew his Sundowner, whistling fast and low.

After flying we went on a cruise with Tad, and Joe joined us with his Honda S2000.  I led in my C5, followed by Tad in his Cayman R, Joe in his S2K Club Racer, and Jer in his MR2 Spyder.  We went out west on Brush College, North on 99W, east on 153 in Amity, south on 154 at Hopewell, then south on Spring Valley Rd, Brush College and Orchard Heights.

Parked at the side lot of the new Straub Middle School for a photo shoot, then headed back to my house just 1/4 mile away.  Great fun in great weather...Jer and Joe even drove with their tops down.

Cruzn in My Little Red Corvette

Needed a ride in THE car today before the good weather is gone for another year. Took her out to the north from West Salem all the way to Newberg, then back south on the east side of the Willamette River into Keizer. Just about 62 miles of smooth riding and listening to only the engine, tires, and wind. Did not turn the CD on even once. Odometer shows over 16,000 miles, for a car that is 9 years young. Need to make a real roadtrip with this sportscar and Sandy, perhaps just before or after next Summer, to beat the crowds, the traffic, the heat.

Me and My Red Corvette!

Took Sandy to Spirit Mountain yesterday! We got up early and were out of the house on a simply gorgeous morning by 7:30AM. It was just a perfect drive over and back with the Corvette running smoothly and powerfully. Drove a little slower than usual, just over 60mph for an ultra relaxing cruise, and just talking to Sandy. The car is an excellent road trip vehicle, I think, due to the smooth ride and the comfortable interior. My preferred end spot at SM was taken, so I chose another end space and hugged the side. When we came back to leave, an SUV had parked in the space next to us, but was nicely centered and did not crowd the Corvette. :) I washed the Corvette this morning so it is perfecto again.

Corvette Cruisin'

I had to take advantage of the sunny skies and 50F to drive the Corvette.  My cruise took me through Salem to head east on 22, then south to Aumsville and Stayton, then back west via Turner into Salem.  40 miles RT of listening only to the gurgle of the V8 and its 350hp blowing out the Corsas.  One hour of grins!

C5 Cruisin'

The fog finally burned off around 1PM, and it was either fly RC planes or drive the Corvette.  Since it was already kinda late, I decided to take a nice cruise in the C5.  The sun was shining, the pavement was dry except for a few damp spots in wooded areas, and the Corvette was happy to purr or roar as dictated by the curves or open road.  I drove north to exit West Salem on Brush College Rd, paralleled Wallace Rd about 8 miles, came south on Wallace Rd to Edgewater, west to 22, north on the windy road by the self-storage corner, arriving on top of West Salem on Eola, then back home via Doaks Ferry, Titan Rd, and Orchard Heights Rd.  Did about 27 miles in 40 minutes, pure exhiliaration all the way.   What a great sports car!  Yeehaw!!

Big Red Vette!

It's been pretty wet and I haven't driven the C5 in a couple months.  In the last week, we have had fairly dry weather, dry enough that the sweepers removed most of the gravel from the streets, gravel that was spread for icy conditions a week ago.  Today, I took advantage of the cleaner streets, dry pavement, and over 32F temps to take the Corvette out for a cruise in Salem.  I stayed on main streets which were more likely to have been swept, and was rewarded with a nice drive of 30 minutes or so.  Man, it was great to hear the 350hp purr and growl at times through the Corsa exhausts.  It brought the GRINS back big time!!!