Some have said a friend will let you drive his car but only your best friend will let you drive his Corvette. Well I guess I have probably the best friend out there since I just finished driving over 1000 miles the past week behind the wheel of my friends red Corvette.

When my friend suggested the both of us drive his newly purchased Corvette to Bowling Green, Ky. the home of the National Corvette Museum (NCM) for a Corvette Forum weekend It did not take too long to clear my schedule.

My friend’s Corvette has the “base” LS1 engine rated at only 345 HP. I’m not complaining… my Camry has less than a third of that. Keeping things in check is an active handling skid/traction control. Options for his Vette are two roof panels (hard top body colored and tinted glass) Power passenger seat, 12 disc Trunk Mounted CD changer (thirteenth in dash) and Heads Up (HUD) display for select dash gauges. Now My friend did not buy his Vette new but with only 3800 miles on it and the CD changer still is in its original plastic he got a deal that won’t be repeated short of stealing it off the street.

Now I was a little apprehensive about traveling across what would become seven southern states, one of which was Texas in a car that is primarily designed to travel a quarter mile at a time. The last sports car experience I had was of my aunts 1984 Alfa Romeo Spider and that car’s cargo, ride and noise shortcomings had me wondering just how long we would be able to drive each day and if our friendship would survive close quarters. The current model Corvette name C5 does a great job of addressing all of those concerns and thanks to is ultra strong frame rail had practically none of the body flex and creaking to previous models.

Although I tried to pack conservatively (hey for me two medium duffels IS packing conservatively) to save room I did not have to worry. The Corvette has larger than expected cargo room. The car swallowed all of our luggage which included three duffels of different sizes, a medium roller suitcase, two small six-pack coolers, a box holding the original air box intake (we changed the air filter to a Blackwing performance filter at NCM) and one small Hunk-A-Burning-Love Elvis teddy bear (hey it was a gift!). Basically everything behind the two front bucket seats is cargo. On the shallow end that is covered by the body portion of the rear hatch it is a foot deep but that expands area under the rear hatch glass area. Built into the floor are some receivers to hold one roof panel when not in use. To get items in to the cargo area lift over is high because you have to clear either the rear body panel or the wide fenders. Three covered cubbies are also built into the cargo floor. The large center one has sloping bottom but between the three we were able to store some emergency repair tools, jumper cables, five beach towels and cleaning supplies. You can’t show up at the National Corvette Museum with 1200 miles of bugs and road grime can you??

The leather power seats provide good comfort over long periods but I wished that the seatbacks were power adjustable instead of manual. As we switched driving rolls back and forth the memory feature was nice for the seat bottom seat adjustments and mirrors but you still have to set the seat back and auto dimming rear-view mirror. The view out of this mirror takes a little getting used to since the overall low height of the car translated to having something a little over a slit of a rear window to look back through. Small complaint. Some bigger ones are the lack of extra cup holders and additional storage in the interior. The cup holder in true GM fashion is a bit of a joke. Exactly how is a ¼ inch indentation supposed to keep a drink of any size in place in a car of this performance level??? Push the gas and your passenger will be wearing whatever you are currently drinking. I became the fastest left arm in the south thanks to this nifty feature! If you do spill your soda you can undo four bolts that hold the passenger seat for easy carpet cleanup as my friend did to clean a coke that the previous owner spilt. Otherwise the interior is well laid out and has great look/feel of materials. For interior storage the center armrest will hold misc. items and keep them covered and the glove box will hold a map or a pair of sunglasses but there is absolutely no where to rest a cell phone of any size. On the trip I carried the phone on the seat between my leg and the center console the whole time and hoped it did not slide off into the floor board if I had to stop suddenly like that time in Little Rock …thank you blue Buick!

Our first stop for gas was in Texarkana TX. Averaging over 24 miles to the gallon according to the onboard computer was quite impressive. This figure went up slightly once the new air filter was installed. So far we had only stopped once for lunch and neither of us felt the least bit fatigued. The dual zone auto climate control and sound system was going a great job of keeping us happy. In fact our original plan was to end the day in Little Rock but it was a easy decision to move on down the road to Memphis and check out Beal street once we got there. On the highway the Corvette has great manners. It will never be mistaken for a plush Cadillac but even driving through Louisiana the ride never got too harsh. Yes you do feel road seems and irregular pavement more than in other vehicles but it is not a pounding experience you would expect. It goes without saying that cornering grip is great which I tried out trying to find the entrance of our hotel in Memphis. I was able to easily take a hairpin curve at nearly double the recommended speed. The Corvette askes no questions about where you want to go it just goes. Accelerating in front of a on coming car just a blip on the gas will chirp the rear tires before the traction control takes over and rockets you forward. I almost missed the turn into the parking lot but the brakes can dump speed just as fast as you can generate it. Suggestion to Hilton…put your sign in a better place! Tire noise is present but I really only noticed it on rough concrete highways. At present this corvette has 8000 miles and I have read where the run-flat tires will start getting noisier as a few more miles go by. You have the option of equipping the car with softer non-run-flat tires but remember that this car does not carry any type of spare!

I have to say the biggest challenge to driving a Corvette is getting in and out of the driver’s seat. Those with knee problems should not even think about it. No denying this is sports car low. A fact I was reminded of in Tennessee as I pulled out of McDonalds and the front air valance scraped on the small dip of the driveway. Luckily this piece is spring loaded so no damage will be suffered from such encounters but I imagine you may have to have this part replaced as the miles go by due to wear and tear.

Thankfully you do not get that Sports car feeling that every other car is towering over you. With the exemption of the before mentioned rear view slit, outward vision is good. While the side view mirrors are small they have plenty of motion for any ones adjustment. Another great item is the HUD display. This will project a selection of instruments such as speed, oil pressure and gas gauge into the driver’s view on the windshield. At first it seems like the display is hovering out over the road but you get quickly used to it but just try to tell the Highway patrol officer you did not know how fast you were going when there is huge digital number staring you in the face!

Performance, Yes it is a Corvette so I don’t really need to say anything do I? With a 5.7 liter V8 under the hood power is always there when you want it. Being the conservative law abiding driver I am it was not until Alabama that I saw a clear road of opportunity. Looking into a valley with no on ramps, no trees close to the road, no traffic for about four miles ahead and most importantly no place for a highway patrolman to hide! I just pressed a little harder on the accelerator then felt the car press me a little more firmly into the seat. 90 and 100 MPH ticked by easily and the car kept pulling like a horse that is just getting into stride. The volume on the radio automatically increased to compensate or increasing road noise. 110 came up and the car was hardly working at it. I am noticing that the roadway is disappearing under the car at a faster rate but the car is sending no alarms of just how fast we are going. Actually I was only intending to go to 115MPH but I was still accelerating at that speed and did not start slowing until 120 had gone by. At these speeds the Corvette loses none of its composure. You really have a warped sense of speed when driving a Corvette since it handle so well 90 feels like 70. While I do not condone creating hazardous situations when driving I can say a C5 Corvette in proper mechanical condition can safely be driven at speeds higher that that of other vehicles.

At the NCM we switched out the OEM air box intake for an after market unit produced by blackwing. As with other air filter produced by companies such as K&N. A blackwing filter will produce horsepower increase due to freer breathing of the engine. The blackwing unit we installed was specifically designed for use on the C5 corvette. While I can not tell you exactly how much of a power boost this produced it seemed to make a difference. Giving the amount of power already at hand it is kind of like adding prime cut steak to an already excellent buffet.

As part of our Corvette weekend we toured the assembly plant and had the opportunity to watch the “birth” of a few Corvettes’. For more info on going on a plant tour yourself, go to bowlinggreenassemblyplant.com or call 270-754-8419. The Bowling Green assembly plant has been producing Corvettes since the early eighties and will produce the new Cadillac SLK in the coming year. Our tour guide mentioned that this plant has one of the lowest production figures of only eighteen cars an hour of any General Motors plant. What was disconcerting was seeing ten cars pulled aside for quality control issues. At the time of the trip my friend has only had two repair items on his car. First was a battery that would not keep a charge. This was probably due to the car sitting long periods while with the previous owner. Second the Emergency brake handle spring broke leaving the parking brake non-operational for a week until a part came in. Not a big deal on the flat Texas coast but could be a bigger issue somewhere hilly. Since that time he has the A/C compressor and a ABS sensor replaced.

Maintenance costs are higher with a Corvette than say a Chevrolet Malibu. Corvette’s demand premium fuel at about $1.51 a gallon (Ah remember those days?)for our trip. Also Synthetic motor oil is recommended as well. You will however notice several parts that come straight off the General Motors supply shelf. The radio and remote entry key fob is the same as those in the Chevrolet Trailblazer you rented your last ski vacation. I don’t know if this is a good thing or not but hopefully these items are both more reliable and have lower replacement costs. After all you have to save your pennies since those tires that you like to do burn outs with are about $1500.00 a set.

Let me finish by saying that I have never really had strong desire for Corvettes or most sports cars. So far I have owned two trucks and a couple of four cylinder family cars. I have generally viewed the Corvette as nice but sacrificing comfort and practicality for performance. After driving one 1000 miles my view has changed. Ever since I have returned to driving my wet sponge of a Camry I have been plotting a way to put a Corvette in my garage. I'm kind of thinking about a year used 2003 or 2004 model in either blue or silver with chrome wheels….

UPDATE:
Alas this Corvette became victim to the most popular reason former owners don't have them anymore...I'll give you a hint two arms two legs and calls you momma or daddy...Yep with a boncing baby boy on the way my friend just traded car in today, thankfully not on a minivan but the loss will be morned anyway. In addition my fiend was aggravated with the lack of qualified machanics (in and outside of Chevrolet dealerships) to fix things and was acually happy not to have that worry anymore. No I passed on the opportunity to purchase this ride at a discount but still have not given up on the dream!
Amount Paid (US$): 33400
Condition: Used
Model Year: 2001
Model and Options: LSI