Aston Martin DB7 Vantage

Another month, another gathering of man and machine.  Of course I speak of Cars & Café, out at the AutoMotorPlex in Chanhassen.  This month promised, as usual, to be eventful.  I woke up a little early (4:40 am), as I did poor planning.  I had not washed the 300ZX (note to self: next month wash the 300ZX before the morning of Cars & Café). So, I washed the 300ZX and popped off the T-Tops.

As I was cruising out West to meet up with my buddy in his S2000, I saw black sky in front of me – then lightning  – and then I saw a car come over the hill with windshield wipers on (this was not going well).  I hit the gas and made it to his garage with the 300ZX still clean and dry.  We ended up taking his daily driver and leaving the 300ZX and his S2000 there, as it started pouring down rain right after I pulled into the garage.

Upon arriving, it was clear the rain, which was at this point a nice steady rain coming down, had affecte turn out.  Nooooooooo I cried to the car gods.  Luckily some of the cooler rides still managed to show up.  As I was admiring a nice Ford F150 Lightning, I heard something loud pulling into the complex.

I turn to see a true hard core car guy (you would have to be) driving a Cobra in (remember no top) through the rain.  Two Dodge GLH Turbos sat next to each other, both in ridiculously good condition.  I also counted not one but two Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbos (I drooled a little).  Quite a few Acura NSX’s showed up, along with a Lexus IS-F.

Two BMW’s caught my eyes this month.  One was a early 90′s 540i manual white on black with only 28k on the odometer.  The kicker?  It is for sale and they are asking only $25k!

Someone buy that car or buy me that car!  There was also a mid 80′s M6 in fantastic condition that caught my eye., along with an early 2000′s black Audi S8 that is a regular at Cars & Café.  I just love that car!

So good story,  I am walking by the club house and hear tires squealing like a burn out.  I look around and am quite confused.  Suddenly I realize that the sound is coming from behind this building in the VIP section.  I go running through the crowd, and as I turn the corner I almost fall over.

This Lamborghini Miura owner clearly had put the car in reverse instead of first gear (as best I can tell from the situation).  The car had gone backwards off the cement and onto the pebbles directly below.  Part of  the car definitely was resting on the cement.  The tires were squealing and these two guys were pushing the back of the Miura trying to get it back onto the cement.  Finally after a few minutes they accomplished this task, but not before you could smell the clutch and tires.  It was quite a scene.

Also filed in the – ahem – interesting category, was the Toyota Camry Solara parked in the American muscle section.  Hey at least it was on dubs!  Sitting next to that was a Chrysler 300C.  Not just any Chrysler 300C, but one riding on 24′s – and wait – it gets better.

The person had welded extensions (eyebrows?) onto the leading edge of the hood.  You can still see where the person welded and sanded them.  They were not painted yet (I am assuming they are going to paint them….at least I hope so).  Let’s not forget the white Toyota Yaris hatch with lime green wheels.

Jensen

On the list of awesome cars I would include the RUF 911, Aston Martin DB7 Vantage, and a Jensen that showed up.  The red GMC Typhoon that was for sale earlier this year was on hand, along with two Ford GT’s (they are Cars and Cafe regulars).  A new Lotus Evora made the trip, along with a Ford Mustang Shelby Super Snake.

One of the cleaner Oldsmobile 442′s I’ve seen was on site as well.  Obviously I have already mentioned the two Dodge GLH Turbo’s but I want to just mentioned them again in this section of awesome.  Last but not least was the regular BMW 200ti. It is a work in progress, but hot all the same.

One cool thing was this garage that had a Corvette Z06 in it.  Ok that car was nice but you know those bag chairs you take to soccer games and such?  Well they had one of those. and then they had a ginormous one that was literally super sized.  To get a idea of just how big it was they let me sit in it and I got a picture!

Overall the rain really put a damper on the attendance, or at least it felt that way.  With most of the people clearing out before 10 AM, it had to be one of the shortest Cars & Cafés I have attended yet.  Thankfully, the doughnut holes provided by Imola Motorsports stayed dry in the clubhouse.

Yes they were tasty,and yes I ate some.  Just for the record, doughnut holes always seems to taste better when they are delivered in a BMW M5.  I can not prove that, but that seems to be my experience.  Here’s hoping for a dry Cars & Café next month!

The Corvette ZR1 is one of those cars that just screams “America can do it”.  America can build a world quality sports car.  Yes, you read that correctly.  America can build a car that competes with and can beat Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s and more.  While in development, the ZR1 was code named the Blue Devil with the reasoning behind that the current CEO at the time, Rick Wagoner, went to Duke and the mascot is the Blue Devil.

Let’s start with the specs.  The hand built, supercharged LS9 V8 pumps out 638 hp and 604 ft-lb going to the rear wheels.  The power is put down through a Tremec six-speed manual.  The power goes to the rear wheels via two half shafts which are each different diameters to minimize wheel hop under hard launches.  The driver’s side half shaft is larger to offset the weight of the battery being on the passenger’s side in the rear.  Ride control features Delphi’s Magnetic Selective Ride Control system.  The shocks in this set up provide real time dampening and change instantly with road conditions.  There is a sport and touring mode which is controlled by a round knob on the center console.  To save weight, the frame of the ZR1 is aluminum and many body panels including the fenders, roof, hood, front splitter and rocker extensions are all made of carbon fiber.  The hood has a polycarbonate window that allows visibility of the intercooler and the polycarbonate window is visible on the hood while driving.

Driving the ZR1 is both surreal and yet also familiar.  The experience is familiar in the sense that everything feels like a normal Corvette.  The interior is, for the most part, the same.  The seats have ZR1 embroidered on the headrests but other then that, they are stock.  The seats are comfortable, just like any other Corvette, but this is not just any Corvette.  The ZR1 is capable of 1.1 g’s of force and these stock seats are fine for the road but on a track, more bolstering is needed.  The recaros from the CTS-V would be terrific, but unfortunately they will not fit in the current C6 interior.

The clutch is light and easy to modulate.  The supercharger whine is noticeable whenever you are on the gas, more than when just cruising.  The gauge cluster is stock Corvette other than a boost gauge and the 200 mph speedometer with ZR1 screen printed on it.

As I mentioned the experience is surreal as it is familiar.  The experience is surreal in the sense that the car just launches like a rocket with 0-60 coming in 3.3 seconds under ideal conditions.  You can hit 66 mph in first gear.  Bringing you back to reality are the brakes which are carbon ceramic rotors originally developed for the Ferrari Enzo and FXX.  Driving is difficult to explain.  The speed builds fast yet the car always feels planted.  Wind noise is surprisingly in check.  The steering is easy and not over boosted and yet, is lighter then some of the competitors.  The dual mode exhaust opens the butterfly valves above 3000 rpm’s and then it just sounds like a symphony. The redline comes quickly under acceleration, reaching the maximum 6800 rpm with 10.5 psi of boost. The ZR1 is the every day super car because the suspension does not beat you up on city streets and highway expansion joints.

The interesting thing about driving a ZR1 on the street is the way people react. You could almost venture that it is a sleeper car in some ways because Corvettes are commonplace.  They are not as uncommon as Ferrari and Lamborghini (depending on where you live) and when you are on the road, most people do not even notice the car.  In fact, the only time the car was noticed was under hard acceleration when the dual mode exhaust opened up and the exhaust turned devilish.  When cruising next to any other car, it never received a second glance.  If you are looking for some serious attention from what you drive, you will either have tell everyone how much power this thing really has, or shop elsewhere.

The Carbon Fiber Roof Panel

The ZR1 I drove was loaded with the $10,000 premium package which includes the leather wrapped dash, heated seats, memory seats, navigation, Bluetooth, premium Bose sound system and much more.  Also optioned on this particular ZR1 was the chrome wheel package.  You do get slapped with a $1,300 gas guzzler tax on all ZR1′s.  All said and done, the total sticker price came to $121,465.00 which is a lot of money for a Corvette, though this is not just any Corvette.

The ZR1 is a testament that General Motors really can build a world class super car.  Taking on the world’s best, both on the road and the track, for a fraction of the price.  The value proposition is insane.  When looking at the competition, the ZR1 falls short in the interior but this car is all about the powertrain and, more specifically, that supercharged LS9 with an intoxicating exhaust note that is like music to your ears.  The question comes down to if would you buy this over the competition.  An Audi R8 starts at $114,200, is not as fast and while having a distinct look and a much nicer interior along with that premium brand name, has less power.  When looking at the competition, you have to ask yourself what is most important: the best bang for your buck and one of the fastest cars on the road or a brand name that costs more and delivers less. If more power for less money sounds better then you should really take a look at the ZR1.

Full Disclosure- Vehicle was provided for a first drive by Classic Chevrolet

Lexus finally took the wraps off the new LF-A super car this week at the Tokyo Motor show.  This car has been in development since approximately 2000 and the amount of man hours put into this project is staggering.  Most of the leaks, when it comes to specifications, were spot on if not close.  The car will be rear wheel drive with an all in house developed V10 engine sitting up front.  That V10 is a 4.8- Liters making 562 hp and 354 lb-ft will rocket the car 0-60 in 3.7 seconds.  Lexus says the top speed is 202 mph which is super car territory and tops that of many competitors.  Weighing in at 3,263 lbs, it is rumored that weight distribution is 48/52 front-to-rear which would explain why Lexus is boasting about the driving dynamics.  Another tidbit of awesomeness on this cake is the redline is a staggering 9000 rpm!  That helps explain the F1 sound coming from the LF-A flying around the Nurburgring all these years.  The inside is luxurious for a sports car and it has a trick gauge cluster.  The whole speedometer is digital.  When you hit redline the whole background turns red.

Last night on #carchat we had a open discussion about this car and it seems many people do not like it.  Keep in mind we are not the customer Lexus is going after with this vehicle.  Most of us are not rich and could not afford the $375,000 price tag associated with ownership.  The majority said it was ugly and that for the money they would rather buy other cars.  Many mentioned cars such as the Chevrolet Corvette Zr1 or the Nissan GT-R for the price and performance.  Fact is those aren’t exclusive cars when compared to this car, though they are both halo cars for each brand and in that regard they are similar to the LF-A.  I was definitely in the minority and thought it was a good looking car and truly love the sound of the V10 at full tilt from the videos leaked.  I feel the LF-A is definitely not a screaming value then again with only 500 units being made this will be a exclusive car.  The fact remains that while the price puts this car deep in super territory where the elite compete such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and others, what separates this car from those.  The separation comes with what Toyota/Lexus does best, reliability.  Super cars are not known for being super reliable.  This could be a new way to compete.  Without question Lexus/Toyota will be taking a loss on each car after all the years of development.  Then again can you put a price on a halo car that truly puts your brand in the spotlight with a super car even for a moment?  Lexus has not had a sports car nor a halo car to speak of.  Toyota just announced recently they want to be building fun cars again that stir the soul of the driver.  While that is not what they are currently known for this car might put a pulse to that statement.

Check this video by Lexus/Toyota listen to that engine.