How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

[Chris H.]

Re: How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

I want to live on roads like that.

[Ralph E.]

Re: How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

Kenneth,

How would you compare the performance of your GTO to your Corvettes of the same era?

Mark, I'll jump in here.
I had a 66 GTO which I thought was a fantastic car. Fast and handled great. But it was stolen. I replaced it with a 68 Corvette L89 Convertible.
The Corvette was much faster and handling was so much better.
Wish I still had them both.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

Kenneth,

How would you compare the performance of your GTO to your Corvettes of the same era?

Would hold its own agents a 65 327 but not a 396 in a straight line. 1966 427 would eat it for lunch. with the same tires. Corvett handled much better. The cars in the 60'S were heavy boats on the skinny tires.

[Duke W.]

Re: How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

Kenneth,

How would you compare the performance of your GTO to your Corvettes of the same era?

Here's a direct comparison. My buddy whose GTO I described in post #11 spent a Saturday night with me at a "run what you brung" event at the Puyallup drag strip back in the mid sixties. I had exhaust cutouts welded on the the down pipes below the manifolds and Michelin X tires. He had headers and exhaust cutouts and a set of recap "cheater slicks".

His best ET was 14.08 and mine was 14.42, but I had a higher trap speed. My 340 HP SWC with a 3.08 axle was not setup up for drag racing. Any attempt to "launch" the car just caused the Michelins to light up, so I just had to drive it out of the hole with a little more than usual clutch slip and hope the Michelins wouldn't light up. At least I saved time by having to shift only once, which was about halfway down, and I went through the lights in second with the tach close to 6500, which was about 100 MPH.

With a 3.70 or certainly a 4.11 it would have probably been a photo finish.

A mutual buddy or ours was in the stands, and he recalled some guy screaming SHIFT, SHIFT as i approached midway down against a car with closed exhaust still in my starting gear with the engine sounding like it was about to blow up.

I tried to get my GTO buddy to come out to Kent and hot lap the 2.25 mile road racing course with me, but he declined.

Duke

[Richard S.]

Re: How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

From a passengers viewpoint in this video the driver got my attention a couple of times. Kind of felt like there was a time or two that I would have let off the accelerator, but when you are behind the wheel you have a better feel for the limits of the car and your abilities as driver.

[Dennis D.]

Re: How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

Couldn't help myself. Fast forward to 4:40

[Duke W.]

Re: How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

Check out this two minute video of an old geezer doing a hill climb in a '67 L-71 coupe. Note the double clutch downshifts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXw_aDv3LV8

Duke

[Jimmy G.]

Re: How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

Those of you who know me will understand Those who don't wont believe it It is my objective to hit 100+ every time I drive my 60. I accomplish this at least 80 percent of the time I will tell you 2 things 1. a 1960 at 135 gets very light in the front end 2. at 125 plus the drum brakes are not worth 50 cents. DRIVE THEM LIKE YOU STOLE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!1

[Mark E.]

Re: How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

Check out this two minute video of an old geezer doing a hill climb in a '67 L-71 coupe. Note the double clutch downshifts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXw_aDv3LV8

Duke

Why Duke, isn't that you? Nice foot work.

I admire drivers who drive quickly and smoothly while showing the car respect... rev matching, keeping the foot off the clutch when not shifting, smooth clutch engagement but with minimal slippage, crisp gear changes without forcing it, using brakes instead of downshifting when approaching a stop, foot off the clutch and in neutral while at stop lights- habits of enjoying the car while avoiding unnecessary wear and tear.

In contrast, watch the driver in Dennis' video at 4:20... he creeps to a stop using the brakes instead of downshifting (good) but while doing so he mindlessly shifts into every gear with the clutch disengaged .... needless mechanical wear.

[Duke W.]

Re: How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

Me??? I thought it was Joe Biden.

Duke

[Richard S.]

Re: How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

What gear ratio are you running go reach 135 mph?

[Jimmy G.]

Re: How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

3.36 270 HP solid lifter engine balanced and built right Did 125 at Charlotte Speedway during one of the Carolinas Chapter Regionals with my wife in the car saying "GO FASTER". Came down the back stretch at 125 or so and hit the brakes and I think the car speed up. Slowed down some the grabbed third to keep from passing the pace car which would have been a NO NO Ask anyone in the Carolina's Chapter and they will verify that I am certifiable behind the wheel of the 60.

[Richard S.]

Re: How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

Thanks for the response Jim. The reason I asked was because my 60' is 290hp solid lifter with 370 gears and anything above 90 makes the Vette's engine sound uncomfortably stressed even though there are still about 2000 rpm's left to redline.

[Duke W.]

Re: How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

using brakes instead of downshifting when approaching a stop

Actually, downshifting while braking is required in a road racing environment and, as you likely know, double clutching reduces load and wear on the synchronizes, and the way to double clutch downshifts while braking, manipulating three pedals with two feet, is called "heel and toe".

I read about this technique from Phil Hill in the pages of Road and Track before I even had a driver's license and began practicing it immediately when I took delivery of my SWC is March of '63, and I've used the technique ever since in all my cars on both road and track.

I always concentrated on smoothness and respect for the machinery. If I broke it, I had to fix it. Smoothness is the fastest way around a race track, not lurid, tire smoking, tail-out slides. Mark Donohue was my role model. Smooth, fast, and easy on the machinery.

The following Youtube video is a good example, even having to deal with a "jerk in a Porsche" in my Cosworth Vega, at Riverside in the late eighties at a track time even co-sponsored by the local Ferrari and Pantera clubs. I wasn't able to get through the esses flat (at about 100 MPH) until the jerk pulled off into the paddock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEasDhKtgiE

Duke

[Justin S.]

Re: How Us Old Geezers Drive Our Corvettes

Duke,
Why the anchor in the passenger seat? Wasn't doing much that I could see.