CORVETTE GAZETTE
September, 2008
The next club meeting: at the Golden Corral, Dothan. We dine at 6:00 p.m.
The Circle City Corvette Club observed its 30th birthday at its 4th of
July Party.
National Corvette Museum
Tech Tips
New Members
Events approaching and departing
Check out our website at www.circlecitycorvettes.com
So are your bags packed? Reservations made? Are you ready for the official "Club Trip to Bowling Green?" This is our trip to Mecca! I've been with this club for about 6 years and this is the first trip that is a club function. I hope as many of you as can will make the trip. That weekend will be filled with oh's & ah's as we see everything that goes into making our beloved Corvette's and seeing how the history is being maintained for generations to come.
I'm looking forward to this trip and plan on having a great time with my friends. I know it doesn't happen until October but who all is going to the Petit Le Mans this year? I know it's only rumors but this could be the last year for Corvette's participating in ALMS racing. I hope not but they sure could use some competition.
There is also a pretty good Car Show happening in Dothan on the 20th of Sept. More on that at the meeting.
I'm not sure who's doing the "Chews & Cruise" this month (Sue Early?) but I know it will be an interesting time, Who's up for October's? Don't forget it's almost time for Board Member elections, so please be ready with nominations for next years Board.
See Ya Around the Circle (Don't forget to wave!)
Kelly Walker-President-Circle City Corvette Club (BDCS)
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Click for the Museum Homepage: National Corvette Museum - opens in its own window.
The Museum Homepage has links to all museum pages!
Click here for Charley's NCM Newsletter page.
Greetings from your NCM Ambassador!
- Charley
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Tire pressure - How much is enough?? With the added interest in fuel economy, you are hearing more about keeping your tires properly inflated to save gas. And according to the Democratic Presidential nominee, if we all properly inflated our tires, the greatly increased fuel mileage would lower demand, and therefore lower gas prices. Well I'm sorry, but fully inflating our tires isn't going to solve our energy problems. In a worst case scenario, you may pick up 2 or maybe 3 miles per gallon, but that if only if you are running around with your tires Significantly deflated. In most cases, you may get a 1 mile per gallon improvement. But hey, a 1 mile per gallon improvement is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!! What about overinflating the tires, you know, 'if a little is good a lot is better' kind of thinking. Well the problem with over-inflating is pre-mature wear out of the center of the tire tread. An overinflated tire will bulge out in the middle and so this center area of the tread will be carrying most of the weight of the car and therefore take most of the wear. So, when our Corvette tires cost $500 to over $1000 for a set of tires, wearing them out early pretty well washes away any savings from the improved gas mileage. So back to the original question - how much air? The first place to look is the manufactures recommendations which can be found on a sticker on the door jam of the drivers door. For C5's and C6's the recommendation is 30 front and 30 rear, when Cold. Most have discovered that 30 is too much for the rear tires if you want even tire wear. With the low tire pressure warning going off at <25 lbs, unless you want that annoying alert every time you start the car, 25 would be your minimum. I have found 27-28 works pretty good for both my C5's, and according to what I have read on Corvette forum, this works for C6's also. For the front, I have found I can bump the pressure up a few pounds and still get even tire wear, so I run 33-35 lbs in the front. And again according to the posts on Corvette forum, well, the jury is still out. Several recommend only 28 up front for even tire wear, and others 32. So, maybe start with 30 and check the tread wear every month or so and adjust accordingly. But another variable for front tire wear is driving style. If you are the type that enjoy "taking a curve" whenever the opportunity presents itself, than you will be getting more wear on the tire shoulders. So if you are in this group, than maybe 33-35 up front would work for you too.
Bruce
Upcoming Local Events:
September:
6th - Annual Emerald Coast Car Show - for info call
850-796-0946
Ft. Walton Beach High School, 400 Hollywood Blvd. S.W.
6th - Wolf Motors in Enterprise on Rucker Blvd is having a dyno night starting at 6:00
13th - Sue Early has a mystery for us.
20th - Auto Investors Annual Cruise In to benefit the March of Dimes. This is always a good time and its worth attending just to check out all the really cool restored classics in the warehouse. Click for details.
26th thru 29th - John Hickman is planning a club trip to the National Corvette Museum. Plan on a VIP tour of the museum, road trips, Bar-B-Q cookout at Wendell and Jan Stroud’s place, and a Plant tour.
27th - Xtreme Motorsports in Blountstown is having their annual car show, and again this year its being put on with the Calhoun County Sheriff office. Click for the website, then click on events.
August Mystery Cruise: August
16 by way of old US 431 to Huggin' Molly's in Abbeville, Alabama.
The pics were too nice and too much work to shrink, so, Click on a picture
to enlarge; YOUR back button returns to here.
This month, for our Car of the Month Article I would like to do a C4/C5 comparison. As most of you know we have a C4 and 2 C5’s. The C4 is a ’96 coupe equipped with the high performance LT4 engine. I have made many modifications to the car, both to the powertrain and to the suspension, and yes it’s lots of fun to drive. Next to it in the photo is our ’01 C5 coupe that now has 117k miles on it. This is our “trip” car. Its terrific to get away for the weekend, cruise the twisty curvy roads in NC, or for a trip to the drag strip. So, which one is better??
If any of you have been watching the C4 for sale sections of the used
Corvette ads, its seems easier to sell a house in New Orleans than a used
C4!! Why? And why did most Corvette clubs and Corvette related activities go
thru a rapid expansion when the C5 came out in ’97? Is it because the C5 is
SO much better than the C4? Well, when it comes to making road trips in
comfort, having room for lots for luggage, having little or no maintenance
issues, and having incredible performance, the C5 is clearly the winner. So
it’s my contention that the C5 is responsible for the huge growth of
Corvette clubs and events we saw in the late 90’s. So what was wrong with
the C4? Well there’s not really anything wrong with it, its just that the C5
is SO much easier to live with in the long haul.
The C4 does have some advantages over the C5. When you slide in behind the wheel and close the door of a C4, you will notice that the car seems to wrap around you. The C4 is smaller in width and overall length than the C5. These 2 qualities make the C4 feel more like a true sports car. As far a handling, I feel much more confident to put the C4 into a 4-wheel drift and be able to control the back end of the car with throttle much better than either of my C5’s. I believe this is largely due to the shorter wheelbase of the C4. As far as maintenance issues, the C4 isn’t too bad for reliability, but when it got the LT family of engines starting in ’92 we all starting hearing about the “optispark”. The optispark is the front mounted distributor that has had significant reliability issues. Then there’s the oil leaks. The LT engines have a total of 4 seals on the front cover which are prone to leak, and a intake manifold gasket that will often produce leak oil leaks. Well, the C5 isn’t perfect either, the steering wheel may not un-lock when you start it, or one of the many electronic control module or sensors may need to be replaced, but over all the C5’s have had a very good maintenance and reliability record.
In summary, both are terrific cars with each have some advantages over the other. But both are America’s Sports Car!
Bruce
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All right, recruiters, get out there and find more members !!
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Birthdays and
Anniversaries:
Rick Early - 19th
Stan Kennedy - 28th
Sharon Simpson - 29th
Jimmy Leonard - 30th
Gregg Prettyman - 30th
Kelly & Kathy Walker - 5th
Dick & Noreen Maccabe - 8th
Andrew & Charlotte Countryman - 11th
For Sale:
1996 Corvette Coupe -- Loaded with options, including the LT4 engine. Only 5K miles on complete engine rebuild including forged pistons, balanced rotating assembly, and a comp cam. 7K miles on new ZF 6-speed tranny. New tires and battery. Runs and drives great. $12,900 Call Bruce at 334-348-2340.
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Seen on the Web:
ZR1 on the Nurburgring; the GM blog; Wired Magazine with video.
Imitation is
the finest compliment:
It's a MB Smart Car with a body kit. It's real, there's an entire line of these!
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Walker
Vice
President: Bill James
Secretary: Barbara Pattberg
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