I feel comfortable publicly calling him out...

for being ever so gracious and loaning me his Vette for a week last month! I was in a vehicle pinch with bastet44 heading to SAC for a week and I didn't want to leave my MIL without wheels, and Nelson came through with his C5 roadster!



A few general C5 observations...

1. The chassis is serious. There is no shake or scuttle in it at all. Compared to my C4 coupe, it's a night and day improvement. And Nelson's has 155k miles on it.

2. The build and durability of the C5 is very good. Considering his is a daily driver, is 14 years old, has 155k on it, the interior is still in very good nick; no tears, no cracked bits, nothing falling down... Impressive, really.

3. The LS1 needs aftermarket exhaust... the stock just sounds too much like a UPS truck...

4. I question those who say getting in and out of a C4 is harder... perhaps it is a motion that after 12 years I am used to, but the C4 has that nice sill to rest ones ass on before getting out. The C5 has no such sill, and that puts my creaky knees below perpendicular. Not very good, for me. I did figure out a way, but you REALLY need to swing the door open wide.

5. The convertible top is a exercise in simplicity. Two levers, flip everything up, open the cover, drop it in, close cover. Once you figure it all out, which is NOT hard, the top is down, manually, in 15 seconds. Amazingly easy.

6. I will say that all complaints levied at the seats are true... they are not the most comfy... not the worst, but sure not nearly the best. I still think the Gen 1 seats in the C4 were better.

There is nothing really inherently bad about the C5. It is a significantly better car, all the way around. Dave McClellan and team should be proud of this car, it has served them well now for 15 years and soon, three generations.

Yes, I said Dave McClellan... he retired in 1992... but the plan was for the C5 to come out in 1994. That was shifted, but it didn't change the fact that Dave has his team laid out the C5s basic goodness... the transaxle/torque tube layout... the frame structure... the suspension layout... all done in the late 80s, early 90s. Remember, the C5 was supposed to come STOCK with the LT5, but didn't, because the LS1 came down the pipe line that much cheaper to build. This is also why the LT5 was never certified for OBDII; it was a known dead end.

That's it... again, major shout out to Nelson! You rock, brah!

YOU are publicly welcome.