GM Rev it Up Racing

I really hated driving in New York. Not because everyone was driving aggressively but because most people simply couldn't drive.
It started to get better when I, like them, started to honk all the time and drove like an idiot.
 
FATMOUSE said:
llpc60 said:
FATMOUSE said:
I'm going to be trying for the NY event.

I can only forsee one little problem- I have no experience with a manual box. Maybe they will have autos? :|


please do yourself a favor and learn stick

life is not life without stick

My mom drives an auto.
My mom's siblings drive autos.
My family's friends all drive autos.

Where and how can I do myself this favor? :? :cry:

And no, I'm not buying a car because driving in NYC is an exercise in hell.

The only place I've ever driven a stick is in...ahem...GT Legends. :p

If I still had my old car, I'd let you drive it ;).
 
FATMOUSE said:
llpc60 said:
FATMOUSE said:
I'm going to be trying for the NY event.

I can only forsee one little problem- I have no experience with a manual box. Maybe they will have autos? :|


please do yourself a favor and learn stick

life is not life without stick

My mom drives an auto.
My mom's siblings drive autos.
My family's friends all drive autos.

Where and how can I do myself this favor? :? :cry:

And no, I'm not buying a car because driving in NYC is an exercise in hell.

The only place I've ever driven a stick is in...ahem...GT Legends. :p

You must find a manual car somewhere. Human beings can drive stick, it's one of the things that seperates us from the animals!

Though you could probably drive the Impala at this thing, I think that's auto only. I can't imagine it being great to drive (300HP + FWD = Scary), and the other two options would be much more fun anyway, but it could be a compromise.
 
^ Well, I'm sure I could get going in a manual. But it wouldn't be quite as fast as those who've been at it for a while.

EDIT: Look's like all their cars for laptimes are autos.
 
fbc said:
^^ How awesome would that be:

"So, where'd you learn stick?"
"At Bob's Driving School, New Jersey, in a Corolla*, you?"
"Oh, you know... in a Corvette... on a race track... with a race driver..."

*Not that there's anything wrong with that - I learnt in a Camry...

You guys must not have much to talk about down under, I've never heard that one asked. :D

zenkidori said:
people from NYC don't really drive per se, they just kind of go smashing about.

I'd argue the same for Chicago.
 
2Billion said:
(300HP + FWD = Scary), and the other two options would be much more fun anyway, but it could be a compromise.
No no no no, my saab is scary and that has great handling, grab the wheel and you instantly know how much grip the tires have. The impala has no feeling whatsoever, as well as a huge lump of an engine up front and a soft american suspension. That will be down right terrifying. :shock:

Though cobalt ss is suposed to be a good little car though and the corvette has proven itself time and time again so I look forward to those two.

I'm so going to this. :D
 
Yep, my Dad and I are going.

I also got 2 tickets for the hot lap in the Z06, one for me, one for my Dad. Its gonna be sweet.
 
Re: GM Rev it Up Racing

BlaRo said:
Anybody else signed up for this? It's a driving school competition event sponsored by GM that allows you to do a few hot laps in a Chevy Cobalt SS, Impala SS, and a Corvette, with professional instruction from actual race car drivers. Then, you compete against your buddies and if you're really good, you can win a Cobalt SS.

http://www.revitupracing.com/

Hmm, Mazda was doing this exact same thing under the same exact name just a few short years ago -- sounds like the same company ended their run with Mazda and started with Chevy?

If you've ever autocrossed, it's no big deal as you've done it beofre, and it's a lot of waiting around on line. I wasn't good enough to be in the stratosphere of national finalists on the autocross but I beat all my buddies, that count's for something.
 
Damnit, it's a full day's drive for me, I would need two nights hotel stay and I can't afford it.
 
jayjaya29 said:
Yep, my Dad and I are going.

I also got 2 tickets for the hot lap in the Z06, one for me, one for my Dad. Its gonna be sweet.
See you there. :cheers:


FATMOUSE, I know what you mean, I'm worried about not being able to drive stick and being laughed at by Johnny O'Connell (one of the celebrity Corvette Le Mans drivers that is gonna be there) or something. My parents all drive autos, and the other family members who drive stick are in China, and over there it's anarchy that makes NYC look like a Sunday School parking lot.
 
So I went to the Rev It Up event like promised. And it was awesome.


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The first thing I saw (well, there was this Ferrari 360, but I wasn't fast enough with the camera) was the SS Driving Course, where anybody could flog some of Chevrolet's finest around this autocross track. Much like the Autoshow in Motion, but without the huge lines.


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Cool C5 Z06 I saw in the parking lot.


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Unfortunately, there weren't any Hot Laps in the Z06 being driven by one of the C6R Le Mans drivers that didn't show up either, despite promises on the website. So I got two free tickets to practice in the Cobalt SS's they were using for the competition. There were two: the 205hp supercharged SS's had 5-speed gearboxes, while the naturally aspirated SS's I drove were auto's. All the 'Vettes were autos, too.


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These guys were playing a hip-hop remix of Green Day "Boulevard of Broken Dreams". I wanted to punch them. :yucky:


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The main area showcasing Chevy's finest. On the other side, they had minivans and boring SUVs. I was the only one to sit in the Uplander, which I still don't know why I did it.


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Funny that they had the new Aveo there because it just got released two days ago.


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Monte Carlo SS with Impala SS. Both have the same 5.3l V8 engine, on a FWD chassis from the Stone Age. More on that later.


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Cobalt SS Supercharged. I actually sort of like these now...


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...until I got inside. It's not that bad, especially when compared with what GM was churning out a few years ago, but what the hell is this useless flap thingy? And why is it broken already?! To be honest, a lot of the cars here had a lot of wear and tear from hundreds of people sliding their butts in; one of the Cobalts I drove had the inner door panel about to come off, and a Corvette's ashtray was broken (I didn't care either). But these are still brand-new cars, and it's strange.


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Corvette. Note the lack of roof; it fell off. :lol:


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Interior. It's not as bad as everybody makes it out to be! I could definitely live with it, especially considering how much I'm in love with the Corvette now. More on that later...


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Go-karts were avaliable for driving, $10 a ticket. It was just a circle track, and I didn't think it was worth it. One guy crashed into the center barrier and took out about 20 feet of padding. :lol:


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The driving instructors were all pro drivers from SCCA World Challenge, Grand Am, and other various racing series. I forgot who this was, but he was teaching "Performance Driving 201" alongside "Performance Driving 101". He also sort of looks like Gordon Murray.


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The race instruction wasn't anything special, just stuff I've read about before in the Gran Turismo 3 instruction manual. Racing lines, "compromise corners", distributing braking, steering, and turning evenly, and driving smoothly. After going over the Rules and Regulations and brushing up on all of that, I was finally ready to drive something! One of these:


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Nothing redefines "torque steer" like the Chevy Impala SS. Saab engineers say that the most power a FWD car can have is 250hp. That's why this run-of-the-mill family sedan/rental car has a 303hp V8 lump squishing the front suspension. It's mad! Every time I floored it in this car, the wheels would spin for 5 feet while the ugly steering wheel shook and rattled and jerked back and forth, trying to kill me or at least embarrass me in front of complete strangers.

Then again, I've never driven a Saab 900, so would I know about torque steer?


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Staging area, talking to the race marshalls.

It was strangely addicting, however, being able to spin the wheels with the lightest dab of throttle on this mad car. Also, the V8 did have a nice rumble. Too bad the rest of the car was fat and ponderous and heavy; with Novocaine steering and a suspension made of Jell-O, you could really feel the weight of the car as you chucked it into a slalom as was the intention here.

I still want one, though. No idea why, but it'd be fun to spin the wheels and scare neighbors. I'd get shot after a week, but whatever. :p


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I moved down to the Cobalt SS for the practice laps.


My trusty steed:
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The best time was 13.344 around the small course. I got 21.307. :cry: But later, I got it down to 19.402, which I thought was impressive, and then 19.028, which I thought was great. :thumbup:

After practicing on the smaller course, competitors are then supposed to move up to the actual course and drive the same Cobalt SS's around. Best time won a new Cobalt SS (hmm, theme going on here?), which was taken by some guy who had won 2 Rev It Up events previously.


course.jpg

The course.


stig.jpg

Check out that helmet! And that helmet liner! Don't laugh, I bet the Stig has one too. Oh wait, I am the Stig. 8)


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Long story short, my first lap was 35 seconds. My 2nd lap was 32 seconds, so I had shaved 3 seconds off that just like the practice laps mentioned above. I got a bronze pin, and a free hat. :mrgreen:



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Afterwards, I had some time to burn so I went over to the Corvette practice course, where you had to negotiate a slalom of 3 cones. A lot of people spun out, even though the traction control was on.


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What a blast! The most powerful car I'd ever driven was our family's Subaru Legacy (which I drove there), so a V8 400hp RWD sports car was obviously no problem. It was beautiful! I might have wet my pants accelerating up to 70mph (this was later, on the SS course where I drove some more 'Vettes), according to the cool heads-up display.

I really want a 'Vette now. Make that a Z06. In black. With black wheels. :twisted:

Anyway, I drove back home at 90mph (shh, don't tell the parents) and can justifiably tell you that New Yorkers are psychos. :p I better get used to it, though, seeing as I'm heading to Syracuse for college in 5 days...
 
Awesome, and yes, I officially hate you now :p

Have to admit, I've got a thing for the current 'vette too - and I don't care about the interior or self-detaching roof - I want one.
 
zenkidori said:
people from NYC don't really drive per se, they just kind of go smashing about.
Hey you got a problem with playing bumpercars? :x

I'd swear...people outside of NYC dont have any sense of fun :thumbsdown:



:mrgreen:
 
Nice, Blaro, hopefully they'll have one next year as well. I didn't get the chance to go this year.

Corvette! :woot:
 
I went to the RevItUp event today with my Dad and it was F*cking awesome.

I was sad becuase they didn't offer the ZO6 hotlaps because "they didn't have enough room", but I got extra tickets for the Cobalt practice laps.

First off I beat BlaRo on the timed lap. I got 30 seconds flat. My Dad got 28 seconds. :eek: He turned out to be quicker than I expected.

I actually enjoyed driving the Impala SS, I'd take it almost full speed into the last corner and try and muscle it out of the apex, the car didn't like it very much, but it was certainly fun. The Corvette test was fun, but very short, it was no more than 4 car lengths before you had to slow down, but it was fun nonetheless. I loved driving the Cobalts, wether it be the practice laps or the timed laps, the FWD hindered a little bit, but you can get on the gas good and chuck it around a corner quite fast.

I sat in all the cars being showcased and I felt that the interiors of all of them were exactly the same (the exception being the Corvette). Overuse of plastic everywhere and lack of finishing details.

Overall it was a great great day, I learned a lot since I've never driven a car like that before. I'd definitely do it again, just so I can beat my Dad (he is bragging a lot now).
 
jayjaya29 said:
First off I beat BlaRo on the timed lap. I got 30 seconds flat. My Dad got 28 seconds. :eek: He turned out to be quicker than I expected.
<_< :lol:
 
I also forgot to add one thing about my expierence.

During one of the Impala SS test runs my Dad was in staging behind me while I was doing my run. He said that on the last corner (the tightest and fastest one) that one of the tires lifted up into the air and was just wiggling there as I was making the turn. On that run I just missed the last cone before the slow down area, it got hairy, but it was fun as hell. I really took that turn hard on the 4 runs.
 
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