Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Fernley, Nevada

Fernley, NV Car Consumer Discussions

Re: Mileage varies based on mods [carone]

by starrow68 on Tue Mar 04 21:03:58 PST 2008

The key to good mileage as noted is to stay off the throttle. Also, I think the 6sp will get better mileage than the auto, which has two rear end ratios. One is pretty good for mileage and the other is not very good in the auto. This is for C5's but is probably close for the c6 as well. My best trip was close to 30mpg from Fernley, NV to the SF bay area, which of course has lots of down hill :), and that was pencil and paper calc. Mileage drops off as you start to push past 70mph, as would be expected. Randy

The common problem ......

by starrow68 on Mon Jan 21 09:56:22 PST 2008

Here, everyone presumes that driving on public roads with published speed limits is the only possiblity. I spend many weekends and some week days running around road courses like Laguna Seca, Sears Point (Infineon), Thunderhill, Button- willow and Reno-Fernley Raceway. Even get to Spring Mountain MSP in Pahrump, NV on occasion. There are a hundred or so other folks with mostly street cars that they drove to the event and most drive home at the end of the day. BTW, a well set up MiniS on DOT-R tires can be as fast as a C5 Corvette on street tires. Even the non-race cars will get up to 150mph at some points on various tracks, while my C5 Coupe has never gone beyond 135 and usually tops out between 105 and 120. Learning to control what is capable of doing the numbers in front of you isn't a bad idea for anyone. Randy BTW, my GPS is within a couple tenths of matching my Heads Up Display speed.

Re: Nurburgring [deskman]

by starrow68 on Wed Jan 09 08:38:57 PST 2008

Well, from even further away, it is more like a dream to get there. I have enjoyed some video of laps and it is an amazing opportunity, if you can try it out. As for local, I get to Sears Point (Infineon), Laguna Seca, Thunderhill, Buttonwillow, Reno-Fernley and Spring Mountain. They are all from 2.5 to 4 miles long so with experience you can learn one of them in a day or less and be up to reasonable speed pretty quickly. As I have found, you can then spend years continuing to improve as they are all challenging. If you ever get to the SF Bay Area, east of the hills, try Pete's in Danville as they have 20 - 24 micro brews on tap that change regularly. If you hang around long enough you can have the dubious honor of getting your name on the wall. BTDT Randy BTW, as for STi keeping you out of trouble, it seems to be the most highly rolled car at track days I attend.

Re: Porsche questions [paisan]

by starrow68 on Wed Nov 21 12:31:49 PST 2007

paisan Mike, what conditions do you look for when you sign up for a track day? Cold and rainy or nice and sunny. We get our share of rain here in Northern Calif., as a matter of fact had a couple sessions yesterday in the wet at Sears Point raceway, Sonoma. And yes, the 4wd cars did wonderful things while they had the wet to play in, but when the track went nice again at lunch time it was another story. paisan: "Maybe on the west coast where it's sunny and dry all the time and the tracks are perfectly smooth with no gravel or imperfections, a vette would win but in the real world or in a place where there are environmental variables, a more balanced car would be my preference." Are you a host or a guy looking to stir up comment? I doubt Sears Point does much more than Watkins Glen to try and make the track nice for the two real races the Stock Car boys put on each year. And if you want gravel, try Reno-Fernley and Spring Mt. Raceway since both are set in Nevada. Most folks looking to run on a road course aren't looking for a Rally circuit, you may enjoy something different. As for balance, yesterday was a good view of wet and dry conditions at Sears Point. In the third session, advanced, I went out late and pulled up to the starter for a black flag to get a Miata off track. Got to pull out behind another Miata and we were both taking it easy as about 2/3 of the track was still pretty wet. As we got back to the starter there was another black flag. Yellows at each station up to turn 7 where she was waving it lazily, we weren't going too fast. Did the sweep and into the 8 esses and off the outside of 8a, 1/2 an esse before Jr. had his fire there sits a silver 911 with the driver and safety crew surveying the scraped off rear facia about 50 ft. off track where he had rear swiped the tire barrier. Think he might have lifted? The Vette C5 and C6's are about 50/50 or as close as you can get when corner weighting. Can you say that about the Porsches? Balanced? I do agree that they can be driven fast, but novices better take some time getting to that point or they are going to find out about balance. Randy Oh BTW, if the little plastic card from NASA and my work with Thunderhill Street School makes me certified, then I guess I could say the same. Mostly I think I sit in the right seat trying to keep folks out of walls, which is amazingly easy if you can teach them the line. Oh, and not to lift!

Re: Porsche questions [paisan]

by starrow68 on Tue Nov 20 07:38:40 PST 2007

paisan: "As I've stated, how many road course miles have you driven or instructed at? I have many many years at the road courses and time and time again the Z06 is passed easily by more nimble, far superior handling cars. My own 05 Legacy GT at Watkins Glen has passed tons and tons of Z06s over the years." If you've driven that many miles on track (road course) then you should know that passing anything is a function of driver, not the vehicle. I pass Z06's in my C5 coupe, even a few C6 Z06s, so what? I only have 5 years on track and 2 doing some volunteer work in the right seat but I pass GT3 911s fairly regularly, again so what? If the driver doesn't have the experience it isn't a fair match. There is one particular Honda Civic that I remember seeing going by me at Laguna Seca last year, great driver in a well set up car, boosted. If you run with groups that allow timing at road courses then you will see 911's and C5Z06's at the top of most charts. The C6Z is in another world altogether. My C5 coupe on street tires ($40k/$45k new) is usually faster than even the Boxster S on DOT-Rs, at least one has never passed me, yet, and they run $40k-$90k if you believe Edmunds. At the track $ usually translates to pretty good potential but some cars are a better bang for the buck and the C5 is one, then again the 4wd Evo and WRX cars are probably better and the S2000 is great. Here on the left coast, at least at Sears Point, Laguna Seca, Thunderhill, Reno- Fernley and Buttonwillow what you are likely to see on track is as much a function of who is running the event as anything else. Some groups started as single marque clubs and expanded to run events for all marques but still get large showings from their original roots. We have had two all Corvette events at Thunderhill in the past year and I just got back from going to Spring Mt. Raceway in Pahrump to instruct at a Corvette Museum event that pulled in Vette's from all over the country. Expect to see more Vettes at a track near you, and when the drivers learn to get around quickly, don't be surprised at being passed. Then, of course, I'm sure it will be the HP and not the driver that made the difference. Randy

Re: C5 Repalcement Tires [jiminthehills]

by starrow68 on Sat May 19 07:52:28 PDT 2007

As for following the grooves on the freeway, the bigger tire does it more than the smaller. Pays to keep good grip on the steering wheel, which from time on the track I some times have a pretty loose grip, more relaxed driving than I used to be. Another thing to remember where there is wet conditions, I have hydroplaned at 65 on the stock 245s in the coupe, very deep conditions in a big down pour, but with the 275s I'm pretty slow when any rain is falling. Not bad if the road is just wet after a rain. Also, presumably I get less MPG with wider face of the tire to the line of travel for wind resistance. Then again on the way back from Reno-Fernley Raceway last Sunday I reset the mileage computer as I left the track and when I got home it was at 31.7mpg. That was after stopping to fill up in Reno and then putting in 6.5gals to top off at home. That puts it at about 31mpg. Well, not bad after it was reading 7.4mpg on track ;). Randy