New 2014 non PP owner

[Kevin81]

What's up, my fellow "I wanna go fast!" enthusiasts! Just picked up a new (new for me) 2014 SHO, 112,000 miles, tuxedo black, very clean, 2 days ago. The story of how I got here is long and convoluted, perhaps for another day, lol. Obviously, I've lurked on this site a couple days, got a plan for first actions. Changing fluids is obvious step one, I have a 3 day weekend coming up, going to tackle that then. Looks like I have to install a drain plug on the PTU...

So, the dealership I bought this car from advertised it as a performance package. I should have done more extensive research while I was looking at the car...but it ticket some boxes. It has the larger front calipers, has the missing spare tire, in place of the air compresor...so, I thought, this dealership is legit, I won't pay money to run the vin. My mistake. It's def not a PP car, as it has the adaptive cruise control, and some sort of self driving lane assist garbage (that almost scared the life right outta me at 5 am on my way to work yesterday, lol). It's deactivated now. Working on getting some money back, but the dealership is now playing the don't answer the phone, don't call back game with me. I might have to get the local BBB involved.

 

[Kevin81]

Anyway, my reaction to the car? Pulls real nice, quick off the line, especially for such a heavy car. Which brings me to handling...it sucks. This car has more body roll than a fat guy on a trampoline. It nose dives into corners that most any other car would scoot around with ease. I was shocked at how poor the handling was. Then it hit me...this isn't a sports car, it's a tourer. Well...I'm gonna change that. This car WILL handle by the time I'm done!

Love the paddle shifters, never driven them before. Always have had manual tranny cars....so I gotta get used to not lifting my foot off the gas for gear shifts, lol. However...apparently I can't pop this car into neutral via the shifters? For the purposes of coasting? I have so much to learn about this car. Took me darn near 30 minutes to figure out how to set radio stations...I'm an old school fool. Knobs and buttons FTW!

 

[Zpak]

Welcome and congrats. Check axel code to know for sure it’s not a PP. Interesting though. I have a ‘14 non PP with flowers, PP brakes, had PP springs, and trans cooler. Do you have the alcantara steering wheel?

H&R springs make a world of difference in handling. Also with 112K on the clock your due for struts and shocks anyway.

And yes, change ALL fluids.

post up some pics when you get a chance.

 

[luigisho]

I'm with you as far as knobs and buttons go. This is a modified pig sedan.

After throwing money at cars to get them to behave against their design I would not do that. If you want a dog, don't buy a cat and try to teach it to act like a dog. You want a handling car get one designed for that. You got a variant of a high volume rental fleet heavy sedan.

I'm not saying you can't do it. It's just not a practical goal. Unless you have tons of money and another car to drive daily. Then by all means enjoy!

 

[Kevin81]

I'm with you as far as knobs and buttons go. This is a modified pig sedan.

After throwing money at cars to get them to behave against their design I would not do that. If you want a dog, don't buy a cat and try to teach it to act like a dog. You want a handling car get one designed for that. You got a variant of a high volume rental fleet heavy sedan.

I'm not saying you can't do it. It's just not a practical goal. Unless you have tons of money and another car to drive daily. Then by all means enjoy!

You're 100% correct. One day, I'll tell the story about my 1976 corvette "autocross" car, lol.

I'm not looking to turn this SHO into a race prepped miata, but for the power this car has, and how quickly it can get to speed...its poor handling is dangerous, imo. Specially in CTs mountain roads. I just want to eliminate that horrible front end roll, firm it up, and get some better turn in response.

 

[luigisho]

You're 100% correct. One day, I'll tell the story about my 1976 corvette "autocross" car, lol.

That actually sounds impractical... and very cool.

 

[Kevin81]

That actually sounds impractical... and very cool.

About...2007, I think...I picked up a FL owned 1976 chevy corvette, L48. 4 speed manual, super T-10 tranny, but with 3.08 rear gears. Car was kept in a nice old ladies garage for 10 years or so. Breaks all rotted, interior mildewed, etc. I got it for 1,000, plus 700 to ship it. Over the course of about 7 years, I sank around 10K into it, give or take. My goal was to make it a road race car, but alas, I was a young 20 something, horribly naïve and stupid. I did get it pretty fast, though. Replaced the brakes with 4 aluminum wilwoods, hawk pads, slotted disks. Believe it or not, those cars come with a pretty good braking system from the get go, the caliplers and disks are pretty stout. All I had to do from there was upgrade to DOT 5. Of course all the brake lines had to be replaced.

After that, I replaced the suspension with a complete kit from Vette Brakes and Performance. Fully adjustable fiberglass sprigs, billstien shocks, poly bushings, heavy duty sway bars and end links. Followed that up with the nice aluminum wheels off a 2000 corvette, the 5 spokes. Got to step up to a 275R40/18 in the rear, and 245R45/17 in the front. Now the car was on rails.

Exhaust was rotted, gutted it out, had custom exhaust done, true duels, dumping out the sides right in front of the rear wheels, nascar style. 2.5 inch. No cats. Full length headers. And a top end rebuild on the motor, I performed the now popular vortec head swap. Vortec heads, got em for 150 bucks from a junk yard, ported out the valve seats, had a shop clean up in an acid bath, replaced the valves and stems. Bought a used GM performance aluminum intake, and put all that back together with a comp cams bracket master 2 hydrolic cam and lifter kit. Set that up with a double roller timing chain, with a hollet 650 double pumper sitting on top feeding it all. Along the way, had to replace the fuel pump, it died. The radiator, water pump, fan clutch, etc. Basically, my mindset was, as things break, I replace them with upgraded versions.

Yanked the AC, speakers, radio, bunch of other stuff that didn't work anyway, heat shielding, etc. According to the town dump scale, my car weights 3,320 with me in it, and I'm a big, fat ******, 6'3, 240 pounds. When I say that that car handles, I meanm, that car handles. Which is the problem. The tires grip so well, and the suspension is so stiff, that I have to be careful going around turns...last time I did one too hard, my windshield cracked. I'm pretty sure the SHO is faster than the vette, on a strait line, and 100% in a top speed run. Black betty (the vette) runs out of gear at 124 mph, according to the cell phone GPS. I've already taken the SHO past that. Havent named her yet. She's still "the other lady". Gotta get rid of the vette. I've taken it as far as conventional skill and moderate money can go. Which is VERY far from where she was. That car was slower than my old honda civic, stock. I've been looking for her replacement for over a year now. Thought I wanted a 5th gen vette, but....that nagging money pit doubt wouldn';t let me pull the trigger. Then I saw how cheap these cars are, considering what you get. Couldn't pass it up. 12 grand for a 3.5 liter twin turbo, AWD, 6 speed paddle shifter, modern car? Can't beat that with a stick.

And just like that, I've written a book. Sorry!

 

[luigisho]

Good stuff.
Don't let the SHO asking price fool you. That's just the ante. Keep your eye on everything because it is a short run orphaned platform with complicated awd tt setup and modern but temperamental electronic modules.

 

[SM105K]

Throw some H&R lowering springs and put a good tire on her. I recommend the Continental Extreme Contact DWS06's for tires. That will help your SHO handle a bit better.

 

[Kevin81]

Throw some H&R lowering springs and put a good tire on her. I recommend the Continental Extreme Contact DWS06's for tires. That will help your SHO handle a bit better.

The proceeds of my corvette sale are going to the SHO. My to do list for the next 2 years is as follows...

1. Flush and replace fluids. Install drain plugs if needed, I intend to replace granny and PTU fluid at oil change time, once per year. This car is a part time vehicle, summer mostly.
2. Paint brake calipers. I'm a sucker for red. (Already set accent lighting as red, lol)
3. Better brake pads. The ones it has kinda suck. May also need new or resurfaced disks, I get some hard pulsing on heavy braking, especially past 80 mph. Brake feel is strange in this car, but I'm thinking its just something I have to get used to.
4. Source a suspension kit, coilovers (???), heavier roll bar for front, possibly lighter for rear to help induce over stead (more research needed). I'm gonna spend a solid year driving the car before making a decision. I've already gotten a better feel for the handling. It can hold a turn once you're in it, but its just lurchy going in, not sharp or refined. Gotta go to my spot in Bridgeport to put it through some figure 8s to get a real feel. Can't disable stability control, so I'm unsure how pronounced that affect my driving. Gotta learn.
5. Research wheels and tires. 245s are decent, but I consider 275 the entry level for a serious car. BUT. This car is AWD. 275 might not be needed. 255, 265? Unsure. Again, it comes down to what I learn from you guys. I do want grip, but I don't want to over tax the tranny or AWD system.

Mid summer, gonna let my buddy drive it, with me in the corvette. I assume it won't have sold by then, the economy sucks right now. Gonna have a SHO down, lol. I've no doubt the sho will gap the vette, its just a matter of by how much? I'm curious to know. Plus, I need to say goodbye to black betty.