#230 Goes to Dealer for Major GM Testing!!

[Restroom]

Someone's missing the point here. The reason you drive a car before you buy it is because that's what you do with a car, that is the task that the automobile performs: it gets driven.

There are a lot of factors that go into a test drive, and the motivating force behind every car mag for the past forty years should serve as a good indicator that people generally don't like just jumping blindly into whatever car suits their fancy, since they're all the same. Mind you, this is the case for some people; you'll find none of them here. Anyway, no one's talking about performance numbers on a test drive. You can't do it with a stopwatch or your videocamera or (shudder) your freaking cell phone. You can't do it from inside the car at all, reliably. Disabuse yourself of the notion that it's possible, unless your dealer has no problem with you wiring up a MoTeC or something and its complement of sensors. But we're not talking about numbers here! We're talking about people who are disappointed in how their cars DRIVE. It's the DRIVING and attendant sluggishness which prompted them to investigate further, do dyno runs, take them to the track, and so forth.

If you buy a car you've never driven, sight unseen, you're either a fool or you're buying a car for some other reason than to be pleased to own it.

[hot ss]

i've bought my last 5 sight unseen. hasn't bit me in the ass yet.
mind you, im not afraid to upgrade, and usually do.

[Inspector 17]

I would never advocate buying a car without driving it first. And by driving it I mean putting it through a compliment of driving conditions on your test drive - highway cruising speeds, stop and go, curves, etc, etc. I would agree that anyone not putting a car through these paces is setting themselves up for disappointment. I definitely plan on taking my car for this type of drive. If it doesn't pass my test then the dealer will have the opportunity to sell it to someone else. That is definitely my right as a consumer.

However, thinking that you can test a car's 1/4 time or whether it will smoke the tires on a test drive before buying is a bit ridiculous. Any dealer that let's people drive unpurchased cars that way is in the same boat.

[songsj]

Interesting thing about the exhaust, a restricted exhaust will sure wreck the power in a hurry.

[rpepka]

But you can do a WOT from a stand still and feel if the thing has any BALLS

[rpepka]

Scott, what were the results of the exaust test?

[Scott@Bjorn3D]

It goes in today for that.

[GMRULZ]

Originally Posted by okie2

It was only after getting beat by a Honda that they realized something was wrong. .

Well, I`m happy to report, I went to the movies saturday w/ my wife and 2 of our friends and got jumped on by a "ricer" Honda and I took him w/ no problem although it was difficult to even hear my car over his singing fartpipe... So anyways my L99 car was loaded down 4 people in the car, probably close to 4800lbs, when a 2dr lowered honda civic w/ the telltale muffler downshifts beside me (loud is not the word...cloud of angry bumblebee`s is more accurate) and takes off to the next light where we are turning left. I get in behind him, light changes he takes off, I get around the turn drop the hammer and lay waste to him... The friends got a big kick out of it...Still it needs more power, but then again, I`m used to Trans Ams that pull the front wheels off the ground and much lighter Vette`s. We will have to rectify that situation...

For the mods , this was done a closed private road, with no other vehicles..

[67 Convertible]

Originally Posted by GMRULZ

I went to the movies saturday w/ my wife and 2 of our friends and got jumped on by a "ricer" Honda

and takes off to the next light where we are turning left. I get in behind him, light changes he takes off, I get around the turn drop the hammer and lay waste to him

For the mods , this was done a closed private road, with no other vehicles..

Love the disclaimer...interesting....... closed private road with lights , left turns and "no other vehicles". (how's the Honda get there?)
Not trying to be a wise a$$, just got a chuckle.

[GMRULZ]

Originally Posted by 67 Convertible

Love the disclaimer...interesting....... closed private road with lights , left turns and "no other vehicles". (how's the Honda get there?)
Not trying to be a wise a$$, just got a chuckle.

It belongs to Michael Vick...Near his dogfighting house, I mean used to be his dogfighting house... You know.... he is out of jail now...

[JoshJ81]

Originally Posted by Scott@Bjorn3D

Well #230 (Bee Bee) is going in today. GM is having computers hooked to her and they are taking her for 0-60 runs. They want to see everything that is going on with her. The have what is called at TAC case going on her and said they are going to get her going right.

If they rest of you with issues would go have a TAC case open on your car not doing good at 0-60 they may do the same for you and get us all a fix. My dealer said it he wants to get this fixed as he knows it is not right and said he will make it right for me.

Thanks John F. for getting this moving for me.

I'm sorry, but what is TAC and why is GM doing major testing? I have an L99 as well and your scaring me and I don't know why lol. Sorry if I didn't read up to much but I'm kinda new here, but the first post and page didn't tell me much. Thanks and Good Luck.

[okie2]

Originally Posted by Restroom

Someone's missing the point here. The reason you drive a car before you buy it is because that's what you do with a car, that is the task that the automobile performs: it gets driven.

There are a lot of factors that go into a test drive, and the motivating force behind every car mag for the past forty years should serve as a good indicator that people generally don't like just jumping blindly into whatever car suits their fancy, since they're all the same. Mind you, this is the case for some people; you'll find none of them here. Anyway, no one's talking about performance numbers on a test drive. You can't do it with a stopwatch or your videocamera or (shudder) your freaking cell phone. You can't do it from inside the car at all, reliably. Disabuse yourself of the notion that it's possible, unless your dealer has no problem with you wiring up a MoTeC or something and its complement of sensors. But we're not talking about numbers here! We're talking about people who are disappointed in how their cars DRIVE. It's the DRIVING and attendant sluggishness which prompted them to investigate further, do dyno runs, take them to the track, and so forth.

If you buy a car you've never driven, sight unseen, you're either a fool or you're buying a car for some other reason than to be pleased to own it.

But, I thought this thread was about a performance problem? With Scott's car?

Of course you should drive the car before you purchase. But there are some situations that folks get into that may not make that possible - at least to them, and it doens't make them a fool. I was just questioning the validity of accurately testing performance, 0-60 or 1/4 mile with a brand new car and the salesperson sitting there with you. And, maybe he/she weighs 300 lbs.

[ElAntonius]

From now on, I'm going to do epic burnouts in test drives at random dealers for fun

And I'll say that while the g-tech type equipment is probably more accurate, the iPhone uses a fairly well known acceleromoter: the LIS302DL. Data sheet here for nerds like me: http://www.st.com/stonline/products/...e/ds/12726.pdf

I wouldn't gather HP numbers from an iPhone (or any accelerometer for that matter), and chances are a specialized bit of kit will be calibrated better, but guys, an iPhone is good enough to gather simple 0-60 times with a fair degree of precision. If it says 7 seconds, it's in that neighborhood.

[rpepka]

Originally Posted by JoshJ81

I'm sorry, but what is TAC and why is GM doing major testing? I have an L99 as well and your scaring me and I don't know why lol. Sorry if I didn't read up to much but I'm kinda new here, but the first post and page didn't tell me much. Thanks and Good Luck.