The Grand American Road Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype Unveiling

Enjoy something I posted over at Hooniverse earlier this week.



Well my fellow Hoons, this olelongrooffan has done it again. Yesterday was the official unveiling of the Daytona Prototype Corvette right here in good ole Daytona Beach, Florida. As all I was doing all day long was working with Manuel Labor, I decided to take the afternoon off and crash the gates at that unveiling to see what could be seen.



Yeah, there were more muckity-mucks in attendance than you could shake a stick at. It seemed like every member of Chevrolet corporate motorsports who wears a suit was there as well as all the big shots from NASCAR (they were there for the fuel injection testing out on the track anyway), Grand American Road Racing, Pratt and Miller Engineering (not a suit in sight with that bunch), Wayne Taylor and his Suntrust Racing team, Bob Stallings GAINSCO team (Bob however was AWOL), and virtually every member of management for both the Spirit of Daytona and the Action Express racing teams. That's GM's Jim Campbell at the podium reminding all of us what a great and storied history the Corvette possesses. Hell, he even invoked the name of Betty Skelton.



And all of the team's drivers made it out for the event. Darren Law, David Donahue, Terry Borcheller, Christian Fittipaldi, JC France and a bunch more were out for show and tell. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. even took a break from NASCAR testing to step inside, see the show and enjoy a plate full of salami and cheese.



Several items were mentioned either by Jim Campbell in his presentation or during the requisite Q and A session afterwards with a member each from Chevy racing, Pratt and Miller and Grand Am Road Racing joining Mr. Campbell on stage. Brad Brownell, who broke the story on this release here on the Hooniverse yesterday summarized those points for me in a much more succinct manner than this olelongrooffan could ever accomplish so I'll let him speak to them.



1. The beautiful blue car in the pictures is the first of three that have already been built. Bob Stallings-Gainsco Racing and Wayne Taylor-Suntrust Racing have already taken stewardship of their cars (first in line, likely because they have been loyal to GM for years, with both having run Pontiac and Chevrolet engines in the past). There are another two cars being built right now, as Action Express Racing will be fielding two cars and Spirit of Daytona Racing have committed to one full season entry.

2. The new Corvette DP chassis was a joint development between Cheever Racing's Coyote manufacturing and GM's de facto racing squad of Pratt and Miller.

3. Talks between GM and Grand Am began nearly 18 months ago, and the three chassis have been in the works for about 8 months from design concept to finished product.

4. Nobody knows exactly how well the car will perform, as it has never been on track before today's test session. We shall soon find out, I suppose.



5. Dyno testing has been completed, however, which shows the Small Block Chevrolet engine produces 530 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 450 lbft at 5,500 rpm. The engine has been equipped with aluminum heads and a dry sump oiling system for a lower center of gravity, and to eliminate the slosh effect on an oil pan under g-loading.

6. No estimates have been given on the actual cost to purchase and run a new style Daytona Prototype, though I would suspect that the new chassis are slightly more expensive to build than the outgoing set of chassis (most were originally designed and built in 2003). However, even with a price increase, it is unlikely that these four teams would have paid full price anyway due to heavy subsidies levied by Chevrolet Racing's marketing budget.

7. As GM increases their presence in Grand Am, it is unlikely that their successful GT2 program will be going away any time soon. GM wants to see another class victory at the 24 hours of Le Mans before they put a bookend on that section of their racing history.

Thanks a million Brad.


After the Q and A session, the floor was open to photographers and, of course, this olelongrooffan stepped right up on that stage and captured some close up images of it for my fellow Hoons.



While I was up there, I approached one of the Pratt and Miller dudes and asked him if any of the technology from the much acclaimed ALMS Corvette had found its way to this Daytona Prototype.



He commented that yes some had and that most of the latches, hinges, tiedowns and other such items from the ALMS Vette had been utilized on this DP.




And trust me, regardless of the mediocre advertising team running the ads geared toward those potential customers who do not follow Hooniverse, the team that came up with the color of this beautiful car and its contrasting engine compartment did a fantastic job.



Now if my fellow Hoons know anything about this olelongrooffan, you know I didn't just stay around for the show but I had to stay until the bitter end. Plus, my elcheapo 28 dollar ebay acquired camera works a helluva lot better outdoors than indoors. (that there is a giant hint to whomever gets my name for Hoonimas this year!)



Oh yeah, while I was out there waiting for this to show up, I wandered over to the pits area to to check out the NASCAR test session.



And I'm here to tell you, whatever aero changes they tried on those NASCAR machines didn't work and "two car drafting" was in effect all day long.



That Pratt and Miller engineer also mentioned the headlights were exactly the same at those on the ALMS Vette. Imagine a who know how many hundreds of thousands of dollars race car that is an exercise in parts bin manufacturing!



Yeah, the designers of this DP were able to incorporate a bunch of the street version of the Corvette's design features into this new body style.



And as much as this olelongrooffan despises "Lambo doors," on these Daytona Prototypes they are pretty damn cool.



The taillights were flat across the top just below the lower spoiler.   I have seen mention around these webs they are reminiscent of the tail lights on a new Camaro.



Unfortunately, I didn't get to hear this SBC sing but I am confident it possesses a wonderful, throaty melody when at speed. I can't wait.








The first split window Vette since 1963!



And just to reassure my fellow Hoons these are original images (hell, I don't even know how to photoshop!), I got a member of the Spirit of Daytona race team to capture this image just prior to his applying their decals to this beauty.

Oh yeah, I must once again thank Brad Brownell and a special note of appreciation to General Motors for the plate of food and the cold Diet Coke and to the security dude at the Turn 1 entrance of the Daytona International Speedway who, once again, let this olelongrooffan slip by to gather even more trivial information and experiences to share with my fellow Hoons.

AC/DC, The Experience

As posted over in the Hooniverse.
No, not that AC/DC! This is Hooniverse after all.

A couple weeks ago, this olelongrooffan received an email from Nissan USA Marketing at my personal email account asking me if I would be interested in test driving Nissan's new all electric LEAF?


What? In my first post here in the Hooniverse, I doubted that any manufacturer would provide this olelongrooffan with one of their fancy-dancy new automobiles to Hoon around. Well, I guess hanging with my fellow Hoons has a distinct advantage beyond the receipt of a cool Camaro emblem for Hoonimas (thanks again BJ).

Of course I responded in the affirmative, thanks to Dearthair and the esteemed Mr. Glucker for their encouragement, and on Friday of this week past, this is what was seen down by this olelongrooffan down on the University of Central Florida campus in MickeyMouseLand.

Clearly, those dudes over at Nissan USA Marketing sure need to do more in depth research on their guinea pigs.

But of course, in an effort to satisfy my fellow Hoons, I took those idiots that intelligent marketing team up on their offer.

Now before this olelongrooffan gets to that test drive I must state that I did little research absolutely no research on electrics and hybrids in particular so I could get the real experience from the LEAF barkers and distill what I could from their eloquent sales pitch.

Having said that, at the Rolex 24 at Daytona the last weekend in January (yeah, that post is coming), I did spot the rather large Chevrolet booth and on Saturday dropped by to see the new, much heralded (by some) Chevy Volt.

Well my fellow Hoons, much like the original introduction of the Volt by its parent company, it arrived late!

However when I dropped by on Sunday it was there and I got the whole Volt experience from the lanky blonde on the right in the above image. I mentioned to her this olelongrooffan was going to be test driving a Nissan LEAF the following Friday and from then on her whole sales pitch revolved around "range anxiety", a previously unheard of term to me.

Now, somewhat uncharacteristic of this olelongrooffan, the above image is the only one I got of the Volt so the following image of the LEAF is included just to be fair.

But know this, even though Automobile Magazine mentioned the short back seat cushions in the LEAF, they were about the same size as my Mom's period correct, back in the day, Pontiac T1000. In the Volt, with the driver's seat adjusted to comfort for this 6'0" tall test driver, there was no way any adult could fit their legs and feet in the space remaining behind me. The LEAF definitely has a spacious back seat with plenty of legroom.

Not to get ahead of myself, even though I already did, this test drive was on a college campus on a Friday afternoon and, as all we Hoons know, parking on a college campus at any time totally sucks. But it was okay. I am from out of town, don't really care about a parking ticket from the Campus Commandos (no, not the Jeep Commando) and have the creative ability, as I am sure many of my fellow Hoons possess, to create a parking space. Me? I just looked where all of the cops parked and created a space immediately beside them. After all, had I gotten a ticket on the old Comanche I would have merely captured a shot of those Impalas and Crown Vics just for posterity sake and evidence. Fortunately that was not necessary.

Anyway, after parking and heading toward the exhibit that would allow me to experience the LEAF I spotted this mobile electricity generating device.

Now modern technology is awesome and I, for one, can't wait for its arrival but as you can see in the following image, this technician for AeroVironment is totally frustrated by this modern technology and its presence in his world.



Yeah, that instant energy producing device was in an old-fashioned broken-down status and no amount of technical bulletins were going to get it up and running during the time this olelongrooffan spent at that exhibit that Friday afternoon. BTW, total cost of that instant charging device, less the truck, $185,000.

And that kind of cash will instantly provide charging for four of these devices for the Nissan LEAF or any other hybrid/electric vehicle as all of these type vehicles possess the same universal plug in devices.


In the LEAF, it looks like a snout as it emanates from the front of it.

Now as those of my fellow Hoons who still read my offerings know, while this olelongrooffan is a car nerd, I am not totally proficient at car reviews or other offerings of professional car bloggers. Therefore, thankfully, Mr. Glucker offered his suggestions as to what to provide in this blogpost.

Get a full on rear shot.

Get a full on shot of the left rear.

Get a full on shot of the front of it.

Get a full on shot of the right front of it.

As you can see, this olelongrooffan follows directions to a T!

Now, as my fellow Hoons can surmise, this was not an exclusive test drive that Mr. Glucker and Mr. Odell are privey enough to experience. No, this olelongrooffan was just another dude off the street who could experience the drive of the LEAF. Hell, they even had one of the much-hacked signs on the corner asking folks to come on in and drive one. But it's okay, this olelongrooffan still had a blast.

Anyway, my tour guide through this experience was from out in LA land and mentioned, several times, about his buddies who experienced much better than the expected range of 100 miles while out and about in one of the "first mass produced electric vehicles." And the words "range anxiety" did not, once, come out of his mouth. I guess Nissan USA Marketing trains their staff very well.

When one of my fellow tour attendees questioned him about the look of the motor, my tour guide responded that Nissan thought the conventional look of a valve cover might calm some of the concerns of the general public about the look of an electric motor.

As an aside, the cockpit lever to release the cover to access the plug in receptacle has the shape of a conventional gas pump on it.

Since this test drive, this olelongrooffan has looked at most all of the blogs and hard copy links I could find and just about every one of them mentions the headlights are designed to minimize air flow around the side mirrors so I had to include that reference as well.



Now, my fellow Hoons would suspect, as I did, that an electric vehicle would provide an excellent opportunity to provide a charging device for every one of our mobile devices, i.e. cell phones, MP3 players or whatever else we happen to enjoy these days.

But alas, unlike the Volt, the LEAF possesses only one 12 volt power adapter. The battery that powers this vehicle provides too many volts, if you will, to power those needs. It does have a single 12 volt battery that is recharged by a solar panel above the rear hatch.

And I did read somewhere that reviewer thought the "C" pillar was overly large for a vehicle of this size. With that assumption, I must agree. Think of the driver's side of the Cube, if you will.

After the
indoctrination
orientation with the specifics of the LEAF, I was able to get my proctor aside for some specific questions my fellow Hoons had emailed this olelongrooffan to ask.

How does the heater work? It is a resistance type with a 12v powered blower.

What is the range loss when utilizing the heater, a/c, radio, wipers, headlights? About 10% was the response.

How does the a/c work? It is a conventional a/c unit with a compressor but instead of a belt driven unit, it is motor driven off the 12v system.

Does the range vary with the amount of weight the vehicle is carrying? longrooffan note: Every question with respect to range was answered with the caveat "Range will vary with driving style."

What is the vehicle constructed of? (This olelongrooffan was thinking it would be exotics such as carbon fiber and other lightweight materials) The body is constructed of conventional steel although some of the interior components are constructed of recycled plastics such as milk jugs and carpet underlayments.

Who is your target market? Basically we are looking at those who are interested in conserving the environment, those who are interested in saving money and those IT types who understand modern technology. (slam olelongrooffan!)

What is the insurance rating? None yet.

Does the battery wear down like a cell phone does. No, once the battery has a charge of whether 20%, 50% or 80%, whatever, it will maintain that charge. So if you drive to the airport with a 60% charge and are gone for 2 weeks, when you return, you will still have a 60% charge.

So, after prodding my proctor, if you will, it was time for this olelongroofan to get some seat time in the Nissan LEAF. At the time I paid it no consequence but my Proctor directed me toward a young man who then directed the would be riders along with this olelongrooffan to another ride. It was he and I solo in this maroon colored 2011 Nissan LEAF.

As we settled into this ride, in an effort to get comfortable with him, I asked if he worked for Nissan? As I suspected when I asked him if he worked for Nissan, he replied no, he was a Marketing Major at UCF and he was just working this deal for a few extra bucks.

"So, you don't mind if I drive this car?"

"No sir," that 20-year old told this 51-year old longrooffan.

Well, my fellow Hoons, that regulated test drive was a short drive around the UCF Arena and I took every advantage of it I could.

A brief drive out of the staging area, turn right and go about three city blocks through a pedestrian heavy environment.

"Would you mind turning off that radio, and let me lower the window to hear that pedestrian friendly beeping noise to warn others we were about?" Yeah, I heard it.

Now around the back of that arena there is an S-curve in the road that allowed this olelongrooffan to experience the LEAF's oversteer when hitting that 15 mph designated S curve at 25+ mph.

Then back onto a nearly deserted four lane road with a full on median. Checking the rear views and blasting that torque rich motor (is it really an engine?) to the max and then slamming on the brakes, not once but several times, and then approaching the final turn back onto the roadway that would take us back to the home port.

I asked him if this was it? His response? "Let's go another round."

And we did!

In total Hoonworthy style this olelongrooffan thrashed that Nissan LEAF and that youngster riding in the copilot seat did not say a word. I was even able to get a chirp from the front tires but it was while accelerating around a corner. But still, I think even minimal tire squall from an electric vehicle is admirable.

Regardless of overall range, that vehicle possessed excellent straight forward acceleration and, while not a Tesla, it silently screamed! And as much as I slammed on the brakes, I did not experience any brake fade. As a matter of fact, if you discount this olelongrooffan entering an S curve at more than acceptable speed, the LEAF handled quite well.

And I am proud to state that when I sat down in the driver's seat of that LEAF, the dashboard told me I had a range of 84 miles. After driving that thing about two miles, when I exited it, the remaining range was 61 miles! Hell Yeah!!

But, in typical olelongrooffan style...

I wanted to share with my fellow Hoons a shot of the dashboard of this car of the future.

I was able to get these few shots. This one of the disclaimer that lets you know that "Big Brother Nissan" will be following your every move Black Box style...

...via the NAV system offered through the Nissan Motor Company. Ironically, that NAV system showed every roadway in the area except Interstate 4!

But know this, my fellow Hoons. I tried to get an image of the active dashboard from the gorgeous blue LEAF in the display area of that exhibit but when I asked one of the attendents to display the dashboard on that vehicle, he explained there was a "technical glitch" with that car.

Yeah, the future is here but "technical glitches" still abound and that is why this olelongrooffan is sticking with my "blue plate special" four cylinder, five speed, four wheel drive, 19 mpg producing Jeep Comanche for the foreseeable future.

But AC/DC rocks!!

And on that Friday afternoon, this olelongrooffan was really able to

Celebrate Life.

Sorry This olelongrooffan Hasn't Been Around Much Lately

I've been busy

remembering to

Celebrate Life.

Stay Tuned.