Daily driving a ZR-1

[8cam]

After a couple months of ownership, lots of driving, lots of reading and lots more driving, I've noticed some things. I daily drive my Z, rain or shine, no matter what it looks like outside, to work, the grocery store, picking up the kids (two in the car last night!), and oh yeah...some back road hooligan too. I love this thing. Dirty as hell right now though, got to give it a good cleanup whenever this rain stops. It spends many nights parked outside because the wife likes the garage too, and that's just fine.

The engine dominates. Just wow. Plant your right foot and achieve a moment of clarity. Even in normal mode, it sounds like something is lurking just under the stairs, waiting to jump you. Do something silly and those monster 315s don't have a chance, especially in the wet. Fun. It's also a pussycat, easy to just roll along in traffic without a complaint, running nice and cool. And when an opening in traffic appears, BANG you're there. More fun.

Speaking of tires, holy contact patch Batman. Biggest tires I've ever run on a car and wow do they grip hard in the dry. The fronts are the same size as the rears on my old 928 and the rears are just plain ridiculous...I like 'em. But even these things will go up in smoke if I let the engine off the chain. They also track straight and true on all manner of roads, but are a bit noisy on the highway.

I haven't pushed the suspension hard enough to really get a feel yet, but I'll be autocrossing in the spring and will know a little more then. In daily driving mode on smooth roads, it's just fine. Comfortable, very little body roll, and the front end actually turns in more sharply than the 308 or the M3 I recently sold. Very responsive. However it really doesn't like bumpy roads, wants to jump around a bit. And it REALLY doesn't like potholes and speed bumps. Wow that's just plain harsh. I've tried all three settings and they don't seem to make a difference there. The most annoying thing is the parking deck at work - it's like being on a hobby horse, just see-sawing its way up the ramps. At a normal "deck" speed, it's like it hits a resonant frequency and gets really bad...have to slow way down, or it feels like the car is going to bounce into the roof. Unexpected and not pleasant. But since that's about 0.00005% of my driving, it ain't no big deal.

The ZF gearbox surprised me. Coming from euros, I expected more of a truck feel but it's really very good. It's more of a heavy rifle bolt than the swiss watch feel of the 308, but it's precise and meaty, with near zero slop in any direction. That big shift knob is definitely an asset. In heavy traffic I actually wish 1st was a little shorter, but in normal driving and mountain running it's excellent. Easy to shift quickly and smoothly. In fact it's easier to be smooth with it than the M3 was, probably because of the very progressive clutch and the torque of the engine. But whoever came up with the 1-4 idea should be shot - it's downright dangerous when you're in stop/go traffic or trying to move slowly through a neighborhood. I've got to get under there and unplug the damn thing. I'll admit I'm getting used to the gear whine, but I am surprised that a car that was this expensive makes that noise.

I like the interior. For a big car (and the Corvette is a BIG car to me), the interior is downright cozy. Much tighter than anything this side of a Miata. I LOVE the seats, so comfortable and fit me like a glove. I know some like them and some hate them, but I'm 6'1" about 190lbs and they are just perfect. I do wish the steering wheel was more adjustable. I've also been reading about the steering column, why would anyone use the steering wheel to lever themselves out? I've never done that, never even occurred to me. I use the sill and maybe the A-pillar. But someone in my car's past did, because it has that inch of movement down-and-to-the-left. I have got to fix that, makes spirited driving kinda scary. The center console takes a little getting used to. It's in the way of fast shifting - I'm more used to having my arm completely free, not dragging my elbow on a console. Still haven't fully reconciled the best way around it but it's not that big a deal.

Did I mention I love it? It's just a very cool car, and I'm finding out that it actually gets MORE attention than the Italian supermodel. Maybe because folks think it's more approachable, but I get comments at the gas station, parts store, the kids' school, anywhere really. And a few know exactly what it is, spotting the logo on the rear bumper, and then the real questions start. Driving a car like this every single day is just awesome, so much more fun than the lemmingmobiles I'm surrounded by. I love jumping Prius drivers in traffic with the secondaries WFO. Why the hell anyone spends so much money on something so completely dull is beyond me. With the money I saved buying the Z, I can afford to put gas in it for a LONG time. Life is too short to drive boring cars!

[We Gone]

Mark, Cool story, Sounds like you found the right car. If you have not done so unplug the skip-shift and tape up the plugs or just get a chip to eliminate it. . here is a fix for the steering column.

http://zr1specialist.com/HAT%20Web/p...lumn%20pin.htm

Steve

[Dynomite]

You did NOT mention the great gas mileage......even if modified

Do not know if you have new rubber but those original hard rubber tires make the bumps more noticeable

[8cam]

Originally Posted by We Gone

Mark, Cool story, Sounds like you found the right car. If you have not done so unplug the skip-shift and tape up the plugs or just get a chip to eliminate it. . here is a fix for the steering column.

http://zr1specialist.com/HAT%20Web/p...lumn%20pin.htm

Steve

Yep I found that, and I'll be ordering that little number soon. I also need to get under the car and unplug that solenoid, just have not had a chance to get in the garage in the last couple weeks. I definitely found the right car, just having fun with it doing the little things it needs and driving it every day.

Originally Posted by Dynomite

You did NOT mention the great gas mileage......even if modified

Do not know if you have new rubber but those original hard rubber tires make the bumps more noticeable

Seriously? I think my average mpg reading right now is 10.8! I'll be going on a road trip Tuesday so I'll get a better number then, expecting something north of 20mpg over the trip. But in my normal every day driving, mixing neighborhood, back roads, highways and in the city (25 miles from the 'burbs to downtown), I'm seeing 16-17mpg on average. And I leave it in FULL POWER all the time, so I guess it's not bad.

The tires are brand new, stick very well, and have extremely stiff sidewalls. I avoid speed bumps whenever possible!

[mike100]

I used to daily drive my LT1 powered C4 and did enjoy the carefree nature of a car that wasn't going to lose a lot of value from the mileage, but my 91 ZR is a little too nice to leave outside and I have invested 50% of what I bought it for fixing it up...so there is some apprehension for driving it a lot.

The car does get driven a lot nevertheless, but I had decided some time back not to drive it to work in traffic as that was not a worthy use for the car as is the increased chance for a fender-bender.

As far as the suspension- yes, it is older chassis technology, but there are a few way to get decent improvements on performance there. I would suggest rebuilding the FX-3 shocks to be a little stiffer. You ought to be able to feel a difference on the adjustable settings. I have also found that the Doug Rippie trailing arm brackets change the rear geometry enough to limit the nose diving nature under braking. That with good tires and an alignment should pretty much get the car to what i would consider a better compromise for street driving and performance driving without having to pop for coil overs etc.

[8cam]

Originally Posted by mike100

I used to daily drive my LT1 powered C4 and did enjoy the carefree nature of a car that wasn't going to lose a lot of value from the mileage, but my 91 ZR is a little too nice to leave outside and I have invested 50% of what I bought it for fixing it up...so there is some apprehension for driving it a lot.

The car does get driven a lot nevertheless, but I had decided some time back not to drive it to work in traffic as that was not a worthy use for the car as is the increased chance for a fender-bender.

As far as the suspension- yes, it is older chassis technology, but there are a few way to get decent improvements on performance there. I would suggest rebuilding the FX-3 shocks to be a little stiffer. You ought to be able to feel a difference on the adjustable settings. I have also found that the Doug Rippie trailing arm brackets change the rear geometry enough to limit the nose diving nature under braking. That with good tires and an alignment should pretty much get the car to what i would consider a better compromise for street driving and performance driving without having to pop for coil overs etc.

Believe me I understand not wanting to put the miles on a car. In my case, this ZR-1 has almost 45k miles now and while it's 100% original and in very nice shape, I'm not an NCRS kind of guy. I will maintain it thoroughly, and continue to drive it every day. I do believe these cars will go up in value, so I have no intention of selling it. If/when I get another daily driver, it will become a fun weekender alongside the 308 (another car I believe is primed to go up). In the meantime I'm discovering that dailying a Z has very few compromises - it's an excellent car for the mission.

Good suggestions on the suspension. Mine seems to be in pretty good shape, but I would prefer a little more compliance for city driving. But that's really minor. I wonder if the hobby-horse effect comes from the leaf spring setup? It does have me considering coilovers, but that would break the originality and like I said, I do believe these cars are going UP. So I really have no mod plans, other than maybe an exhaust upgrade.

[Franke]

Originally Posted by 4cam

Believe me I understand not wanting to put the miles on a car. In my case, this ZR-1 has almost 45k miles now and while it's 100% original and in very nice shape, I'm not an NCRS kind of guy. I will maintain it thoroughly, and continue to drive it every day. I do believe these cars will go up in value, so I have no intention of selling it. If/when I get another daily driver, it will become a fun weekender alongside the 308 (another car I believe is primed to go up). In the meantime I'm discovering that dailying a Z has very few compromises - it's an excellent car for the mission.

Good suggestions on the suspension. Mine seems to be in pretty good shape, but I would prefer a little more compliance for city driving. But that's really minor. I wonder if the hobby-horse effect comes from the leaf spring setup? It does have me considering coilovers, but that would break the originality and like I said, I do believe these cars are going UP. So I really have no mod plans, other than maybe an exhaust upgrade.

I did the exhaust upgrade based on Marc Haibecks report on stock exhaust restriction in my 1990. When I removed the resonator I was really surprised to see the whittled down inside pipe at 1 5/8 inches. There had to be a lot of standing wave backpressure at that inlet. I went with Corsa 2 1/2 inch. I am happy with it and like the sound much better than stock.

[8cam]

Couple more observations. The back has plenty of room to hold suitcases for two people with 10 days' worth of stuff. My wife and I traveled to SFO a couple weeks ago and it swallowed her bags and mine without a problem. I will say lifting suitcases over the bodywork is a long reach, but that's life with a sports car. Oh and yes my ZR-1 spent 10 days in an uncovered airport parking lot. The horror!

It did point out that I really need to flush and bleed the clutch. After those 10 days, it engaged almost on the floor, coming back up after a few miles/uses.

The original hatch gas struts are pretty much useless, barely popping it up. New struts coming in from Ecklers should fix that and I understand they will open it right up just by pushing the button? That will be nice.

The wiper blades are old and crusty, so I tried to find some auto parts store specials...no go with that hood. So they are also coming from Ecklers, should make a big improvement here in the rainy south. Which reminds me. All this rain we're having has shown me I have a leak, somewhere over my left foot. I'm guessing a drainage channel somewhere is clogged.

[Schrade]

Check out the Memory / Calibration module in the ECM.

Sounds like you need Marc's module piggyback, for the 1-4 shift code delete, and the high idle coast-down (GM Tech Service Bulletin on that)

[WARP TEN]

Originally Posted by 4cam

Couple more observations. The back has plenty of room to hold suitcases for two people with 10 days' worth of stuff. My wife and I traveled to SFO a couple weeks ago and it swallowed her bags and mine without a problem. I will say lifting suitcases over the bodywork is a long reach, but that's life with a sports car. Oh and yes my ZR-1 spent 10 days in an uncovered airport parking lot. The horror!

It did point out that I really need to flush and bleed the clutch. After those 10 days, it engaged almost on the floor, coming back up after a few miles/uses.

The original hatch gas struts are pretty much useless, barely popping it up. New struts coming in from Ecklers should fix that and I understand they will open it right up just by pushing the button? That will be nice.

The wiper blades are old and crusty, so I tried to find some auto parts store specials...no go with that hood. So they are also coming from Ecklers, should make a big improvement here in the rainy south. Which reminds me. All this rain we're having has shown me I have a leak, somewhere over my left foot. I'm guessing a drainage channel somewhere is clogged.

On wiper blades, I had the same problem. Marc Haibeck gets true originals from Rock Auto. If you email him he will give you the the part number. I had it but can't find it right now. I got them and they work fine. And they were real cheap as I recall. --Bob