Just logged over 1400 miles in the new Z!

[RHanselman]

Well I flew out to KC to pick up the new Ruby (#140) on Friday night. The salesman picked me up in the morning and took me over to the dealership on his way to work. Worked out pretty slick...

First impressions: Wow... Car is in really, really nice shape. The interior is perfect and the radio/speakers even worked. Everything seems to be stock with the exception of the replacement windshield (ZR-1 style) B&B's, engine SS bolt kit and engine paint. The engine is clean as a whistle...

The Drive: Well it took about 100 miles to get her back in shape. Nothing I didn't expect from having picked up two other Z's that had been sitting for a while. The suspension and tires need to warm up before the car feels like a Z again. All the shocks were operating at different rates, the tires were out of round and the bushings were all stiff... After that 100 miles was up everything was back to normal... I was impressed by the lack of rattles and squeaks. They all seem to have at least some... Other than that, the drive from Denver to Las Vegas is one of my favorites. It's hard to beat the views and the car performed as advertised!

MPG: Not the best from what I've had before. 21 MPG @ 80 MPH all the way to Denver and then 22 MPG from Denver to Vegas. The last Ruby I picked up from Long Island did 24 MPG to BG (following FU) and then 26-28 MPG (after Mark Haibeck tuned her at BG) BG to Vegas. She seems to run great but I'll be pulling the plugs and checking the injectors. From what I can tell, she has the stock tune.

Some spirited driving: I made one short blast to a buck 25 and all felt fine. My favorite places to feel the power were getting on the highway. I just love the sound of the LT-5 winding through the gears. And BTW - the secondary's are defiantly working!

I also have a love hate relationship with the B&B's. I love the looks and the sound around town or winding through the gears. But as you know, driving cross country with stock gears is painful to the body and ears! Luckily I brought along a noise canceling headset and some tunes! Because I'm planning on lots of highway driving I'm going to swap out the B&B's for the stock system or the Corsa's. Both are much, much better on the body! BTW - #99 comes with the original stock system so it will probably make it onto the car in the next month or so... I believe she get's shipped out of Hawaii on the 23rd.

One important blunder... I took the north route because of the weather. The weather was perfect all the way back. The blunderous part was that I didn't check the temps. I woke up in Rifle CO to an outside temp of 16 degrees. All I had was a thin coat, thin gloves and you guessed it, a thin hat. Not exactly the kind of gear you want to have if you breakdown in the middle of southern UT 100 miles from civilization and in a car you barely know... Well, if you stop learning, it's time to quit!

Cheers,
RH