GM sponsored an event that came through town last week called
Auto Show In Motion. They basically brought their entire line of cars to a huge parking lot and let people drive through a cone course. I saw they were going to have Corvettes there, so I had to go. When my girlfiend and I arrived we were shuffled through a tent where we watched a "don't do any stupid stuff or we'll kick you out" video. They had us sign a release waiver and we were on our way. I noticed the line for the Corvettes was about an hour long, plus I had to "qualify" in a sedan or luxury car. The first car I drove was a Cadillac CTS. I took it relatively easy since the video was pretty vague about what kind of driving would get you booted. The CTS was pretty quick and handled the turns reasonably well for it's weight and suspension setup.
We headed over to the Corvette / SSR area to find that the Corvette line was an hour long. I decided to hop in an SSR instead. That thing is ugly as hell, but it was pretty quick. My girlfriend wanted to ride in the Hummer H2, but again we had to qualify in a regular SUV. I drove the Escalade ESV, which was not impressive. The Hummer course was fun with some bumps simulating rocky terrain, a 20ft tall steep grade hill and an off camber hill. The H2 handled the terrain with aplomb, which is to be expected considering it's price.
Back over to the Corvette line. This time around the line was much shorter, so I was able to drive a Z06 with a manual transmission. I pretty much ripped up the course in the Z06. I've driven a stock C5 before, and the Z06 was clearly a superior car. The acceleration was great, the handling crisp and, all things considered, the ride was pretty forgiving. This was the only car I drove that day where I couldn't wipe the smile off my face after exiting the vehicle.
We had a little time left before the event closed, so we went over to the sedan area where they had a bunch of new GTOs waiting. The manual transmission line was too long, so I had to settle for an automatic. To sum it up, the GTO is yet another GM styling nightmare that happens to perform well.
All in all, the event was a lot of fun and I hope they come through again next year. I just checked the Auto Show In Motion website, and they are going to be in Denver, CO Aug 12 - 15 and San Francisco, CA Aug 26 - 29. Oh, and if you live in Hawaii, they will be in Oahu Jul 30 - Aug 1. If any of you folks are close to one of these locations, I highly recommend going. FYI, you have to be at least 21 to drive, but all ages are welcome.
Kerr
As for kids, I think I'm probably a little selfish with my time to have them.