{"id":6756,"date":"2024-12-14T10:38:30","date_gmt":"2024-12-14T15:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/?page_id=6756"},"modified":"2025-01-23T09:13:07","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T14:13:07","slug":"the-widow-maker-d-steidinger","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/?page_id=6756","title":{"rendered":"The Widow Maker? &#8211; D. Steidinger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">A younger enthusiast sent me a link to a YouTube video labeling the 2019 ZR1 as a \u201cwidow maker\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kt83YEwGF6A Here\u2019s my reply:\">2019 Corvette ZR1 Review-America&#8217;s Widow Maker<\/a><br><br>Here\u2019s my reply:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Thanks,<br>I guess you could kill yourself in a C7 ZR1 through recklessness, incompetence, etc.<br>I am not a top driver by any means, but I find the C7 ZR1 quite survivable. It has excellent traction and stability controls. Just don\u2019t be a facebook-[censored] and turn them off. Traction control is your best friend in a powerful car, and with traction and stability control \u2018on\u2019, it\u2019s still a ton-a-fun.<br>The traction control in a C6 ZR1 will keep you safe but the earlier C6 system feels more intrusive than the C7\u2019s.<br>Both cars have torque-management settings called PTM (Performance Traction Management) that allow you to floor it in a corner and not spin out. Just don\u2019t turn the [censored] thing off!<br>And both cars build speed quickly &#8212; you can get behind in your steering and that can be fatal. Like the guy on Rt 120 (not far from where I used to live) maybe ten years back in his Cyber Gray C6 ZR1. You could ask him, \u2018but the conversation would be a trifle one-sided\u2019, to steal from Humphery Bogart\u2019s script.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/abc7chicago.com\/mchenry-crash-route-120-on\/1320062\/\">Man killed, wife injured after Corvette slams into tree in McHenry<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/alexvucha\/albums\/72157667667589872\/\">Two Airlifted, One Killed in Single Vehicle Crash<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.corvetteforum.com\/forums\/c6-corvette-zr1-and-z06\/3817760-man-driving-a-zr1-lost-control-and-died-yesterday-in-mchenry-il.html\">Man driving a ZR1 lost control and died yesterday in McHenry, IL<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><br>In contrast, my long, long-ago \u201967 427 Corvette brought me too close to trouble, too many times. That was one twitchy [censored]. 98\u201d wheelbase. Old-tech tires. Lots of torque.<br>Oh, if you hit a spot of wet roadway\u2026. I\u2019ve been 90 degrees to the two-lane several times. It gets your attention, and saving it was a miracle, each time.<br>Once was many decades ago, crossing a two-lane bridge on curving Miller Road at night where a spot-rainstorm suddenly wet the highway, while the throttle was, um, applied. I saved it. Or God did. I said nothing to my lovely girlfriend, she sat there wordlessly, and we said nothing, NOTHING when we arrived intact at our friends\u2019 party. But life could have been very, very different that night. It is definitely not good when the side-of-the-road scenery is going across the windshield.<br>Another long, long ago time that I can still see: I pulled out to pass on Old McHenry Rd, and I stepped on it pretty good \u2013 I was used to my less-torquey small-block LT-1 Camaro. But the Corvette snapped to nearly 90 degrees to the two-lane. I had enough opposite lock steering to save it, or again, God did. Maybe the martial arts training even helped a little. I glimpsed at the young guys in the car as I passed them, sideways \u2013 I had a great view into their side windows. And, um, their eyes were kinda big. As the Corvette straightened out, I waved as I went by, as if I always passed that way.<br>Not proud of that, not bragging, both events were many decades-ago stupidity on my part.<br>And I\u2019m almost 70 now, so I don\u2019t feel bad at all about driving a lot slower with a lot more safety margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"471\" src=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_1021.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6757\" srcset=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_1021.jpg 640w, https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_1021-300x221.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"474\" src=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_1022.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6758\" srcset=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_1022.jpg 640w, https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_1022-300x222.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"464\" src=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_1023.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6759\" srcset=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_1023.jpg 640w, https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_1023-300x218.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"451\" src=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_1019.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6760\" srcset=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_1019.jpg 640w, https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_1019-300x211.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"463\" src=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_1020.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6761\" srcset=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_1020.jpg 640w, https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_1020-300x217.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/?page_id=6368\">Back to CCC Commentary Page<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A younger enthusiast sent me a link to a YouTube video labeling the 2019 ZR1 as a \u201cwidow maker\u201d: 2019 Corvette ZR1 Review-America&#8217;s Widow Maker Here\u2019s my reply: Thanks,I guess you could kill yourself in a C7 ZR1 through recklessness, incompetence, etc.I am not a top driver by any means, but I find the C7 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":0,"parent":6368,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6756","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6756"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6770,"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6756\/revisions\/6770"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbuscorvette.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}