I will start by giving many thanks to Cam for taking a few hours to let me meet him in DFW to talk about his experience building and driving his SLC. It is no understatement to say that he loves his car and loves to drive his car.
After discussing some of my car background (novice with a bunch of gearheads as family, so that is good) we went for a nice ride to experience some of the SLC's pleasantries. I believe Cam has the LS376/480 mated to a Ricardo and to say that the car needs/requires anything more powerful is crazy. Our cruise consisted of more than a handful of s-curves, some time stuck in a construction zone and a bit of highway cruising. The performance and handling of the car was amazing and unlike anything I have experienced. We also had our pic taken at least a dozen times in the 10 min we were on the highway. Cam also insisted that if we were to stop at the gas station for a soda then we would get cornered there for 20-30 min by passerby's wanting to see the car. Given the number of iPhone's pointed at us and thumbs up thrown our way, I believe him.
Body: Everyone has said that pics don't do the car justice and I agree. The part I was most concerned about was that some of the trailing shots seem to make the back end of the car look overly flat and wide. I am not sure why the photos do that, but it isn't true. The body lines are smooth and flow wonderfully well.
Paint: Judging by all of the pics and youtube video's Cams car is in you'd think that his car has some outrageous paint job...nope. He is still rocking the gelcoat and it looks nice. He tracks his car and there are the standard bumps and bruises from small rocks and whatnot but I am very impressed with how the gelcoat looks from some heavy, >6000 miles in only a couple years, use.
Visibility: Cam has a fulltime rear camera that does well for seeing other vehicles in general. Resolution isn't good enough to ID what kind of vehicle it is, unless they are flashing lights:stunned:, but it certainly gets the job done. Front windscreen gives a nice full open view and the low mount side mirrors plus race wing are a bit limited as noted elsewhere here in the forums.
You sit very low to the ground and being able to see under the Escalade driving in front of you is a bit eye opening. It is a definite reminder of needing to be on alert when driving about town.
Interior: Very spartan in Cam's car. He likes it that way and likes keeping the weight off for track days. I am about the same height as Cam and prefer his more upright mounting of the seats as opposed to a more reclined position. Only checking in around 5' 9-10" will afford me the ability to keep the seats more upright.
The ride was not harsh. I expected to be bumped and bruised but even going through a bunch of construction areas was not near as bad as I had feared. I believe Cam is running stiffer springs too.
The dash flows well and some of my earlier concerns about the center console putting gauges and buttons too far away were wrong as everything is well within reach.
The foot boxes are long and narrow...well, narrow compared to my giganto pickup. I don't recall how wide my friends' footboxes are in their cars but the SLC is probably just a bit more narrow. I don't think it is a big deal, it just took some getting used to compared to said giganto pickup truck.
The driver and passenger are positioned more to the midline of the car to let you fit inside the 'bubble' of the car. This puts you fairly close together but not overtly so. Getting into the car isn't that difficult (for me) and due to the more midline position of the seats you can actually put a foot down to the outside of the seat to help your entrance. Exiting the car was not as straight forward but the roll cage assisted in being a nice place to grab on to....and that brings me to the finishing off of the interior...as grabbing the roll bar probably isn't an option with a finished interior.
The SLC is definitely a racecar first and foremost. It can be adapted for the street but it still remains a racecar. However, much like a bunch of you, I plan on building a street car rather than a track car and absolutely require a top of the line finished interior in the car. I have no doubt that it can be done but before I pull the trigger (okay okay, before my wife LETS me..) I am going to have to see one in person (her too).
I am planning/hoping to make a spring time trip to Detroit once the weather gets nicer to meet Fran and tour the factory. I would also appreciate it if anyone has a finished interior that I could come look at. My inspiration has become the AMPerformance car with the dark gray paint on the red and black interior. I definitely want to finish the interior to rival an Audi R8 and other supercars.
Here are a few pics from the visit and I would like to say thank again to Cam for taking his time on a Saturday afternoon to show me his car. I am definitely encouraged and look forward to potentially building one of these fine vehicles.
My decision to start this thread was inspired by a previous one and here is a link to Troy's thread about his first impressions with the SLC http://www.gt40s.com/forum/slc-clubhouse/37379-first-impression-person-slc.html
After discussing some of my car background (novice with a bunch of gearheads as family, so that is good) we went for a nice ride to experience some of the SLC's pleasantries. I believe Cam has the LS376/480 mated to a Ricardo and to say that the car needs/requires anything more powerful is crazy. Our cruise consisted of more than a handful of s-curves, some time stuck in a construction zone and a bit of highway cruising. The performance and handling of the car was amazing and unlike anything I have experienced. We also had our pic taken at least a dozen times in the 10 min we were on the highway. Cam also insisted that if we were to stop at the gas station for a soda then we would get cornered there for 20-30 min by passerby's wanting to see the car. Given the number of iPhone's pointed at us and thumbs up thrown our way, I believe him.
Body: Everyone has said that pics don't do the car justice and I agree. The part I was most concerned about was that some of the trailing shots seem to make the back end of the car look overly flat and wide. I am not sure why the photos do that, but it isn't true. The body lines are smooth and flow wonderfully well.
Paint: Judging by all of the pics and youtube video's Cams car is in you'd think that his car has some outrageous paint job...nope. He is still rocking the gelcoat and it looks nice. He tracks his car and there are the standard bumps and bruises from small rocks and whatnot but I am very impressed with how the gelcoat looks from some heavy, >6000 miles in only a couple years, use.
Visibility: Cam has a fulltime rear camera that does well for seeing other vehicles in general. Resolution isn't good enough to ID what kind of vehicle it is, unless they are flashing lights:stunned:, but it certainly gets the job done. Front windscreen gives a nice full open view and the low mount side mirrors plus race wing are a bit limited as noted elsewhere here in the forums.
You sit very low to the ground and being able to see under the Escalade driving in front of you is a bit eye opening. It is a definite reminder of needing to be on alert when driving about town.
Interior: Very spartan in Cam's car. He likes it that way and likes keeping the weight off for track days. I am about the same height as Cam and prefer his more upright mounting of the seats as opposed to a more reclined position. Only checking in around 5' 9-10" will afford me the ability to keep the seats more upright.
The ride was not harsh. I expected to be bumped and bruised but even going through a bunch of construction areas was not near as bad as I had feared. I believe Cam is running stiffer springs too.
The dash flows well and some of my earlier concerns about the center console putting gauges and buttons too far away were wrong as everything is well within reach.
The foot boxes are long and narrow...well, narrow compared to my giganto pickup. I don't recall how wide my friends' footboxes are in their cars but the SLC is probably just a bit more narrow. I don't think it is a big deal, it just took some getting used to compared to said giganto pickup truck.
The driver and passenger are positioned more to the midline of the car to let you fit inside the 'bubble' of the car. This puts you fairly close together but not overtly so. Getting into the car isn't that difficult (for me) and due to the more midline position of the seats you can actually put a foot down to the outside of the seat to help your entrance. Exiting the car was not as straight forward but the roll cage assisted in being a nice place to grab on to....and that brings me to the finishing off of the interior...as grabbing the roll bar probably isn't an option with a finished interior.
The SLC is definitely a racecar first and foremost. It can be adapted for the street but it still remains a racecar. However, much like a bunch of you, I plan on building a street car rather than a track car and absolutely require a top of the line finished interior in the car. I have no doubt that it can be done but before I pull the trigger (okay okay, before my wife LETS me..) I am going to have to see one in person (her too).
I am planning/hoping to make a spring time trip to Detroit once the weather gets nicer to meet Fran and tour the factory. I would also appreciate it if anyone has a finished interior that I could come look at. My inspiration has become the AMPerformance car with the dark gray paint on the red and black interior. I definitely want to finish the interior to rival an Audi R8 and other supercars.
Here are a few pics from the visit and I would like to say thank again to Cam for taking his time on a Saturday afternoon to show me his car. I am definitely encouraged and look forward to potentially building one of these fine vehicles.
My decision to start this thread was inspired by a previous one and here is a link to Troy's thread about his first impressions with the SLC http://www.gt40s.com/forum/slc-clubhouse/37379-first-impression-person-slc.html
