Meetings are held the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 PM

Location is TBD until we find a replacement

Editor/Publisher: Ed Clerkin-Publicity | Our Board/Contact Us

January 2020

7th General Meeting [Mulligan’s Cafe]

18th Deer Lodge Lunch Run [Ojai]

HAPPY NEW YEAR! For our first item, the January Meeting will be at Mulligan's Cafe & Bar located at 3500 McCaw Ave in Santa Barbara just off Los Positas Road. The meeting will start at 6:30PM and dinner will be available. Dinner this month will be one of 3 options: 1) Steak 2) Grilled Salmon 3) Grilled Chicken Other future options will include tempura cod, meatloaf, pork chops, 4-piece fried chicken, and grilled mahi mahi. We will switch out these other options (1 or 2 every month) to keep things interesting. If all goes well the board will make a decision on whether or not to continue having our meetings here. We need at least 20 people at the meetings to make this a viable option so plan to attend if you can. Also please let me know by Monday morning if you can make it so I can give them a count.

We are planning a Board Meeting in January to discuss items such as budget and By-Laws. Of course, we welcome your input and will bring any decisions that need to be approved to the club. Also, we will be getting together a slate of officers so if anyone wants to run for any office, please let me know. Our next item is Activities. Paula and I came up with a list of activities for the year. This list is not set in stone and we can add or subtract as needed. Please see the Activities Column for a preview of Events coming up. [Editor Note: I will be publishing a complete Event Schedule on the website plus adding these Events to the website for sign ups.] We are still looking for an Activities Director so if you would like to volunteer let me know.

Our club was mentioned in the Corvette Club of Hawaii newsletter (see their published newsletter here). They had 6 cars shipped out for the Caravan and they are a great group of people to say the least.

That is about it for now. Have a safe and enjoyable New Year!

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE

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Presidents Message 1

VeePee’s Page 2-5

NCM Ambassador 6

Activities 7

Membership 8

Last Month Minutes 9

Sponsor Page 10

Member Advertising 11

IN THIS ISSUE

EVENT CALENDAR

February 5th General Meeting

[Mulligan’s Cafe]

2nd Santa Paula Airport/1st [Santa Paula]

3rd General Meeting [Mulligan’s Cafe]

15th Winos Gone Wild [Thore’s Home]

March

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Hib Halverson VEEPEE’S PAGE

Tires. Tires. Tires. For most cars, all that matters is that they're round, black, have air in them and don't cost too much. We all know that Corvettes are not "most cars". Tires are a key part of the Vette's ability to accelerate, corner and brake. In fact, as far back as 1984, GM was having its tire supplier, in that case, Goodyear, design tires specifically for certain Corvettes. Here's some examples:

1984 Goodyear Eagle VR 1992 Goodyear Eagle GS-C 1994 Goodyear Eagle GC-C EMT (cars with WY5 "extended mobility tires") 1997 Goodyear Eagle F1 GS EMT 2001 Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar (C5 Z06) 2005 Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar EMT (C6 Z51) 2009 Michelin Pilot Sport 2 (C6 ZR1) 2011 Goodyear F1 Supercar Gen 2 EMT (C6 Z06) 2012 Michelin Pilot Sport Cup ZP ( C6 ZR1 w. PDE or Z06 w. Z07) 2014 Michelin Pilot Super Sport ZP 2015 Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 ZP (C7 Z06 w. Z07) 2020 Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 ZP 2020 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S ZP (C8 w Z51) Note: EMTs and ZPs are run-flat tires. The lesson we can learn from the above is that, in some situations, the best choice in a replacement tire is the one designed for the car. In other situations, because either: 1) the original tires are no longer made–Goodyear Eagle VRs and GS-Cs, for example–2) the original tires are too expensive and you don't need the car's maximum handling capability, 3) you prefer tires made by a company other than that which made the OE tire or, 4) maybe you want a drag racing tire or a winter tire, you may chose a brand other than what came on the car originally. So...what tires do Sandy and I have on our four Vettes? On our '71 hot rod, which was converted to 17-in wheels back in 1994, we run Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3s in the C4 ZR1 sizes (275/40ZR17 front, 315/35ZR17 rear). I think, in those sizes, for street performance use, that's the best choice. On our 2004 Z06, we use the OE Goodyear F1 Supercars mainly because I'm not aware of any other brand of tire in those sizes which performs better and, at least at this point in time, the F1 SC's are still available. Our 2012 Z06/Z07 came with Pilot Sport Cup tires but, today, we use the Michelin PS Cup 2 most of the time, but for long trips we use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 + all season tires and go to a less aggressive suspension alignment to increase tread life. The PS Cups are a street-legal, low tread depth, quasi-racing tire. They stick like crazy, but have only a few tread grooves and a soft tread compound with limited life. They should not be used by inexperienced drivers when temperature is below 60° or in rainy weather. Regardless of driver skill, a car with PS Cups cannot be safely driven below 45°F or on any snow-covered or icy surface. On our 2019 ZR1/ZTK we use the OE Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 most of the time, but for long trips we use the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 + all season tires and go to a less aggressive suspension alignment to increase tread life.

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There are three types of tires generally used on passenger cars:

Winter: Intended for regular use in cold weather, on snow-covered or icy roads or on muddy unimproved roads. They are, also, known as mud-and-snow or M/S tires. They have a "three mountain snow flake" symbol on the sidewalls. All-Season: Intended for regular, year-round use in hot, warm or cold weather on dry and wet roads as well as, occasional use on packed snow or icy roads. Summer: Intended for regular use in warm or hot weather on performance cars and occasional use in wet weather. Difficult to drive in temperatures below 40°F Track* Low tread depth, very soft compound tire intended for regular use in warm weather on dry or wet race tracks and for occasional road use in summer weather on performance cars. Unsafe for track use below 60°F on wet tracks or roads. Unsafe for tracks or roads with areas of standing water. *not an official industry tire category. From 1984 until this year, all Corvettes were factory-equipped with Summer tires. From 2012, to 2019 a few Corvette were factory-equipped with track tires. Starting with the C8, base models get All-Season tires and up-level performance models (ie: Z51) use Summer tires. So...where should CCSB members go for useful, honest tire information and the best prices on all types and brands of tires? Well, first let me tell you what I avoid. There is a regional tires store chain which advertises on local TV. One of their ads which I hate has a customer, covered head-to-foot with oil, talking to a store manager about the pitfalls of changing his own oil. The sales pitch is, of course, to have your oil changed by "professionals" at this tire shop. These stores have big LED countdown clock displays for each service bay to both remind the technician how long he's taking to do the work to show the customer how fast the service is. I would not set foot in one of those stores because the last thing I want is a service tech in a hurry to meet a quota working on my Corvette. If I visit a tire store and find the place is filthy, equipment is worn and the techs look like they'll get grease all over my seats, I'll run the other way in spite of any low price deal they offer me on tires. Ok...where to go for tires. A lot of people like Tire Rack which is an online retailer of tires and has a great web site with lots of tire information. The only problem with Tire Rack is you have to pay shipping to get the tires to you and, then, you have to find an installer and move the tires from your front porch to the tire shop you choose to put them on your car. Far as I'm concerned, in spite of Tire Rack's great web site and low prices, that's a hassle I don't want. I prefer to deal with a business which only sells and services tires and my choice since mid-2018 has been America's Tire in Goleta. "America's Tire" is the brand name the Discount Tire chain uses in California outside of San Diego County. Discount Tire is the largest retailer of tires and wheels in the World with over 1000 stores. Since I moved to Goleta full-time in 2010, I've bounced around among different tire vendors in south county but didn't find a tire shop I really liked until America's Tire opened up in Goleta in May of 2018. What sold me on them was: 1) A high level of service from well-trained, skilled, motivated and polite employees. 2) Ability to handle any tire need a Corvette owner may have. 3) A really clean shop and comfortable customer waiting area with Wi-Fi 4) The latest technology in tire mounting and balancing equipment, 5) Knowledge of and experience working with high performance summer tires in the large sizes typical of Corvettes. 6) Care used when mounting tires on expensive aluminum wheels.

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Hib Halverson

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7) Equipment and skill required to mount Pilot Sport Cup 2 ZP tires which have extremely stiff beads. Many tire shops claim they can mount them, but then find out they can't.

8) Familiarity with tire pressure warning systems. 9) Free tire pressure checks, free tire repairs and free tire rotations and those services are free whether or not you buy tires from America's Tire. 10) A website with excellent tire information section Another reason I like America's Tire is you can order tires on its site at a price that includes installation then have them delivered at the America's or Discount Tire store of your choice, which in my case is Goleta. Even better is that you can order tires off the website and have them delivered to a Discount Tire store in another city–There is one in Orcutt and two in Oxnard/Ventura–or even another state. Recently, I ordered a set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 + tires for our 2012 which, at this point in time, is at Katech in Michigan having some engine work done. The tires will be delivered to Discount Tire's Clinton Township store near Katech, will get mounted and balanced such that the car will be ready for me to pick-up and drive home at the end of this month. America's Tire in Goleta sells tires marketed by 33 different vendors including most major brands, like Michelin, Goodyear, Continental and Bridgestone, Yokohama, Pirelli and Firestone. With those 33 brands and the buying power of over 1000 stores, these people have a tire in every price range. As far as competitive pricing, the Goleta store has a "we will not be undersold" policy. America's Tire also sells a whole bunch of different aftermarket wheels. Lastly a couple of other Corvette tire issues.... First, tire wear on the front of C6s and C7s–those cars have some pretty amazing handing limits, especially when equipped with Z51 or they are Z06es. One way GM can build a production car which corners at near 1.0g is a performance-oriented wheel alignment. A complaint I hear from some Corvette owners who are not aggressive drivers is excessive wear on the inside edges of tires. This comes from the high negative camber setting GM specifies. For Corvetters who want better tread life and are willing to compromise some of the car's "at-limit handling" capability, the solution is to revise the camber setting for wheel alignment to be more positive, ie: use a setting with less negative camber. For example, the front camber spec. for a '19 ZR1 w. ZTK is -0.9-deg. When I set the car up for a long road trip, such as the National Corvette Caravan, I have the front alignment readjusted to -0.25-deg for better tread life. Reducing negative camber will usually eliminate the problem with excessive wear on the inside edge of the tires and it can be done both front and rear. Your results may differ. Club sponsor, Bunnin Chevrolet, has an alignment rack with the latest technology and a service technician, named Luis, who knows how to run it. Bunnin Chevrolet does all my alignment work. Secondly, California's "tire pressure law". Passed in September of 2010, in short, the statute requires all automotive service providers to inflate tires to the manufacturer-recommended tire pressure when any service is performed on a vehicle. The State and the service industry settled on using the manufacturer's maximum recommended pressure, as listed by the tire pressure sticker placed by car companies on every driver-side door post. The pressure listed on that sticker is always the pressure necessary to safely support the car when it is loaded to its full gross weight and that pressure is checked with the tires "cold" meaning ambient temperature. The problem with this law is two fold. 1) If you set the tires at max cold pressure, once the tire heats up as you drive, the pressure will rise and, in the summer, that may even to the point of overinflation. Tires which have too much air pressure will cause the car to ride harshly, will decrease tread life and may actually degrade handling. 2) If you have the tires inflated to the pressure necessary when the car is loaded to gross vehicle weight (GVW) rating but you drive around town with only yourself in the car and some gas in the tank; you don't need tires at max pressure. With my cars, I maintain tire pressures myself with by-weekly checks and when I take a car in for service, I tell them not to inflate tires to max pressure. By doing that, I gain ride quality and tread life. For example: this time of year, I set the tires on my daily driver at 27 psi cold. After I'm on the road for five or ten

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Hib Halverson

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minutes they heat up to 30 psi or so which is fine for most daily driving. If I load the car up with luggage and two or more people, then I go to 30 in the front and 32 in the rear. Once I'm on the road for a while, I'll be at 32-33 in front and 35-36 in the rear. In the summer, I actually lower my cold checking temperature because, in hot weather, there will be more pressure increase as the tire warms. For example, in the middle of the summer, I set the tires at 26-psi cold and seem the rise to 30 or 32 after I've been driving for a while. Your results may differ. When do I use max pressure? Anytime I'm going to drive a car hard or load it up to GVW when doing on a trip. Lastly, don't relay on a cheap "pen-type" tire gauge most of them are grossly inaccurate. Get a good dial-type or digital tire gauge. Questions? Comments? Email me at vpccsb@netmotive.net Hib Halverson

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Hib Halverson

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Frank LoMonaco NATIONAL CORVETTE MUSEUM MASTER AMBASSADOR

The National Corvette Museum has embarked on a major exhibit remodel bringing one of the Museum’s earliest display spaces up to date with a design that truly reflects the sleek and styl-ish nature of America’s favorite sports car. The Performance Gallery is one space in the Museum that has been around since the building ’s grand opening over 25 years ago. In the early days an elevated "racetrack" was in place to give display cars a feeling of motion and being on the grid, but due to difficulties changing out the vehicles, it was later removed. The space has housed an interactive pit crew challenge, educa-

tional driving simulator and various artifacts through the years, but now needs more than a refresh. It ’s time for an over-haul. In 2018 the Museum met with an exhibit company to get ideas and renderings on what the new space could look like. They wanted not only a clean look, but also a space that would lend itself to showcasing historic racing videos and stories about each car on display. The concept is to have projection with each car, as well as digital labels that allow visitors to learn more through an interactive experience. Rather than remove or paint over the existing racing mural, they will install a secondary wall that keeps it protected and intact behind the scenes. Funding for the exhibit was garnered through a private donation.

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[Editor Note: I will be publishing a complete Event Schedule on the website plus adding these Events to the website for sign ups.] January: On Jan 18th we are planning lunch at the Deer Lodge in Ojai. We will depart Carpinteria and drive over Highway 150 and Highway 33 to the Deer Lodge. For those of you who want to join us afterwards we will plan on visiting a couple of wineries in the ar-ea. February: On Feb 2nd we will visit Santa Paula Airport for the First Sunday. Afterwards we will plan on lunch at Garman's Pub in San-ta Paula. Also, in February will be the Mullins Museum in Oxnard followed as always by lunch. March: On March 15th, we will have Winos Gone Wild Under the Wisteria at Thore’s humble abode. The wine is to be determined. April: On April 18th we will plan to visit the Lyons Air and Auto Museum in Santa Ana. The on April 24th, we plan on attending the Spring and Shout Dinner Dance: Tribute to Neil Diamond and Ronny and the Classics at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. We will need at least 10 people to reserve a table. May: On May 16th we are planning to visit the Car Collection Vault in Santa Paula possibly with the Ventura County Corvette Club. June: On the 7th of June is our annual Installation Picnic at Stow Park in Goleta. Then on June 27th we are planning a lunch run to the Condor Café in Pine Mountain. This run will be all about the drive. July: Once again we are planning on attending the 4th of July Parade down State Street followed by lunch. In the past the club has sub-sidized this event but from this point forward it will have to be self-sustaining. Also, in July will be a run out to the Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar on the 25th. If you have never been here (and even if you have), this is a museum you MUST see. August: From Aug 21st thru Aug 24th we are planning our first overnight trip to the Disney Museum at the Presidio in San Francisco. We will have more info as it gets closer. September: On September 19th, we will return to the Inn of the 7th Ray in the Santa Monica Mountains and yes, we will take the long way around on mostly mountain roads. October: On Oct 10th, we will plan a trip to Quartz Hill to visit the Broken Bit Restaurant for dinner. Again, this run will include some driving on mountain roads. Then on the 24th and 25th, we will once again visit wineries in Paso Robles and have lunch at the Loading Chute in Creston. November: On November 21st, we will plan on visiting MB2 in Newberry Park with lunch at Stacks at the Thousand Oaks Mall. Who will lead the pack this time around? December: Last and certainly not least is our annual Christmas Party on the 12th. We have a couple of other things planned (Super Car Sunday at Pierce College, possibly JPL, and Cars and Coffee Sunday mornings at La Cumbre Plaza.)

ACTIVITIES COLUMN

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2020 begins with 76 members with 60 Corvettes. Best wishes to our January Birthday People:

1/5 Deb Hanks

1/8 Matt Stevens

1/12 Pat Dovas

1/27 Fred Smith

1/31 George Dovas

QUOTE OF THE MONTH: More Sleep. More Adventures. More Fun. More Laughter. Less Negative. Less Stress. More Creating. More Love.

Pat Bloom MEMBERSHIP COLUMN

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If you would like to share your event with the club, please contact Pat Bloom with your article.

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There was no Membership meeting in December. The next membership meeting is scheduled for January 7th, 2020. Respectfully submitted, Sandy Rubel-Halverson, Secretary

Sandy Halverson MINUTES OF CCSB MEMBERSHIP GENERAL MEETING

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For clothing embroidered with the Corvette Club Santa Barbara logo contact Frank or Barbara LoMonaco.

http://store.corvettemuseum.com/ Members of the NCM receive 10% to 15% discount on purchases from the museum store. Check the store before buying Corvette relat-ed items from other vendors—you might be surprised at the current inventory as well as prices. Be sure to check the items on sale while you are there.

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Alan E. Emslie, P.E. Principal

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aemslie@padreinc.com www.padreinc.com

MARY KAY COSMETICS

SPECIAL MEMBER PRICING

Dr. Paula Ross, D.C., C.C.S.P

Chiropractor

Chiropractor specializing in nutrition/weight loss and exercise rehabilitation

Montecito, CA 805-969-0022

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