HI Group,
While I am up here in Detroit for a few days I am enjoying my time both at GM and around town. Monday night I met up with Glen Durmisevich, who was one of the original SSR Mgr. and lead designers, we had met up last year for the first time at the Heritage Center Tour. He is now working on the accessory side of GM (more on that later). We talked over dinner about the latest things with accessories and his new job. He told me his Black SSR was home in storage during the winter months. However, he said he now has a yellow PEP 05 SSR with a 6-speed and it is sitting outside! After dinner he asked me if I would want to test drive it and of course I said, hmm sure why not?
I was a little nervous at first because the weather was so cold and of course very wet out. I hesitated for one second and then I jumped into the drivers seat and closed the door, slid the key into the ignition and started to crank it over. Wait a second... NOTHING happened... hmmm ??? I started to laugh out loud... oh yeah I think I need to push the clutch in first don't I?
I then started up the beast and revved the engine up and down a few times. Hmmm sounds good to me... I shifted her into 1st gear and took off... slowly at first but when I got out into the street I semi-nailed it and sure enough the tires just spun like crazy... lol It sure was nice to get back into a SSR and I really enjoyed the feel of the 6-speed and the way it performed! There was only one minor complaint. I asked Glenn why doesn't the engine RPM drop off faster? He said that was one of his grips too. It seemed to take forever for the revs to come back down. I believe that it was set up that way to help insure a smoother transition between shifting gears. Anyways that sure was a great way to end my Monday's events. :thumbs
Tuesday morning I had arranged to meet up with Bob Walczyk, SSR Product/Marketing Manager for coffee and a quick breakfast/ chat before I had to leave for a meeting at the Romulus Engine Plant. Bob told me the results were in and he had just emailed them to me via Lotus Notes back at my plant. I was very happy to hear that and I told him I would try to get the results posted ASAP over the weekend.
I had some photos taken at the Romulus Engine Plant where the 5.3 L engines where made. I am attaching a few of the photos below and if any one wants larger files for printing please PM me with your email address and I will email them to you.
While I am up here in Detroit for a few days I am enjoying my time both at GM and around town. Monday night I met up with Glen Durmisevich, who was one of the original SSR Mgr. and lead designers, we had met up last year for the first time at the Heritage Center Tour. He is now working on the accessory side of GM (more on that later). We talked over dinner about the latest things with accessories and his new job. He told me his Black SSR was home in storage during the winter months. However, he said he now has a yellow PEP 05 SSR with a 6-speed and it is sitting outside! After dinner he asked me if I would want to test drive it and of course I said, hmm sure why not?
I was a little nervous at first because the weather was so cold and of course very wet out. I hesitated for one second and then I jumped into the drivers seat and closed the door, slid the key into the ignition and started to crank it over. Wait a second... NOTHING happened... hmmm ??? I started to laugh out loud... oh yeah I think I need to push the clutch in first don't I?
I then started up the beast and revved the engine up and down a few times. Hmmm sounds good to me... I shifted her into 1st gear and took off... slowly at first but when I got out into the street I semi-nailed it and sure enough the tires just spun like crazy... lol It sure was nice to get back into a SSR and I really enjoyed the feel of the 6-speed and the way it performed! There was only one minor complaint. I asked Glenn why doesn't the engine RPM drop off faster? He said that was one of his grips too. It seemed to take forever for the revs to come back down. I believe that it was set up that way to help insure a smoother transition between shifting gears. Anyways that sure was a great way to end my Monday's events. :thumbs
Tuesday morning I had arranged to meet up with Bob Walczyk, SSR Product/Marketing Manager for coffee and a quick breakfast/ chat before I had to leave for a meeting at the Romulus Engine Plant. Bob told me the results were in and he had just emailed them to me via Lotus Notes back at my plant. I was very happy to hear that and I told him I would try to get the results posted ASAP over the weekend.
I had some photos taken at the Romulus Engine Plant where the 5.3 L engines where made. I am attaching a few of the photos below and if any one wants larger files for printing please PM me with your email address and I will email them to you.
