Leisure

Masters of their Terrain

Six men who live the Best Life test-drive the hottest new cars of 2006

By: Josh Dean, Photographs by: Rainer Hosch
[ Updated: Jul 14, 2008 - 5:06:14 PM ]

James Cameron
Chevrolet Corvette z06
Price: $65,800
Weight: 3,132 pounds
Engine: 505 hp, 7.0-liter OHV V-8
Top Speed: 198 mph
0 - 60 mph: 3.7 seconds

It is barely sunrise, and James Cameron is itching to tackle the rugged hills that wrap around his Malibu home. "This should be a good way to wake up," he says, starting the blue Corvette in his driveway. The Titanic director has been schooled in performance driving and very quickly puts those skills into play.

One of his first moves is to deactivate the car's traction control. It is a lifesaving technology that helps the driver maintain control to avoid skids and spinouts, but Cameron has no interest in computer assistance. He wants to put the Z06 -- a 505-horsepower, higher-performance version of the standard Corvette -- to the test.

"Is this car broken in? Can I push it?" he asks. He gets clearance and he's off, surging forward, then slowing to avoid some zebra-striped bumps in the road. "You have to be careful here because of all the stupid speed bumps. I believe they were put in because of me."

He navigates onto the sleepy streets of Los Angeles' most exclusive neighborhood. "We'll take the route I usually take when I go motorcycle riding with the governor." Of course he means Arnold Schwarzenegger, a friend since the Terminator days.

Cameron turns onto a secondary road that rises fast in a series of tight turns. His hands clenched tightly at 10 and 2, Cameron tears up the windy road, braking hard into corners and flooring the Vette as he exits the turns. Free of traction control, the back end skitters with each punch of the gas, eliciting a smile from Cameron as he corrects the skids.

He comes to a stop at an intersection and looks four ways to be sure he's alone. Then he turns the wheel and guns the throttle, riding the clutch just enough to spin the tires until the Corvette is pirouetting in a giant, smoke-spewing circle. A halo of skid marks decorates the road; a cloud of atomized rubber hangs in the air. He does a full rotation and then peels out down one of the streets, the car careening toward a guardrail as both driver and passenger let out a yelp. He quickly jerks the wheel into the skid, and the car settles.