Around the World: Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is the US brand’s first mid-engine version of the sports car. Photos: Chevrolet
Prince sang about it, so too did Don McLean, and even our own OMC – meet the Chevrolet Corvette. And there’s good news for Kiwis as it is heading to New Zealand under the new GM Speciality Vehicles brand.
The Corvette is an iconic American vehicle and Chevrolet recently launched a mid-engined version with reports just out that an electric one will be available from 2023.
GM Speciality Vehicles (GMSV) will bring in the right-hand-drive Corvette from its Bowling Green plant in Kentucky, USA.
So what is the sports car like? Here are global reviews from motoring websites.
Top Gear UK
The sports coupe is heading to New Zealand under the brand GM Speciality Vehicles.
The British magazine and website gave it 8/10.
“Chevrolet has been talking about building a mid-engined Corvette for years – decades even – but we’ve had to wait until 2020 for the idea, the dream, the concept, to become a production reality.
You might think this landmark centre-engined model’s arrival would herald a whole new naming strategy, but no. It’s simply the next-generation Corvette, so it’s simply the C8. The same applies to all the models so far unveiled by the company. The base car is the Stingray, the performance pack is the Z51. And so on.
But don’t for one moment think that this car bears any relation whatsoever to the C7 it replaces in anything other than name. The C8 is to the C7 what Champagne is to Mountain Dew – a completely different product with a totally different performance offering.
Where the C7 rips and snorts its way down the road, the C8 is a pool of quiet – almost silent – calm. When you speed up, the C7’s brutish, sometimes wayward, mix of under and oversteer is replaced in the C8 by a delicate mix of crystal clear, swift and linear responses which make the ‘Vette’s behaviour far more accurate. So it’s a better car, no question.
But is it a better Corvette? That is one of the questions we have to answer here. If a Corvette is supposed to have muscle car manners and noise yet offer supercar performance, then I suggest it isn’t. Something has been lost, some of it bad but also some good. Then again, everything needs to progress and will always – well nearly always - lose some of the original charm.”
AutoCar UK
The interior is driver-focussed but could be crapped for tall drivers.
This British website gave it 4/5.
“While supercar makers can afford to throw exotic materials at structures, the C8 has been built around a far lower-cost aluminium structure.
There are two carbonfibre parts to add strength in critical areas, one being a panel underneath the central "backbone", the other the rear bumper beam. Chevrolet claims the C8's structure is 19 per cent stiffer than the C7.
It is bigger, too. Indeed big, full stop: the 2723mm wheelbase in 248mm longer than that of the Cayman and the overall length of 4630mm makes it longer than almost any other mid-engined two-seater and 134mm longer than the front-engined C7.
The advantage of that is the relatively spacious cabin and the added practicality of the rear luggage compartment. The C8 has also lost the transverse rear leaf spring of other recent Vettes, now having coil springs at each corner.
Ergonomics aren't entirely successful, the long row of switches for heating and ventilation between the front seats are hard to see and the driver's seat is mounted higher than the passenger's; even its lowest position feels too high. Head room is also limited for taller drivers, although – another Corvette trademark – the C8 remains a targa, with a lift-out roof panel.
The steering wheel is probably the squarest fitted to any car since the Austin Allegro and - to get the niggles out of the way - the long dashboard and shallow windscreen angle throw up lots of distracting reflections.”
Car Advice
The Chevrolet Corvette has a 364kW 6.2-litre V8 engine.
The Australian website gave it 8.4/10.
“In the US, the entry-level car is US$59,995 … that brings a 364kW 6.2-litre V8 and eight-speed double-clutch transmission, plus pretty reasonable standard equipment that includes power seats, dual-zone climate and an 8.0-inch touchscreen interface.
The V8 might be old and short on technical sophistication, but it is willing, effective and endlessly charismatic.
Throttle response is instant, the mid-range is keen, and although the rev limiter calls time at just 6600rpm, the C8 makes nicer noises at this modest peak than many posher alternatives produce one or two grand higher.
Chevrolet claims a sub-3.0-second 0–60mph time – that’s 0–97km/h in metric – with a launch-control system and even a burnout mode (holding then releasing both gearshift paddles simultaneously to dump the clutch).
What this Corvette doesn’t have is the edgy feel that the C7 and (especially) C6 did under power – as if they were trying to work out where to spit you off. There is much more natural grip in the chassis. Getting anywhere close to the edge of adhesion requires big throttle openings at low speeds.
In quicker corners it feels absolutely planted, the Pilot Sport tyres generating huge grip … on a racetrack it would feel more alive close to the limits.
The gearbox is another major accomplishment. The twin-clutcher doesn’t have the pronounced torque bump on upshifts that has become common for junior supercars. Instead, the transmission gets the job done without fuss.”
The Drive
The Chevrolet Corvette has a targa, lift off roof.
The American website tried it on the track, then desert.
“Information from throttle position, brake pressure, steering angle, and latitudinal and longitudinal accelerometers all factor into how aggressively and quickly the DCT initiates a shift. On track, when the car is being driven hard, shifts are more aggressive, and the DCT will also do helpful things like delay upshifts until corner exits to avoid unsettling the chassis. Combine all of that with shift times less than 100 milliseconds, and the DCT is better in every measurable way to a manual gearbox—except for raw engagement, admittedly. But the mid-engine Corvette has to perform.
A limited slip-differential is integrated into the gearbox itself. The base Stingray gets a mechanical setup, while Z51 equipped cars get eLSD, which comes with a higher final drive ratio of 5.17:1 for quicker acceleration.
Contending with an average summer high temperature of 105 degrees and a winter low of more than 70 degrees colder, the roads through the Valley of Fire State Park outside Las Vegas are utterly trashed. They're so buckled and uneven that any sensible person would question the decision to test a new supercar on them. But the folks at GM have an ace up their collective sleeve—the astoundingly good MagneRide adaptive suspension.
It uses dampers filled with a magnetorheological fluid whose viscosity can be changed on the fly with a magnetic current. As the car zooms along, its central ECU reads road inputs a thousand times a second and adjusts the current as needed to thicken or loosen the fluid, which in turn firms up or softens the blows at a given wheel. MagneRide proved every bit the match for ruined desert roads and made the Corvette super stable at any speed without grinding both driver and passenger into the pavement. ”
