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A £79,200 price tag makes the mid-engined C8 Corvette Convertible over £10,000 cheaper than a drop-top 911, but is it any less fun to drive? Steve Sutcliffe gets behind the wheel in Europe for the first time.
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0:00
It may have taken nine long years of development and most of one global pandemic to get here
0:08
but finally the all-new mid-engined 6.2-litre V8 Corvette Stingray is upon us
0:18
Quite some car it is too. Not least because even in more expensive convertible form
0:25
it costs just £82,150. And for the first time in its 68-year history
0:33
it will be available in right-hand drive. Now, we've already driven the new Vette in coupe form in the States on a track
0:41
and found it to be more than just a little bit tasty. Here, though, we drive it in Europe for the first time
0:48
still in left-hand drives but in full Euro specification and on the roads of the Adenauer Forest
0:55
The ones that surround quite a famous German racetrack. So what's it like
1:01
Good enough to worry a Porsche 911? Sharp enough even to mix it with a McLaren
1:07
Well, let's see. It's a very difficult car not to like, is the new C8 Corvette
1:20
Especially the convertible. Because I've driven the coupe in the States and I have to be honest, I can't tell a great
1:31
deal, if anything at all, in terms of difference dynamically between the convertible and the coupe
1:38
But that is because they made the coupe and the convertible right from the word go
1:43
So they kind of eradicated all the potential pitfalls that you normally get when you take
1:47
the roof off a car. And the result is just... It's dead cool, this car
1:53
I really do like it. An awful lot. They've always been quick
1:58
They've always been muscly. They've always been really exciting and really good to listen to
2:03
But this has got an air of sophistication to it that no previous Corvette has ever had
2:10
as far as I'm concerned, on the move. You have to presume that that is because the engine is back there this time, not up there
2:18
The dry sump V8 is still bursting with character but its outputs are down a touch in European spec, due yes to emissions
2:28
It got 475 bhp and 452 pounds of torque but in both cases those peaks are slightly lower than they are US spec versions
2:41
It's kind of in Cayman GTS, Boxster GTS territory. Not just in terms of price, but in terms of performance as well
2:51
0-16, 3.5 because it's got launch control. top speed 184, I'd say 0-109-ish. There is one thing, though, about this new Corvette
3:04
that they've kind of kept to themselves a bit. This car weighs 1,775 kilograms. For
3:12
a two-seater mid-engine sports car, that is a lot. It disguises its weight well, but
3:18
it does ultimately feel like quite a big old wagon does the Vette and that's a bit of a shame
3:25
Although that includes a full tank of fuel it's still chunky beside a 911 or an Audi R8
3:31
not to mention a 718 Cayman or Boxster GTS. Great gearbox in the new Corvette, eight-speed dual clutch
3:42
and it works really well, it's got a real snap to it
3:46
delicious torque and no turbos so you get immediate response from the throttle. It's
3:57
one of those cars where the throttle feels, your brain feels hardwired to the crank and
4:01
therefore the rear tyres. The response is that crisp. It doesn't absolutely tear towards
4:11
the horizon when you put your foot through the floorboards. It feels very quick rather
4:16
And I quite like that. Anyone with a bit of petrol in their veins will like the new Corvette, will love the new Corvette, I bet
4:37
But there are just a couple of things that you spend a bit more time with it and think, why does that have to be like that
4:44
one of which is this rotational dial. You've got, as you have with an awful lot of stuff nowadays
4:50
various different modes, and you change those modes very easily by rotating this switch down here
4:58
But my goodness me, the springing in this thing, you feel like you going to break your wrist just changing the modes I also not absolutely convinced by the steering or by the steering wheel
5:14
I do not like these flat-topped, flat-bottomed steering wheels because when you want to put
5:20
a bit of you-know-what on, which you do, you know, it does do that kind of stuff rather
5:26
well, especially when it's wet, but when you want to do that, I kind of lose where I am
5:30
but just the steering itself is good, it's accurate, it's precise but it doesn't bubble
5:42
with feel beneath your fingertips. What does work really well though are the brakes. Tons
5:51
of feel and the gearbox. Already talked about the gearbox but I can't overstate how good
5:58
overstate how good it is. That noise as well. I mean. UK cars will come in two trim levels, 2LT and 3LT, both with what Chevrolet calls the level one
6:14
aero package. The 3LT test car also rode on 20 inch Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres and had the
6:22
bigger Brembo brake upgrade and a standard fit limited slip diff which did help give it serious
6:29
traction. There is of course one other trick that you do with the convertible
6:33
and that's this which you can do on the move up to about 30 miles an hour I suppose
6:42
and when you do put the roof down it's pretty good. I'm not sure the wind management is just
6:50
It's as good as it is in, say, a Mercedes convertible, but I'm not really having to shout
6:57
There's a bit of ruffling around the top, which brings me to another slight flaw
7:03
I think the driving position is fundamentally good, but I feel like I'm sitting a bit too high behind the wheel
7:09
I want to get lower in these sport seats. There are three types of seats
7:14
This one's the middle spec. You can get comfort seat, sort of middle sporting seat
7:20
almost a full blown bucket seat, which I'm not sure you'd want in this car
7:25
But it is a lovely thing to hoon around in with the roost off
7:38
You can really stop doing this when you driving a Corvette On a road like this on a Sunday morning
7:47
It's just a cracking good car, it really is. Even if you don't get on with the way it looks, you'll mostly love the way the new Corvette drives
8:00
And if you do like what you see, and most people do when they encounter this car in the flesh
8:06
well the rest is very easy to fall in love with. And yes, there's even a hybrid version in the making, just in case you were worried
8:16
Right now though, the new Corvette deserves your full attention, and then some
8:21
For us enthusiasts, it's just that kind of a car. Now we couldn't drive the new Corvette in Germany and not see what it could do down an autobahn
8:35
And there's a rather nice quiet stretch of A1 just up the road from the Nürburgring
8:43
Alright then, how quick is the new C8 Corvette in a straight line, absolutely flat out down an autobahn
8:57
I'm not sure. what's about to find out 5th gear, top of 5th into 6th
9:10
155, 157, 59, 62, 165, 168
9:23
173
#Motor Vehicles (By Type)
#Custom & Performance Vehicles
#Chevrolet
#Convertibles
#Sports Cars
#Vehicle Specs, Reviews & Comparisons