C6 rear end looks great to me. HATED the C5's backside, though.

None of the convex C3 and up Corvette rears ('74-'83, '90-'04) appeal to me at all, all the concave ones do ('68-'73, '84-'89, '05+).

 

Lol, unicorns, but yeah it just comes down to is to each their own. Like I said though, I love the tapered look you're talking about, but on a sharp creased design like the C6, I dunno if it would blend in well, whereas the DB9 has a more curvy character to it so it blends in nicely. But I totally agree with you that it probably would look great, but the C6's current rear end imo is one of the nicer designs out for non-exotic money. And if that artist rendering is correct in that it has that lip spoiler, they should just incorporate it into the design as it would give it a more upmarket look vs. a glued on add on.

Hmm, should we poke at the hornets' nest and talk about the 911's rear from a design/stylistic standpoint... nah, for another thread.

 

Viper hood and front fenders from the earlier models?

 

Guys I clearly said that it had to be a comparable plastic part that sits vertically like a bumper and only on a comparable front-engined car, so all of these parts that you're trying to prove me wrong with are completely irrelevant.









































Nah, I'm just kidding. I was completely wrong.

 

To be fair, I don't think you're as "wrong" as you think. I think there's a difference between the rear bumper shell of the Corvette, compared to the clam of an Elise, or hood of a Viper. While both are technically "plastic," I would say that the different type of plastic used here makes a difference in perception and quality.

I'm gonna guess that the bumper cover of the 'vette is made of ABS or some other flexible material (like polypropylene) designed to shrug off minor bumps and hits. While this is great for that purpose, by design it needs to be thinner walled to accomplish this. The thinner wall combined with the overall large surface are of the bumper will result in less consistent parts from a mold due to things like shrinkage (we all know how much shrinkage sucks, amirite?). And then you get weird aberrations that irk detail oriented people, like how the fender meets the bumper.

The clams of the Viper and Elise are plastic in that they are made from FRP/Fiberglass. However, these pieces are designed to be rigid, and NOT flexible. They're definitely thicker, and more brittle. However, they'll hold to a detailed mold or shape much better than a thin walled ABS piece, and are able to take a more attractive finish than ABS/PP.

I'm guessing that when Mr.E.G. said "are there any larger plastic pieces...," he probably should have said: "Are there any larger pieces on cars that look like plastic?" Or "Are there any larger pieces on cars made from a flexible, non-rigid plastic?" In which case, clearly the rear bumper cap of the GTR would be in the running, but at least he'd look *less* silly than perhaps he feels now.

i.e.: I get you man, I get you.

Disclaimer: I'm not a materials expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

I think that's fair, but this sorta brings on another topic of would you rather have the flexible, more durably day to day part or the prettier but brittle part. Just like with interior quality, never really heard of a corvette dash cracking, but I've seen tons of E46s that have creaking with spiderweb like cracks in the dash.
And I've seen more bumpers than I care to admit, but virtually all bumpers are made from the really flexible material, which is a good thing. Alot of times when you see vettes that arent flush is because 1) it's been hit or 2) botched repair job. There's a number of brackets and such that keep it on straight, but it's also not very forgiving, just liek replacing a back window on an older porsche 911.

 

There is a video on youtube that basically denies this picture of being at all acurate. From a Chevy official at a corvette club private gathering of sorts, I might look it up later

Evan

 

Didn't specifically mention this artistry but I think this is something he may be talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVycCzxPsuM

 

One of the corvette engineers just made a claim at barret jackson that the 2013 would be the last year for the 427 and will most likely be downsized afterwards.

 

Couldn't you have at least provided a pic of a stock C6 instead of a modded C5 to prove your point?


Really? It's like a big plastic butt lid; it's all one piece. It looks like they didn't try to stylize it at all. It's unnecessarily thick looking and just odd. Don't get me wrong, I like the Corvette, I just can't get over the goofy butt.
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Not only that, but the worst part about the big plastic butt in MY opinion, is the fact that the transition from the fender to the bumper is NEVER SMOOTH. If you've ever tried to follow a reflection from the fender back, it always goes wonky at the bumper/fender seam.

SUCK.



Best pic I could find showing the issue. It always looks so horrible to me. If the car above were black, it'd be easier to see.
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