rob-2

Sad to see it go!

Purple Haze

I missed it in this long thread, but why did the OP sell his Vette, didn't he like it?

Marioshi

I think his wife is preggers or something.

But yes, he liked it very much a lot, in every way.

Purple Haze

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to refer to you in the third person, but I wasn't sure if you were coming back to this thread!

Marioshi

A safe assumption given the circumstances, ill probably disappear from the internet completely once the baby is born!

The Raptor

When is your wife due?

Marioshi

Christmas...

s2k_suzuka

Sorry to revive an old topic but I thought this might be the most appropriate thread, in which to put my mini review of the 2016 C7 Corvette that I rented for a weekend. I drove it about 300 miles in total. It was a base model equipped with a 7-speed manual transmission.

Overall

• Getting in and out of the car is easier than in the S2000.
• The car was equipped with the base seats. They are very comfortable and have good lateral support (better than in the S2000). The available competition seats have even more side bolstering but they are a bit restrictive and may not be as comfortable on a longer drive. I only tried them at the LA auto show.
• I am not too fond of the forward visibility. The low seating position, bulging fenders and long hood obstruct the view. When parking, it is hard to tell where the front limits of the car are.
• The rear view through the sloping back window is not great either. Fortunately, there is a backup camera to help you when reversing.
• There is a lot of luggage space behind the hatch. If you buy groceries as I did, they will roll all over the place. Same for my camera bag, for which I was even afraid that it may roll over and land in the passenger compartment if I braked hard.
• The cup holder is very small. A Starbucks grande latte does not fit well. Very unusual for an American car!
• The targa top can be removed and stored in the luggage compartment. This is a great feature because you suddenly have an open top car!
• The road noise, while dependent on the type of pavement, is generally similar to that in my Mazda6.
• The speedometer gauge on the left side of the dash is pretty much useless. It is so coarse going all the way to 200 mph. I always looked at the speed displayed digitally in the middle display.
• The door locks are electronic. You press a button to open the door from either inside or outside. Same thing for the rear hatch.
• Other Corvette drivers wave at you. It is a good feeling. But I don't feel like driving the car aggressively simply because it does not fit the profile of Corvette drivers, who are on average sixty years old and just cruise along.

The engine

• 6.2l OHV V8, 2 valves/cylinder, direct injection, 455 hp, 460 lb.ft (625 Nm) of torque.
• The car rocks side to side when you gas it in neutral.
• It is capable to run at 1300 rpm in 7th gear at 70 mph. I even managed to climb the Sepulveda Pass like that.
• When in eco mode, the engine runs as a V4 when operated at light throttle. When you get back on the gas, it stumbles a bit as it awakens the sleeping four cylinders.
• I averaged 32 mpg while driving 200 miles from Thousand Oaks to Solvang and back. Quite impressive for a powerful V8 engine!
• The power builds up steadily as the revs rise. The engine pulls strongly all the way to redline. No complaints there.
• With the engine being so powerful, you can pretty much drive it in whatever gear you feel like and still have enough power for most everyday driving maneuvers. This takes away some of the fun, actually.
• I may be in the minority, but I am not used to the American V8 rumble and I am not sure I like it. It doesn't sound like the sports cars I am used to.

Gearbox and clutch

• The gear engagement is a little clunky when cold but it is ok. The shift effort is not very high considering the engine power.
• The clutch pedal is not heavy because the Corvette has a twin-disc clutch. It is lighter than in my BMW 135i and slightly heavier than in the S2000. The clutch slip point modulation is good.
• I don't remember missing gears so often in another car. I was often selecting 4th instead of 6th or 5th instead of 7th. After two days and 300 miles, I still kept missing gears. The gear selection is indicated on the dash and I can see why- you won't be sure otherwise if you got the right gear. Also 7th gear is so far out to the right and doesn't have a positive click when engaged.
• Skip shift mode (when the engine computer forces use to engage 4th instead of 2nd gear) only got activated once during my 3 days of driving. This mode, which is meant for fuel economy, gets activated when accelerating at part throttle in 1st gear and when you stay in 1st a little longer.
• I didn't find the brake and gas pedals particularly well suited for heel-and-toe downshifting. Maybe I will get used to it with experience.
• The Corvette has active rev marching, which is off by default when you start the car. When activated, it matches revs on both downshifts and upshifts. It is consistent and smoother than a person can manage. But I can see how you can get spoiled when using it. It is also less satisfying. Isn't the allure of the manual gearbox that you do all the shifting work yourself? And now you have a computer that will match the revs better than you every time... I feel you are damned if you use it and damned if you don’t use it. It is best for such a feature not to be offered.

Brakes

• Firmer than in my S2000, good pedal effort. No complaints.

Steering

• I believe the steering effort changes with the chosen driving mode.
• The steering is precise but you get the feeling that the car is not working very hard even when you are going pretty fast in the corners. It is hard to judge its limits.

Suspension

• The ride is quite comfortable. There is hardly any body roll, at least in normal driving.
• When you brake hard, the car pitches forward and the rubber splitter rubs against the asphalt.

white98ls

Thanks for the review, very helpful! I find myself tempted by all three of the most recent-gen Vettes (Z06 for the C5 and C6). The big-V8 stuff you mentioned is the same sort of thing I loved about my E39 M5 (when the car shimmied the first time I revved it in neutral, I had already fallen in love), but I'm sure more so with an even bigger engine and less weight. Everyone should drive a truly big-engined performance car (preferably manual) at some point - it's a unique experience.

Based on what you said, it sounds like it had the base suspension and not the Z51 package?

s2k_suzuka

You are welcome. I'm glad my random impressions were helpful to you. Yes, it was a base C7 Corvette (LT1 package). The Z51 package adds firmer suspension, electronically controlled LSD, dry-sump lubrication and more cooling. The MagnaRide shocks are optional. I drove a C6 Corvette years ago. The acceleration is just as fierce but the seats and interior are undeniably better in the C7. Magazines say the at-the-limit handling of the C7 (with Z51 package) is more predictable than that of the C6 but I didn't have the conditions to check that myself. I have to say though that I felt more connected with the car during cornering in a 2013 Subaru BRZ than in a C7 Corvette.