C7 Corvette Stingray: The Review (Sold 10-28-16)
 

So I have had my C7 for 3 months now and put 2600 miles on her so I figure it’s time to post up some thoughts.

The Speed

Is the C7 fast? Yes, absolutely, frighteningly so, everyone’s first questions is always “how high have you gotten it up to?” and the answer is, only 130 mph or so, but it got there very quickly. I have no doubts that this car could reach 190mph in stock form. Acceleration on the other hand is a mixed bag, it will accelerate extremely quickly if you can hook up. Unfortunately the car fights it’s traction control under normal circumstances. 285 section width tires are actually not that wide considering the power/weight ratio (3298/460= 7.17 lbs per hp). Ultimately, the car is extremely fast for the street, 2nd gear tops out at over 85 mph so its largely a 1-2 proposition before letting off. Luckily it has mounds of torque at all RPM so its plenty fast in any gear except for maybe 7th.

The Handling

My car is a non-z51 equipped 1LT with a 7MT which makes it likely the lightest C7 available. However, the Z-51 package offers a number of options which improve the cars track-worthiness. I have no plans to track my car but I am thinking about swapping the anti-roll bars for the Z51 versions to minimize the transitional body roll. I think its mostly a mental thing but you definitely feel the cars weight more than say an S2000. The car is extremely capable at windy road speeds. I have gotten comfortable with its size and its truly ridiculous to drive fast, the corners come up so quickly and you are hard on the brakes in and hard on the accelerator out, the car absolutely lunges out of the corners in 2nd or 3rd. I am thinking about taking it auto crossing or to a track day just to really get a feel for what it is like. The public roads are so limiting for a car like this.

The Sound

HOLY CRAP IT SOUNDS ANGRY. This car is by far the loudest and meanest sounding thing I have ever driven. The optional sports exhaust has 3 modes, touring – which leaves the butterfly valves in the most restrictive position most of the time, sport, which opens them up at low speeds and hard driving, and track which is open all the time. The off throttle pops, the on throttle roar, the rumble at idle are all beautiful. Starting it cold in the garage is one of my favorite things. I love that I can switch the exhaust at any time too as it completely changes the character of the car.

The Brakes

The brakes grab hard and slow the car extremely well. I have no complaints thus far, I am a little worried about an article I read claiming the brakes are subject to fade even under moderate use but I have yet to experience any issues. Also, they don’t squeak or dust which is a big plus for me.

The Interior

The interior is a big pro of this car over previous Corvettes. Even the most basic car like the one I have is more than suitable for a car of this price/type. Leather or leather-like protein vinyl cover most surfaces and brushed aluminum accents are a classy touch. The MMI isn’t great, and the switches feel a bit cheap, especially the knob for adjusting stations, etc. The car has no CD player, which is a first for me, but plenty of USB ports, Bluetooth connectivity including Pandora control through the touch screen. There is an awesome storage cubby behind the radio but otherwise storage is a bit lacking, the center console is VERY shallow and gets quite hot, the cup holders are nicely out of the way but a bit shallow for most things. Also, I dropped my phone in the crack of the seat and was unable to retrieve it without pulling over. The trunk is HUGE, I have hauled a number of things I could have never dreamed of getting into the S2000 and that was actually a big factor in getting this car (it replaced the s2000 AND the WRX so it had to be somewhat practical.)

The Economy

I have been tracking my fuel economy religiously on Fuelly and as of this writing I have seen 17.7 mpg overall. That may not seem great but a lot of our driving is downtown which is very hard on gas (I was getting about 18 in both the WRX an S2000 before I sold them). The good news is the highway fuel economy is no joke, our best tank so far was 26.8 which was during break-in so I was purposely varying our speed. We have a couple long freeway trips planned in the next month so I expect it to go up considerably. The bad news is, when you are having fun in the car the fuel burns off quick! Our worst tank was 13 mpg, this was right after break-in was over so I was trying out the power every chance I got. I have seen well over 30mpg indicated on steady 75mph freeway driving so that’s a big plus for me. I never got over 25mpg in my previous sports cars.

The Ride

The car is fairly comfortable as long as the roads aren't completely destroyed. Having the magnetic ride control would have been nice but coming from other sports cars and being all of 28 I can handle it. One complaint I have is that the chassis flexes when coming out of driveways which never happened in the S or the WRX. Kind of surprising but not a big deal I guess. Highway noise is muted very well except on the worst roads. Having a non-z51 is probably a benefit in this respect because of slightly taller sidewalls. One other complaint I have is that the flexible aero-dam on the front end SCRAPES on everything. Its embarrassing.

The Looks

This car looks like the freaking batmobile, it’s fantastic. It’s super aggressive without looking mad. I get a ton of compliments and questions. A couple of my favorites:

How fast will it go, like 220?
I like your race-car (a kid said to my wife)
You are soo lucky!
OH MY GOD!
That’s the new Corvette!

My only complaint here is the orange peel. I am noticing it everwhere now (on my car, other peoples cars, bathroom stalls, pretty much any painted surface). I don’t know if its actually that bad but it bugs me everytime I look at it in the shade. I kind of wish I had gotten a brighter color as I think the dark blue accents the effect.

The Long-Term
I essentially bought this car thinking we will probably have kids in the next couple of years. A sort of last-hurrah for 2-seater sports cars. I think I made a great choice and I don’t regret having it as our only car. It does everything that we need it to (for now) and we have been taking it out on the weekends more than we ever did with the s2000. It gets great economy on the highway and hauls all the stuff that we need it too. I will enjoy it until it is no longer suitable and hopefully by then something with 4/5 doors/seats will catch my eye.

I will update this thread with thoughts/pictures/videos from time to time. Thanks for reading. Feel free to ask any questions.

UPDATE (final thoughts):

Alas, the Corvette is gone but not Forgotten. It was an amazing ride, these last 2y 8m and I wish I could have kept it longer, time for a new chapter. Maybe some day I will own one again.

Some Final Stats
Mileage: 30,150
Engine Hours: 739.1
Revolutions: 67,240,000
Average RPM: 1516 (Almost exactly cruising RPM in 7th gear)
States Visited: Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming
Average Fuel Economy: 21.2mpg
Worse FE: 8.5mpg (Thunderhill West)
Best FE: 32mpg (x 2 tanks, on the way back from Yellowstone)
Depreciation: $450/month
Fuel Cost: $150/month

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/cS...=w1323-h993-no

A few pictures (there might be some repeats).

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5...510_114505.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-L...510_114447.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-s...o/DSC02557.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-f...o/DSC02536.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-x...608_202025.jpg

Nice. If you think this car has a lot of orange peel, BMWs these days have the worst imo.

Awesome review. I liked the C5, loved the C6, but I want a C7.

Great write-up thanks for sharing!

There is no better new car out there for the money imo, if I'm still single ten years from now (not that I will be), I'm buying a C7 Z06 or a Viper.
And even then, I'll still have to get one of the two eventually :)

Assuming you already sold your S2000, do you still miss it a lot, or are you having too much fun with the Corvette to think about it?

Gorgeous car! Thanks for the detailed reviews and the pictures.

I want one in the worst way. Waiting for the C7Z to come out and see how that affects used Stingray's prices, or I might just go for the C7Z. Or I might just go for a used C6Z or ZR1. Bah, but the C7 is newer with much better tech...but, but...sorry I digress.

OP if you would indulge me and touch on why you picked the C7 over a used C6Z or C6ZR1 that would be awesome :tipwink:

Some of the points in you review remind me of my C6 - my car also creaks over driveways, is relatively rough on anything but perfectly smooth pavements ( I have the Z51 package ), gets decent MPG ( got 26.5 going 90+mph from LA to SF - 400 miles/1 trip in one tank ftw. Typically I get 18mpg city driving ), sounds angry as hell when I want it to ( I have the super archaic "NPP in a box" mod, which requires pressing a button to close / open the exhaust butterfly valves to adjust exhaust sound ), and is still pretty quick in today's market IMO. Lastly, the trunk space is massive / awesome.

That said the C7 is just worlds better than my C6. Interior aside ( which is huge ), it just makes my car look so freaking dated from the outside. Having seen more than a handful of Stingrays on the street now, my "non-car" friends all think it looks very "futuristic". They all also like the new taillights much more than my car's rear end.

I would never own an automatic as the only car, but I'm curious how the new 8speed will help the Stingray's straight line acceleration.

Enjoy your Stingray in good health!

Awesome car and great write up. What kind of tires are you running? I run 285s in the rear of my 335i as anything larger would require rolling the fenders and I have no problems hooking up on the Michelin PSSs and although my car is a bit heavier I'm also making more power than the C7. I'm sure it comes out of the box with great tires but I would definitely check into getting some PSSs if that's not what's on there and want to stay with street tires.

LOL this pretty much sums me up as well. The Vette would make a nice GT for me.


Marioshi, how is around town driving and visibility?

Bummer, I was thinking about a BMW for my "practical" car. I guess people have had their C7s wet sanded with good results. Most of the effect is in the clear coat.

I liked the C5 (especially the Z06), didn't care for the C6, and fell head over heels for the C7.

Yeah, waiting would have been good but I figure I don't have 1 or 2 years to wait.

I do still miss it a lot. I actually sold our AP1 in March 2013 and that's the one I really miss. I only had the AP2 for 8 months, it was a very clean car though.

Honestly, I never really liked the C6. The ZR1 is nuts of course but they are still pretty pricey. I looked at a C5Z before I bought the AP2, 405hp for under 20k was a bargain I probably should have taken, but I couldn't get over the interior! For me, the C7 is everything the Corvette should be and a properly well rounded bargain.

It has specially designed PSS ZPs but there is some talk of the non-z51s having a less aggressive compound. Nothing I have seen to support this. Honestly I think its the 300lb ft of torque at 1000rpm that makes it difficult. The traction control is probably overly aggressive too but with it off it will do a massive burnout without much provocation :)

BTW I would love to see your dyno graph, a 335i making more than 460hp sounds like a hoot!

Its a very easy car to drive. It still has the 1 to 4 skip shift under certain low load acceleration situations but I rarely encounter it, truthfully, even when I do its no biggie, the car accelerates very well in 4th gear at 1000rpm.

Visibility is just okay, forward is fine but the blind spot on the drivers side is pretty bad (large B pillar due to Targa top). I have to lean forward to check over my left shoulder. Right blind spot is fine because I can see out of the quarter window on that side. The rear window is very high but works fine, one nice thing about it, is even with the trunk full it remains unobstructed. Backing up is assisted by a standard rear view camera which is great.

Correct, the orange peel is in the clearcoat, honestly I wouldn't worry about it, it's not a mark of bad quality or anything unless it's really excessive to the point the paint starts looking dull but that's usually another issue, just means they didn't wet sand it more, and I don't like sanding my cars if I don't have to because you only get so much clear coat.
Yeah I read somewhere the BMW (and I'm sure they'e not the only ones) likes to lay it on somewhat thick and not really sand them down because alot of their cars are leases and this allows the dealers to sand them down when they return and make them look new again if not better.