dombey

So as you all know, people on this board are pretty divided in terms of their degree of love for the corvette.

No one argues that the vette is a performer, but people knock it for many things including but not limited to the interior, seats, image (some people think it is oldman, some people say midlife crisis, and others say white trash, while some people see no image issues at all), some don't like the appearance, etc.

So my question is, what things about the corvette need to change for the C7 in order for you to seriously consider buying one? Not really asking for all of the things you would like to see changed, but what minimum requirements does GM have to get right to sell you a car?

stacey

Seriously, three only thing that needs to change is my income, and the suck-ass seats/interior of the car. I can't afford a Z06, and the interior is pretty bad for a $50k + car .

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EVLS2K

I agree,
i bought my S2K from a guy who just bought a ZO6
He was a nice guy and he took me for a ride in the C, the interior sucks , i felt i was in a malibu

street_ruler

interior quality. nothing feels like riding in a city bus quite like a corvette. i realize that GM is the rental car company of the USA but for a supposed flagship line, they need to do much better.

power is there, handling is there its just the quality and the fit and finish is beyond poor.

sahtt

Driving position and steering feel/response are important; both of which are lacking IMO. I can't determine exactly where the car is going or how my inputs are going to change that when I'm driving one hard. Both of these characteristics have improved with the C6 over the C5. I don't care about the interior besides good seats; there are a lot of cars with worse interiors, Lotus, etc.

Mr.E.G.

I really think that they've got a great formula and they should just keep doing what they're doing in the performance department. I would suggest raising the MSRP by $5k or so to provide a much better interior, since that seems to be everyone's biggest complaint. I question though whether the interior actually keeps people from buying it or if it just gives dissenters something to point out as a flaw.

I would not even go so far as to say that they need to upgrade the interior in terms of materials so much as in they just need to redesign it so that it looks less like a pickup truck interior. I know someone with a Hummer H2 and a Cadillac Escalade of the same model year. They have the same basic not-so-great level of materials , yet most people would say that the Escalade interior is considerably nicer than the H2. It really comes down to design. The H2 has a goofy Tonka truck design that looks like it was made by a five year old and the Escalade has an interior that at least tries to be pretty and less butch looking.

As far as styling goes, I really think that the C6 is chiseled and does not generally look cheap or kiddish at all like the way that a Camaro or Mustang looks. Yet, it's not quite as chiseled and grown up looking as a Cayman or even a Z4 M Coupe or Audi TT. Does it look more hardcore than those three? Sure. But it doesn't look quite as refined. Most other front engined/ higher end sports cars look plenty refined but not hardcore enough (for instance, the Mercedes SL, the BMW M6, the Jaguar XK, the Audi S5). Additionally, as hardcore and semi exotic as the C6 does look, it still doesn't hold a candle to the Viper in terms of how exotic or hardcore it looks. I think that they need to commit to one or the other (or do a good job of both, more on this in a minute). Either make it look more purpose built and exotic enough so that it doesn't matter if it looks a bit Tonka truck-ish (read: Viper) or make it look more chiseled and refined and let it's muscular supercar dimensions, and wide rubber advertise the fact that it's a serious sports car more so than it's generally "Hey, I'm a sports car" cues such as cheesy vents and so forth. Employ one of these philosphies or otherwise, you end up, well, looking like a Corvette which is stuck in the middle somewhere.

On the other hand, you can have both but it's trickier to accomplish. For example, take a look at the Mercedes SLS or, an even better example, the Aston Martin Vantage. The Vantage looks refined and classy, yet it also looks like it's ready to rape your face off if you should find yourself next to it at a stoplight. Again, I think this is hard to pull off but it's the best of both worlds. It's style conveys that it is a high end vehicle (even if it had no badge) and that it is hardcore, even if in the case of the Aston, it's not really that hardcore.

I think the main thing that is keeping the Vette from looking quite polished is the rear end. It's simply inexplicable other than to say that they are trying to make it look the way that Vettes have always looked from behind. The front end looks low and wide, the side profile looks sleek and exotic, the roof is a small bubble just big enough to squeeze a helmet under as you sit hunkered down and ready to kill, and then the rear looks like a 37-feet-wide, painted highway median with sunken red dinner plates for taillights. The fact that the taillights are recessed is a good indication of just how gratuitous and thick, for lack of a better term, the rear bumper cover is. To contrast, the Viper has a wide rear end too, but it is just busy looking enough that it doesn't look like the car's dragging around a brick wall nor that it's likely to have a tailgate. I would say that any car rear end design which can be easily incorporated into a pickup truck by someone who cuts grass for a living is a pretty good indication that it's a bad design (Is that just a Texas thing? Do you guys have people that do Corvette rear end conversions on their mid 90s pickups like we have here in Texas?). I think the name of the game is to taper the rear slightly and make a more stylized version of the round taillights. Keep it Vette-like enough so that loyalists don't cry themselves to sleep at night, but make the rear physically smaller and more sleek looking. The Aston Martin DB9 is a pretty big car with a large rear end, yet it looks sleek since the rear end tapers. Maybe incorporate some rear end ducting in the form of a transmission cooler duct and it now looks even more hardcore and exotic.

luder_5555

I too would like to really know. I would also like an honest answer as to how many people who bash the vette interior have actually driven one. It seems like every single person bashing the interior has driven one, and I would doubt that half that many have. Is it "Porsche" good? No, but the cheapest porsche that matches a base C6's performance costs almost twice as much.

However, the biggest thing that I would change are the seats. They really don't offer very good lateral support during performance driving. A version of the recaro seats in the CST-V would be a great addition, even if it were an add on option.

Performance wise, I don't think that anything needs to be done. If they could get the thing to have better feedback it would be great, but with tires that size I am not expecting much. They could add some power if they felt the need, but I don't think it is necessary.

Looks-wise, I love the current Z06/Zr1. The rear end could be made to be a little more interesting, but it is their signature, and IMO with the right lip spoiler it still looks very BA on any of the wide-body versions. The base model is left lacking, but I personally would never get a base version. I see myself in either a GS or Z06 a year or two after the C7 comes out and the market is flooded with super cheap C6's.

My only hope is that the C7 puts the C6 to shame in every way possible. The better the C7 is, the less a low mile C6 will be.

dombey

well, I'll start by saying it stopped me from buying a z51 last time around.
If I was buying a track car, I would have given it more consideration; but I was going to be driving it every day.
Liked the car overall, I personally love the way the vette looks from the outside (the one I drove was black...which is my favorite color)...but I couldn't stop looking at the center stack...
At the end of the day the appearance of the interior doesn't impact your enjoyment of actually driving, but for that kind of money I don't want to be reminded of cost cutting every single time I look at the dash.
There are parts of our 335 and my IS-F that make me cringe as well, but nowhere near as much as the vette.

CG

With the change to the steering and shifter in 08 they became even better to drive. While I'm not thrilled with the seats I've driven 250 miles at a time and been very comfortable. They are not a deal breaker for me.

I don't think I would buy a C7 new. I won't buy a C6 new, but I may buy one that someone else has taken the big hit on. I had owned three Corvettes before the S2000 came out. I will likely buy another S2000 and / or a Miata, and I certainly expect to buy another Corvette.

As far as changes, I just hope they continue to improve it and don't screw it up.

luder_5555

I think that is more what they had in mind. The seats are designed more for the people who buy the car from THEM. (new) I don't think that many people would argue that most of the people buying new vettes are over 45, and that very few will ever see the track. They are made to be comfortable, and that they are. I have said for a long time, a base C6 would make a great long distance highway cruiser. Good MPG, nice ride, low engine RPM, and comfortable enough to drive all day and half the night.