Corvette joins race for UK
THIS Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is the first model in the legendary American sports car’s 67-year life to be made in right-hand drive. I’m guessing that Chevrolet has witnessed the result of Ford building the Mustang in right-hand drive (over 4,000 have been sold in the UK) and has realised that there’s money to be earned.
The car won’t be coming to the UK until early next year but I’m now going to whet your appetite. First of all there’s the engine, which for the first time is mounted in the middle of the car.
Last June we tested the last generation Corvette which is the seventh generation of the car (this one is known as the C8) and is fitted with a 6.2-litre naturally-aspiratedv8.
This is a pretty old-school engine that is directly related to the famous small-block Chevroletv8 first built in the 1950s.
It’s very straightforward with pushrods and two valves per-cylinder and is strong, reliable and extremely powerful for its weight and physical size.
This engine produces 495bhp and features a dry-sump oiling system.that means the engine oil is kept in a remote tank rather than in the engine’s sump.
The advantage is that the engine can be set lower in the chassis, power is saved as the crankshaft isn’t churning around in oil and finally it stops the oil running up the side of the engine when cornering on a track.the engine drives through an
A£80,000
(est)
Petrol – 6.2 495bhp 0 to 62mph in 2.9 seconds, 194mph top speed 23.0mpg tba
Audi R8, Mclaren 570GT, Lamborghini Huracan
9/10 eight-speed double-clutch gearbox and an electronic limited-slip differential.
The C8’s chassis is mainly aluminium with a bit of steel and a dash of magnesium and, as with all Corvettes, the body panels themselves are made out of glassfibre. The car weighs 1,500kg with a 40/60 front-to-rear weight bias.
This, together with a very effective gearbox, allows the Corvette to accelerate from 0-60mph in 2.9sec.
ND WHILE we’re about it, the other number worth noting is a top speed of 194mph. It’s a pretty potent supercar in other words.and here’s the thing, although we don’t have an exact price for the car when it arrives in the UK an educated guess is around £80,000.
That’s a lot of money – but when you compare the car’s performance against other mid-engined supercars it comes across as a bit of a bargain. It’s about half the price of a Mclaren 570GT and 50 grand cheaper than Audi’s R8.
But there’s another thing: the Corvette’s engine is very simple and reliable and even if it did blow up, replacing it would cost a fraction of the price of the motor in a Ferrari or Lamborghini.
Another advantage the new Corvette has over the Mclaren is noise.the Chevy V8 sounds fantastic even at idle and ticks over with a characterful shake.at full throttle it sounds fantastic. The engine features cylinder de-activation that cuts the motor down to four cylinders on part-throttle.
I got 30mpg out of the Corvette last summer and I reckon this will manage similar economy.
We drove the new Corvette on both the road in Nevada and on a race track. On the former it is comfortable and relaxing and on the latter is thrilling, very sure-footed and easy to drive fast.
The interior is well made and well designed although I’m not wild on the square steering wheel, described by its designers as a Squircle. It’s made that way to make it easy to see over the low bonnet.
As to the car’s looks I’ll let you be the judge. Plenty of critics have been sniffy about the new Corvette’s styling but I like it. It’s angular and looks compact.
So where do you go if you’re interested in the Corvette? There’s only one dealer in the UK and that’s Ian Allan Motors in Virginiawater in Surrey.they have already taken a substantial number of deposits for the mid-engined Corvette – and that’s before anyone’s driven one.
Also, although the car we tested has a removable roof panel, Chevrolet will next month launch a full convertible version.
The new Corvette puts exotic and high-performance motoring into the hands of a new audience with a car that won’t break the bank to run.
I’ll be even more excited to drive a right-hand drive one here next year.