Corvette C8 has serious presence
Chevrolet’s first mid-engined Corvette is here. Spoiler alert: it’s brilliant, says Damien O’Carroll.
The Chevrolet Corvette is nothing short of a legend, but that legend has now had the biggest shake up in its production history. Its transition to amid-engined layout has been accompanied by production in right-hand drive for the first time. Of course, themost important thing we in New Zealand can take from this is that we can get it here now!
Outside
Regardless of how you feel about this slice of classicAmerican iron moving to a powertrain layout more associatedwith Euro-slick supercars, you have to admit that the Corvette looks good.
The fantastic-looking C7 was a hard act to follow (and I wouldn’t
disagree with you if you want to argue it still looks better), but the C8 has serious presence, from its aggressive front end, complete with hints of both the C7 ’vette and the Lamborghini Aventador, to that wide, purposeful rear that lets you know it means business.
OK, so there is a genuine criticism that the rear half of the car is a little awkwardly elongated, but that is a result of the Corvette absolutely having to have a boot that would swallow a set of golf clubs. Yes, really.
Still, this is only the smallest distraction from the overall fact that the C8 is a striking and genuinely exciting-looking car, even if the highlighter yellow and black stripes of our test carweren’t quite tomy personal tastes...
Inside
The interior of the C8 Corvette shows the spectacular evolution of quality that American cars have gone through in the past few decades. It manages to be impressively high quality and exceptionally well-built, something American manufacturers have often struggled with.
It is slightly more cramped than you might expect, however, a feeling that is exacerbated by the narrow, grippy sports seats and the wraparound cockpit-style design that makes you feel like you are strapped into a jet fighter or single-seater racing car, but does create something of awall between the passenger and driver.
Still, it’s roomy and comfortable enough by Kiwi standards – but I wouldwonder how a larger Americanmale of a slightlymore advanced age and expanded waistline (that is, the average United States Corvette buyer) than me would cope, however.
The control layout is amixed bag. Most of it is quite ergonomically sensible, but there are a few things that definitely go for form over function – like the initially bewildering lineup of buttons along the centre console between the driver and passenger.
While it doesn’t take you long to figure them out (and there is a reasonably sensible order to them), you do still often find your hand hovering uncertainly over them when you want to do something that is located somewhere in the middle, like adjust the temperature of the heated seats.
Of course, being American also means one more thing – an absolutely ear-pulverisingly loud audio system.
Not that you need it, however, because the C8’s best sound system is located just over your left shoulder.
Under the bonnet
Although the C8’s LT 6.2-litre V8 is considered by GeneralMotors (GM) to be a clean-sheet design, and shares virtually no parts with the LS V8 we are very used to here in fast Commodores, it does share a very familiar engine note, which sounds distinctly strange emanating from behind you after decades of hearing it coming from up front.
Of course, it also sounds absolutely spectacular as it winds up towards its redline (which is higher than the LS’), and punches the C8 forward with some serious authority.
And while it is strong off the line, it doesn’t necessarily feel like a car thatwill hit 100kph in 3.3 seconds, asGMclaims. That is until you get it off the line and up a bit in the revs – then it goes utterly feral, punching you towards the horizon just like the Italian supercars it looks rather like. The thrust is extraordinary, unrelenting and utterly thrilling.
But the realmagicGMhas pulled off with this is just how damn relaxed, tractable and downright amiable it is just trundling around town and not trying to peel the skin off your face with sheer accelerative forces.
The C8 is much like a Porsche 911 to live with, in that it is equally easy to pop up to the shops in as it is to demolish lap times at a track day.
Of course, that ‘‘daily living’’ thing needs to be balanced by the fuel consumption involved in doing that. GMclaims a fairly hefty 15.1L/100km average combined consumption for the C8, but the reality is less than that.
It’s supremely easy to get the Corvette down into single figures on the open road, and around town it still fairly effortlessly clocks in under its combined average as well.
It’s only when you start making themost of the V8’s power on awinding road that things climb up beyond that.
On the road
Despite its seriously sporty looks suggesting an aggressively firm ride, the C8 Corvette is an impressively compliant and comfortable cruiser. Rather than feeling like a highly-strung supercar and being all fidgety and brittle on New Zealand’s coarse chip-seal roads, the Corvette feels far more reminiscent of something like a Ford Mustang, particularly when the MagneRide damper system is in Comfortmode.
Drop it into sport and things firm up, but still never to toothchipping levels, and the Corvette retains a distinctly civilised ride, even in maximum-attack mode. And this is never at the expense of handling either, which is addictively sharp and superbly matched to the brutality of the engine.
Duringmy initial moments in the C8, I was painfully aware of the fact it was mid-engined and rearwheel drive, and all the historic baggage that comeswith that combination. Sure, Italian supercar makers – and Porsche with the rear-engined 911 – have overcome all the tail-happy drama that has traditionally accompanied this layout, but would Chevrolet do it as successfully on its first try? Or would the C8 become an alarming powered pendulum under heavy acceleration?
Turns out that, yeah, of course GMhas it nailed – the C8’s rear is wonderfully well-behaved and predictable under heavy throttle applications, again being reminiscent of the Mustang with its playful, yet controllable rear end.
The steering is nicely accurate and precise, albeit a little mute, the brakes are confidence-inspiringly good, and the C8 feels compact and wonderfully agile at speed.
But like all the best American performance cars I have ever driven, the key to the Corvette’s brilliance is that utter predictability I mentioned earlier.
Sure it has the power to easily rip the rear tyres away from the road at almost any speed through a corner, but it telegraphswhen that is happening so beautifully and gently, and well in advance, that you always have it in control.
Verdict
The Corvette C8 is, quite frankly, a thoroughly brilliant piece of kit. It packs all the delightfully docile amiability of amore traditional front engine/rear drive American V8 pony car, but then adds searing performance that is beyond them, as well as a supercar-like presence for a mere fraction of the price of anything that looks similar.
Now, $169,900 is a big price tag, but when it is attached to something like theC8, it represents an absolute bargain.
Lined up alongside theBMWM3 and M4 (which bookend it on $168,900 and $172,900 respectively), the Corvette matches them for fun, beats them for performance (both BMWs hit 100kph in 3.9 seconds) and crushes them in terms of presence, drama and wow-factor.
In terms of anything midengined that offers comparable looks and performance, you have to more than double the asking price. And it is hard to argue isn’t a bargain.