Letting the horses run free
All C8s sold here also take as standard the Z51 sports specification. This provides a performance exhaust system, shortened axle ratio, active torquevectoring rear differential, extra cooling, an uprated Brembo brakes and stiffened coil suspension with adaptive damping.
The adaptive damping adds suspension adjustability to the various drive modes. These modes also alter the steering, engine and gearbox response, engine noise levels and digital display screens through five preset combinations, plus a customisable ‘‘my mode’’. The preset modes comprise Weather (dialling everything back for slippery road conditions), Tour (the default choice for everyday driving), Sport and Track — all accessed via a knurled selector nob on the centre console — and ZMode (essentially a Sport Plus mode).
What’s it like to drive?
Tour mode is the default drive setting and while we’ll get to the sharperedged nature of the C8’s character shortly, the vehicle’s ability and appeal in this less sporty mode is a standout feature.
That’s because midengined supercars are typically so sportsfocused that they are neither mechanically flexible nor refined enough to give much joy around town or on a gentle main highway haul. But the Americans are masters at building muscle cars that are excellent boulevard cruisers and that magic touch is apparent in the C8.
Visibility challenges excepted, the test car was delightfully light and tractable around town. With compliant ride and the lovely V8 burble coming from behind, it was also good fun when loafing along highways and byways.
Part of the test was conducted with the Targatop removed. There was still good isolation from the outside elements, although wind roar impinged on the engine’s aural delight.
Easygoing and laid back in the C8’s gentlest drive settings, the 6.2litre motor becomes a much louder, urgent and richersounding thing in sports settings. With peak outputs of 369kW and 630Nm being reached at 6450rpm and 5150rpm respectively, it truly hits its performance stride beyond 4000rpm, yet even as the tachometer nudges upwards, smoothness and linear response remain key features.
The eightspeed gearbox is well sorted and can mostly be left to go about its business in automatic mode. The manual mode and paddle shifts come in handy — and are a lot more fun — for spirited driving; flick down to second gear coming into a tight bend, flick up into third as the car powers out under full throttle and enjoy both the acceleration and the mechanical soundtrack.
Chevrolet claims a 0100kmh time of 3.5secs and a top speed above 300kmh, so anyone wanting to experience the C8’s full performance potential will need to head to a racetrack. That wasn’t possible on test, but time on a few winding back roads allowed for exploration of those handling credentials, which are central to the move to a midengined layout.
Being quite wide and tipping the scales at a shade over 1600kg, the C8 isn’t especially nimble, but it is both stunningly surefooted and wonderfully engaging.
Grip and balance are firstrate and the test car excelled in its ability to traverse nasty midcorner bumps and compressions without fuss. Brake progression is very good too, although the feel and accuracy of the steering is the most pleasing surprise.
Ratcheting all the drivemode components to their most aggressive settings would likely produce the fastest lap times on a track day, but during spirited open road driving, I found the C8 was more engaging with the suspension in its intermediate setting. In that slightly softer mode, the chassis and suspension were able to communicate more about the road surface to the driver.
Verdict
An unexpected late addition to Drivesouth’s 2023 test schedule, the latest Corvette came with high hopes and delivered in full. Perhaps most significantly, while the move to a midengined layout gives the C8 a handling dynamic far closer to that of its European rivals, it still retains a distinctive character all of its own.