Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible

BACK IN THE C8 AFTER A MONTH IN Canada and the US, and holy crap the summer tyres are frightening when it’s wet and cold! They’re a bit of a liability, in fact. If you have a new Corvette, or similar, whatever you do during October half-term, make sure you change your tyres for genuine winter items.

Even though it was -2deg C here in Geneva, the Vette started first time, and it felt great to be back in it. I don’t know if I left them on a month earlier or if it’s automatic, but it was welcome that the heated seat and heated steering wheel came on magically for that first cold morning start.

With the conditions encouraging a more gentle driving style, the C8’s cylinder deactivation has seen more action – there’s even a little symbol on the instruments that shows either ‘V8’ or ‘V4’ depending on what’s happening. On a warm day it’s more likely the G-meter that will get your attention, and when the roads are dry it’ll still show 1.14G laterally before the tyres start to complain.

A few days after arriving back I went for a coffee with my friend Marc, him in his Aventador, me in the C8. As car guys do, we talked about the similarities and differences, and pretty soon took turns in each other’s cars. God the Aventador has an amazing engine noise. And what theatre! But its clunky gearchanges compared to the C8’s showed how much transmissions have evolved in the past decade. Having said that, his car will be a lot more useful this winter: he has all-wheel drive, of course, and full snow tyres too, so he can drive it around the ski resort he lives in. What a dude.

I suppose I could fit winter tyres to the Corvette (although it’s not a legal requirement in Switzerland), but the incentive to do so has been lessened by the arrival in December of my Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392. I know it’s technically not an evo car because it’s seriously off-roadable, but it does have a 6.4-litre V8 that makes some of the best sounds I’ve ever heard, especially because they’re so unexpected from a vehicle that you normally associate with a diesel drone. With 470bhp and 470lb ft it’ll do 0-60mph in 4.5sec and it makes me grin several times a day. I think it might be the most fun family car I’ve ever had.

But back to the C8, and again I must say I’ve been having concerns about my perceived image when driving it; this is nothing to do with it being a Corvette, this is everything to do with its supercar styling. Basically I feel like people are looking at me like I’m a middle-aged guy who wants to look flashy, which is just not the case. Maybe I’m discovering that it’s just not me to drive a supercar – or maybe I need therapy. I don’t know which it is, but at the moment I’m happier in the Wrangler or my GR Yaris.

Then again, maybe I would feel differently about the Corvette if it had arrived in the spring as originally planned. Instead Covid-related shipping delays put that back to the autumn, so as yet I’ve not really been able to enjoy the car at its best: being driven hard, doing trackdays, or even just with the roof down – all of the things that would endear you to a 495bhp mid-engined V8 convertible. Perhaps some of that could offset my current feelings, but right now it’s snowing and I can’t really enjoy it till Easter. Should I hold on and give it another chance?

Date acquired September 2021 Total mileage 1998 Mileage this month 161 Costs this month £0 mpg this month 18.1