Corvettes Rule!

[fdcg27]

Has anyone looked at the track test detailed in the 2/10 issue of Car & Driver?
The CD folks took a bunch of fast cars to Viginia International Raceway, and ran them for time.
The Corvette ZR1 owned every other car, including two lightweight track only specials, a 4X as costly Lambo, and the Audi R8 5.2.
The bargain priced Corvette Grand Sport owned every car except for its big brother, the two track specials, and the Lambo.
So, for less than 60K, you can buy a Grand Sport that will outpace the Audi R8, the Lotus Exige, the BMW M3, both the Cayman S and the 911 Carrera S, the Jag XKR, as well as a host of lesser lights.
The NISMO Z, incidentally, was not even in the hunt, and was owned by the less expensive Camaro.
There were a few surprises for me, like how well the Audi TTS did, and how slow the Subaru WRX was.
I have always thought that the Corvette offered a lot of peformance for the money, and it is nice to see a win for the home team.

 

[Mr Nice]

Its a very fast car, but how is the build quality ?

 

[Bluestream]

I would be concerned about other things; who cares how fast it goes..

 

[fdcg27]

Of the Corvettes I have looked at and driven, the Bowling Green plant has always seemed to achieve decent build quality.
Design quality is another matter.
Certainly the look and feel of the Corvette's interior is not up to Porsche or BMW levels, nor is the quality of the materials used.
Still, if the purpose of a sports car is to be an exceptionally capable machine, the Corvette sets the standard.
Also, there have been a few guys on this site who used their Corvettes as daily drivers (Patman, where are you?) and found good reliability and durability.
Finally, with a name like LT4 Vette, I'd like to hear what you think of the car's build quality.

 

[ls1mike]

The motor and transmission in that car are very capable and can be used a daily driver with no issues.
Comes straight from the LSX family of engines. Look at all the GTOs, CTS-Vs, C-5s, C-6s, F-bodies running around that are down right HAMMERED on and experience no issues.

I will just watch this turn into another GM bashing thread.

"Sure the car is beating stuff twice it's price, but the dash was a bit plasticy" Give me a F-ing break already.

It is a nice car, that is reliable and does a lot things very well. This board will not be able to leave it at that.

Of course this isn't directed at the OP or anyone in general, but it just the theme of things around here.

 

[d00df00d]

The Corvette is not and probably will never be my personal cup of tea, but BIG kudos to the engineers. Incredible machine.

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
The motor and transmission in that car are very capable and can be used a daily driver with no issues.

I will just watch this turn into another GM bashing thread.

"Sure the car is beating stuff twice it's price, but the dash was a bit plasticy" Give a F-ing break already.

It is a nice car, that is reliable and does a lot things very well. This board will not be able to leave it at that.


GM built the Corvette to a price point, just like most cars. They built a worlds class performance car that will last a long time with a Chevy class interior. Not a bad compromise to keep the price of a limited production car down to the comparatively affordable range.

Considering they only build about 35,000 cars per year and the chassis and body is only used for the Corvette, they do an amazing job of controlling the price.

The single worst thing about the car is Chevy Dealers, fortunately they don't have enough problems that they spend much time at the dealers. That is very fortunate.

 

[javacontour]

I read it and was and wasn't amazed at it's win on the track. I think there are other cars that are more refined.

But with that said, the ZR1 was more than respectable in that test.

I had a customer who drove a Vette as a daily driver for years.

My high school auto shop teacher always had one to drive while he was restoring another. He said he could drives Vettes practically free this way. He could get what he had in them out of them when he sold one, drove it for a year to make sure everything was working, and of course had the free shop services at the school so he didn't need to invest in many of the expensive shop tools at home.

It also motivated us students as we liked working on the Vette.

So one could make a Corvette work as a daily driver, and do it for a reasonable cost, once you owned your first example.

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Has anyone looked at the track test detailed in the 2/10 issue of Car & Driver?
The CD folks took a bunch of fast cars to Viginia International Raceway, and ran them for time.
The Corvette ZR1 owned every other car, including two lightweight track only specials, a 4X as costly Lambo, and the Audi R8 5.2.
The bargain priced Corvette Grand Sport owned every car except for its big brother, the two track specials, and the Lambo.
So, for less than 60K, you can buy a Grand Sport that will outpace the Audi R8, the Lotus Exige, the BMW M3, both the Cayman S and the 911 Carrera S, the Jag XKR, as well as a host of lesser lights.
The NISMO Z, incidentally, was not even in the hunt, and was owned by the less expensive Camaro.
There were a few surprises for me, like how well the Audi TTS did, and how slow the Subaru WRX was.
I have always thought that the Corvette offered a lot of peformance for the money, and it is nice to see a win for the home team.

 

[Steve S]

The Corvette is the best value in the sports car market. Nissans suck. I like Porsches . Bimmers are a sedan. Camaros are too ugly to buy.

 

[Corvette Owner]

My 1998 Corvette is a daily driver with 125,000 miles on it. The only 2 problems I have had (other than routine maintenance) are 1 bad oil pressure sensor and 1 bad headlight gear. It has been a VERY reliable car for me.

Chevy has built a car that outperforms most sports cars costing twice as much. The interior is not up to those cars' standard, but is that a surprise?

What most people don't know is that the Corvette is an ECONOMY CAR ! Mine is listed at 18 / 28 mpg. I normally get 22.5 mpg driving to work, but I have gotten 33.6 mpg on a trip.

 

[DieselTech]

You gotta hand it to GM they have done well with vette. It's also not my cup of tea. I look at vettes like jeeps, only girls should drive them. My brother hates when I make fun of him. GM has done well with the mills and quality of the new vettes though. I feel much better then their other model vehicles.

Deffinetly great performance for the money

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
The Corvette is not and probably will never be my personal cup of tea, but BIG kudos to the engineers. Incredible machine.


My thoughts exactly. It's a great car, but I could never see myself owning one.

 

[Steve S]

When I lived in San Bruno for 24 years my neighbor wore out 3 vettes by driving them and is on his 4th.

 

[GMBoy]

If you order yoru new Corvette with the LT4 package you get leather wrapped dash, console, etc and that takes some of the plastic cheapness out of the car. Most cars are ordered with LT2 or LT3 trim levels.

 

[Drew99GT]

I really like the niche that Corvette has created as the working man's supercar.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
I really like the niche that Corvette has created as the working man's supercar.

+1

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
I really like the niche that Corvette has created as the working man's supercar.


+2

 

[mechtech2]

Corvettes have been a great bang for the buck for decades.

And also consider that they never fail to make dating easier.

 

[steve20]

while Im lucky enough to own 2 Corvettes (95 LT1 and an 02 Z06) I do not see them as daily drivers, nor would I put either one of these 2 garage queens through the rigors of daily service.
The performance of these cars is incredible-especially the 405 hp Z-feels like it's going to tear the skin off your face when accelerating, and can brake even harder when required.
For daily driving I have an 05 Accord with 124K--5K o/c with dino


Steve

 

[L_Sludger]

The Corvette is a fine machine, although I wish that all of its parts were American sourced. The trans is reportedly made in Mexico now.