"It's the best of everything" - C7 Corvette Stingray

2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 

It’s a V8 muscle car that was unveiled to the world in Detroit with none of the usual fancy light shows or pop music concerts – Mercedes I’m looking at you – instead there was a country and western guitar solo, some burgers and 'American Woman' was playing. Does it get more American than that? “It’s the best of everything”, probably ever, is how General Motors chief designer described the new 2014 Corvette Stingray. Hmm, we’ll confirm the legitimacy of this big statement after some exuberant driving and tire slaying in the new Corvette.

But it does seem like the C7 Corvette has taken a big leap forward in terms of, well, everything. Lets take the design for starters, it’s not exactly revolutionary rather evolutionary, it’s clearly recognizable as a Corvette from the moment you see it. The cabin is set far back in the chassis, just ahead of the rear axle, there’s the requisite quad exhaust tips, a long carbon fiber (the engineers were obviously proud of this, constantly mentioning it) bonnet housing a big American V8 engine, and of course it’s still a hatchback or 'liftback'. But there’s definitely something new going on in the design, the side profile is almost Ferrari F12-esque in its design and the circular corvette tail lights have been ditched for some Camaroey type ones. And it looks quite good. 

LOOK! A Corvette with an actual interior! 2014 C7 Corvette.
This particular one interestingly has no roof...

Then there’s the interior which has never really been a strong point of Corvette design, the last generation was filled with more cheap plastic than an American news reader for example. But this time the designers have really put some effort into making the interior feel like a pleasant space to spend time rather than hoping the driver would be too distracted by loud noises and smoking tires to notice the plastic fantastic interior. And most Americans didn't notice mainly because they were so engrossed in their cheeseburgers and funny accents, but when the car was sent overseas to places where cars actually had interiors it didn't go too well.

2014 C7 Corvette rear. Requisite quad tail pipes? Check.

But with this new generation Corvette GM reckons “every customer who sees the interior will be awestruck”. I don’t know about them being “awestruck” but it’s certainly an improvement over the old C6 ‘Vette, for example the surfaces are no longer covered in cheap plastic, instead expensive plastics, leather, and carbon fiber are used. The instrument display has also been taken up a notch and into the 21^st century with a TFT display – similar to that on the Lexus LFA - which is really quite cool. 

But the big changes have been made under the metal, and carbon fiber  Can’t forget the carbon fiber. The chassis is now 57% stiffer and 44kg lighter than the previous generation Corvette thanks to extensive use of aluminium and carbon fibre. GM engineers say that the base model Corvette is now even faster around a track than the C6 GrandSport Corvette (the most track focused model), and is capable of pulling over 1G on the skid pan. The new ‘Vette will use a 6.2 liter LT1 V8 which produces over 335kw and 610nm of torque, the LT1 motor uses direct injection technology and continuous variable valve timing in order to produce these impressive power figures and according to some boffins it produces as much torque as the old 7.0 liter V8 between 1000 and 4000rpm. This means the engine is torquier in its lower rpms and is much more efficient in every day driving. The LT1 engines efficiency is further improved by a standard stop-start system and cylinder deactivation system which allows the motor to run on just 4 cylinders when the full eight aren't needed. The V8 is mated to a standard 7-speed manual transmission or an optional 6-speed automatic which is an option that no Corvette buyer will tick, ever. The new Corvette is capable of hitting 100kph in under 4 seconds in basic trim which is mighty impressive. 

2014 C7 Corvette at its Detroit reveal.

For the first time since, well, ever, the Corvette will “soon” be produced for right hand drive markets (everyone cheer). However “soon” in the GM CEO’s books is around 2015 or 2016, but he says it is happening which is awfully exciting. In the states the C7 Corvette will cost around $80,000 when it hits American showrooms in the third quarter of this year and when it (eventually) makes its way down under it could be priced from as little as $100,000 which would make it the performance bargain of the century. 

GM wants this to be an international car, and says the new Corvette has what it takes to battle it out with the best of the Europeans, but it’s American so how could it? Time will tell, but it certainly looks good on paper and in the metal. Oh sorry and carbon fiber. 

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