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Story by Dubspeed Driven Associate Editor, Carl Modesette
Photos courtesy of General Motors
Arguably, no other car in American history has a legacy as rich as the Chevrolet Corvette. From humble beginnings in 1953 with a 150 horsepower inline-six engine, to today’s 505 horsepower world-assaulting Z06, the Corvette has run the full spectrum of sports car ideology. However, recent years have seen the demise of many storied nameplates, while others have been resurrected. Looking forward, can the Corvette continue to capture enthusiasts’ hearts in a performance-rich, horsepower warmonger market?
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Nearly every automotive journalist has already accurately reported on the C6 Corvette’s performance prowess. A 400 horsepower LS2 engine propels the ‘Vette to 60 mph in about four and a half seconds, and through the quarter mile in about thirteen seconds flat, if not a shade faster. With a relatively low curb weight just shy of 3300 pounds, and maximum cornering grip a hair’s breadth away from 1.0 g’s, the Corvette offers an overall performance package that few cars can compete with. The fact that it’s reasonably comfortable, gets great fuel mileage, and can swallow a weekend’s worth of luggage (or a pair of golf bags) is icing on the cake. The true strength of the Corvette, however, has traditionally been found on the window sticker. Offered at a price point significantly undercutting its cross-Atlantic rival, the Porsche 911, the ‘Vette is, and continues to be, a value among world-class sports cars.
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New to the 6th generation Corvette is the 6-speed Paddle Shift automatic transmission, which we recently had the opportunity to sample. Representing nearly 2/3 of overall Corvette sales (growing to nearly 3/4 excluding the Z06), the automatic transmission is fundamental to the success of the Corvette. This new gearbox adds two cogs to the outgoing C5’s aged 4-speed unit, making better use of the LS2’s torque curve, and at the same time adds a pair of shift paddles to the steering wheel. Rather unconventional in their operation, these paddles are mirror images of one another – pull either one with your forefingers to downshift, and push the top of either one with your thumb to upshift. Typically, these shifter paddles are independent – one for upshifts, the other for downshifts. Seemingly great in theory, these paddles are a bit cumbersome in practice. The small size of the thumb-operated “+” buttons make them difficult to locate quickly, and essentially force the hands into a 9-and-3 position. In addition, pushing forward to upshift is counterintuitive, if not awkward whilst being propelled forward by those 400 horsepower at wide open throttle. The immediacy of shifts commanded by the paddles is also a bit disappointing – one must plan ahead to achieve shifts at the desired instant. Thankfully, use of the paddles is optional, as this slushbox offers both standard and Sport Drive modes. Adaptive electronics are employed to soften shifts under normal acceleration, and stiffen them up under hard acceleration. Performance in the Sport Drive mode should satisfy any “enthusiast” demanding an automatic transmission in the first place, relegating the paddle shifters largely to the realm of conversation material on the way to the golf course.
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Despite this author’s quibbles over the new Paddle Shift transmission, make no mistake – the C6 Corvette is still a phenomenal performance automobile. It’s rare to see a successful marriage of performance, comfort, and practicality – much less with the relative economy and value that the Corvette offers. 27 miles per gallon on the highway from a V-8 making 400 horsepower doesn’t happen every day. This is an attainable driver’s car that can actually be driven daily.
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And yet, there are other dimensions to the Corvette that most fail to comment on, dimensions easily overlooked when overwhelmed by the knowledge that such performance can be had at so relatively low a price. Those dimensions are quality, longevity, and staying power. It’s tough to argue the numbers: in 2005, the C6 Corvette’s introductory year, sales grew nearly 10% over the C5’s final year of production. 2006 sales should show even stronger gains, with the addition of the aforementioned 6-speed automatic transmission and the fire-breathing Z06 model. But will this trend continue?
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Undeniably, Chevrolet has gone to great lengths to ensure that the Corvette can compete with the Porsche 911 on paper, leveraging their tradition of powertrain prowess. Lay their respective spec sheets side by side and dare someone not to choose the Corvette, when price plays into the decision. However remove price as an object, and the decision becomes tougher. Quite frankly, the Corvette can’t compete with the 911, much less many other cars both foreign and domestic, when it comes to judging overall quality. While the look and feel of interior materials have improved in the C6 iteration, the overall package still looks – and feels – just like any other pedestrian Chevrolet. It’s a bit disheartening to climb inside the Corvette and find a standard-issue Chevy Malibu steering wheel staring you in the face. Shut the driver’s door and begin to get comfortable, and you’ll notice that the center stack housing the audio and climate controls will flex alarmingly when you rest your knee against it. Scan around the interior and you’ll notice that the textured aluminum trim on the door-release buttons and shifter knob doesn’t match the painted silver trim on the center stack, dash, and steering wheel. That’s a lot to stomach from a car whose sticker starts upwards of 40-large, no matter how fast it might be. While driving, there also remains a difficult to quantify rough-around-the edges feel that’s absent in a Porsche, much less other cars in the same price range as the Corvette – in fact, some cars costing half as much as a Corvette exhibit better overall quality and feel.
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So what is it about the Corvette that makes it so popular? It’d be easy to dismiss it as value advantage, but in this writer’s humble opinion, that doesn’t fully capture the essence of the Corvette’s appeal. The demographics of Corvette buyers are what one would expect: predominantly middle-aged males with a median income of around $150K (about the same demographics as the 911, except triple the salary). No surprises here, really. Yet consider the historical significance of such buyers – these are people who were in their teens during the 1960’s and early 1970’s. This was the era of the musclecar, when horsepower was king and the Corvette was that upper-echelon car that everyone dreamed about, but few could afford. Back then, the European sports cars were far rarer and Japanese sports cars had yet to enter the scene. Fast forward to now, and those then-teenage dreamers can finally afford the car of their dreams – and it’s actually halfway practical to own one.
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But take heed Chevrolet, because the clock is ticking and Baby Boomers are aging. Backs are getting bad, and the need to fulfill visceral rushes of acceleration is waning. A new generation of buyers is coming of age and buying power – a generation who’s grown up on the quality of Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys, and the performance of highly-tuned Japanese and German sports cars. Gone are the days of the adage “there’s no replacement for displacement.” The fact that more than one automaker can reliably extract over 100 horsepower per liter from smaller displacement engines makes even the Z06’s 505 horsepower, 7.0 liter engine seem, well, rather underachieving.
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The fact is that tomorrow’s Corvette buyers will be inundated with a dizzying array of attractive alternatives, and to them, the Corvette won’t hold the same symbolic appeal, for the emissions mandates of the 70’s and 80’s weren’t so kind to performance cars. Merely competing on paper won’t be good enough; tomorrow’s Corvette will need to compete in the flesh. That is, the Corvette will need to be a paragon of quality as well as performance. If The General can raise the bar on quality (and I truly hope they will), they’ll ensure the Corvette will be around for years to come.
We want to know YOUR thoughts, so please leave a comment!
I’m 20 (nearly 21) and I LOVE the Corvette. It is the ultimate car that I aspire to own. No Porsche, Viper, or BMW could ever sway me from the Corvettes. I’m not fanatically concerned with the interior being perfect. If someone wants a posh interior with absolute top notch quality then they need to go find a Cadillac. The Corvette is a performer first and foremost. The only thing I don’t like about it is the headlight design. I am very partial to the pop up headlights of past generations. Other than that, I can’t wait until my day comes in the next few years when I’ll be behind the wheel of America’s Sports Car.
The Corvette has a cool-factor that’s hard not to like. Unfortunately the interior is rubbish – I totally agree with the Top Gear gang on that. The new GM trucks give me hope that the C7 will be world class, there is no doubt GM can… if and when they want to!
Beautiful review; very well written.
It seems GM has a winner in its hands, finally, with this Corvette. However, what kills it for me is the ever-presence lack of attention to details from the General.
First of all the car needs to be redesigned. That shape just doesn’t do anything for me, specially from the back. Shape it for the love of god. Second, I will never buy a car that doesn’t have independent signal lights. If the brake light doubles as the signal light that to me signals a *who-gives-a-damn* attitude on the part of the manufacturer to which I answer *I do and I’m not buying your car. Third, the interior needs work – a lot of work – to approach the minimal level of acceptability.
These are details, big ones yes, but details that needs to be paid attention to before the Corvette can truly become a competitor.
THIS MESSAGE IS DIRECTED FOR HECTOR:
The design is not about the way it looks, but about the way it defies the drag coeff.
The details you mentioned…those are the details the Corvette needs to become a competitor? This is a performance car, not a Cadillac! What are you on? The Z06 is the best value on the face of this planet, and not only matches, but betters cars for double or TRIPPLE the cost. Nobody buys a Corvette for its interior.
How about this… Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, etc. :
If they halfed their price tags and were able to keep the same performce, then THEY would truley become a competitor…
I love how you use stock GM photos as if they were taken by you.
I find it simply astonishing that you continue to pass yourself off as a “jounalist”.
Mike O.
Mike-
correct me if i’m wrong, but doesn’t the byline say “Photos courtesy of General Motors” ?
we did shoot our own stuff, but at the end of the day, we weren’t happy with how they came out. as we have only a short time with each car, sometimes that means we have to use file photos.
by the way, a true jouRnalist knows that there’s an “r” in “journalist.
Wow Mike, thanks for the constructive comments. Like Carl said, you must have missed the part where we gave credit to GM. Do you really have nothing better to do than to come here and post stupid comments anyway? If people around here aren’t real journalists, why are you reading?
“However remove price as an object”
I cannot possibly understand your logic Carl. If we could do that we would all drive Lamborghini, Ferrari and other exotics. This is how it works: you want more quality for the interior, you have to pay more. That is why Porsche Carrera is more expensive. To each its own: you want a high quality interior, I want the best performance I can get. But as we talk here sports cars, I say that performance should be first.
“The fact that more than one automaker can reliably extract over 100 horsepower per liter from smaller displacement engines makes even the Z06’s 505 horsepower, 7.0 liter engine seem, well, rather underachieving”
Another VERY flawed logic. Here is the deal: I had $80K, I wanted the best performance, could care less about how they make it. To me the fact that X Japanese or Y German car’s engine makes 100 HP/liter is nothing. My Z06 makes only 72 HP/liter, but 505 HP in total. The total power matters, the weight of the car, the dynamics, the handling, the brakes, etc. The Z06 will stomp over any of those import cars in the same price range. You want to beat my Z06? Then you have to spend 2-3 times more money and even then, it will be a very close race.
You want HP/liter? Get whatever you want for the same money ($80K) and then tell me if your car comes in the same performance league as the C6 Corvette Z06.
Go ahead and overpay for the “performance of highly-tuned Japanese and German sports cars”.
I have got the best performance I can get for my money.
See you at the race track
I’m 16 and have been in love with Corvettes since I first layed eyes on one, which was 3 years ago. To say that the new generation of Corvette buyers won’t hold the same symbolic appeal as the older generation is like saying that I don’t truely love Corvettes, which would be a lie considering that I get a big smile on my face from every Corvette I see, and have two walls of my bed room filled with Corvette pictures, books, and models. Being part of this new generation that you talk about, I must say that I know a lot of people my age and a lot younger that desire to own a corvette when they get older. Most of my friends love the body styling and interior styling of the new Corvettes, and they don’t care if a few details are not perfect. And it’s not just the design that draws us to this car, it is also its performance and speed. The fact that it has less hp/liter than other sports cars doesn’t matter because those other cars don’t have the same legacy and passionate fans as the Corvette does. Whether you own a corvette, want a Corvette, or design Corvettes, your part of a large family that all love the same thing. You don’t see owners of a Porsche 911 coming together and having a car show to show their pride and love in their car. And you don’t see as many old Porsches as you do old Corvettes. Overall, I say that the Z06 is one of the best sports cars ever. And if someone doesn’t like the new Corvettes, then they must not know what a true sports car is or their not American considering that a Corvette is an American sports car.
You talk of the quality of the Porsche. You obviously did not see the wood trim on my 996 ( part of a $6000 option) falling off and reattached by my dealer several times, my oil leak that required removal of the engine to repair, my convertible top that leaked in the rain and car washes, my windshield wipers that failed in a Tennessee thunderstorm that forced me to pull off the highway until it passed. Try to find a Porsche dealer in Polasky Tennessee. I drove to St. Louis before I could get it repaired. While it was a fantastice driver’s car, the quality of my Porsche was non-existent. I cannot envision that my Corvette will exhibit these short comings. If it does, I can out perfom a 2007 996, at a savings of $40,000 and get it repaired in virtually any town in the country. Don’t tell me about Porsche quality. I was never so disappointed in a car in my life!
Although I agree that the shifting should be faster and more precise you miss a key point on why the paddles make this automatic more enjoyable. The ability to stay in the power band through winding roads or being able to downshift easily and smoothly allow you take this car well beyond what a standard automatic could do. I’ve own all three transmission types that you mention and would say that this is a great compromise to a six speed manual. it aloows you to enjoy the car as a daily driver and autocross on the weekends.
Bob S
wow nice pics! You really took all theses pictures?
I’m probably a little younger then most Corvette owner’s. I wouldn’t be caught dead in a stock whip. Like many of my peers, I plan on tuning my new sports car. I plan on pimping my new ride. Special attention will be given to the interior. When I’m finished, this car will outperform (in show or go) almost any supper car on the market. I’m looking at the Lingenfelter Twin Turbo. 600HP for only $25K. I will still be under 90K, and will outperform cars costing 180K+
I’m probably a little younger then most Corvette owner’s. I wouldn’t be caught dead in a stock whip. I plan on tuning my new sports car. I plan on pimping my new ride. Special attention will be given to the interior. When I’m finished, this car will outperform (in show or go) almost any supper car on the market. I’m looking at the Lingenfelter Twin Turbo. 600HP for only $25K. I will still be under 90K, and will outperform cars costing 180K+
As shop owner I service many different types of vehicles including the 911 Mercedes AMG’s Audi and many of the Jap cars that you mention in the article. Yes I fit the demografics, however is a hard pill to swallow when you are asked 85,000.00 for a 911, specially when you compare the performance nunbers against the Vette.
I disagree with you statment to ride quality and feel My 07 C6 has better ride quality, and just as precise on the corners as the 911,you can easely throtle steer the car in a turn, lower center of gravity better seating position, for performance driving, a stronger engine;Try accelerating from a conner in 3rd gear on the Porsche….there is rather frustrating lack of torque , the Vette has great brakes and is realisticaly a better looking car. and by the way the interior on the 911 is painted, rub your watch againt it and your in for a surprice, the Vette is not perfect and it can’t be compared to a Ferrari, or a DB9, but neither is the 911……. and the grin factor in the Vette is just as good…………and did I mentioned I saved $40 grand?
I have to agree with almost everything Roger G. says, except the not being able to compete with Ferrari’s, or DB9.
The Vette can compete, and has, and WON
unfortunately for the foreign automakers of all kinds. GM is coming out of it’s slump with a vengeance. The vette is only the tip of the Iceberg, and the Titanic that is the World has just started to see it.
Look in the near future for gas-sipping, american performance cars of all kinds to start popping out of the woodwork and spanking the bejesus out of everyone bumped into General
out of all the cars that i would like to drive the corvette is the car of my dreams. i cant afford the car at this point in time but it is a very near reality. i have been very impressed with the cars preformance. and the quality of the interior has not bothered me in the least. actuially i really like it. who cares if the steering wheel is just a relabeled malibu wheel it works dosent it? is it really nessary to need all the fancy features all at the touch of a finger? is it really that hard to roll down a window?
YOU SHOULD PUT MPG,GPM,AND MONTHLY PAYMENTS
I love that car
Value may not be the first thing that springs to mind when i consider the 400-hp Chevrolet Corvette, but that’s exactly what this classic roadster’s K & N Cold Air Intake – http://www.coldairintakedirect.com/brands/k-and-n.html – promises to bring to my garage.
This article, although an interesting read, misses te whole reason the Corvette is so wildly popular. It’s not just middle-aged men buying these cars. I just purchased my 3rd (Black) ZO6, a 2008. And traded in my 2004 ZO6 with 26K on the odo, and it was sold the next day to a 24-yr old before my girlfriend’s Dad could even get to the dealer to purchase it. It’s just wrong to even mention a Honda or Toyota is the same sentence as a Corvette. Those cars stand for the exact opposite of what the Corvette stands for. The Honda and Camry is a cop-out econo box comprimise of a car for people with no pride. With a Honda or Camry you get neither great economy or great performance – you get mediocre everything – a generic beize box that you can paint different colors. But it’s still a generic beize box iside. While the Corvette is a symbol of freedom and American Pride like the Harley is to motorcycles. Anyone can get 100hp reliably per liter, but not without a power-adder of some sort (Turbo, SuperCharger, NOS) and still cost under $75K. The Corvette still gets the highest mpg/liter efficiency of any car I know – 16/25 @ 7.0 liter, I dont know of anyone that can touch that mpg/liter number or the 505hp number without a Turbo, except the Viper which has 10 cylinders.
Besides when is the last time you’ve seen two Hondas or two Camry’s wave at each other as they pass on the highway? BADDA BING!
hey mike your a cool guy just kidding hate your dumb comments and taste in cars you suck
I enjoyed your site. Take a look at mine when you have a minute.
No one should ever own a Corvette.
No adolescent should own a car that is so costly. And no adult should own a car that is so adolescent.
Ok, it took me 45 years to get one of these. I now own a C6 2008 Corvette. 430 horse power. Unbelievable car. We drove to Utah from Colorado and got 30 mpg going and 28 coming back. The car cost me a little over $42k new. Doesn’t have all the bells and whistles. but you have got to understand that my first car was a 1930 Ford Model A that I put a Cadillac in. All I was interested in was the basic look and lots of speed. Now I have a car, that looks good, is quiet, is fast, and also gets really great mileage.