The good news is, mid engine Ferrari's are safe (C8 Vette)

Really? The driver's ability to handle a car is based on their financial situation? A driver is "over their head" because they can only afford a $60,000 car? Posts like these 2 quotes above are why so many people (maybe rightfully) despise exotic car owners as pretentious jackasses....and this is coming from a guy that owns a Ferrari and a Corvette. Some people need to get their heads out of their own pompous asses. You 2 really need to get off your ugly high horses. Disgusting.

 

Interesting stats

Everything is bigger on the outside, smaller on the inside and heavier than the C7. Hip room almost 2 inches LESS. Time to start dieting!

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This is a salient point. Unlike boutique builders, such as Ferrari or Lamborghini, who build cars where price is not a consideration, the Corvette team is given a fixed budget to produce a high-performance car. In such cases, something's got to give. As you've noted, in the case of Corvette, creature comforts were secondary considerations to performance.

Yep. I agree. In this case, form is following function.

 

I'd say that's a bit immature, but you did choose to call yourself "Redneck" - kidding, kidding. I actually come in peace here. But really, you might want to cool down and reread what I said in the quote. What you're referencing in your text I didn't say. Another gentleman said it. What I said in my quote, to be clear, was that Corvettes are mostly bought by -
A) Americans, which is true.
B) People who want a performance car but can't afford a new exotic like a Ferrari, which is literally the same thing the Corvette rep said to Jay Leno in the video featuring this car. It is literally part of their marketing campaign. Affordable performance. And it works because it's being touted here by many, including me, as an admirable achievement. I added that personally I'd rather wait until the new exotic that I really long for becomes an older used car and thus more affordable, a la the 308, 360, 456, etc...heck even the 458 nowadays (depending on your idea of affordable), rather than buy a different car that for me would be a compromise just to have the thing immediately... but so what?

I'm going to sign off on this now before it gets ugly. But take it from a Mondial owner- No matter how much you love it, not everyone in the world will think your car is as cool as you do! So what? That's perfectly ok. It's your car, not theirs. And if it's not ok, the problem probably isn't with the car.

And for what it's worth, related to the other quote - I usually find, completely anecdotally, that it's the owners of brand new high dollar exotics who flog stats the most, without having the driving skills to make those stats remotely relevant to their ownership of the car. I think what the other gentleman was saying was that the much broader accessibility of the forthcoming C8, due to it's low price point and higher production numbers, which will have very similar performance stats to some of those same high dollar exotics, makes it statistically more likely that more people will get into accidents with them because most drivers on the road aren't trained to handle that much power if it goes even slightly sideways. Youtube is full of exotic crashes and bloopers illustrating just that. In other words, more people in very powerful cars increases the likelihood of more people losing control of those cars. I don't see it as a class or income related issue, just a number of those cars on the road issue.

Not everything someone says that rubs you the wrong way is meant as an insult.

 

My only issue with the C8 (at least without having actually seen it in person or driving it) is the interior. It looks like it may be the same cheap junk that has always plagued Corvette interiors. That being said, I’m likely going to buy one, simply so I can do a cross country road trip in it. Something I just don’t think I would ever do in my Ferrari do to reliability and ability to get it serviced immediately if something were to break.

 

I'm going to drive my 360 down the west coast this fall. A several thousand mile trip. Did two drives like that in my 456M. Properly sorted, Ferraris from about Y2K on are reliable.

 

I've been using the handle "RedNeck" since high school on several message boards...and I felt that the irony of keeping that name on a board geared toward luxury items and a civilized lifestyle perfectly represented what I'm about...in fact, my Corvette is much more civilized than my ridiculously loud and obnoxious manual 360. My main issue with your particular post was the fact that this car being "affordable" to people that "can't afford" Ferraris was a "sticking point", like they don't deserve to enjoy a fast car...the other guy's point was just ridiculous, tying financial ability to driving ability. Names like Petty, Earnhardt, Bowyer, and the like who did not grow up with silver spoons will prove that wrong every day of the week and outdrive 99% of the people on this board. I'm not insulted, I just think that sometimes when people achieve something significant like Ferrari ownership, automatically assume that everyone else is working toward the same achievement and failing at it. That's not the case. I've met several people with old muscle cars that have dumped far more into their projects than any of us have put into our Ferraris.

 

To play devils advocate (kind of?) it's not so much the power but a drastic change in balance. Corvette drivers of every generation have grown used to how the car reacts, generally. When the polar moment of inertia is drastically changed, many may not expect the amount of steering input necessary to correct an oversteer situation.

-But- maybe I'm wrong as there seems to be a ton of wrecked Hellcats

 

Not sure anyone meant any offense. I do think that massive performance coupled with massive accessibility is a salient issue worth considering. A 22 year old with a decent job can now go sub-3 seconds perhaps just a little easier than before. I suppose that was the spirit of what was being communicated. I certainly did not read it that no one below certain means deserves radical performance, nor did I interpret their posts to mean that only people with large means are qualified to drive radical performance cars. I look at myself, mid-40’s, couple businesses, wife, kids; I ain’t playing Fast and Furious on the streets despite my $5M umbrella, I simply can’t afford to get arrested (NC it’s a felony 15 mph over) and I could never live with myself were I to hurt someone’s dad, sister, friend, etc. Now, the 22 year old version of myself...that dude was bananas. In the end, I do think you can conclude that the decision making calculus typically changes with more “stuff” without being pejorative or pompous, but maybe I’m the only older dude that took less and less risks the more I had to lose. YMMV.

 

It's eye candy for sure, but to each their own. I'll take my f430 over any Corvette all day long. Just my opinion.

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Don’t forget the Corvair. It was my first car. Almost killed me a few times. Found the back end in front of me going down the road.

 

This is concerning to me also (someone dinging through no fault of mine) but essentially I’ve made peace with it. I don’t want to live my life like that, if someone dings it, they ding it!

I’ve done the Corvette thing, to be honest I got no sense of occasion driving one. Had the F out today driving in the Superstition Mountains in Arizona. True sense of occasion!!!

All the best

 

Yes. One needs to drive one. The front engined vets l drove were pigs compared to an Fcar.

 

Agreed 100%

 

Who here immediately thought about buying a 2019 c7 z06 with a manual?

 

RHD offered for the first time, if they bring out a Manual version might be tempted. 500 HP @ 60K? Amazing!

 

I don’t think it ever will. Probably too much engineering and not enough expected revenues.

 

As I stated that was/is my concern and my opinion. I am NOT referring to the monetary wealth of a person but to the power of the vehicle and this vehicle may become the first car of a person buys. As I stated, with motorcycles the trend is to start small so the rider gets used to the power of the bike.

I was not talking down on the car or wealth/education of the person. Yes you will have people comfortable in the car like drivers you mentioned but other and may I say majority may not and even may panic in certain situations and Chevy is in the business of selling as many as they can.

Lastly, I am not hear to offend, my life is too short and valuable for that. So I will stop here though even if I am called names such as Jack-*&&.



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Honestly, horsepower has been cheap and abundant for some time now. I see a lot of young guys running around with tuned Mustangs and whatnot. Most of these tuned cars are probably far less safe to put that power down than the C8 Corvette will be. The Vette is lighter, but will still probably grip better and have better driver aids than the tuned stuff out there, pushing the cars' limits.

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Can't wait for a test drive! Then, I wait for the twin turbo 4.2L 4 valve twin cam 650HP Z06. Can't stand the interior then rip it out and put in custom as many viper owners did at 1/2 the price of an F car. Oh yeah get it properly serviced at the corner Chevy dealer inexpensively. Also no questions asked warranty if you blow it up at the track.

 

Ability to pay and ability to drive have little to no correlation. Search YouTube for 'exotic car fails' for evidence of that.

 

This is exactly my thoughts. I would rather spend my money on something that I could never have afforded new and enjoy it rather than jumping on something new that will go down in value. Which would you rather have, a 2010 458 or a new C8 loaded? I would spend a little more to get the 458 myself which is the way I am leaning. This is coming from someone who has owned a bunch of vettes over the last 25yrs. Time from me to move on (unless its a 67 427/435).

 

2010 458!!!
Or to keep it fair in terms of a dollar:dollar comparison, I'd also choose a 20 year old 360 Modena over the C8.

For me the difference between going from 0-60 in 3 seconds versus 0-60 in 4.5 seconds isn't a consideration at all. I'm not interested in drag racing anyone. My Two Lane Blacktop days are long gone, especially on crowded roads. For me the relevant info is what is a car like between 60-110 mph, because that's where most of us spend our time driving these cars. How does it pull in that range? How does it handle, feel, sound, smell? Beyond the "sum of its parts" mechanically, is there any intangible magic that adds to your enjoyment of driving the car? Do you feel better every time you get in it?

Whatever the brand of car, I think if you find yourself defaulting to stats to describe your ownership experience, the car isn't living up to it's hype. And that applies to all cars for me.

 

My sentiments I expressed in a less eloquent post a few days ago.

For me I don’t care about going to 60 in under 3 seconds, truth be told it won’t do that anyway.

For me occasion and making my day is far more important.

I’m sure youngsters get the sense of occasion and same ‘buzz’ from their very first car irrespective of what it is. I know I did.

At my time of life and in ‘my’ situation I just wouldn’t get a sense of occasion from driving a Corvette irrespective of 0-60 or HP.

I recently sold a Corvette GS 17’ fully loaded. I wasn’t driving it, I own 6 other cars I’d prefer to drive. The Corvette became a daily driver feel to me and at that point I knew it was time to go.

I bought an F430 that is simply beautiful. It makes Sunday driving a massive occasion for me and I could spend hours looking at the craftsmanship that went in to building that car.

People have their own goals in life, if you get a sense of occasion from driving a Vette then good for you.