Went to the local dealer sneak preview last weekend and waited an hour just to see / sit in the car for 15 seconds. Gotta say bad decision on Chevy's part to put in a white leather seat. After 10s of thousands of entry / exits this "NEW CAR !" looked well worn. WTF were they thinking ? But anyhow my overall impression of the design was it seems there were 20 head designers. Each and every one got to put in his / her special sauce. What could have been a simple elegant flowing design like the 458 turned out to be gaudy even over a Lambo. Courtney Love in fishnets vs Catherine Deneuve in a black dress. The car is an engineering marvel at its price point. Outstanding. I didn't meet another single non-enthusiastic viewer there. Perhaps its me ?
Simple elegant flowing design hasn’t been their design goal for many years. I haven’t seen it yet in person but my Ferrari-loving friend’s have and they like it. I’ll wait until I see the Z06/GS versions in person before deciding. The C8 will have its lovers and detractors for both design and execution for years to come...and so will the C9....
If it was a metallic blue car I sat in the same car in the first showing way back in September. I made the same notes that this was a poor interior to have thousands of butts sit in it. Its ... a Chevy. What were you expecting? There are elements of it that I really dislike like the rear, the taillights, and the stupid wall of buttons on the inside (along with the "jet fighter" look). But overall its pretty darn good for a mid engine GT at its price. Its not ugly. Its just not a Ferrari. I'm sure it won't feel like one either but I'm not paying $300,000 for it either. I can park it where I want, forget about the mileage and depreciation, and won't worry if some idiot in a Camry hits me. There's a place for this car in the market. But that place is not a replacement for higher priced Italian or British 2 seat sports GT's. I'd much rather have this than a Mustang.
Let me get this straight... you're cancelling your order because Chevy put in a white interior in their car that they let thousands of people sit in? You seen a Ferrari interior after a few hundred people sit in it? ANSWER: Yes, its you!
Agreed. The best thing about Vettes is you can modify them, run the crap out of them, do donuts with them, run up the mileage, and generally not worry about them while having fun with the cars. Try that with a Ferrari or Lambo...
Its... a Chevy! What do we expect? Ferrari takes a Maserati, sticks on a Ferrari badge, calls it a "California" even though it has nothing to do with the original, and we celebrate it for $1800 shields stuck on the side as it becomes one of their top sellers. Were we expecting that too?
I'm not, but It probably says corvette or stingray an uncomfortable number of times. Without a manual it's just not for me. I did want to see it in the flesh, but my luck cars will be in FL when I'm in NY and then they will be in NY when I'm in FL. Oh well, they will be on the streets of NY soon enough. Guy decides after actually seeing the car he is cancelling and you guys act like he is taking away your allocation. Wierd. Never went to see something you were excited about and then it didn't. Happens.
I had breakfast with a GM engineer on Saturday and he brought one of the prototypes. Um... let me preface this by saying I AM a Corvette fan, not a hater. Alas, I'm not digging this one. In my opinion, the car looks like crud. Too many hard edges make it look like a Transformer toy. The recycled Camaro tail lights make it feel cheap. The interior is just... weird. The square steering wheel is... even more weird. Of course, the performance is formidable. The exhaust though... what a terrible choice. It sounds like muscle cars did in the 1970's with glass packs and turndowns at the axles. It definitely does not sound as good as all the YouTube videos make it seem. There will be a lot of phone calls to Borla as soon as they release a package for it, I bet.
I went to the same dealer display, and had the same opinion as you. It left me completely uninspired. What struck me most is how HUGE the car is, especially from the cabin rearward. Just not a good looking car to my eyes. To each his own I guess.
I have owned 6 Corvettes from C4 to C6 over the last 20yrs. This one does not do a damn thing for me. If it had the manual option I might be enticed. But the exterior looks and the fact that I cannot reach over and grab my wife's legs or even see them because of that awful console turns me off. Maybe I am a dinosaur and like having my girl there and able to see all of her as we are out on our date night. I guess this is the transgender car for the masses. Only the older guys would understand or have seen Graffiti. That should put it in perspective. That will never be coming back.
I just wrote something in the 458 section about dinosaurs (like me and others it seems). I am still going to get one but I gave up my early access, not because I don't like the car because I refuse to pay sticker. I will wait a year (the other cars and the 458 spider I am picking up tomorrow will hold me over), and get it for 12-15% below sticker. For those of you that have been here a while, you have seen my rants about flappy paddles, and AWD sports cars. I have learned to accept and even appreciate them both. The corvette is not supposed to be like a 300k+ sports car, but it brings back a memory I remember driving in a Rolls as a passenger and we are going 60MPH (about as fast as you could go at that time on that particular road. There is a Kia driving right next to us at the same speed, Rolls guys says I would not be caught dead in that thing, so I turned to him and said I bet the Kia guy is saying, that fool paid ten times more than I did to go the same speed. You can be the Rolls guy or the Kia guy, depending on the situation I think I have been both over my life. As always I will reserve judgement till I have time behind the wheel, but I'm sure I will have to fix a few issues with the car, I always do. Like the Mayor said, modify, that is what makes Corvettes so much fun.
Corvette losing the manual is a travesty. Its the only way I will own one. Plus it made it special. If everything is flappy paddles then I will stay old school. A F355 or 360 with a manual has more allure to me and are about the same in price as a new C8. Not to mention in 10yrs which will be worth more? I don't care about stats either. Most only bench race anyway.
What's with all the aggression Bob? And what's so bad about wishing for something more simple and focused from GM?
Who is being aggressive? Its a car forum. We talk about cars. Of course Chevy has too many cooks monkeying with design. Look at Cadillac. Its a disaster. Its the way Americans design cars -- by committee. We all know this. The C8 is a Chevy and I've been very vocal about what I consider its design flaws. Am I wrong for stating it? If you want a Ferrari or Lambo or McLaren -- buy one. If you are going to buy a Chevy you have to be willing to live up to what it is. Here's a clue: A C8 is not a Ferrari.
Well don't forget wherever GM has designed poorly the aftermarket fixes because the c8 is not a feerrari and there are numbers there so aftermarket can redesign and make a profit. Before GM figured out the c7z06 overheated on track the aftermarket had a solution and GM copied it. Same thing happened when the 1st LS3 motors blew up amateur racing. GM copied the aftermarket solution and voila you got the c7 grandsport. The c8 is going to be a game changer.
It is the biggest difference in Vette owners and Ferrari owners. Ferrari owners see the cars as perfect from the factory and Vette owners see them as just the first step.
I would say it was true for the earlier cars but now folks want to put novitec everywhere, adv1 wheels so I would moderate this statement Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk