Here are the quotes from Car in the Uk. "I remember driving the ultimate C6 Corvette in the UK, the 638bhp ZR1, and it was an animal with crashy suspension that was as shocking as the delivery of its supercharged power-it worked you hard, but never worked with you. This C7 is night and day different: it's competant and composed, never suddenly pushing wide at the front or the rear, the body control tight, the steering accurate, everyhting perfectly poised.... I cant say enough good things about it"
Looks like the first new corvette will be the girlfriends convertible. It will be the an auto box but she was no problem with me and the guys making it even better than it is.
In several years the quotes will be very similar for C8 and C7. Happens every generation. You'd think all new cars are from the Jetsons and outgoing versions from the Flintstones.
Maybe so, but they were never exactly so complimentary about the C6, just like they may currently admire the viper for what it is, but dont really rate it as a quality piece. I think by all acounts the C7 may have passsed the floor in terms of modern acceptable or better build quality and general dynamics. The previous cars were always called bang for the buck and at best Ok on build. Personaly I dont trust magazine writeups to be anything more than entertaining, especialy if the car company/model being reviewed is also an advertiser. Even less relaible is a national press testing a home company model. I dont think the Uk is the right place for reliable views on the Mclaren, although they were somewhat honest as to its foibles, and I dont think the USA press is going to say bad things about any vette unless its really bad. So a foreign press review is more rleaible to me, to the extent that entertainment magazines can be relaible.
Car magazine reviews are merely opinions and you know what they say about opinions. I do not think any of them know what I look for in a sports car, a luxury car, or an SUV. Besides other than getting the job what are their qualifications? For many it is certainly not their writing skills and I will never forger they called the Merkur (yeah I have a long memory) an amazing car. That car turned out to be the biggest piece of junk I ever owned. I 100% agree these magazines are nothing but sometimes entertaining.
Never. I think the problem with the DCT is there is nothing off the shelf they can use that will either handle the torque, fit in the space, or be in their price range. They also say there will never be a new ZR-1 so that's also an issue. I don't believe it but anything is possible.
I am looking forward to this generation as it goes through it's life. GM got so much of the hard stuff right (chassis dynamics, interior), that this generation is really going to be something 4 or 5 years down the road as they add more power (bet you the base car will be crowding 500hp in 2 or 3 years), etc. Jimmy
There will be a new ZR1, twin turbo car. Don't know about a DCT but after driving a ZL1 Camaro with paddle shifted auto O don't see the need for a DCT. Less reliable with no significant advantages.
GM keeps saying the new 8 speed is only for the Z06 for 2015. However, I don't believe it UNLESS they are in a capacity issue. More likely they are trying to protect 2014 sales and announce it at the model year change over. To me they have to respond to the Jag Ftype 8 speed. I bet the new 8 speed box ends up as a performance option for the C7 next year but the original will still be available at a lower cost.
I agree^^ Hard to say if there'll be a new ZR-1, but I'm guessing that's a marketing strategy, too...
While we're all crystal balling here.... I think the 2016 base car will get a HP bump to around 500 and the 8 speed auto will be intro'd. GM has said definitively that the 2015 base car soldiers on with the 6 speed auto, GM is many things but on the Corvette, they have always been honest about near term stuff (or they neither confirm/deny). If the 8 speed was going to be offered on the base car (in MY2015), they would say NOTHING, not that it WON'T happen. Jimmy PS. Sadly, what gets the Corvette in trouble is the enthusiast press just making stuff up. Motor Trend, through half of 2013, stated that there would be a de-contented C7 in 2015, with a 5.5L small block (400HP),etc. Tadge denied that story about 50 times and finally took the "write whatever you want" stance.
A few years back, Gm actualy sent out a survey re mid engined vette. Lutz was saying they could do two vetets one front one mid as the car already is a transaxle tranny there would be somethign like 65% of the bits in common, and ford was sellign enough Gts at 165K to show the way for a very spoecial vette. There was also the idea that corvette shoudl be a stand alone brand with maybe 3 models, somethign based on the soltice, the C7 as we know it and the mid, 08 put paid to that idea. In the end its like Harley, there is a certain formula the faithful love and drives volume. Front engined V8, no tiurbo V6 and no mid engined car. If you look at the average age of a vette owner, its got to be comfortable, relatively easy to get in and out of and a good cruiser. That a vette can do more is just a bonus for those of us who wish to Drive, and of course the performance gives the car cred, even if 90% of owners never use it. Still a 625 Hp mid engined Z07 for 165k would be very compellign for some of us.
Indeed. While there have been mid-engine prototypes over the years, again, the enthusiast press has kept the mid-engine Corvette rumor alive for lo these many decades. Bob Lutz made some noise about the possibility around 2007 or 2008 but thankfully, it never happened. I think a mid-engine Corvette would be a huge mistake (I am in the minority on this, I'm sure). A large part of the Corvette's staying power (especially since the C5) is the amazing utility the car has to go with it's performance. If GM truly HAS to do a mid-engine car, an updated Cadillac Cien gets my vote! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Cien Jimmy
They could do more than 1 vette model, ferrari and porche have more than one model. I agree the utility and general formula of the vette as we know it sustains the volume. A mid engined one would be small volume but big premium like the ford GT, but would also add serious cred to GM and supply a consumer fan base. There sia reason Acura does the NSX and Audi the RD a mid engined vete could be a 160K car selling a few htousand per year using many C7 componants. Think of vette as a brand not a single model.
Well... that didn't last long! Price increase as of YESTERDAY. I just saved $3200 getting mine last month. It doesn't say but I also bet option prices are increasing. FROM GM: 2014 Corvette Stingray Price Increase with Production on Monday, March 03, 2014. The Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for the Corvette Stingray Coupe (1YY07) and Convertible (1YY67) models will increase by $2000 effective with production on Monday, March 3, 2014. In addition, the MSRP for the Corvette Stingray Z51 Coupe (1YX07) and Z51 Convertible (1YX67) will increase by $3200. The new starting MSRP including Destination for these models are now: Corvette Stingray Coupe (1YY07): $53,995 Corvette Stingray Coupe with Z51 Performance Package (1YX07): $57,995 Corvette Stingray Convertible (1YY67): $58,995 Corvette Stingray Convertible with Z51 Performance Package (1YX67): $62,995 Dealer orders that are marked “sold” with customer’s contact information ordered prior to Sunday, March 2, 2014, will be eligible for price protection.
Those words were never spoken in public by anyone at GM. What Tadge and others said is that it's not in their current plans. Same thing they said about a C7 Z06, C6 ZR1, Camaro ZL1 and Z28 at various times.....and we all know how those turned out.... So I wouldn't write off a C7 range topper just yet.
I agree. Luca said there would never be a Scud version of the 458. We all knew that was a lie to get people to not wait for it and instead trade up later I think they are playing the same game with the new 8 speed auto box. But I find the price increase out of the blue very strange after pushing their pricing strategy so strongly when the new car was launched. The Convertible has only been in production about 2-3 months. Why the price increase NOW? Seems like someone at GM said "we underpriced this this thing". They will build about 22-25K Vettes in the first year of production. Those are numbers Chevy hasn't seen in many years.
Dealer mark downs of 2-4K on non-Z51 models are pretty common now. So, this just gets them back even I think. Still, the timing is poor for a car that just started production in August.
