Some time has passed since the spectacular reveal of the 8th Generation Corvette on July 18, 2019, but the AWU strike, targeting GM, has delayed the start of production for the C8. With the AWU now back at work, the Bowling Green plant has now finished building the last of the C7s. The last production day for C7 was November 14. The front engine Corvette, like Elvis, has left the building!
The first C8 press tests have been completed, but were done with pre-production cars, not the final spec production cars. This may have put GM at a bit of a disadvantage. Here’s what the big three – MotorTrend, Car & Driver and Road & Track thought of the car.
I guess I really better start off with the ‘elephant in the room’, even if it somewhat pre-empts anything else I can report from MotorTrend’s testing.
The 2020 Car of the Year Winner: Chevrolet Corvette
There, I’ve said it! Is it worth continuing with MotorTrend’s test report? I think it’s worth hearing a few more details of their thoughts on the car.
The MotorTrend judges firstly praised the car’s interior, highly impressed with the car’s quality, particularly at the price point. They praised its quietness, even when accelerating full chat to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds. The overall perception of the car was the engineering excellence, world class performance, great ride comfort, and “around town manners”. Where else could you find such a car at an everyday price? And a supercar at that!
Car & Driver has a headline that says “2020 Chevrolet Corvette Is More Than the Best Corvette Ever”. They described it as “… spectacular, amazing, and supremely capable. Maybe even revolutionary.”
Car & Driver also pointed out some interesting Corvette philosophy that flies in the face of what the Australian journalists are saying. The magazine points out the car is designed to hold a particular place in the market which is the same as it always has – an affordable sportscar, although now a supercar. They support that by reminding us that some 50% of Corvette buyers purchase the entry level model.
"some 50% of Corvette buyers purchase the entry level model"
Quite at odds with what we are hearing locally – that the C8 Corvette will not be seen in Australia in the entry level configuration. I suppose it’s fair to say most people in Australia, including the journos, don’t know much about the phenomenon called Corvette. I only hope GM has filled in Holden on what makes the Corvette such an American icon.
Most people reading this know about the C8’s startling 0-60mph performance, but on the other side of the ledger, the magazines have all pointed out the braking performance and the maximum g-force rating on the skid-pad is not as good as the retiring C7. This has been put down to the increased weight of the new car.
The other downside to the car is it may be too tame for some under normal driving conditions. Although when driven in anger, and “boiling out of corners on full throttle, the big V-8 thunders like a NASCAR engine”, the car, set on the “Tour” mode, transforms into a “laid-back daily driver”. Many were hoping for a bit more character and drama. Or, as us Aussies would say “a bit more mongrel”.
The Car & Driver people do remind us this is only the opening shot across the bow from Chevy’s supercar. We have all heard there’s a 32-valve, DOHC, flat plane crank engine waiting for the Z06, followed by what we are all sure will be a one-thousand horsepower hybrid engine combination coming in the Zora model.
As the odd one out, Road & Track magazine is not so gushing in its evaluation. They report “The 2020 Chevrolet Corvette is good. It’s not, however, great.” They do herald the C8 as the most significant car of the year, and a huge moment for Chevrolet. But they say “… it’s a potentially great car that’s not quite there yet”. For this reason, it didn’t feature in their own Performance Car of The Year awards.
They do strongly praise the comfortable ride of the car, suggesting Rolls Royce could take a leaf out of Chevy’s chassis book. They also pointed out there were a few bugs with the particular car they had, noting it was a pre-production car, and without the final calibrations. Specifically, they said the Tremec dual-clutch-transmission was less than perfect. This may be the lack of the final transmission tune which may well improve when that final calibration is applied. I have pointed out before there may be a delay in downshifting the gears, due to the DCT expecting an upshift. (Watch my video on the DCT for more information).
Road & Track is not as impressed as the others with the handling package, calling out the lower g-force limit, and the inherent understeer and lack of response at the absolute handling limit. They also point out the lesser braking performance of the C8 compared to its predecessor, the C7.
Unlike the other two magazines, Road & Track is critical of the interior. They believe the space is somewhat cramped, they don’t like the centre waterfall of buttons, or the position of the centre-stack touchscreen (not accessible to the passenger).
Despite their criticisms, Road & Track points out the C8 has already “set the car enthusiasts on fire”, also reminding us that power-wise, the best is yet to come.
The magazines couldn’t agree. MotorTrend gave it to Corvette by a large margin, while Road & Track thought the Hyundai Veloster was a much better car than the C8.
What do you make out of the reviews? I’m interested to see what everyone thinks.