As one staffer put it, they finally got the rear end right. Wheels are inches up front, inches in the rear, and wear Goodyear Eagle run-flat tires with tire pressure monitoring. All Corvette coupes feature a removable roof panel for open air motoring. It offers a choice of manual or power tops, both of which fold away beneath a hard tonneau cover. Both are rear mounted, and drive beefy Getrag axles.
Hit the gas hard, and you will light up the tires. A careful balance of clutch and accelerator is required for a clean launch. Get it right, and a 0-to time of 4. Once off the line, the bored out V8 delivers gobs of torque all across the rev band.
It rewards a smooth touch on throttle and steering, only pushing the front or breaking loose out back if your transitions are too abrupt. Still, the overall feel is remarkably neutral, with less roll than the C5. Manual Six Speed Transmission:. Standard Fuel Tank Capacity:. Battery, Cold Cranking Amps:.
Battery Replacement Model Number:. Maximum Cruising Range - Coupe, Convertible:. Passenger Compartment Air Filter Element. Engine Specs. Cylinder Head Material:. Cylinder Block Material:. Recommended Oil Change Interval:. Engine Coolant Capacity:. Radiator Core Material:. An easy-to-operate manual top is standard. The five-layer fabric top is available in three colors. It looks good with the top up, but looks terrific with it down, with body-color trim that gives it the racy look of an open-cockpit Le Mans prototype.
Naturally, the convertible gives up cargo capacity, offering The coupe offers When the second-generation Chevy Corvette debuted in , there was no mistaking it for its predecessor.
One look at the Corvette Sting Ray and you knew it was leaving the past behind in a cloud of smoke. It however retains trademark Corvette styling cues. The horsepower V-8 has a huge chunk of its power available just past idle, and consequently it responds like a thoroughbred that jumps from the slightest touch of the whip. The new styling, with exposed headlamps and a slimmed-down rear end, is the first thing people notice. But what makes the C6 great is its improved handling, performance, refinement and comfort.
Chevrolet set out to eliminate every imperfection and complaint in the C5 and says 85 percent of the content in the C6 is new. Like their racing counterparts, the Corvette road car has become one of the best sports cars in the world, on par in performance with European sports cars from Italy, Germany and England that cost a great deal more.
Providing the primary motivation for the C6 is a 6-liter pushrod V8 that pumps out hp and lb-ft of torque at 4,rpm. Our test car had the optional Z51 performance package, with brakes that measure The Z51 package also adds larger stabilizer bars, stiffer springs and shocks, and more aggressive gear ratios, and both models have independent double-wishbone suspension front and rear.
The C6 Corvettes numbers on paper translate into impressive performance on road and track, with mph coming in 4. This all sounds great, but I was anxious to spend a week in the car to see how good it is in the real world, as well as how it compares to the European sports cars that I am more used to driving.
Dynamically, the Corvette offers more power in a slightly smaller size. It was hard to judge road behavior on wet roads, but it was easy to discern that the ride is more supple and less harsh. The new chassis is similar to the one used for the Cadillac XLR. It has a perimeter frame with an enclosed center tunnel, cored composite floors and an aluminum upper cockpit structure.
From a design standpoint, the new C6 Corvette looks great, with a design that is instantly recognizable as a Corvette, even with its exposed headlamps. Inside, the C6 has a good driving position and decent ergonomics, but is not without its faults.
For one thing, some of the plastics used feel a bit on the cheap side compared to the European competition, and the fit and finish also needs some work. Being tall, I also found the gear lever was too close to my right leg and tended to bump into it when shifting from first to second. On the plus side, the C6 has a full range of gauges, which are becoming scarce in newer cars.
I also like the targa roof, which is light enough to easily remove without help, and stows neatly into its holder in the trunk. It gives you the open-air feel of a convertible without giving up the stiffness of a coupe, which is the best of both worlds. The C6 Corvette is surprisingly comfortable on the highway, even with the Z51 package, and soaks up bumps pretty well. One problem however, especially in hilly areas, is that the front end scrapes quite a bit on crowned driveways or roads, which probably sounds far worse than it really is.
Anyway, you tend to forget about the electric doors and any niggling design issues when you get the C6 moving on the road. The 6-liter V8 provides an absolutely thrilling rush of acceleration that puts you firmly back in the seat when you get on the throttle, accompanied by a sound that is pure American muscle car, with an exhaust note that is not unlike the C6 race car when you get above 5, rpm.
The manual gearbox has very short throws and is accurate for the most part, though it does tend to sometimes go into fourth gear when trying for second, as the gates are a little too close together and not as precise as maybe they should be. Additional complaints were lodged against the Chevy Corvette for its lack of auto up-down windows and manual reclining seat backs. If there was one area in which the Corvette C6 could have made a name for itself, it was in the details.
After eight years of waiting, we expected something dramatic, but the Chevrolet Corvette remains a first-class performer hitched to a second-class cabin. Your browser does not support HTML5 video. Exterior styling The Corvette combines classic cues with an expressive new design.
Alina Moore. Alina Joined the Topspeed. Read full bio. Related Articles. What do you think? Car Finder:. Chevrolet Corvette. Active filters:. About Us.
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