You might be right. Still, if I bought it, I'd buy it for the new toys and performance. What it looks like doesn't bother me at all. Maybe a less than color. I'd prefer white over black for the heat absorbing in the sun.

 

Which generation would that be ?

 

C8? I am intrigued to be sure. I'm mostly drawn to Corvettes, performance and uniqueness (what attracted me to the ZR-1 in the first place!).

Personally, I'm not in a rush to make a mistake. I'd wanna wait until the bugs are worked out - being the first of the new series and all... AND, too I'd hold out a little longer for the flat plane crank and forced induction (Z06/ZR1) versions to come out: Corvette with performance and uniqueness!!

My first experience with a paddle shift was in a turbo'ed BMW M6/auto on an autocross course. Up until then, I was in agreement with the stick-shift crowd. But, with the trans switch in the (performance) mode and once I got the hang of anticipating the turbo lag, I never once felt like I was in the wrong gear as the gear it selected automatically was exactly what gear wanted to be in, and the shifting was seamless! SO! as long as the C8's "slush box" worked like that M6's did - an automatic would be preferable (to me)!

 

I really do not like the C7 design in the back, the camaro lights ruined the nostalgia for me. The C8, although no better than the C7 at looking like a corvette by my definition, is a serious improvement to the sports car lineup of America. I would buy a C6 for the classic looks. I think of a Corvette as a beautifully curved shaped road car with four roundish lights in the back along with throaty V8 power. The new era of blocky, angular panels, and euro inspired irregularly shaped brake lights are not my thing.

 

If we didn't know anything and looked at it for the first time and didn't have something to compare it to as the way it should be to look "right" , I wonder how the reception will be to the new design.

 

I know my chevy dealer always carried at least six new corvettes in the c5/6/7 era. Now there are no corvettes carried here in southern california. Either demand is zero or supply is zero. The C7 models did not seem to move well. Everyday I would drive by the same color/models.
The C8 as a whole performance car makes me proud that America finally has something that is capable of competing in the same market, except price and materials, as super cars for euro. A C8 twin turbo with methanol injection gets me excited but I am a sucker for big engine power. My dad was a super comp/comp eliminator division 7 NHRA drag racer for twenty years so engines are in the blood.

But if you ask my wife what kind of car 'That' is (pointing at a c8) she would likely say a Ferrari or Lamborghini.

Who would not want a new LT2 swap? =)

 

Like if it was the first car ever? Or the first mid engine car? The problems with the C8 aren't "compared to" kinds of issues... They're just bad design choices.

 

I'm not a fan of the exterior design. I agree that it looks like a McLaren ripoff. Has too many sharp points, angles, and edges for my taste. Looks to me like it might cut you. I don't mind mid-engine. Friend of my brother's ordered one at around $85K. When it arrived, dealer told him he needed to pay $20K more than sticker. He needed an attorney to get back his deposit. The no manual trans thing is unfortunately the way of the world. Remember manual trans M-B's in the US?

 

First corvette ever. I'd be curious as to what they think they would like to have. So it would no preconceived idea of what it should look like.


I'm honestly curious about the mid engine concept. Will it be something that endures for a while? Or will it be another ZR1 idea that dies in a few years.

 

What happened with this? I know vipers were going above sticker at one point of time but what did he sign on the contract?

If people had wanted it more, I'm sure they'd have made it that way. Buyers told them not to make it.

 

Probably only for the C8. The C9 will probably be electric if I was gonna guess. The automakers seem to be determined to push that on people, and expensive sports cars is a lot easier to do it in than regular folks cars. That said, the C9 even being a thing is quite presumptive.

I think if the C8 was the first... Whatever, like it wasn't a Corvette but was a "C500" or some other alphanumeric thing, I think it would look better., but not for the reason you think. Without the Corvette legacy to live up to, they could have gone nuts with it. The main design issues are related to being a "corvette", the extra foot slapped on the back so it can carry golf clubs. The giant ugly intakes to keep it from overheating would be fine if it wasn't a Corvette because a little overheating is considered normal for an exotic.

So I think without having to live up to the legacy of the corvette, being practical and reliable, and all that... It could have looked a lot better. It'd still look like a Chinese made kit car version of a McLaren, but it'd also be a better looking version of that.

 

A cheap Ferrari is still a Ferrari. The C7 pushed the FR layout as far as it could go, and moving to a mid-engine layout is the only way to significantly improve performance further. Look at the 0-60 times and track times of the C7 vs C8... most of this improvement is just from shifting the balance of the car toward the rear, and putting more weight on the drive wheels. Purists hate the move but I think it is a logical evolution of the car. Of course the proportions must change for the engine to be moved to the middle and personally I would buy a C7 over a C8, for other reasons (C7 GS is my dream car). But the C8 is amazing and by far the best bang for your buck in the exotic segment.

 

Couple of points...

Finally putting the engine in the right place in the car was going to change the styling radically. 100% worth it, should have happened in 1997.

The traction advantage is prodigious... Real-world, on the streets, C8's are giving cars as quick as Hellcats fits. While the Hellcat is manufacturing tire smoke, the C8 just hooks and goes.

C8 vs. any other gen Corvette? You can spend money to take a C4-C7 and match a C8 in some single performance measure, but you will never match it in all of them simultaneously.

Electric is coming, and it's coming to the C8, at least in hybrid form. Instant 150-200hp.

Electric is coming, and its dominance over ICE is inevitable. Think you're fast? McLaren has an electric prototype running around with a 500hp motor... AT... EACH... WHEEL. 2000hp. That's two L98's or an LS7 AT EVERY CORNER.

Torque you say? Infinite.

 

Any base '08 and up C6 Vette is a Badd As$$ machine, with std. LS3 power and dual mode exhaust = 436 hp !! and the 6spd is the tremec 6060... very slick set up, add cold air intake and a computer reprogram, easily 450+ horsepower... super impressive performance!! I love my old '96 LT4 that I currently have, but my '09 z51 6spd was far more exhilarating to drive, never mind wayy more comfortable and easy entry and exit. I love Corvettes... but 08 thru 13 are really something else!

 

The C7 GS is faster around a track than the C8 is. Despite more power and a dct.

 

A GS is on much better tires, isn't it?

I think a better comparison is C7 Z51 vs. C8 Z51.

Pretty sure the C8 takes that one...

I'm sure there's a GS type C8 variant coming AFTER the Z06 hits the streets.

 

It better be a while since the electric grid isn't really up to snuff for anything. They might offer a sub model but I doubt they will go full blow electric or nothing. It would be a huge gamble even in the next 10 years.

What is it with you people and your golf clubs? Are you people sure there are that many golfers out there that they are catering to it? The C4's space in the back is not really worth having, to be honest. It needed improvement regardless of who plays what game. While I pack as light as possible, I know many people who like to be prepared for all kinds of weather when they go somewhere. As to the overheating, we have tons of threads of people getting worried, trying all kinds of elixirs and what not to cool down the car and when it scoops up dirt and clogs the radiator it then becomes an issue, etc. Yes, exotics had their issues but why do we have to continue having those issues just because that was how it was? I don't have an outhouse or the pot to **** in because my ancestors had one. I'm happy with my running water and toilet.

Things change over time. Used to be, we had noisy exhaust, temperamental carburetors, etc. if you wanted to make power. Things change. This is no different than HD having to try to keep that "potato, potato" exhaust because that was how it was and doesn't need to be but has to be because some people can't leave the past.

 

I dunno i was excited when i saw the review on Jay Lenos Garage, I have seen a few roll bye, im not in love with all the duct work, certain colors seem to tone that down, all in all i wouldn't turn one down, but honestly i don't think id shell out 80 grand for one.

 

Will the Corvette be anything besides a cheap Ferrari? As far as the purists, there will be always a few that want things the way it was even if the way it was it isn't as good but what else is new? My guess is that in a few generations, people will be using the C8 as a standard when they are at the C12 or so and clamoring for the good old days of the C8 being a huge step forward but enough is enough and so on.

 

Is 80 grand all that bad? How much was the C4 when it was new and what is that in today's dollars? My Corvette, a 91 was pegged at 32 base with 8 for options. So say 40K. That moves to 77K today.