This thread will probably be locked...

But here's my thoughts on a former thread now locked before I could post:

I have a 92 C4 and love the styling. But not the 14 year-old standard for "high performance" power...300 hp. The C5 has a J Lo a** back end no doubt. That back end design in a car was never for me.

Apparently, after a huge number of "Fat a**" styling complaints from corvette enthusiasts (sorry C5 owners), dinosaur GM finally responded with a cosmetic fix to the corvette big a** syndrome...sort of. Their back-end "fix" is less than amazing. Superficial plastic surgery, bolt-on at best. At least it's a nod to what most consider an exterior design boo-boo.

But GM got headlights and power right...or sort o' right. At least more widgets are cool...by a slim margin if you value widgets over styling and performance.

Yet the overall height of both the C5 and C6 still NOT right. Low profile is not Mustang godzilla profile! And a C5/C6 3" taller than the C4 is a huge styling problem. As in godzilla impressive not refined high performance. Disappointing to me.

For me, bottom line is performance. But exterior styling plus power upgrade was enough to convince me to order a new 2007. I'm not that excited about new models yet want to move on. GM seems to miss the mark by about 5 years...as any dinosaur would.

jer

 

Everything's a trade-off.

As for being 3 inches taller than the C4, did you know human beings are taller than they were 30 years ago? In Dave McClellan's book Corvette from the Inside, he says the "average adult" profiles used to design the C4 were already 10 years old in the early 1980's, which resulted in a more cramped cockpit than they wanted.

Nothing is more subjective than styling. IMO, the C6 is a low-slung missle. It's a long way from "mustang godzilla" style, thank goodness.

Enjoy your '07. I'm dreamin' of the day I'll have a new one....

 

Personally, I wouldn't buy a car that didn't appeal to all my senses. The C6 does for me and I think it is a beautiful piece of machinery or I wouldn't own one. Are there things I would have changed if I was in charge of styling the car......probably, but what is there that we own that we wouldn't? Hell, I designed and built my own home and had total artistic control over it but knew the day I moved in that I would have changed some things if I had it to do over.......

I think considering they have to try to design something that appeals to a large audience and keep it affordable that GM did pretty well this time around. Just MHO!

 

Scooter,

I appreciate your comment on trade-offs. My background is engineering; always the compromise, balancing costs and bean-counter mentality.

I also understand passion...the spirit of the Corvette. People with passion can offset bean-counter mentality, yet mfg dinosaurs catering to those with passion eventually lose focus on what motivates us....to their eventual corporate loss.

I drive a $50k 760 hp jet boat over 100 mph. If you understand boats and water, that's a bit more performance than my 92 vette or the 400hp 2007 Vette. Yet I hope some day GM will rise to the challenge. 400 hp? That's a bit lame these days.

jer

 

Anyone who has owned a C4 knows that in order to get that lower stance, they also had you sitting much lower in the car, and getting in and out of one was a real pain! I owned a C4 at age 21 and even at that young age I found it difficult to get in and out of it when parked in my garage, it was a real tight squeeze. So I'd rather have the car sit a little bit higher if it means getting in and out is easier than it was with the C4. I personally love the styling of both the C5 and the C6, although for me the C6 looks nicer and more modern.

 

Styling, power, and innovation (those things you call "widgets") have been the trademark of every generation of Corvette. Each Corvette era has had its superstars that set the standard in each of those categories in an American-made automobile.

You mention the 300hp in the C4 (I owned a "96 LT-1) but forgot to mention the LT-4 with 330hp and the LT-5 with 375hp. Not exactly slouches on the highway. The Z-51 handling package got its start here and has been massaged into a handling package that works on the track and is actually comfortable on the open highway.

The leap from C4 to C5 was such a gigantic step forward that the C6 iteration could have easily been called the C5.5. That "big 'ol butt" you refer to in the C5 is a subjective opinion at best. I bet that if GM had used round taillights instead of oval the overall effect would have seemed less "wide", tape measures notwithstanding. The rear stying of the C6 is in keeping with the total "downsizing" of most of the C-6's exterior dimensions.

The power of the C6 is exactly where it needs to be considering the company it keeps. Performance improvements, which never come fast enough for any of us, will be made as the competition evolves. Of course, there is always the Z06 for those that require the next level of performance.

 

505 hp kicks "lame" in the azz.

 

So, as I read your two posts in this thread I gather the following:

- You have an '07 Corvette on order that you find sits too high.

- Has poor (to your tastes) exterior styling.

- Is little improved over the self-proclaimed "J-Lo styling" of the C5.

- Doesn't have enough power.

- Is gimmicky (your commented "widgets")

- You'd like it to be as fast as your jet boat.

I hope you ordered a color you hate so you can keep the streak alive. Why in gods name are you going ahead with the purchase?

 

Well, I've owned a C4 for eight years now. And with my sloped driveway I'd agree a bit more bending in and out. But I'm 51 not 21. And level in and out it's no big deal.

jer

 

Totally agree , >> " everthing is a trade off " My coment... I have owned evey type muscle car since 1965 >> GTOs , Z28 Camaro, AAR Cuda & many more (never a Ford product) >>> including 1987 , 1990 , 1993 , 2001 Z51, Corvettes & A 1966 Big/Block Since 1994 ..... drivin the 1/4 mile in just about everyone .........took delivery of a 2007 Convertable,10 days ago,now has 500 miles >>> full throttle testing today ................. The Dogs evaluation tonight or tomorrow mourning ............... full report forthcoming. Woof

 

thanks Jesse