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IIRC, the Corvette engineering team was obsessed with the weight of components in the C6. If they wanted to add something to the car the team needed to offset that gain by reducing weight elsewhere. I bet a 'proper' seat would certainly add weight. Can they offset that? Sure, but now you need to pay for the seat and whatever they have to redesign/change to get the weight back down. And up goes the cost. The technical engineering term is NIEE (Nothing Is Ever Easy).
The seats are my biggest complaint after coming from Porsches and other European sports cars with fantastic seats. The seats feel cheap to me. The grade of leather used is very thin and cheap feeling, on par with the crap leather jackets you see at a flea market. They are weak on lateral support too
I don't know if the brass at GM reads this forum, but if they do, I hope they read this:
I will trade in my 2008 Corvette on a brand new Corvette if you make recaros, or something of equal quality, an option.
Interior is fine with me. I always receive comments about my Sienna 4LT interior.
I agree that other interiors are better (Audi is one) but who cares. Would you buy a Corvette if it costs $10-20k more. A lot of people on this forum seem like another $1-2k would be pass their limit.
I also have no problems with the seats, even on long trips. I test drove the SLK55 and Porsches but I felt claustrophobic in those cars.
IIRC, the Corvette engineering team was obsessed with the weight of components in the C6. If they wanted to add something to the car the team needed to offset that gain by reducing weight elsewhere. I bet a 'proper' seat would certainly add weight. Can they offset that? Sure, but now you need to pay for the seat and whatever they have to redesign/change to get the weight back down. And up goes the cost. The technical engineering term is NIEE (Nothing Is Ever Easy).
You say the engineers were obsessed with weight, yet the C6 Corvette weighs as much as a 1967 Impala. As much as a huge hulking 1967 Impala 6 passenger family sedan with a cast iron V8, cast iron transmission, cast iron differential, steel frame, steel suspension components, steel body, steel wheels, etc, etc, etc. The C6 Corvette is not a light car despite all of its aluminum and plastic. It could be a light car, but it isn't. My Austin-Healey Sprite, a sports car, weighs 1348 pounds. Like the Corvette, it seats 2.
IMHO I think GM has tried to keep the Vette a performance car without the luxury even though they have the parts on other brands that could be added to the vette to make it much more upscale. For Christ's sake I had a 1984 Nissan 300z with full cruise and radio controls on the steering wheel and it took GM how long just to add those. I like bells and whistles but many true blue Vette folks just don't see it that way and that's ok. Needless to say that all these goodies add weight to the car as well. Why they don't provide the options and let the buyer choose what they want and want to spend, well it is GM, enough said.
The Navigation is a joke. If I could do one thing over about ordering mine-It would have been to delete the Nav and install an aftermarket unit. It's hard to believe that the XLR is made in the same factory and they couldn't put that unit in the C6.
I have an 2008. Overall I am very pleased with the car. If I was going to purchase a $100,000+ ZR1, I would not be happy with the plain-Jane steering wheel from a Colbolt. Caddie offers Recaro seats in the CTS-V so why not Corvette?
I recently contacted a Recaro dealer about the Ergomed seats... they claim the C6 is too narrow for any of the upper end Recaro seats. I was told the only Recaros that will fit (without massive modification) are the racing seats...
I recently contacted a Recaro dealer about the Ergomed seats... they claim the C6 is too narrow for any of the upper end Recaro seats. I was told the only Recaros that will fit (without massive modification) are the racing seats...
My guess is that Recaro would build a seat for the C-6 if approached by GM. I doubt very serious if the Recaro seats in the CTS-V are a stock Recaro seat.
I have the 4LT interior and I'm very pleased with it. The steering wheel? Seems pretty darn nice to me. Seat? Again I like the seats and find them comfortable. I know the knock on the seats came from some of the very overweight auto writers. But, who really cares about what some slob that sits behind a desk thinks? All the Vette owners I know have been happy with the seats. Now that crazy hardrivin1 guy is a different story.
I Love the seats and think they are very comfortable. I can only drive my parents BMW 530xi for about a half hr before my back starts to kill me
In comparison to exotics the vette's interior could use some work. Its just fine for me though. Actually I think my 08s interior is great! Im just a regular middle class guy though.
The arguments that the C6 would cost so much more if they put in a quality interior along with some other items is inaccurate. Who has actually bought their car at MSRP or god forbid accepted the crazy dealer add-on stickers and costs. Not many!
The Vette is over priced at MSRP by GM and it's proven everytime they Vette is sold at invoice or below. This practice has gone on since befor the tanking economy as evidenced by the forum vendors agressive pricing since, well, always.
So my theory is that adding a quality interior and other goodies as mentioned in this thread should merely make the car worth it's inflated MSRP. Or in another scenario GM should just price the car correctly to begin with and option out all the extras that folks want.
The seats are my biggest complaint after coming from Porsches and other European sports cars with fantastic seats. The seats feel cheap to me. The grade of leather used is very thin and cheap feeling, on par with the crap leather jackets you see at a flea market. They are weak on lateral support too
I don't know if the brass at GM reads this forum, but if they do, I hope they read this:
I will trade in my 2008 Corvette on a brand new Corvette if you make recaros, or something of equal quality, an option.
If your willing to put out the extra $4000 the 4LT interior has addressed this problem.
The seats in my 4LT are very nice quality and very comfortable on long trips. The steering wheel is also pretty darn nice. If in fact the Cobalt has a Vette steering wheel that is cool for a Cobalt owner then. Once again if Chevy addressed every issue people had with the car it would be out of many members price range. Forget what some import loving guy from the biased filled pages of Car & Driver says. The Corvette is better looking and more powerful then most of the bland cars they drool over in these magazines. Look at the GTR. Nice and powerful car. But very bland if not ugly styling. Let them drool over the imports while we drive one of the best looking most powerful cars in all the world.
Many complaints are coming from owners of older Vettes before the 4LT interior was available. $4000 is quite an expensive option and is well worth the cost. If you have not seen it go to your local Chevy dealer and check it out before you complain about the Corvette interior. One great thing about Chevrolet and the Corvette is the car evolves and they constantly upgrade the car. Look at the difference between a 05 and an 09.
If your willing to put out the extra $4000 the 4LT interior has addressed this problem.
The seats in my 4LT are very nice quality and very comfortable on long trips. The steering wheel is also pretty darn nice. If in fact the Cobalt has a Vette steering wheel that is cool for a Cobalt owner then. Once again if Chevy addressed every issue people had with the car it would be out of many members price range. Forget what some import loving guy from the biased filled pages of Car & Driver says. The Corvette is better looking and more powerful then most of the bland cars they drool over in these magazines. Look at the GTR. Nice and powerful car. But very bland if not ugly styling. Let them drool over the imports while we drive one of the best looking most powerful cars in all the world.
Many complaints are coming from owners of older Vettes before the 4LT interior was available. $4000 is quite an expensive option and is well worth the cost. If you have not seen it go to your local Chevy dealer and check it out before you complain about the Corvette interior. One great thing about Chevrolet and the Corvette is the car evolves and they constantly upgrade the car. Look at the difference between a 05 and an 09.
IMHO...
Go spend $4000 to have the 4LT interior, or spend about $2500 and have a custom interior made up exactly the way you want it! There are many vendors on this forum that do great custom interiors. You can have a lot of custom leather work done for $2500.