yellowray

AWD is hard to beat even with less power. I have an old AWD SUV,and if I'm waiting at a light and I need to be in the next lane to make a turn coming up, the AWD's got the jump on just about anything next to me(or at least the first 100 feet). Greasy wet road, even better for me. Here in Sacramento, if you put your blinker on, 75% chance they block you or play dumb.

K-TownMike

Great vid, thanks for posting.

Kinda funny reading some of the posts. Everyone claiming another win for the C7 based solely on it being more rewarding to drive(which is completely subjective) even though it was behind in the numbers. Let's be honest, it gets smoked in acceleration. I'm sure the posts would do a real quick 180 if it had been a C7 vs a 911, and the Corvette had outperformed, but the driver gave the "win" to the Porsche as it was nicer to drive.

Flame suit on.

rcallen484

Didn't Corvette have better braking and skid pad numbers whereas the GTR had better acceleration and slalom numbers? Isn't that 2 to 2 in objective measurements?

K-TownMike

I counted 0-60 and 1/4 mile as separate. C7 wins braking hands down, nothing to say there. It does throw up a better skidpad number, however I have seen over 1.0 g from the GTR before, and in any event, it still carries more speed through the slalom.

My point is that the GTR would beat it around the track ten times out of ten, so be careful calling it a "win" for the C7. Corvette has won many comparison tests by the numbers, but then lost overall due to one subjective category or another.

rcallen484

I agree. I couldn't help but notice less tire spin at dig that the C7. That is where AWD really assists.

ivanjo11

It looks to me like the C7 engineers did a great job tuning the chassis and the electronic steering of this car.

I was a little skeptial about the change to a electronic steering but it looks like the great tunnig have make it one of the best EAS in the auto industry.

I don't recall so many praise about how the C6 communicates with the driver as i have seen in the C7 reviews.

Michael A

Can you turn the stability control completely off on the Nissan? I kinda doubt it.

We have reached a point where you have to make a decision when you buy a car now, whether or not you want a car in which the computers are driving the car for you. Personally, I don't. Anytime I am driving fast, I turn off stability and traction control. I don't want my mistakes covered up, because you learn from mistakes. Other times I just want to gun it, and kick the tail out. Not going to happen with some cars now.

Michael

K-TownMike

Some people make big mistakes, and having some level of stability control or active handling has kept them from wrecking their car and/or hurting someone else.

vegasredz062

how can anyone be happy with a 12.3@113mph? seriously? the 113 trap speed is beyond disgusting... I think the C7 will get boring REAL fast with that type of acceleration. I might wait for the C7Z . Looks the C7 is awesome, performance #s sucking *****.

DevonK

What I'm loving about the C7 in this regard is that you're not dealing with an on/off dichotomy when it comes to the driving safety aids - the engineers have done a brilliant job of offering a graduated series of steps, taking you from total safety in weather mode through to a full-off scenario where you are on your own.

So if like myself you are coming from a lower-powered, FWD car, you can gradually learn at each level, working your way up the difficulty scale - you aren't forced to jump into full-manual control to have a bit of tail-out fun before you are really ready, possibly putting yourself and others at risk.

RedC7AZ

It has been a thinly veiled secret for some time now that Nissan has vastly underrated the HP on the GT-R. Since it is the truth, I actually like the way the narrator very nonchalantly states that it has over 600 HP.

DevonK

Edmunds is known for its slow times. 3.8 and 12@120 will be just fine thanks and I am sure it is doable for all the reasons discussed elsewhere. The horsepower wars these days are ridiculous. Even by fairly recent historical standards the Z51 will be supercar fast.

Trackaholic

To be fair, the GT-R wasn't that great in this test either. 120 MPH compared to 125 in the Motor Trend "Best Driver's Car" drag race. And that's a car with AWD and launch control, so the numbers should be more consistent. I think the weather or track variability affected both cars.

Also, for many people, anything under 13 seconds and over 110 is going to feel plenty fast.

Overall a nice review. I was hoping to see some hot lap footage and a lap time for both cars, similar to what was shown in the Viper comparison.

Link to article:
http://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/cor...son-test1.html

EDIT:
Read the article. Interesting that the Vette beat the GT-R on the track. Never would have expected that, but it does sound like the GT-R was pulling boost similar to what MT saw in the BDC @ Laguna Seca. Hats off to the Vette for such a great run (I believe it was only about .6 seconds slower than the Viper as well).

Some interesting comments about the Vette's digital gauges. I've been wondering if they would have been better off making a traditional mechanical tach in the center, and two smaller screens on either side for the auxiliary electronic gauges. Funny how Toyota bragged about needing an electronic tach on the LFA due to how quickly it can rev, yet GM can't get their electronic tach to keep pace with a relatively lazy, large displacement pushrod engine. Wonder if the lag is as bad as the impression I get from Edmunds, or if they are hyping it a bit. I do remember Freiberger from Hot Rod Magazine also mentioning the lazy tach in his review though. Overall, was quite positive for the Vette.

-T

JustinStrife

I would take the Corvette 10 out of 10 times. I don't want a car that can drive for me.

Guibo

Great result for the Corvette. Would be interesting to hear more about how these two compare on the street. The article was pretty superficial in that regard.

Check the test conditions. Looks like the performance stats were pulled from the previously published test.
"Elevation (ft.) 1,121
Temperature (°F) 91
Relative humidity (%) 28.00
Barometric pressure (in. Hg) 28.81
Wind (mph, direction) 3, headwind
Odometer (mi.) 1,621
Fuel used for test 91 octane"

They probably did all of these tests at the same time and left them in the can for more website hits later on.

You can turn the stability control fully off. Only the AWD and ABS remain. People think the GT-R will save your *** no matter how badly you drive, but that's simply not true. And you can kick the tail out too.

Blancpain

To me, track times are more important that 0-60.
C7 time: 1:24.6
GTR track edition: 1:25.2

Hmmmmm beat the Corvette 10 times out of 10, huh? Interesting.....let's hear the excuses.....

Shurshot

Nice write up

Thanks for sharing

Heat is the plague for all FI cars. Maybe we will see an NA Z model for the C7 line up (and like the C6 did introduce it before or at the same time of the FI model rather than later)

Hopefully GM will quickly address the lazy dash for the current models and lack of motor braking power in the Hi perf models

Big Dan 427

Anyone can see that the C7 body roll is greater in both the slalom and skid pad. The GTR remains mostly level while the C7 body movement is quite apparent. And even in the braking where the C7 does excel the nose dips very hard and the back end comes up quite a bit, almost as if there is a proportioning valve that is over adjusted to the front. Maybe these are just characteristics of the car which if it helps the car maximize its ability that's great, but you can't deny the difference between the two. I wonder what IB would have to say about this!

Hirohawa

Great win.

Could that guy be less excited. Sounds like he was describing a trip to the DMV.

They need some better on air talent.

Kappa

That Z06 was an '11 on PS2s. The '12 Z06 on Cup tires would've annhilated that time.

Anyway, I see people seem to be missing that the Corvette actually was the faster car around the track and instead are focusing on the accleration numbers which are obviously thrown off as the GT-R and Viper were also very slow comparede to other times.

But continue with your whining, I think this is a low 7:30 car at the Nurburgring now.