First of all, allow me to say it so none of you have to:


I haven't set things up to post pics yet and for that I'm sorry, I'll do it tomorrow night. To make it up to you I did get a pic of a load of C7s being dropped off while I was waiting for my car, so if any of you had cars that arrived at MacMulkin today I may have captured the moment for you.

Speaking of MacMulkin, a quick shout out to Tommy Jr and his crew. Good guys. They indulged my paranoia and inspected the rear axel before I took delivery. Smooth delivery except for the part where I (yes, me, not them) lost the keys to the car prior to the walkthrough. I've done some embarrassing things before but sheepishly pulling the keys out of my back pants pocket after we'd torn the car, our pockets (except that one), and even their trash can apart for 15 minutes was a pretty low point for me.

FIRST EXTERIOR IMPRESSIONS...
First of all forget pictures on your computer, they don't show you the car. The car is much sleeker in person. I'd describe it as knife-like. Also the rear looks larger and more squatty in person, probably an illusion caused by the black fascia. When you stand directly behind it the thing looks like a wide-body. The exhaust pipes which merely look large in pictures are, in fact, gigantic. Like 4 actual trumpets sticking out the back of the car. The car is also smaller in person (which I found out later in the day when I pulled up next to a new VW Beetle at a light and realized that the Beetle's roof was noticeably taller than my Vette ).

FIRST INTERIOR IMPRESSIONS...
I'm a big guy (6'2, and around 290) and I fit. No problem adjusting the seat and finding a comfortable driving position, actually took all of 30 seconds (getting out of the car after a very long road trip might be uncomfortable for the long legged). Just like the outside, pictures don't get the scale of the car right. The dash is lower than it looks (a very good thing), and just about all the little parts and elements of the car are noticeably smaller than the pictures would have you think. Some examples off the top of my head of things that are smaller than you'd think are the dash plaque, the drive mode ****, the steering wheel, etc. I'm very pleased to say that the really tight thing in the interior is the fit and finish. I've never seen an American car that looks this perfectly put together inside.

ELECTRONICS...
Everything is adjustable. I saw a thread yesterday where some guys were complaining about the memory seats activating before they got in the car - well they just need to go in to the settings and they can change it to work the exact way they were saying it should work (go in settings, find the memory stuff and select "On Ignition"). Seriously, if there is something you don't like you can probably sit in your driveway for a few minutes and find a switch for it in the settings on the center screen. Great stuff Talon

PERFORMANCE...
This isn't a car, it's two cars. I left the dealership in weather mode without realizing it and the car's performance was, well, not knocking my socks off. It was comfortable and good handling but it didn't feel like a 460 HP sports car, more like a nice sedan. Then I realized about 15 miles later I was in weather mode and I turned the dial to change it to touring, except the little devil on my shoulder clicked the **** one extra time to sport and the car transformed. I pushed the accelerator as much as I had been a few minutes before and this time I was pinned back in my seat. This car has some serious go-juice. The ride tightened and I could feel the road like you should in a sports car. The exhaust opened up and you could feel the rumble like someone kicked on a subwoofer. The steering was no longer relaxed casual but was instead buttoned up tight. That mode switch is like a remote control for Jekyle and Hyde.

MISC NOTES...
The car is really low, so low that I don;t think I could lower it any further and still drive it around here. I ran over a twig coming up my road and it got caught somewhere behind the air dam and sounded like baseball card in a bicycle spoke as I pulled into my driveway. I'm serious when I say it was a twig, not a branch, a tiny little twig like you'd run over with your lawnmower without a second thought. The kind of twig your dog wouldn't even play fetch with. I can only imagine if it had been a real stick.

The inside rearview mirror is useful only for letting you see if someone is coming up on your tail, other than that its useless for any sort of maneuvering, and don't even think about using it to back up. You must, you absolutely must properly adjust your side mirrors and use them in this car, it isn't optional. With them adjusted and with you being careful to use them when changing lanes and whatnot there aren't any bad blind spots. However, if you don't use them and you try instead to turn your head and look out the window basically the whole car is a blind spot.

The paint on the car is awesome. Maybe I just got lucky but I couldn't see the dreaded orange peel. Now, I know it's there somewhere because all cars have it if you look hard enough but seriously, on my car you'd have to really be trying hard to find it. One small flaw is that a piece of the plastic shipping wrapper got stuck under the corner of the spoiler and needed some tweezers to pull out (very carefully). The black vents and fascia do not look cheap, the finish on them is very good and they compliment the lines of the car very well. The carbon fiber roof is flawless and really "does something" for the car visually.

Speaking of carbon fiber the dash is the single greatest interior carbon fiber treatment I've ever seen. The satin look makes the glossy look of other cars dashes look tacky and in your face. Its understated and elegant (which is somewhat strange cause nothing else about the car is understated).

I did encounter the dusk dimming issue - it wasn't as bad as I thought it could be since I still had no problem seeing the dash screen, but the center screen was pretty bad. I'm glad they're gonna do something about it.

Those airbag warning labels are an atrocity and I plan on buying another set of visors for the car and having someone reupholster them because, well, yeah, that warning label just detracts from the car's otherwise unbelievable interior.

The trunk closing thing some people have reported is real. I think the memory metal wire vent thing is one of those "great in theory" ideas than just isn't effective enough in its present form. I'd suggest getting a piece of clear bra on the back where you put your hands to protect the paint and using the "shut it then press your palm down on it" method of closing the hatch.

I thought the dead pedal was perfectly positioned. Just one of those things I noticed when I first sat down, don't know why.

The whole keyless car thing is going to take some getting used to. When I got home I sat in my garage feeling the steering column for the key to turn it off before I remembered the push-button. Speaking of the key fob, when you walk away from the car you can really hear the door locks cycle, its sort of satisfying. They also want the whole world to know your car is alarmed since there isn't just the one flashing light on the dash but also a flashing light on each of the two doors. There's no missing the "don't even think about it" vibe.

The fact that the car talks to you for the navigation had me talking back to it by the halfway mark of my ride home. The car said "take the next right", then the crazy guy (me) said "you got it". Yeah, things got weird.

Its easy to get cocky with a car like this. I found myself setting the pace of the traffic around me as people tried to get a look and I couldn't resist testing their patience by slowing down below the speed limit every now and then to see how long it would take them to pass me - very few did and those that did took their time. You do feel like a badass who rules the road, and let's be honest, you shouldn't. I'm not used to this kind of "power" so I'll have to learn to keep it in check. This is one of those cars that could easily bring out your metaphorical evil twin.

If anyone has specific things they want me to look for, or take detailed pics of just post it here and I'll get it done over the next few days, as long as I don't have to disassemble anything to get a view of it (mechanics is not my strong suit).

P.S. - Those aren't camaro tail lights, those are jet afterburners, and the mascara look doesn't look like the mascara look in person - again, the pics of this car on the net don't show the car, they show some poor imitation.

 

Honestly, unless you have modded it, you don't need pics, your commentary is much better at this point than more pics of stick cars...congrats....great write up...

 

Great commentary...congrats!!!

 

Did I miss the color of your C7?

 

awesome feedback, enjoy your new car and drive safe

 

Wow, excellent detailed review! Thank you!

 

"Those airbag warning labels are an atrocity and I plan on buying another set of visors for the car and having someone reupholster them because, well, yeah, that warning label just detracts from the car's otherwise unbelievable interior."

For the C6 some mod companies have a simple black piece of something you just cover them with. No big deal. I didn't even bother with that because they are only visible when otherwise being blinded by the sun. Otherwise visors, obviously, are up.

 

Yeah, I didn't mention it since I was mostly trying to keep the focus general on stuff that might apply to everyone, figured no one else cared about the color but its laguna blue and its magnificent. None of the pictures online show what it looks like. It seems to change appearance depending on the lighting conditions, looking drastically different in the sunlight versus dusk, indoors, etc. Not a hint of purple or teal or green, just a perfect blue. If they hadn't called it laguna blue I'd suggest it could be called electric blue or pure blue.

The problem is they aren't on the backside of the visors, they're on the outside so when your visor is up and not in use the label stares you in the face. They're also so large they basically take up almost the whole visor from top to bottom and about 2/3rds of it from side to side. Being a tall guy its right in the upper bounds of my eye line and hard to ignore as I'm scanning the road ahead or switching my gaze to my rear view - the bright yellow and white on the black visor really draws my eye in for a second or two each time almost like having a warning light suddenly switch on there would.

 

Additional notes:

The fabric in the wheel wells collects wet pine needles like a magnet so unless you are already intending to grab the hose don't look at the wheel wells in the fall or you'll drive yourself crazy.

Go into the "POI" section of the nav menu and scroll all the way to the bottom of the list and there's a setting for labeling "safety cameras" on the map - you can guess what that means

 

Took the visor labels off my C6, used Goo removal stuff!

 

Well done OP! Congrats and good luck...

 

Great review - thank you!

 

Excellent review, enjoy your new Vette.
Looking forward to the pics!

 

Great stuff. Just what us "almost owners" need. Thanks.

 

I have Laguna Blue on its way. What Interior did you get and did you get M7 or A6?

 

Great review. Can't wait for my Laguna Blue vert. Looking forward to pics!

 

I've done that before but I don't dare do it with this car because I got the suede upper trim, and that includes the visors - I don't know if the labels can be taken off the usual way without damaging the fabric.

Went with the black 3lt - and the a6. And to answer the next question I'm sure someone will ask - the leather wrapped dash on the 3lt has a noticeable quality that makes it worth getting even though it doesn't add any more color like the other interiors. Should it be an 8 grand option? Probably should be more like 5 but I don't know what the economics of the labor involved are.

A note on the a6 - I didn't include it in my original review because I haven't really tested it yet. Once I find a chance to use the manual mode and paddles I'll be able to comment on how the shifts feel.

 

Thanks for the review.

Is this your first Vette? If not, do you think it scrapes more or less than the C6?

I can barely get a C6 in and out of my garage now (steep downward drive and can't angle in). If the undercar air deflector is in a worse placement, it will rip off first time I pull in.

 

Awesome!! Nicely done review! Congrats on the new ride!