July 2016 Car & Driver
#1
Le Mans Master
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St. Jude Donor '15-'16,'18
July 2016 Car & Driver
An article says the C7 Grand Sport is the best all-around Corvette ever. I just received my copy in the mail today.
Last edited by rmorin1249; 06-06-2016 at 06:49 PM.
Popular Reply
06-07-2016, 12:20 AM
Here you go... posted this in the Grand Sport Announcement thread last week.
July "Car and Driver"'s First Drive article on the GS. Positive except for the mistake on the rotor sizes (I think they're the same size as the Z06).
The pages themselves:
For your reading pleasure:
July "Car and Driver"'s First Drive article on the GS. Positive except for the mistake on the rotor sizes (I think they're the same size as the Z06).
The pages themselves:
For your reading pleasure:
The Business
Once a race car, then a special edition, the Grand Sport has become the Corvette's top-selling trim. After a drive in the C7 version, we understand why.
The 2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport is probably not what you think it is.
It's certainly not a ferocious factory racing machine, as the first blistered and vented Grand Sport was in 1963. And it's not the wrapper in which a new version of the Chevy small-block V-8 is presented. That was true of the 1996 Grand Sport, the vehicle first to bear the LT4 engine that stoked the embers at the end of the C4's life. One look at the new GS's muscled glutes and you'll know it's something more than just a trim and paint job, but, despite the sincere wishes of some on our staff, it is not the long-awaited mid-engined Corvette.
Tadge Juechter, Corvette chief engineer and our right-seat companion for part of our first drive of the Grand Sport, puts the new car in a slightly different perspective. "This is big business for us," he says. "The last Grand Sport [of the C6 generation] kept the Bowling Green plant running. It was our highest-volume model."
Sports-car buyers are more fickle than most. Sales are hot when a new model arrives, as they certainly have been for the C7 Stingray, but then they typically go tumbling off a cliff after a few years. With its long history, the Corvette hasn't necessarily suffered as much as newcomers in this cycle of boom-and-bust because enough Americans have grown up with the unwavering desire to someday buy a Corvette—not the newest sports car, but a Corvette specifically.
Still, adding a hot, updated version a couple of years into a product's life is never a bad idea. For whatever the Grand Sport once was, it is now a full-fledged model within the Corvette lineup. And like the C6 version of the GS—as with a number of Porsche 911 variations and almost all Taco Bell menu items—the new car is an assemblage of known parts.
This particular concoction starts with the Stingray's drivetrain, the naturally aspirated LT1 6.2-liter V-8, but fitted as standard here with the dual-mode exhaust system that's optional on the base Stingray, plus the dry-sump arrangement of the Z51 version. It produces the same 460 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 465 pound-feet of torque at 4600 rpm. This level of output is what Rolls-Royce used to refer to, in typical winking understatement, as "adequate."
It is only in a world where less than $100,000 can buy you a factory-warrantied 600- or 700-hp car that 460 sounds unimpressive. Have you ever tried to fully exploit 650 horsepower on the street for anything more than a fleeting moment? If so, are you currently reading this story from the comfort of the prison rec room?
As a full member of the Corvette brood, the Grand Sport is available with either the seven-speed manual or the eight-speed automatic transaxles. In the case of the manual, it carries the Z51's shorter gearset for livelier acceleration. Opt for the automatic and Chevy specifies the Z51 automatic's 2.73:1 final-drive ratio in place of the regular Vette's 2.41:1 ratio.
The Grand Sport has the stance of a thick-bodied lizard and the feet of a gecko. Measuring 77.4 inches at its widest, the Grand Sport is only 3.5 inches wider than a standard Corvette, but it seems six inches … a foot … nay, a yard wider. The Grand Sport is, naturally, exactly as wide as the Z06, with which it shares its body panels and suspension setup. The sticky-footed car we drove wore track-ready Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires (P285/30ZR-19 up front and P335/25ZR-20 out back). They are part of the optional Z07 package that, as on the Z06, also comes with huge carbon-ceramic brake rotors (15.5 inches in diameter up front and 15.3 in the rear), plus the Stage 2 aero package that adds all varieties of aero doodads, fillips, and finger-noodlers.
As we approach the parked car, we notice the nearly featureless treads of the tires textured with hundreds of little white pebbles adhering to the flat surface. It looks as if the Grand Sport rides on enormous nonpareil candies. And truth be told, these tires and those candies are not the most dissimilar things in the world.
The suspension system is tuned to fit nicely about halfway between the Stingray and the Z06 on the passive-aggressive continuum. But each Corvette that wears the magnetorheological dampers (which come standard on the Grand Sport) has a mighty broad bandwidth of character. If you plotted the Z51, Grand Sport, and Z06 on a Venn diagram, you would find the ride and handling attributes clustered in overlapping sections. Such is the world of highly customizable, mode-shifting, electronically controlled automobilia. There's not a bull's-eye for ride and handling compromise. There are instead five dartboards, one for each of the distinct modes.
It's a far cry from 1962, when Zora Arkus-Duntov developed the original Grand Sport racer on some of the same roads through GM's Milford, Michigan, proving grounds where we're driving the new car today. In the silent home-movie-quality footage of one of Arkus-Duntov's drives, the father of the Corvette and two-time Le Mans class winner wears a sport coat, loafers, and a cue-ball-white open-face helmet while walking quickly to the car, a freshly lit cigarette dangling at a 45-degree angle to his face.
We look nowhere near as effortlessly cool, and rain hangs in the chilly spring air, but we're determined to make the best of it. (The unpleasant weather is why we chose to photograph the GS indoors). The 2017 car shares only its 6.2-liter engine displacement with the '63 Grand Sport race car. But the new production car is an extremely quick machine that's also docile and tractable in a way that would have been inconceivable in 1962. The only similarity between the two cars' behavior is that, when wet and cold, the Cup 2 tires can't cope with the Vette's power—at least, not when applied liberally—and the rear of the car fires sideways. On dry pavement, these monster tires will deliver 1.20 g's of lateral grip, says Chevy. That's a credible claim considering that we achieved 1.19 g's in a Z06 shod with the same tires. The standard Michelin Pilot Super Sports are much more roadworthy and long-lived and will deliver more than 1.00 g, which, let us remind you, is an enormous amount of grip that you are unlikely to exhaust on the road. You can get the standard tires by opting out of the Z07 package, which also drops the carbon-ceramic brakes for smaller cast-iron ones, the rotors of which are sized between those of the Stingray Z51 and the Z06. You might choose to forgo the carbon ceramics for price, but don't worry about them being loud when cold or lame when wet, like some other carmakers' carbon ceramics (we're looking at you, BMW). These are well behaved.
Either way, Grand Sport drivers should have more than enough tire, brake, and cooling capacity for serious track work. On Milford's ride-and-handling loop, a section of gentle curves and alternately ragged or lumpy pavement, the Grand Sport could only be made unpleasant by calling up the stiffest track setting and only then after encountering a series of chatter bumps. You won't do that. Left in touring or sport, the ride is admirably free of harshness and the car shrugs off nasty midcorner heaves and hillocks. As with other Corvettes, you can also personalize the settings for various systems to suit your fancy. The tuning of the dual-mode exhaust is coordinated with each mode—almost mute in eco mode and getting fairly nasty in sport and track. By modifying the threshold at which the exhaust's butterfly valves open, Chevrolet has made the Grand Sport a little more aggressive than the standard Stingray, according to Charlie Rusher, a noise and vibration engineer on the Corvette. If you're looking for someone to thank for the pitch-perfect rumble/rip of the Corvette's exhaust, Rusher would be a good candidate.
With greater aerodynamic drag than a Stingray, the Grand Sport will lose a couple of mph from the base car's 181-mph top speed, says Juechter. The Grand Sport weighs an estimated 130 pounds more than the Stingray (for a total claimed weight of 3428 pounds). Still, Chevrolet figures an automatic Grand Sport with the Z07 package will get to 60 mph about a tenth quicker than a Stingray automatic because of the increased rear traction.
Otherwise, the Grand Sport feels like what it is: a Stingray with an enormous amount of grip. And it looks like what it is: a Z06 without the completely absurd power. At $66,445, the base price of the Grand Sport coupe is about $10,000 higher than an entry-level Stingray, roughly $5000 more than the cheapest Stingray Z51, and about $15,000 less than the least expensive Z06. The convertible Grand Sport starts at $70,445. This is the sweet spot, folks.
At those prices, with that look, expect that the Grand Sport will once again be big business for Chevrolet.
This GS wears the familiar red-white-and-blue get-up. But 10 body colors, six fender hash-mark hues, and five stripe options will be available.
Step away from the spec charts and bench-racing arguments. The 460-hp LT1 V-8 provides more than enough power for almost everyone.
The GS's Z07 package comes with the Stage 2 aero kit. The Stage 3, with its clear, adjustable wickerbill, was deemed too extreme for the model.
2017 CHEVROLET CORVETTE GRAND SPORT
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door targa or convertible
BASE PRICE:
$66,445–$70,445
ENGINE TYPE: pushrod 16-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection
DISPLACEMENT: 376 cu in, 6162 cc
POWER:
460 hp @ 6000 rpm
TORQUE:
465 lb-ft @ 4600 rpm
TRANSMISSIONS: 7-speed manual, 8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode
DIMENSIONS
WHEELBASE: 106.7 in
LENGTH: 177.9 in
WIDTH: 77.4 in
HEIGHT: 48.6 in
PASSENGER VOLUME: 52 cu ft
CARGO VOLUME (CONVERTIBLE/TARGA): 10/15 cu ft
CURB WEIGHT: 3500–3600 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
ZERO TO 60 MPH: 3.7–4.0 sec
ZERO TO 100 MPH: 8.4–8.9 sec
1/4-MILE: 11.9–12.3 sec
TOP SPEED: 175 mph
FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)
EPA COMBINED/CITY/HWY: 20/15–16/28 mpg
Once a race car, then a special edition, the Grand Sport has become the Corvette's top-selling trim. After a drive in the C7 version, we understand why.
The 2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport is probably not what you think it is.
It's certainly not a ferocious factory racing machine, as the first blistered and vented Grand Sport was in 1963. And it's not the wrapper in which a new version of the Chevy small-block V-8 is presented. That was true of the 1996 Grand Sport, the vehicle first to bear the LT4 engine that stoked the embers at the end of the C4's life. One look at the new GS's muscled glutes and you'll know it's something more than just a trim and paint job, but, despite the sincere wishes of some on our staff, it is not the long-awaited mid-engined Corvette.
Tadge Juechter, Corvette chief engineer and our right-seat companion for part of our first drive of the Grand Sport, puts the new car in a slightly different perspective. "This is big business for us," he says. "The last Grand Sport [of the C6 generation] kept the Bowling Green plant running. It was our highest-volume model."
Sports-car buyers are more fickle than most. Sales are hot when a new model arrives, as they certainly have been for the C7 Stingray, but then they typically go tumbling off a cliff after a few years. With its long history, the Corvette hasn't necessarily suffered as much as newcomers in this cycle of boom-and-bust because enough Americans have grown up with the unwavering desire to someday buy a Corvette—not the newest sports car, but a Corvette specifically.
Still, adding a hot, updated version a couple of years into a product's life is never a bad idea. For whatever the Grand Sport once was, it is now a full-fledged model within the Corvette lineup. And like the C6 version of the GS—as with a number of Porsche 911 variations and almost all Taco Bell menu items—the new car is an assemblage of known parts.
This particular concoction starts with the Stingray's drivetrain, the naturally aspirated LT1 6.2-liter V-8, but fitted as standard here with the dual-mode exhaust system that's optional on the base Stingray, plus the dry-sump arrangement of the Z51 version. It produces the same 460 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 465 pound-feet of torque at 4600 rpm. This level of output is what Rolls-Royce used to refer to, in typical winking understatement, as "adequate."
It is only in a world where less than $100,000 can buy you a factory-warrantied 600- or 700-hp car that 460 sounds unimpressive. Have you ever tried to fully exploit 650 horsepower on the street for anything more than a fleeting moment? If so, are you currently reading this story from the comfort of the prison rec room?
As a full member of the Corvette brood, the Grand Sport is available with either the seven-speed manual or the eight-speed automatic transaxles. In the case of the manual, it carries the Z51's shorter gearset for livelier acceleration. Opt for the automatic and Chevy specifies the Z51 automatic's 2.73:1 final-drive ratio in place of the regular Vette's 2.41:1 ratio.
The Grand Sport has the stance of a thick-bodied lizard and the feet of a gecko. Measuring 77.4 inches at its widest, the Grand Sport is only 3.5 inches wider than a standard Corvette, but it seems six inches … a foot … nay, a yard wider. The Grand Sport is, naturally, exactly as wide as the Z06, with which it shares its body panels and suspension setup. The sticky-footed car we drove wore track-ready Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires (P285/30ZR-19 up front and P335/25ZR-20 out back). They are part of the optional Z07 package that, as on the Z06, also comes with huge carbon-ceramic brake rotors (15.5 inches in diameter up front and 15.3 in the rear), plus the Stage 2 aero package that adds all varieties of aero doodads, fillips, and finger-noodlers.
As we approach the parked car, we notice the nearly featureless treads of the tires textured with hundreds of little white pebbles adhering to the flat surface. It looks as if the Grand Sport rides on enormous nonpareil candies. And truth be told, these tires and those candies are not the most dissimilar things in the world.
The suspension system is tuned to fit nicely about halfway between the Stingray and the Z06 on the passive-aggressive continuum. But each Corvette that wears the magnetorheological dampers (which come standard on the Grand Sport) has a mighty broad bandwidth of character. If you plotted the Z51, Grand Sport, and Z06 on a Venn diagram, you would find the ride and handling attributes clustered in overlapping sections. Such is the world of highly customizable, mode-shifting, electronically controlled automobilia. There's not a bull's-eye for ride and handling compromise. There are instead five dartboards, one for each of the distinct modes.
It's a far cry from 1962, when Zora Arkus-Duntov developed the original Grand Sport racer on some of the same roads through GM's Milford, Michigan, proving grounds where we're driving the new car today. In the silent home-movie-quality footage of one of Arkus-Duntov's drives, the father of the Corvette and two-time Le Mans class winner wears a sport coat, loafers, and a cue-ball-white open-face helmet while walking quickly to the car, a freshly lit cigarette dangling at a 45-degree angle to his face.
We look nowhere near as effortlessly cool, and rain hangs in the chilly spring air, but we're determined to make the best of it. (The unpleasant weather is why we chose to photograph the GS indoors). The 2017 car shares only its 6.2-liter engine displacement with the '63 Grand Sport race car. But the new production car is an extremely quick machine that's also docile and tractable in a way that would have been inconceivable in 1962. The only similarity between the two cars' behavior is that, when wet and cold, the Cup 2 tires can't cope with the Vette's power—at least, not when applied liberally—and the rear of the car fires sideways. On dry pavement, these monster tires will deliver 1.20 g's of lateral grip, says Chevy. That's a credible claim considering that we achieved 1.19 g's in a Z06 shod with the same tires. The standard Michelin Pilot Super Sports are much more roadworthy and long-lived and will deliver more than 1.00 g, which, let us remind you, is an enormous amount of grip that you are unlikely to exhaust on the road. You can get the standard tires by opting out of the Z07 package, which also drops the carbon-ceramic brakes for smaller cast-iron ones, the rotors of which are sized between those of the Stingray Z51 and the Z06. You might choose to forgo the carbon ceramics for price, but don't worry about them being loud when cold or lame when wet, like some other carmakers' carbon ceramics (we're looking at you, BMW). These are well behaved.
Either way, Grand Sport drivers should have more than enough tire, brake, and cooling capacity for serious track work. On Milford's ride-and-handling loop, a section of gentle curves and alternately ragged or lumpy pavement, the Grand Sport could only be made unpleasant by calling up the stiffest track setting and only then after encountering a series of chatter bumps. You won't do that. Left in touring or sport, the ride is admirably free of harshness and the car shrugs off nasty midcorner heaves and hillocks. As with other Corvettes, you can also personalize the settings for various systems to suit your fancy. The tuning of the dual-mode exhaust is coordinated with each mode—almost mute in eco mode and getting fairly nasty in sport and track. By modifying the threshold at which the exhaust's butterfly valves open, Chevrolet has made the Grand Sport a little more aggressive than the standard Stingray, according to Charlie Rusher, a noise and vibration engineer on the Corvette. If you're looking for someone to thank for the pitch-perfect rumble/rip of the Corvette's exhaust, Rusher would be a good candidate.
With greater aerodynamic drag than a Stingray, the Grand Sport will lose a couple of mph from the base car's 181-mph top speed, says Juechter. The Grand Sport weighs an estimated 130 pounds more than the Stingray (for a total claimed weight of 3428 pounds). Still, Chevrolet figures an automatic Grand Sport with the Z07 package will get to 60 mph about a tenth quicker than a Stingray automatic because of the increased rear traction.
Otherwise, the Grand Sport feels like what it is: a Stingray with an enormous amount of grip. And it looks like what it is: a Z06 without the completely absurd power. At $66,445, the base price of the Grand Sport coupe is about $10,000 higher than an entry-level Stingray, roughly $5000 more than the cheapest Stingray Z51, and about $15,000 less than the least expensive Z06. The convertible Grand Sport starts at $70,445. This is the sweet spot, folks.
At those prices, with that look, expect that the Grand Sport will once again be big business for Chevrolet.
This GS wears the familiar red-white-and-blue get-up. But 10 body colors, six fender hash-mark hues, and five stripe options will be available.
Step away from the spec charts and bench-racing arguments. The 460-hp LT1 V-8 provides more than enough power for almost everyone.
The GS's Z07 package comes with the Stage 2 aero kit. The Stage 3, with its clear, adjustable wickerbill, was deemed too extreme for the model.
2017 CHEVROLET CORVETTE GRAND SPORT
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door targa or convertible
BASE PRICE:
$66,445–$70,445
ENGINE TYPE: pushrod 16-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection
DISPLACEMENT: 376 cu in, 6162 cc
POWER:
460 hp @ 6000 rpm
TORQUE:
465 lb-ft @ 4600 rpm
TRANSMISSIONS: 7-speed manual, 8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode
DIMENSIONS
WHEELBASE: 106.7 in
LENGTH: 177.9 in
WIDTH: 77.4 in
HEIGHT: 48.6 in
PASSENGER VOLUME: 52 cu ft
CARGO VOLUME (CONVERTIBLE/TARGA): 10/15 cu ft
CURB WEIGHT: 3500–3600 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
ZERO TO 60 MPH: 3.7–4.0 sec
ZERO TO 100 MPH: 8.4–8.9 sec
1/4-MILE: 11.9–12.3 sec
TOP SPEED: 175 mph
FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)
EPA COMBINED/CITY/HWY: 20/15–16/28 mpg
#2
Melting Slicks
If the engine was about 550 hp non blown it would be perfect!
Last edited by Steve Garrett; 06-06-2016 at 08:25 PM. Reason: No need to re-quote the OP, especially if you're the next person posting.
#3
Team Owner
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OLD_GOAT (06-07-2016)
#4
Le Mans Master
I certainly don't consider C&D an authority on anything, but accolades are always good. I agree w/above, a couple extra hp would have legitimize the claim to some extent, but the Z51 and Z06 aren't too shabby in thier own right.
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OLD_GOAT (06-07-2016)
#6
Thanks for the heads-up. Have not see the article but I I will look for it. I am sure the C7 Grand Sport is a a great car. Chevy should have given it some HP boost to even slightly separate itself from C7 Z51 IMO. I had a base C6 and liked the C6 GS but could never bring myself to give up my car which had the same motor and was just as quick to get wide body. History repeats as I have a 2015 3LT, Z51 a beautiful Crystal Red. So tell me again what is compelling about C7 GS over Z51.
#7
Add the Z07 option and corner even better.
Last edited by Steve Garrett; 06-06-2016 at 08:27 PM. Reason: No need to re-quote the previous post, especially if you're the next person posting.
#8
Drifting
I'll bet next year the GS will get a HP boost. People will buy them this year just because they're new, and will buy them next year when they get more HP. Just my guess.
#9
What would one expect them to say when one of their writers are driving the car at the Milford Proving Grounds with Tadge in the passenger seat? Not really a good test, I think.
#10
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
Member Since: Sep 2012
Location: Hagerstown MD
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St. Jude Donor '15-'16,'18
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z edge (06-07-2016)
#12
Racer
I'll bet next year the GS will get a HP boost. People will buy them this year just because they're new, and will buy them next year when they get more HP. Just my guess.
( I can't afford a ZO6 )
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#1c6 (06-07-2016)
#13
I agree with 550 HP NA would be PERFECT. I'd pony up the extra money for that in a second. I just don't think 460 HP is enough to overcome the drag produced by the aero additions relative to the straight away speeds on a regular Z51. I could be wrong- just pure internet speculation! The cornering advantage of a GS would negate the straight line speed, lap per lap, as well as the braking advantage, but I digress nonetheless...
#14
Melting Slicks
550 would be awesome and if Chevy just were to make an oem flex fuel e85 optimized car with better exhaust it would be halfway to that number.
#15
Here you go... posted this in the Grand Sport Announcement thread last week.
July "Car and Driver"'s First Drive article on the GS. Positive except for the mistake on the rotor sizes (I think they're the same size as the Z06).
The pages themselves:
For your reading pleasure:
July "Car and Driver"'s First Drive article on the GS. Positive except for the mistake on the rotor sizes (I think they're the same size as the Z06).
The pages themselves:
For your reading pleasure:
The Business
Once a race car, then a special edition, the Grand Sport has become the Corvette's top-selling trim. After a drive in the C7 version, we understand why.
The 2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport is probably not what you think it is.
It's certainly not a ferocious factory racing machine, as the first blistered and vented Grand Sport was in 1963. And it's not the wrapper in which a new version of the Chevy small-block V-8 is presented. That was true of the 1996 Grand Sport, the vehicle first to bear the LT4 engine that stoked the embers at the end of the C4's life. One look at the new GS's muscled glutes and you'll know it's something more than just a trim and paint job, but, despite the sincere wishes of some on our staff, it is not the long-awaited mid-engined Corvette.
Tadge Juechter, Corvette chief engineer and our right-seat companion for part of our first drive of the Grand Sport, puts the new car in a slightly different perspective. "This is big business for us," he says. "The last Grand Sport [of the C6 generation] kept the Bowling Green plant running. It was our highest-volume model."
Sports-car buyers are more fickle than most. Sales are hot when a new model arrives, as they certainly have been for the C7 Stingray, but then they typically go tumbling off a cliff after a few years. With its long history, the Corvette hasn't necessarily suffered as much as newcomers in this cycle of boom-and-bust because enough Americans have grown up with the unwavering desire to someday buy a Corvette—not the newest sports car, but a Corvette specifically.
Still, adding a hot, updated version a couple of years into a product's life is never a bad idea. For whatever the Grand Sport once was, it is now a full-fledged model within the Corvette lineup. And like the C6 version of the GS—as with a number of Porsche 911 variations and almost all Taco Bell menu items—the new car is an assemblage of known parts.
This particular concoction starts with the Stingray's drivetrain, the naturally aspirated LT1 6.2-liter V-8, but fitted as standard here with the dual-mode exhaust system that's optional on the base Stingray, plus the dry-sump arrangement of the Z51 version. It produces the same 460 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 465 pound-feet of torque at 4600 rpm. This level of output is what Rolls-Royce used to refer to, in typical winking understatement, as "adequate."
It is only in a world where less than $100,000 can buy you a factory-warrantied 600- or 700-hp car that 460 sounds unimpressive. Have you ever tried to fully exploit 650 horsepower on the street for anything more than a fleeting moment? If so, are you currently reading this story from the comfort of the prison rec room?
As a full member of the Corvette brood, the Grand Sport is available with either the seven-speed manual or the eight-speed automatic transaxles. In the case of the manual, it carries the Z51's shorter gearset for livelier acceleration. Opt for the automatic and Chevy specifies the Z51 automatic's 2.73:1 final-drive ratio in place of the regular Vette's 2.41:1 ratio.
The Grand Sport has the stance of a thick-bodied lizard and the feet of a gecko. Measuring 77.4 inches at its widest, the Grand Sport is only 3.5 inches wider than a standard Corvette, but it seems six inches … a foot … nay, a yard wider. The Grand Sport is, naturally, exactly as wide as the Z06, with which it shares its body panels and suspension setup. The sticky-footed car we drove wore track-ready Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires (P285/30ZR-19 up front and P335/25ZR-20 out back). They are part of the optional Z07 package that, as on the Z06, also comes with huge carbon-ceramic brake rotors (15.5 inches in diameter up front and 15.3 in the rear), plus the Stage 2 aero package that adds all varieties of aero doodads, fillips, and finger-noodlers.
As we approach the parked car, we notice the nearly featureless treads of the tires textured with hundreds of little white pebbles adhering to the flat surface. It looks as if the Grand Sport rides on enormous nonpareil candies. And truth be told, these tires and those candies are not the most dissimilar things in the world.
The suspension system is tuned to fit nicely about halfway between the Stingray and the Z06 on the passive-aggressive continuum. But each Corvette that wears the magnetorheological dampers (which come standard on the Grand Sport) has a mighty broad bandwidth of character. If you plotted the Z51, Grand Sport, and Z06 on a Venn diagram, you would find the ride and handling attributes clustered in overlapping sections. Such is the world of highly customizable, mode-shifting, electronically controlled automobilia. There's not a bull's-eye for ride and handling compromise. There are instead five dartboards, one for each of the distinct modes.
It's a far cry from 1962, when Zora Arkus-Duntov developed the original Grand Sport racer on some of the same roads through GM's Milford, Michigan, proving grounds where we're driving the new car today. In the silent home-movie-quality footage of one of Arkus-Duntov's drives, the father of the Corvette and two-time Le Mans class winner wears a sport coat, loafers, and a cue-ball-white open-face helmet while walking quickly to the car, a freshly lit cigarette dangling at a 45-degree angle to his face.
We look nowhere near as effortlessly cool, and rain hangs in the chilly spring air, but we're determined to make the best of it. (The unpleasant weather is why we chose to photograph the GS indoors). The 2017 car shares only its 6.2-liter engine displacement with the '63 Grand Sport race car. But the new production car is an extremely quick machine that's also docile and tractable in a way that would have been inconceivable in 1962. The only similarity between the two cars' behavior is that, when wet and cold, the Cup 2 tires can't cope with the Vette's power—at least, not when applied liberally—and the rear of the car fires sideways. On dry pavement, these monster tires will deliver 1.20 g's of lateral grip, says Chevy. That's a credible claim considering that we achieved 1.19 g's in a Z06 shod with the same tires. The standard Michelin Pilot Super Sports are much more roadworthy and long-lived and will deliver more than 1.00 g, which, let us remind you, is an enormous amount of grip that you are unlikely to exhaust on the road. You can get the standard tires by opting out of the Z07 package, which also drops the carbon-ceramic brakes for smaller cast-iron ones, the rotors of which are sized between those of the Stingray Z51 and the Z06. You might choose to forgo the carbon ceramics for price, but don't worry about them being loud when cold or lame when wet, like some other carmakers' carbon ceramics (we're looking at you, BMW). These are well behaved.
Either way, Grand Sport drivers should have more than enough tire, brake, and cooling capacity for serious track work. On Milford's ride-and-handling loop, a section of gentle curves and alternately ragged or lumpy pavement, the Grand Sport could only be made unpleasant by calling up the stiffest track setting and only then after encountering a series of chatter bumps. You won't do that. Left in touring or sport, the ride is admirably free of harshness and the car shrugs off nasty midcorner heaves and hillocks. As with other Corvettes, you can also personalize the settings for various systems to suit your fancy. The tuning of the dual-mode exhaust is coordinated with each mode—almost mute in eco mode and getting fairly nasty in sport and track. By modifying the threshold at which the exhaust's butterfly valves open, Chevrolet has made the Grand Sport a little more aggressive than the standard Stingray, according to Charlie Rusher, a noise and vibration engineer on the Corvette. If you're looking for someone to thank for the pitch-perfect rumble/rip of the Corvette's exhaust, Rusher would be a good candidate.
With greater aerodynamic drag than a Stingray, the Grand Sport will lose a couple of mph from the base car's 181-mph top speed, says Juechter. The Grand Sport weighs an estimated 130 pounds more than the Stingray (for a total claimed weight of 3428 pounds). Still, Chevrolet figures an automatic Grand Sport with the Z07 package will get to 60 mph about a tenth quicker than a Stingray automatic because of the increased rear traction.
Otherwise, the Grand Sport feels like what it is: a Stingray with an enormous amount of grip. And it looks like what it is: a Z06 without the completely absurd power. At $66,445, the base price of the Grand Sport coupe is about $10,000 higher than an entry-level Stingray, roughly $5000 more than the cheapest Stingray Z51, and about $15,000 less than the least expensive Z06. The convertible Grand Sport starts at $70,445. This is the sweet spot, folks.
At those prices, with that look, expect that the Grand Sport will once again be big business for Chevrolet.
This GS wears the familiar red-white-and-blue get-up. But 10 body colors, six fender hash-mark hues, and five stripe options will be available.
Step away from the spec charts and bench-racing arguments. The 460-hp LT1 V-8 provides more than enough power for almost everyone.
The GS's Z07 package comes with the Stage 2 aero kit. The Stage 3, with its clear, adjustable wickerbill, was deemed too extreme for the model.
2017 CHEVROLET CORVETTE GRAND SPORT
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door targa or convertible
BASE PRICE:
$66,445–$70,445
ENGINE TYPE: pushrod 16-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection
DISPLACEMENT: 376 cu in, 6162 cc
POWER:
460 hp @ 6000 rpm
TORQUE:
465 lb-ft @ 4600 rpm
TRANSMISSIONS: 7-speed manual, 8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode
DIMENSIONS
WHEELBASE: 106.7 in
LENGTH: 177.9 in
WIDTH: 77.4 in
HEIGHT: 48.6 in
PASSENGER VOLUME: 52 cu ft
CARGO VOLUME (CONVERTIBLE/TARGA): 10/15 cu ft
CURB WEIGHT: 3500–3600 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
ZERO TO 60 MPH: 3.7–4.0 sec
ZERO TO 100 MPH: 8.4–8.9 sec
1/4-MILE: 11.9–12.3 sec
TOP SPEED: 175 mph
FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)
EPA COMBINED/CITY/HWY: 20/15–16/28 mpg
Once a race car, then a special edition, the Grand Sport has become the Corvette's top-selling trim. After a drive in the C7 version, we understand why.
The 2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport is probably not what you think it is.
It's certainly not a ferocious factory racing machine, as the first blistered and vented Grand Sport was in 1963. And it's not the wrapper in which a new version of the Chevy small-block V-8 is presented. That was true of the 1996 Grand Sport, the vehicle first to bear the LT4 engine that stoked the embers at the end of the C4's life. One look at the new GS's muscled glutes and you'll know it's something more than just a trim and paint job, but, despite the sincere wishes of some on our staff, it is not the long-awaited mid-engined Corvette.
Tadge Juechter, Corvette chief engineer and our right-seat companion for part of our first drive of the Grand Sport, puts the new car in a slightly different perspective. "This is big business for us," he says. "The last Grand Sport [of the C6 generation] kept the Bowling Green plant running. It was our highest-volume model."
Sports-car buyers are more fickle than most. Sales are hot when a new model arrives, as they certainly have been for the C7 Stingray, but then they typically go tumbling off a cliff after a few years. With its long history, the Corvette hasn't necessarily suffered as much as newcomers in this cycle of boom-and-bust because enough Americans have grown up with the unwavering desire to someday buy a Corvette—not the newest sports car, but a Corvette specifically.
Still, adding a hot, updated version a couple of years into a product's life is never a bad idea. For whatever the Grand Sport once was, it is now a full-fledged model within the Corvette lineup. And like the C6 version of the GS—as with a number of Porsche 911 variations and almost all Taco Bell menu items—the new car is an assemblage of known parts.
This particular concoction starts with the Stingray's drivetrain, the naturally aspirated LT1 6.2-liter V-8, but fitted as standard here with the dual-mode exhaust system that's optional on the base Stingray, plus the dry-sump arrangement of the Z51 version. It produces the same 460 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 465 pound-feet of torque at 4600 rpm. This level of output is what Rolls-Royce used to refer to, in typical winking understatement, as "adequate."
It is only in a world where less than $100,000 can buy you a factory-warrantied 600- or 700-hp car that 460 sounds unimpressive. Have you ever tried to fully exploit 650 horsepower on the street for anything more than a fleeting moment? If so, are you currently reading this story from the comfort of the prison rec room?
As a full member of the Corvette brood, the Grand Sport is available with either the seven-speed manual or the eight-speed automatic transaxles. In the case of the manual, it carries the Z51's shorter gearset for livelier acceleration. Opt for the automatic and Chevy specifies the Z51 automatic's 2.73:1 final-drive ratio in place of the regular Vette's 2.41:1 ratio.
The Grand Sport has the stance of a thick-bodied lizard and the feet of a gecko. Measuring 77.4 inches at its widest, the Grand Sport is only 3.5 inches wider than a standard Corvette, but it seems six inches … a foot … nay, a yard wider. The Grand Sport is, naturally, exactly as wide as the Z06, with which it shares its body panels and suspension setup. The sticky-footed car we drove wore track-ready Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires (P285/30ZR-19 up front and P335/25ZR-20 out back). They are part of the optional Z07 package that, as on the Z06, also comes with huge carbon-ceramic brake rotors (15.5 inches in diameter up front and 15.3 in the rear), plus the Stage 2 aero package that adds all varieties of aero doodads, fillips, and finger-noodlers.
As we approach the parked car, we notice the nearly featureless treads of the tires textured with hundreds of little white pebbles adhering to the flat surface. It looks as if the Grand Sport rides on enormous nonpareil candies. And truth be told, these tires and those candies are not the most dissimilar things in the world.
The suspension system is tuned to fit nicely about halfway between the Stingray and the Z06 on the passive-aggressive continuum. But each Corvette that wears the magnetorheological dampers (which come standard on the Grand Sport) has a mighty broad bandwidth of character. If you plotted the Z51, Grand Sport, and Z06 on a Venn diagram, you would find the ride and handling attributes clustered in overlapping sections. Such is the world of highly customizable, mode-shifting, electronically controlled automobilia. There's not a bull's-eye for ride and handling compromise. There are instead five dartboards, one for each of the distinct modes.
It's a far cry from 1962, when Zora Arkus-Duntov developed the original Grand Sport racer on some of the same roads through GM's Milford, Michigan, proving grounds where we're driving the new car today. In the silent home-movie-quality footage of one of Arkus-Duntov's drives, the father of the Corvette and two-time Le Mans class winner wears a sport coat, loafers, and a cue-ball-white open-face helmet while walking quickly to the car, a freshly lit cigarette dangling at a 45-degree angle to his face.
We look nowhere near as effortlessly cool, and rain hangs in the chilly spring air, but we're determined to make the best of it. (The unpleasant weather is why we chose to photograph the GS indoors). The 2017 car shares only its 6.2-liter engine displacement with the '63 Grand Sport race car. But the new production car is an extremely quick machine that's also docile and tractable in a way that would have been inconceivable in 1962. The only similarity between the two cars' behavior is that, when wet and cold, the Cup 2 tires can't cope with the Vette's power—at least, not when applied liberally—and the rear of the car fires sideways. On dry pavement, these monster tires will deliver 1.20 g's of lateral grip, says Chevy. That's a credible claim considering that we achieved 1.19 g's in a Z06 shod with the same tires. The standard Michelin Pilot Super Sports are much more roadworthy and long-lived and will deliver more than 1.00 g, which, let us remind you, is an enormous amount of grip that you are unlikely to exhaust on the road. You can get the standard tires by opting out of the Z07 package, which also drops the carbon-ceramic brakes for smaller cast-iron ones, the rotors of which are sized between those of the Stingray Z51 and the Z06. You might choose to forgo the carbon ceramics for price, but don't worry about them being loud when cold or lame when wet, like some other carmakers' carbon ceramics (we're looking at you, BMW). These are well behaved.
Either way, Grand Sport drivers should have more than enough tire, brake, and cooling capacity for serious track work. On Milford's ride-and-handling loop, a section of gentle curves and alternately ragged or lumpy pavement, the Grand Sport could only be made unpleasant by calling up the stiffest track setting and only then after encountering a series of chatter bumps. You won't do that. Left in touring or sport, the ride is admirably free of harshness and the car shrugs off nasty midcorner heaves and hillocks. As with other Corvettes, you can also personalize the settings for various systems to suit your fancy. The tuning of the dual-mode exhaust is coordinated with each mode—almost mute in eco mode and getting fairly nasty in sport and track. By modifying the threshold at which the exhaust's butterfly valves open, Chevrolet has made the Grand Sport a little more aggressive than the standard Stingray, according to Charlie Rusher, a noise and vibration engineer on the Corvette. If you're looking for someone to thank for the pitch-perfect rumble/rip of the Corvette's exhaust, Rusher would be a good candidate.
With greater aerodynamic drag than a Stingray, the Grand Sport will lose a couple of mph from the base car's 181-mph top speed, says Juechter. The Grand Sport weighs an estimated 130 pounds more than the Stingray (for a total claimed weight of 3428 pounds). Still, Chevrolet figures an automatic Grand Sport with the Z07 package will get to 60 mph about a tenth quicker than a Stingray automatic because of the increased rear traction.
Otherwise, the Grand Sport feels like what it is: a Stingray with an enormous amount of grip. And it looks like what it is: a Z06 without the completely absurd power. At $66,445, the base price of the Grand Sport coupe is about $10,000 higher than an entry-level Stingray, roughly $5000 more than the cheapest Stingray Z51, and about $15,000 less than the least expensive Z06. The convertible Grand Sport starts at $70,445. This is the sweet spot, folks.
At those prices, with that look, expect that the Grand Sport will once again be big business for Chevrolet.
This GS wears the familiar red-white-and-blue get-up. But 10 body colors, six fender hash-mark hues, and five stripe options will be available.
Step away from the spec charts and bench-racing arguments. The 460-hp LT1 V-8 provides more than enough power for almost everyone.
The GS's Z07 package comes with the Stage 2 aero kit. The Stage 3, with its clear, adjustable wickerbill, was deemed too extreme for the model.
2017 CHEVROLET CORVETTE GRAND SPORT
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door targa or convertible
BASE PRICE:
$66,445–$70,445
ENGINE TYPE: pushrod 16-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection
DISPLACEMENT: 376 cu in, 6162 cc
POWER:
460 hp @ 6000 rpm
TORQUE:
465 lb-ft @ 4600 rpm
TRANSMISSIONS: 7-speed manual, 8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode
DIMENSIONS
WHEELBASE: 106.7 in
LENGTH: 177.9 in
WIDTH: 77.4 in
HEIGHT: 48.6 in
PASSENGER VOLUME: 52 cu ft
CARGO VOLUME (CONVERTIBLE/TARGA): 10/15 cu ft
CURB WEIGHT: 3500–3600 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
ZERO TO 60 MPH: 3.7–4.0 sec
ZERO TO 100 MPH: 8.4–8.9 sec
1/4-MILE: 11.9–12.3 sec
TOP SPEED: 175 mph
FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)
EPA COMBINED/CITY/HWY: 20/15–16/28 mpg
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#16
Le Mans Master
Member Since: Oct 2005
Location: Plymouth Massachusetts
Posts: 9,460
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Finalist 2020 C7 of the Year -- Unmodified
This is what I would trade for but with the same HP as my 2014 3LT Z51 I am happy with what I have but if I was buying a new C7 I would go for the GS even though its top speed is 5 MPH less than a Stingray C7!
Makes sense and even if it is 20-25 HP people will buy them.
Makes sense and even if it is 20-25 HP people will buy them.
Last edited by Steve Garrett; 06-07-2016 at 08:09 PM. Reason: Merged Posts-please use the Multi-Quote button (the middle icon) in the lower right hand corner of each post.
#17
Burning Brakes
Lets see this car is going to cost you at least 70-75 grand with just the average options.... and I am sure any discounts in the first year will be minimal at best... then you have a car the looks like a Z06 without the power but has this magical name "Grand Sport".... There are tons of 16 Zs in stock....do your homework find one and play hardball for the deal...you can be driving a true supercar for 80k.... but hey to each his own .. if the GS is your dream go for it
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#18
Drifting
Dave, do you track your car? If no, then what difference does a few extra HP make, other than bragging rights. The wide body is nice, I owned a 2013 GS. However, my 2016 Stingray Z51 is far more superior. Honestly, 460hp is more than enough for street use.
#19
Le Mans Master
Member Since: Oct 2005
Location: Plymouth Massachusetts
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Finalist 2020 C7 of the Year -- Unmodified
Bragging rights are worth at least a few thousand dollars but I will be sticking with my 2014 stingray Z51 for at least 3 more years.
#20
Le Mans Master
I'll keep my 2014 Stingray too just like I kept my C6 "Base" even though some of my friends moved "up" to a C6 Grand Sport and loved to remind me about it. However, when they had to buy a couple sets of tires and brakes I never ever gloated.