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I just took delivery of my brand new 2017 Grand Sport last Saturday. I waited all winter for my order to be built and it arrived just in time for the nice spring weather (I live in Canada and Bowling Green doesn't build Canadian orders for delivery during the winter months).
Driving my 2017 Grand Sport off the dealer lot was the first time in my life I'd ever driven a Corvette... suffice to say it was a good introduction to the brand!
I bought my original "dream car" 8 years ago, a BMW e46 M3 ZCP (track package) with 6spd manual, and I loved every second of owning it. It was a truly amazing car but after owning it for more than 7 years I started to feel like I needed a change... the replacement needed to be something special.
I've always owned German or Japanese vehicles but ever since the C7 Corvette generation was released and I first sat in one at the Auto Show its been on my (very) short list of cars to buy. When the Grand Sport model was released it ticked all the boxes for me; I've always preferred the more aggressive look of the Z06 but I didn't really need/want the 650HP (or the sticker price) so the GS fit the bill perfectly.
I took the plunge and traded in my BMW M3 and placed an order for a 2017 Grand Sport; now that its arrived and I've had a chance to drive it I can confidently say I'm very happy with my decision... this thing is truly something special.
I figured some people might also be interested in my impressions of moving from German sports cars into a Corvette, or just honest thoughts from the perspective of a first time Corvette owner. I figured with the appeal of the new C7 generation it might be useful for other people in the same boat as me that are looking to upgrade to a Corvette for the first time. If you're interested my honest impressions/review of the car I've provided them below, obviously I'm not coming from a previous generation of Corvette like many others so my impressions are based on past experience with other luxury sport car brands.
Engine: 10/10
The LT1 engine in the Corvette is simply amazing. Coming from a high strung/high revving inline 6 engine, the power delivery in the Corvette is whole different beast. The amount of low end torque is unbelievable. The sound of the engine and exhaust are fantastic, the car sounds amazing with the exhaust baffles open and the crackle of the exhaust when letting off the throttle or down-shifting. 6.2 liters of American muscle! Love it! Nuff said.
Transmission: 9/10
I opted for the 7 spd manual gearbox. I love that this car is available with a traditional manual transmission and this was a huge factor in me buying this car. The Tremec gearbox in the Corvette is definitely the best pure manual gearbox I've driven. The Getrag gearbox in my old car was great too but felt a bit too "notchy", was quite temperamental when not warmed up, and had longer throws than I preferred. In comparison, the stock Corvette gearbox has great positive feedback when slotting into gear and the perfect amount of mechanical feel with nice short throws.
Prior to driving this car I figured that automatic rev-matching would simply be a gimmicky feature, I can heel-toe and figured a computer rev-matching would just take away from the driving experience... boy was I wrong. Active rev-matching is now probably one of my favorite features about the car! My only complaints about the transmission would be that 7 gears seems unnecessary (yes in know its for fuel economy) and as a result the shift gates are quite narrow. The clutch pedal is also fairly light compared to what I'm used to and doesn't quite transmit as much feedback as I'd like (may improve as clutch breaks-in). Overall these are fairly minor gripes in and otherwise great gearbox setup.
Brakes: 10/10
Great initial bite, perfect pedal feel, no noise, mind bending stopping power. I didn't opt for the carbon ceramics which I'm sure are better on the track but its hard to imagine things improving much if at all on the street. The braking capability with the steel rotors is significantly better than my old car and seems to be on par with the track oriented exotics I've driven. From what I can tell people seem to complain quite a bit about the brake dust but the pads on the GS seem to produce less brake dust then I'm used to with my previous car (so that's a plus in my books).
Handling/Feel: 9/10
The amount of grip that this car has is staggering, it seems next to impossible to exceed the lateral grip level on the street and I imagine it will take a number of track sessions before being comfortable getting to the limits of this car.
The traction control system is phenomenal and seems to integrate all the systems together very seamlessly, overall the car really puts the power down well.
In the "track" setting the MSRC suspension stiffness feels comparable to that of my old car but the Corvette still manages to do a better job of soaking up the bumps. Things only get more comfortable in sport and touring modes, with touring doing a particularly good job smoothing out bad sections of road. I like the option of being able to switch to sport mode or touring mode to soften things up, though even in its stiffest track setting I don't find it overly harsh for daily driving.
I find that the electric steering, while very direct, still feels just a tad soft and vague compared to what I'm used to with a heavy close-ratio hydraulic steering rack. I would prefer if there was one more setting beyond "track" that was maybe a bit stiffer and offered a bit more feedback, though overall I think Chevy did a pretty decent job with the electric steering rack.
Interior: 8/10
Everything about the design of the interior is perfectly driver focused, as soon as you sit in this thing you can tell it means business.
I find the regular seats to be particularly good, more comfortable and more supportable than what I'm used to in my old car, which actually came as a shock to me even though I'd sat in a C7 previously. I haven't tried the competition seats but given how good the regular Corvette seats seem I don't feel like I'm missing out on too much with the regular sport seats.
Overall the interior is quite good with decent fit and finish though I don't think its quite up to the same level of an equivalent European sports car. There are a couple cheap feeling pieces in the interior, though I imagine some of that could be fixed by ordering the 3LT package or the carbon fiber trim option.
The infotainment system seems decent and its nice to have all the technology features well integrated into the car, especially Android Auto. The technology in the Corvette is light years ahead of my old BMW (which being a track oriented model had exactly zero features) so I'm not necessarily the best authority on car technology/features. One thing I do find quite poor though is the Bose sound system, I'm not an audiophile by any means so the best I can describe it as would be "muddled", or "hollow" if that makes any sense. Personally this doesn't really bother too much as I didn't buy the car to listen to music, the engine and exhaust play a better sound track.
Exterior: 9/10
I absolutely love the look of this car, very aggressive look and very modern compared to the previous c6 generation. Has a very good combination of sharp angles and curves. The amount of road presence and attention this thing draws is off the charts. Overall it has a perfect balance somewhere in between exotic super car and sports car. Chevy also seems to offer tons of options/packages to customize the exterior look of the car, you don't seem to get this level of customization with other manufacturers. As with the interior there are a few "plasticy" bits which I feel take away from the overall look a bit but they're kind of hard to notice when looking at the car as a whole.
My one big complaint about the exterior is the quality of the paint, which frankly is quite poor. I'm not sure if this varies between cars or paint colors but I find there to be a lot of inconsistencies with the finish of the paint on the various panels of my car with considerable amounts of orange peel on the paint surface. I can look past the paint issue given that its not noticeable once you step a few feet away from the car but I'd be lying if I said it didn't bug me.
Overall I'd say if you're looking for a car that attracts a lot of positive attention then this is the right car, everyone can appreciate the look of the vette. If you're like me and you prefer a more low-key car... well you'll be forced to get used to the attention really quickly.
Price: 10/10
Not much to say here, I think everyone knows this already. Chevy put together an amazing package with the C7 at a killer price point; this thing competes against cars twice its price. Its not cheap by any means but in my opinion its quite the bargain for a sports car.
Overall I can definitely say the Corvette Grand Sport is something special, its a phenomenal car made even better by the price. I think anyone considering an upgrade to a C7 for the first time would not be disappointed regardless of what car you're coming from.
I've had more compliments and more people talk to me about my Corvette in the first 3 hours of owning it than I did in all 7+ years of owning my BMW M3... that pretty much says it all.
I think Chevy hit a home run this C7 generation, I'm happy to have joined the Corvette family!
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-
'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
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CI 5, 8 & 11 Veteran
Congrats on getting your GS and thanks for sharing your thoughts on owning the car for a week. Hopefully your enthusiasm for the car will last for many years.
Thanks for sharing, you and I are very similar. This is my first Corvette as well (owned about two months) and come from mostly German and Japanese sporty cars with my last four cars being WRX, BRZ, another WRX, and a 2016 Golf R that I drove for 16 months before buying a 2016 Z51 manual. I have owned three Rx-7's a Mazda Speed3, several other VW's and BMW's.
Corvette was not even on my radar until 2013 when the C7 came out and I saw one in person and read the reviews. After test driving one late last year I knew this was my next car and just like you I am very impressed with the engine, transmission, exhaust, magnetic ride, exterior and interior. The Golf R is known for having a very good interior and the C7 is honestly close in terms of overall fit and finish.
Like any car the Corvette is not perfect but the price for performance cannot be touched. Everytime I drive the car it puts a smile on my face.
Very well written and a great way to introduce yourself to the Corvette family. The Grand Sport, as you aptly pointed out, is an amazing machine. You will invent excuses to drive it... ask me how I know! Congratulations and enjoy the miles of smiles.
04-16-2017, 01:12 PM
First Corvette - 2017 Grand Sport
Love it! Nuff said.
