I find threads like this really entertaining. Had the C8 been noisy. rode harsh and vibrated like many Corvettes of the past they would have been laughed at by all the exotic car builders.
Do people who buy Porsche or Ferrari complain that they are too "refined"? I think not.
If you really miss the brutality of older Corvettes go find yourself a nice C-2 or C-3 and park it in your garage and look at it now and then. You certainly won't want to drive it often because they are not refined enough to actually enjoy the ride.
I had a 1970 Roadrunner when I was a kid and absolutely loved driving that car. I had a chance to ride in one a few years back and couldn't believe how horrible that thing rode. There is no way I want to live in the past and maybe that has a lot to do with the fact I'm 66 years old and like refined over brutal.

 

But putting it perspective my fleet consists of two Vettes at 650bhp, a four door sedan at 707bhp, and a full sized SUV at 550bhp so 500bhp is kind of tame in this day and age.

 

Funny how extensively the old muscle cars would need to be modified just to get into the 12's. Traction bars, cams, headers, carbs. nitrous etc. When you finally did dump the high performance, leg cramping, clutch hang on because you could never be sure which direction you were going to go.
I kinda like 'refined' 11 second 1/4 mile times.

 

Refined is where we are moving to like it or not. Look at the laws being passed in Cali and soon in the rest of the county. Those laws are aimed to keep cars stock. Goooberment will control the manufacturing process and eliminate engine mods. We’ll are be driving pods!

Most of us love the sound and experience of a loud v8 coupled with a manual transmission and a sweet exhaust system. It makes a car custom, makes the car personal.

In my 25 years in the corvette hobby I’ve seen the car become less customized….more generic. One big issue for the c5 was cup holders to which gm responded. I knew when that became a huge got to have, the car was changing from the raw experience it was designed originally. When we go all electric it will be over.

I’ve driven a Tesla ludicrous and the power is amazing. The technology is incredible. But for me it lacks a soul.

Zero to 60 in X seconds or less? Big deal! 1200 hp? What do you do with that?

Honestly it’s more fun driving a 4 cylinder with a manual.

But it’s where we are headed.

OP is correct…..my c7 Z manual with corsa extremes……just a fun car.

oh well “progress”

 

We actually thought those cars were fast and that had a lot to do with how raw they were. They made lots of noise, vibrated, rode and handled like dump trucks and took over 6 seconds to reach 60 mph. The 426 hemi was unbeatable at 5.6 seconds to reach 60 mph.
Lots of everyday 4 door sedans can beat those numbers today.
They felt so fast because they were raw and not refined. Even though I loved those days I'll take todays refined sports cars over any of the old brutality of years past.

 

Take your c8 to the track and see how the refinement now inspires confidence and faster lap times. Sorry, but I’ll take the new suspension (without leaf springs) and smoothness any day over my previous 3 corvettes. The c8 is better than previous generations in every single aspect, this is a good thing.

 

Actually I’ve caught Porsche owners with a bit of an identity crisis. When they compare to older Corvettes, they comment the Corvette is a brute beast while Porsche is a precision refined instrument. Then compared to a GT-R, they claim it’s too refined, and that Porsche is more of a visceral experience.

 

I bought a brand new 1969 Roadrunner 440 6-pack when I was left the Marine Corps. A floating boat. Suspension sucked, loose steering, loud, minimal creature comforts and no safety features. What it offered was smiles per mile with the 11 mpg. It sounded great, was fast for its time with the skinny SBR tires. Those were the days. Now most cars are faster but just a totally different experience

 

All true but I bet if you had a chance to drive it today you wouldn't be smiling. You would be shaking your head and laughing.

 

Excellent point. If the technology and budget was around decades ago--we would have had the C8 THEN and would not have this raw baseline of previous gens to compare. But you can understand that all we can compare with is--previous gens of Corvette. C8 WOULD have been here many years ago but....GM postponed the decades long mid engine dream due to recessions, budget problems etc etc.

This is kind of a chicken and egg discussion--which came first?? lol. To get a really powerful engine...it HAD to be really loud, There WAS no "quiet option" decades ago in our formative years. So now we pay extra to GET the loud exhaust sound that you HAD to have to get power and speed previously, Right? That's how we were brought up...that's OUR association. Thats what speed in fossil fuel cars has always sounded like., Think how we'll feel with E-Ray. What kind of noise will we need to fabricate with that dead silent 0-60 in 1 + seconds to replicate our image of 1985 speed "sound"? And suspensions? 1975 might as well be 500 years ago. But THATS what we associate with sports cars. The anti-smooth,

For GM to put out an affordable, super speed car it previously HAD to cut corners on interior and pretty much everywhere except the engine. That's how you got the speed and power of imports triple the cost. So we were raised on this.

LOVE the C8!. Appreciate its refinement. IMO the C7 took the original front engine to the highest level., This is a different animal. Just think its a REALLY different one.

 

Most likely, but I would love one more drive in it today, for old time sake. I still think of buying one for an occasional weekend jaunt. Just not sure I want a 50+ year old car. They were quite easy to work on but getting the Three deuces in sync took a bit of skill

 

LOL, someone needs to work on their tiger vs. lion identification skills.

 

I'm still waiting for my 2022 allocation to come up, which should be in the next two Consensus at my local dealer, but I'm thinking that should I want raw and crude and row through the gears, vs refinement I will just take the 66 L72 out!

 

Thanks and corrected. LOL, Geezer

 

Still up 35 HP from the base C7

 

Well you can still buy a new Morgan I hear.

 

This is what Corvette owners want now, gone are the days of the C6 ZO6 raw power

 

There’s literally a new Z06 getting revealed in a few months.

 

I find this whole thing funny in that for decades we were the laughing stock of the world as nothing more than crude, brash, unrefined American junk. The automotive equivalence to opening a walnut with a 20 pound sledge hammer. They finally give us a car that is at a whole new level of refinement and there are a bunch of dinosaurs that cling to crude. I guess some guys still wear mullets and wife beaters too.

 

Understand! First off I think lot of us are attracted to the muscle cars as a nostalgic connection to our youth. Fond memories, good times. But the cars are crap. Been there done that. Over the years I’ve pondered buying a nostalgic car, but every time I look at one I see all the defects, poor workmanship and think I’m not going back to that. They are fine as collector cars which I don’t do but not America’s finest quality statement.

Looking forward there are several iterations of corvette coming. The transition to electric for many cars will be interesting to watch.