Hello all,

My story: I had a Porsche 718 Boxster that I sold in 2022 for about 90% what I paid for it, after three plus years of ownership. The Boxster was an awesome car and I was sad to see it go, but the crazy car market presented an offer I could not refuse. I had just taken delivery of an M4 competition convertible as my replacement. The M4 has been a reliable DD, great engine and suspension, but it just lacks that two seater sports car vibe. So alas, I put my order in for a C8 HTC torch red/natural/LT3 with Ciocca. And I patiently waited, and waited, and waited some more. Order was placed July 2022. 1 1/2 years later...January 7, 2024, I took delivery. In the interim, to get further stoked, I flew to Nashville, and then drove to the NCM to take a factory tour. That was absolutely amazing. I did the tour about 3 weeks before I took delivery. After the tour, my excitement was off the charts. And then I took delivery. It was love at first sight! What a cool looking sports car. Just got my blood pumping looking at it. I knew I was on to something special, the first time I sat in it. I drove the car home from Atlantic City to Long Island (about a 3 hour trip) in a raging snow storm. I bet many of you cannot claim that on your corvette delivery! I tried to beat the storm home, but it started earlier than forecast about 1/2 way thru my trip.Thankfully the roads were not yet salted, and the snow did not stick to the highway. I swear if I saw one salt truck, I would have pulled off and stayed in a hotel!! Now, on to my initial thoughts...I will break it down as follows:

1. Overall 10/10

2. Engine start up 10/10 might be my favorite part of ownership so far. When you initially start it, it is very loud for about 5 seconds before the revs lower. Sounds really cool.

3. Engine overall 10/10 but I am still in the break in period. The exhaust sounds great in sport mode, that's for sure.

4. Bose radio 8/10. A little bass heavy for my liking but overall I like the sound

5. Cabin 10/10. Kudos to Chevy for building such a high quality interior. I highly recommend the LT3 if you are on the fence as I was. It is absolutely world class (and much nicer than the 718 Boxster's interior) My only quibbles about the interior-I do not like the large black border around the nav screen. Ingress/egress into/out of the car is something I am still getting used to-but part of the fun /quirkiness of a sports car I say. And lastly about the interior the rear view...or lack thereof! Worst rear visibility of any car I have owned. Again, I file this as part of the quirks of sports car driving. I hope at some point I will get used to the video rear view mirror. I am slowly getting there after 250 miles on the odometer.

6. Suspension 10/10 It is perfect. Not stiff at all. I have owned some cars that were bone jarring (2019 Mercedes C63S was almost unbearable). The Boxster, I thought had one of the best suspensions, and the Corvette feels very similar.

7. Transmission 10/10 Lightning quick shifts, very smooth. Holds gears nicely when needed, No complaints there.


I think years of happy motoring are ahead for me!

 

Congrats! I'm also on my first C8, owned it about 5 months now. Similar to you I owned a GT4, which I loved (and I do miss for the manual). After 5 months of ownership, and about 3800 miles (it's a pure weekend toy but I drive my toys a lot) I agree with everything you've said and more. Mine is a 1LT, non-Z51, non Mag Ride and I was worried the suspension would be too soft, but it really is fantastic, much better than I anticipated. Power and acceleration is exceptional with lightning quick shifts, as expected with a DCT. What I'm really most impressed with is just the smoothness of this car, and the utter lack of any noises of any kind. It's almost like an electric, until you get on it then the exhaust note chimes in (my biggest gripe is I wish the exhaust was louder inside the car). But wow, just so smooth and composed in virtually every situation. I drive it relatively aggressively in the twisties almost every weekend and it really is the most confidence inspiring sports car I've owned. Coming from some pretty raw manual sports cars (2014 Z/28, 2019 ZL1 1LE) which I love I was worried that I'd be bored with the DCT and really miss driving manual. I do absolutely miss driving manual, I'm hardcore in that sense, but the value and performance of the C8 was too good to pass up, but I've really come to enjoy the DCT in manual mode, which I drive in virtually 100% of the time. Putting the throttle to the floor and just clicking the paddle shift is a giddy pleasure. In just about every objective measure this is the best street sports car I've owned (caveat I only drive it on the street, no track, though I've done track days before.....if I were to track it I would absolutely get Z51). I've done a couple of exterior cosmetic mods (RSC GT Side Skirts, carbon fiber blades) and put after market wheels on, not that I hate the stock carbon flash wheels, but I like doing mods. The only other thing I've done is installed a Soler Performance Throttle Controller, which to me is an absolute must have and the best under $200 smiles per miles mod you can do, period end of discussion (those that bash it haven't tried it). The ultimate litmus test for me is the fact that I plan to keep this car for a long time. I am an extreme car enthusiast and typically get a new car every 12-18 months, which drives my wife crazy, but this car is so good, especially for the money, that I just can't see upgrading for years. Final note, and the Z06 guys will blast me for saying this. I drove a buddies C8 Z06, awesome car no doubt, however, on the street it's very hard (and unsafe) to drive it in a manner to take advantage of the extra performance. The interior is exactly the same, and at 5/10s driving the performance is similar (though the engine note of the Z06 is truly awesome in the cockpit)........side note, he drove my car while I drove his and after we stopped he told me, unsolicited, that he was prepared to feel underwhelmed by the Stingray, but that after a bit he was really enjoying it. Do I want one? Of course, but the extra $50k (or whatever it would end up being depending on model and markup) is just not worth it to me as a street only driver (I do well but I'm not super rich so while I could afford one, $50k is a big chunk of change). One more side note, I tried to get on the initial Ciocca Z06 list and ended up #2000+ because my bank didn't send the deposit until 20 minutes after I hit "send". No doubt I love the Z06. I guess what I'm saying is the Stingray is just such a fantastic sports car that there's really not a lot that can compare for the price. Ok, I'm out......

 

Oddly, I was going to purchase a Boxster, but speaking with the Porsche salesperson regarding wait times, I said I had looked at C8 with a longer wait and he mentioned he had a new C8 available. Yes a little premium charge, but coincidentally it was almost exactly my build spec. Turned out that the Boxster S with similar options to the C8 was actually $1,000 more than the C8 even with the no wait premium.
My Porsche license plate holder on a C8 has confused a few spectators and I never did find out what the boxster was like.

Regarding Bose Radio and heavy bass there is an equalizer setting provided that can adjust and reduce the bass a lot by turning midrange and treble up and bass down.

 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on your C8. Glad you are thoroughly enjoying your car.

 

Congrats on your new ride, don't forget to wave!

 

Congratulations and enjoy your new C8. ,,pictures!

 

Thank you for sharing

 

You can thank "culture" and GM's desire to make the car desirable to the widest audience they can for the heavy bass. The woofers in the door are definitely powerful enough to rattle the car beyond any sort of sanity.
You would need to add dynamat all over the place to tame the rattle at maximum SPL. I don't run the stereo usually ever higher than 50% volume level. With the bass not shattering windows, my biggest complaint is the treble sounds a bit distorted.
There was another thread here where they used REW (room EQ wizard) and a DSP/mic to analyze the accoustics which showed a pretty close approximation to a Harmon Kardon house curve. I have done sound engineering on projects and in fact it looks to me like they actively tried to match that curve with the EQ flat, which is awesome!

Btw, the interior was designed and assembled by Faurecia, same company that does Bugatti, Ferrari, AMG, BMW, etc...

Enjoy new ride, and don't forget the break in period for the DCT is not completed until 1500mi on the ODO.

 

It's perfect except....... you need to paint the wall cabinets to match the car.

 

Driving a high HP car is an interesting thing while living in a Suburb of NYC. My commute to work is on a one lane road in each direction for about 10 minutes. The flow of traffic is about 35 mph, and I have no way of hitting the throttle and having some fun on my commute. On weekends, the roads on Long Island are generally busy, and the Long Island highways are either full of traffic, or in the areas less traveled, filled with cops salivating to stop you and write a ticket. My point is owning a Z06 in an area like this might be overkill. On the other hand, just having the extra power, the more aggressive appearance, and just knowing you own the king of the Corvettes...tempting for many.

As for the C8 vs Boxster, I owned two Boxster S's a 2018 with the V6 and a 2021 with the 4 cylinder. I actually like the newer model better. The 2.0 flat four was very responsive, and had a louder exhaust if somewhat sounding like a Subaru (slightly). The Boxster handing was world class, and there was a certain mechanical precision to the Porsche that is hard to explain, unless you have driven one. There is also no substitute for lighter weight in a sports car. That being said, the C8 seems to have 90% or more of that mechanical precision ( I have only driven 300 miles so far). And I never thought I would say this, but I feel "cooler" driving the C8 than I did the Porsche. Go figure. If you did not know better, from the view out the front windshield you would think you were driving a Ferrari or a McLaren. I have driven a 458 Ferrari, and it has the same low to the ground feel.

 

The first guy I've heard of that thinks the C8's stereo has too much bass.

 

Well, the sure thing is that Tigra and Bunny love the cars that go boom!

In the 90's I used this CD for testing car audio:

These days, I prefer not to hear cars rattling, and the bass level in the C8 far exceeds the structural integrity of the door panels. Plus I would be worried about driving that amp sitting under the passenger floorboard too hard for too long, have heard of some failures doing that.

 

I have that song in my playlist! LOL!

I don't want panels rattling. If the C8 does that--I'd be more worried about how it was built than I would be about the bass being too loud.

Proper bass should rumble and punch when the sound is just below conversational level. If your panels are rattling instead of feeling like you have movie THX--there's something wrong with the car.

 

At some point you reach a sanity level where you have to dynamat the **** out of everything, GM isn't going to do that. The woofers in the C8 can push past that level IMHO.

 

Congratulations. I have a very early 2020 HTC that has been a wonderful car with no problems beyond a bad battery cell. You have tons of fun with that car!

 

Enjoy. You may be like me after a couple of weeks and wish the exhaust was a tad bit louder.

 

I agree the exhaust is a tad weak. It seems to be the way of the world now. My 2022 M4 also has somewhat weak exhaust note. They have done away with the crackles and pops. And quite frankly, I do not get the performance exhaust option. I have that option in both the M4 and C8 and neither sounds appreciably louder. Best exhaust note of any car I have owned was my C63S. AMG nailed the exhaust on that one.

 

Thanks for the good word! Definitely the best bang for the buck upgrade you can do!

 

Seeing you already have the Soler throttle controller, I also have the ported polished throttle body and have to say it in conjunction with the throttle controller is even more smiles per $$. Just wanted to throw in my couple of penny's

 

Yes! Both the TB and TC work great independently, but when paired together, they complement each other for maximum benefit and potential.