Sleek and sinewy, the all-new 2014 Corvette Stingray is powered
by a direct-injected, 460-hp V8 with 465 lb.-ft. of torque
that can cruise on four cylinders on the highway.
by a direct-injected, 460-hp V8 with 465 lb.-ft. of torque
that can cruise on four cylinders on the highway.
By Graeme Fletcher, Postmedia News - Sliding behind the wheel, I plant a boot on the brake and push the start button. The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray's engine roars to life with the sort of basso profondo only a North American V8 can produce. The vapour is rising from the tailpipes as I ease off down the street. It is going to be a special drive.
A cool fall morning and performance tires do not mix well, so, scrolling through the various drive modes, I pick Weather -- the system tailors 12 different parameters to optimize the driving characteristics to the selected mode. In this instance, it softens the Corvette's throttle response, which makes it feel like I'm toying with a kitten and not holding a tiger by the tail. The steering is light, the traction control is set to maximum intervention and the exhaust note is muted.
As I drive, I weave left and right gently in an attempt to get some heat into the tires. After a few kilometres, I bypass the Eco mode and select Tour. The throttle now feels alive, the electronic overseer is not as eager to dive in and all four tailpipes are now barking. It is the ideal cruising mode.
Once out of suburbia and alone on my favourite stretch of serpentine tarmac, it's time to get serious.
Sport mode amps everything up. It now snaps and growls as I row up and down the seven-speed manual gearbox.
After several spirited runs through my private "track", I feel confident enough to grasp the tiger by its tail and put the Vette into its Track mode.
I change the heads-up display information hovering at the end of the long hood to the Track mode, which emphasizes the data needed when flirting with the limits. The throttle becomes ever sharper, the steering is firmer and has a more direct feel, there is no traction control intervention and the optional Magnetic Ride control suspension becomes rock solid -- the tiny amount of roll evident in Weather mode has completely disappeared.
When pushed, the Vette lets its tail drift, but it does so in a completely manageable manner with none of the vicious snap that makes so many supercars a handful. There is an off position for the stability control system, but sanity prevails this time.
At this point, the Vette's P245/35R19 front and P285/30R20 rear run-flat tires are up to temperature and my smile is wide. The handling is world class by any measure. Ditto the Brembo brakes and the fade-free stopping power they return almost without regard to how hard they are leaned on.
This, however, only tells part of the story.
Yes, the engine still uses Chevrolet's time-honoured push rods and just two valves per cylinder, but it now adopts direct injection and can lope along on four of its eight cylinders in the Eco mode. The 6.2-litre V8 pushes 460 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque at a very usable 4,500 rpm. It proved to be a much more refined and flexible power source than I was expecting.
Power is relayed to the rear wheels through the aforementioned seven-speed manual gearbox, whose ratios get the very best out of the engine. The first four gears, especially with the Z51 Performance package along for the ride, are aimed at getting things to a roaring boil as quickly as possible. The other three gears then bring better fuel economy and relaxed highway cruising.
The seventh, the engine is barely breaking a sweat. In the end, the combination delivered remarkable fuel economy and awe-inspiring acceleration. The former rated a very good 12.9 litres per 100 kilometres during the test. The latter instilled some serious motivation.
My hand-held stopwatch clocked the run to 100 km/h at four seconds flat and saw the more important 80 to 120 km/h time come in at a breathtaking 3.0 seconds in third gear -- second gear runs out of breath at around 100 km/h.
One of the features I did enjoy was the rev-match mode, which is accessed through steering wheel-mounted paddles -- it automatically brings the engine to the right revs for the chosen gear. It can be likened to an automated heel/toe shift without having to do the intricate ballet needed to get it right every time.
As for the cabin, well, it is all business with a smattering of pampering. The optional sport buckets are more accurately described as wing-backs -- they provide a ton of lateral support. This and power tilt/telescopic steering allows the perfect driving position to be established and saved. The instrumentation is fully configurable (and it is mirrored in the heads-up display), the controls are logically laid out and there is a nifty storage cubby behind the infotainment/navigation screen. It is very nicely finished to boot.
The lone anomaly is found in the mirrors -- the interior and rear-view mirrors are small enough they would not look out of place on the diminutive Chevy Spark. This mandates keeping an alert eye out whenever changing lanes.
So there you have it: the seventh-generation Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. The new aluminum chassis, wonderful dynamics and power combine to make it a true super-car by any measure. It is supremely fast, sharp to obey driver input, and is entirely manageable in an urban environment. That alone would be enough to make a very strong case for the new Stingray.
However, it also blows the super-car crowd away price-wise. It starts at $56,520 and even when duded up with almost $18,000 in options, it still costs about $20,000 less than the entry-level Porsche 911 and SRT Viper.
A cool fall morning and performance tires do not mix well, so, scrolling through the various drive modes, I pick Weather -- the system tailors 12 different parameters to optimize the driving characteristics to the selected mode. In this instance, it softens the Corvette's throttle response, which makes it feel like I'm toying with a kitten and not holding a tiger by the tail. The steering is light, the traction control is set to maximum intervention and the exhaust note is muted.
As I drive, I weave left and right gently in an attempt to get some heat into the tires. After a few kilometres, I bypass the Eco mode and select Tour. The throttle now feels alive, the electronic overseer is not as eager to dive in and all four tailpipes are now barking. It is the ideal cruising mode.
Once out of suburbia and alone on my favourite stretch of serpentine tarmac, it's time to get serious.
Sport mode amps everything up. It now snaps and growls as I row up and down the seven-speed manual gearbox.
After several spirited runs through my private "track", I feel confident enough to grasp the tiger by its tail and put the Vette into its Track mode.
I change the heads-up display information hovering at the end of the long hood to the Track mode, which emphasizes the data needed when flirting with the limits. The throttle becomes ever sharper, the steering is firmer and has a more direct feel, there is no traction control intervention and the optional Magnetic Ride control suspension becomes rock solid -- the tiny amount of roll evident in Weather mode has completely disappeared.
When pushed, the Vette lets its tail drift, but it does so in a completely manageable manner with none of the vicious snap that makes so many supercars a handful. There is an off position for the stability control system, but sanity prevails this time.
At this point, the Vette's P245/35R19 front and P285/30R20 rear run-flat tires are up to temperature and my smile is wide. The handling is world class by any measure. Ditto the Brembo brakes and the fade-free stopping power they return almost without regard to how hard they are leaned on.
This, however, only tells part of the story.
Yes, the engine still uses Chevrolet's time-honoured push rods and just two valves per cylinder, but it now adopts direct injection and can lope along on four of its eight cylinders in the Eco mode. The 6.2-litre V8 pushes 460 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque at a very usable 4,500 rpm. It proved to be a much more refined and flexible power source than I was expecting.
Power is relayed to the rear wheels through the aforementioned seven-speed manual gearbox, whose ratios get the very best out of the engine. The first four gears, especially with the Z51 Performance package along for the ride, are aimed at getting things to a roaring boil as quickly as possible. The other three gears then bring better fuel economy and relaxed highway cruising.
The seventh, the engine is barely breaking a sweat. In the end, the combination delivered remarkable fuel economy and awe-inspiring acceleration. The former rated a very good 12.9 litres per 100 kilometres during the test. The latter instilled some serious motivation.
My hand-held stopwatch clocked the run to 100 km/h at four seconds flat and saw the more important 80 to 120 km/h time come in at a breathtaking 3.0 seconds in third gear -- second gear runs out of breath at around 100 km/h.
One of the features I did enjoy was the rev-match mode, which is accessed through steering wheel-mounted paddles -- it automatically brings the engine to the right revs for the chosen gear. It can be likened to an automated heel/toe shift without having to do the intricate ballet needed to get it right every time.
As for the cabin, well, it is all business with a smattering of pampering. The optional sport buckets are more accurately described as wing-backs -- they provide a ton of lateral support. This and power tilt/telescopic steering allows the perfect driving position to be established and saved. The instrumentation is fully configurable (and it is mirrored in the heads-up display), the controls are logically laid out and there is a nifty storage cubby behind the infotainment/navigation screen. It is very nicely finished to boot.
The lone anomaly is found in the mirrors -- the interior and rear-view mirrors are small enough they would not look out of place on the diminutive Chevy Spark. This mandates keeping an alert eye out whenever changing lanes.
So there you have it: the seventh-generation Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. The new aluminum chassis, wonderful dynamics and power combine to make it a true super-car by any measure. It is supremely fast, sharp to obey driver input, and is entirely manageable in an urban environment. That alone would be enough to make a very strong case for the new Stingray.
However, it also blows the super-car crowd away price-wise. It starts at $56,520 and even when duded up with almost $18,000 in options, it still costs about $20,000 less than the entry-level Porsche 911 and SRT Viper.
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