Sept 25th: In depth Corvette C6

[TT]

Ok so, time for a new "in depth". And time to raise the power bar a little. Thanks, as always, to JC, we got this red lady for a couple of hours this morning. Of course now the Z06 is pretty close (first ones will arrive in November), but the base model could still be pretty interesting, and despite what some would say, the oppurtunity to have 400 wild horses for such "cheap" price, is tempting.

Untill today I never was in an american sport car, only in rentals and such, which never pretended to be special. Now finally I could have a taste of what everybody talk about... and sadly, even trying really not to be too picky, the interior is utter crap. The C6 might be "cheap", but just a little %age of this price is injected into the cabin. There is plastic everywhere, you already know it, and it's bad, hard plastic, not so well assembled, not so nice to the touch or the eyes. Some details like the part around the door opening button which want to be sporty or cool just look terribly shit IMO. The car had sat nav installed but we didn't tried it. Of course the HUD display is cool and you can put about everything there, but still, all the rest is pretty low grade, sorry. The seats aren't that bad, but while it was not a problem for me, behind the wheel it seemed kinda hard to match the seat to the steering wheel position. Luggage space is kinda huge afterall.
It had a manual tranny BTW. Now, the good part: the engine. It is pretty strong, you can't deny that. You still have a "endless US highway" feeling when you slot it into 6th and you cruise at around 130 km/h and 1800 rpm :shock: but despite 6 liters and 8 cylinders, when you floor it in 6th, nothing happens LOL. Almost nothing at least.
But once you drop a couple of gears, the car start to fly, the engine and its thunderous note invading the cabin!
Pushing hard in 2nd gear brings you beyond 100 km/h in a glimpse, bang, into third and the thrust seems to become even stronger. For sure the 200 come very quickly, no idea after that, but well, that's plenty enough.
The brakes seem pretty strong but we didn't work them really hard, so no idea if they fade quickly or not.
Steering as far as I understood is kinda direct, pretty well weighted, maybe too much.
What I know is that from the passenger seat the car seemed to float a lot on road surface's imperfections. but despite that feeling, the car always seemed well planted and the front never pushed wide.
What can push wide is the back, but even in "sport mode" there is still some sort of traction control, allowing you to powerslide but quickly taking control again. Weird, no idea if you really can totally kill any aid.

All in all, it is for sure a funny car that can be also a great cruiser. It didn't feel totally at ease in the mountains, but still managed to eat the tarmac and other road users very quickly.
Now, the C6 wants to steal customers from Porsche or even Ferrari (afterall JC has a 550 and was wondering if a C6 or even Z06 could be a more sensible option, especially considering trackdays and such too)... well, IMO it will never be able to steal that many. It's a great engine installed into a pretty well sorted chassis, that's a reality, but well, when you drive a Porsche or a Ferrari, no matter what, you still care about the badge, the quality and so on. The C6 might be cheaper to buy and to keep fit, but it's still a big step down the ladder, IMO impossible to be done. Yeh, you can't be as hooling in a 550 as in a C6, but still, the 550 even costing 3 times as much, offer much more that the price seems totally justified.
I am sure many will be charmed but such a car, it's good IMO and not totally wasted money, but if you had a try at its rival, expensive or not, the Vette all of a sudden does look plain boring.. just a mighty engine.

On a side note, if the trip computer was well set, we averaged some 15 liters / 100 km, which is kinda good considering the car was driven above the average rythm you will have on a daily basis!

23 pics can be found by clicking one of these previews






Finges crossed, I might have a Gransport indepth tomorrow

[yeckmohr]

Nice pics as always.

Thanks a lot Matteo.

Greetings Yeckmohr

[racer_f50]

Great to have another in-depth review from you
Haven't been in the cockpit of a C6 yet, but you seem to have the same impressions as most people who review it from Europe. I'm not sure it would really bother me, since I'd buy the car for the driving, not the interior (and plastic=light). Would certainly be a step up from my Celica's interior either way.
About 6th gear not having any pull, that's because it's a very tall gear. On the old Z06, 6th gear would theoretically get you to over 250mph, but of course that would never happen unless you installed massive engine upgrades. Simply meant for good fuel economy.

Looking forward to your Grand Sport review!

[TT]

Yes dude, I know it is still a bit picky to always attack the interior quality of the Corvette. For sure such car is meant to be driven, not to be used as a rolling living room, but still, when I sat down in my 1995 3 Series, well, I found better quality in there! And that's just weird! And the fact the C6 is a "bargain", means it will be used as a daily car for most ppl.. so yes, you will trash it up and down a mountain pass, on a racetrack, on the Autobahn and so on, but you will also end up in traffic jams, commute to work on a daily basis and just drive around as a regular person..

Also, forgot to say that there were weird noises coming from basically everywhere inside the cabin.. squealing, rattling... and the car doesn't have 100'000 km :bah:

[davide]

nice, corvette got some heavu duty V8's

nice pics by that lake there *saved*

[gucom]

wow nice review...shame u dont get to drive al lthose cars but hey u cant have everything...gransport would be great, i bet the interior os slightly better than the vette's

[ARMAN]

Originally Posted by TT ...but still, when I sat down in my 1995 3 Series, well, I found better quality in there!...

Damn, I gotta have BMW as soon as possible Thanx for report and pix TT

[dingo]

I love the front look of the C6 (very 360-like) but the rear doesn't suit my tastes at all. I would buy something like this over one of our V8 beasts though, just looks different/better to the ordinary sedan.

Anybody that would buy one of these over a 911 or Ferrari needs their head read.....crazy people.

THanks for all the pics, the ones in front of the lake are great.

[gucom]

Anybody that would buy one of these over a 911 or Ferrari needs their head read.....crazy people

PLZ tell that to RC...PLEASE???

[TT]

Originally Posted by gucom Anybody that would buy one of these over a 911 or Ferrari needs their head read.....crazy people PLZ tell that to RC...PLEASE???

Yeh, I fear this topic could burst into an endless debate as always and I think my opinion will feel a bit "biased".. but well, I have to be honest, haven't I?

Once and for all, the Vette is a great machine, but definitely not able to play in the same league as Porsche or Ferrari. Let's hope we will be able to put our hands on a Z06 soon just in case

[graywolf624]

The better question is...
is the vette plus 100000 dollars able to play in the ferrari league.

[graywolf624]

what are you asking exactly?? if the vette with 100k in mods can play with a Ferrari??

Nope.. What Im saying is.. 100 k in the pocket.. Part of any products marketing position is the cost. Even for competing cars the cost is important.

and this proofs my point that a Ferrari is a total package and the vette is crap and nothing but a big engine.

That isnt exactly what tt said. Also you were discussing the zo6 not the vette.

it will never be able to steal that many. It's a great engine installed into a pretty well sorted chassis,

What can push wide is the back, but even in "sport mode" there is still some sort of traction control, allowing you to powerslide but quickly taking control again. Weird, no idea if you really can totally kill any aid.

Does only the zo6 come with competition and track modes?

[AlienDB7]

Nice in depth review TT. Now I wonder, did GM's marketing department force the designers to put a crappy plastic interior in the 'vette so they can sell the caddy XLR? I know you may think I'm crazy but isn't the XLR based on the C6 platform and engine as well? If people are looking for a high[er] quality interior, they probably should get a XLR instead??

[TT]

Originally Posted by graywolf624 The better question is... is the vette plus 100000 dollars able to play in the ferrari league.

Sadly not.. the Ferrari league it isn't about money... it is also about prestige, quality and "aura".. things a Ferrari owner can't find in a Vette.

Originally Posted by Ronin005 ... this is great to see a indepth review by someone like TT, and this proofs my point that a Ferrari is a total package and the vette is crap and nothing but a big engine. thanx TT, great job!!!!

LOL, wait, it is NOT THAT crap. But yes, it's an powerfull engine with a car around it. Visually the C6 is quite sexy actually too! The performance is good and all. In isolation you would call it a good car. But since the basic idea when looking into a corvette, at least around here, is to have big performance at lower cost you also have to try and see if it's really worth... and well, it doesn't seem to be,

Originally Posted by graywolf624 ... Does only the zo6 come with competition and track modes?

Uhm, no idea, this one only had three positions, the sportier beeing "sport mode" as said.

Originally Posted by AlienDB7 Nice in depth review TT. Now I wonder, did GM's marketing department force the designers to put a crappy plastic interior in the 'vette so they can sell the caddy XLR? I know you may think I'm crazy but isn't the XLR based on the C6 platform and engine as well? If people are looking for a high[er] quality interior, they probably should get a XLR instead??

IMO to try to sell the XLR just basing your marketing effort on the improved interior quality is pure foolishness BTW yes, the XLR is based on the C6 vitals. Let's face it, the XLR aims anyway to an older, less hooligan public, so it would be kinda dumb to downgrade the C6's quality just to sell more XLR (which is, frankly, ugly as fuck )

[komotar]

Thx a bunch for the great review. 8)

I like the looks of the car. I dislike the interior, but I'm open to a change of oppinion, if I'll come across one of these, but I doubt my oppinon will change....

Great pictures, saved alot.

Oh, and when I opened this pic,.......that house in the background looks huge....

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