had a chance to drive the c7 stingray z51 in a pseudo track setting today courtesy of chevrolet's stingray precision drive at fontana's auto club speedway. there were three stations, a slalom, a short track in a parking lot with lots of twisties and tight turns, and then took it out on the banked track of the speedway combined with some wide turns through the infield.

they treated us well, with free food, cronuts (!), hats, pictures, and even got a complimentary chevy ipad cover at the end. anyway just some thoughts compared to my 997.2 C2.

first thoughts were that it certainly looks very nice, but it seems a bit too flashy for me. a lot of sharp angles and highlighted vents which though functional screamed 'look at me!' it looks aggressive for those who like that. exhaust note is wonderful though very loud, again a very look at me function.

through the slalom i noticed quite a bit of body roll. though the chevy guy was like 'didn't you notice how little roll there was?! because our suspension adjusts 1000 times per second.' not sure. it still feels like a big, heavy car compared to our 997s. interior though spiffed up, still had a few touches which i didnt' like. the nappa leather on the dash had a lot of folds and creases at the stiching, which screams QC stuff that would never make it out of a porsche factory. the steering wheel on the outside was good though the middle seemed plasticky with too many buttons in the middle. there are paddles on the manual, not for shifting, but to turn on and off rev matching? weird. the reps kept talking about rev matching like it was some awesome thing though i had it on my now greater than 10 year old M3.

having said that, the c7 it still felt surprisingly nimble though the curves and i was able to scream through a couple of tight turns which made me surprised given the corvette's handling reputation. it was definitely fun to drive, rivaling my c2 through corners though i still felt a bit uneasy with body roll. acceleration and the torque i thought would be monstrous, but actually i didn't feel like it was much faster off the line at 460hp/450ftlb compared to my 345hp/288ftlb c2, and since i drove an auto, it annoyed me that the paddle shifts were much slower than pdk.

on the track i got the car up to about 130-135 ish probably, i'll have to review the video but it felt nice and composed at that speed. brakes though felt smushy and it did NOT brake from 130mph well, i think maybe the brakes were getting a bit of fade since i didn't get on the big track until later in the day.

overall, it's a very nice vehicle, a nice upgrade from the previous generation, and i think it holds its own much better around corners than previously. and for the msrp it's a great value. but for me, it still screams a bit too much 'look at me,' and it just feels too big and heavy. i like my small, light steering, happy accelerating c2. i feel like i can get around a track quicker though i'm sure that's probably not the actual case. for 75 k i'd still probably pick up a few year old used c2s instead of the new c7.

i attached some pics for fun.

 

 

Which manual transmission M3 did you have with rev matching? I had three e46 M3's and one e92, all with manuals and none had rev matching on downshifts.

 

this was an smg, not a full manual. i realize that the rev matching is on a manual now with the c7, but the reps were talking about it like this was never heard before technology. nissan has had this technology already in their manuals > 5 years and clutchless manuals have had it for >10 years.

 

Nice! I'm going tomorrow. Hope it doesn't rain.

How hard did they let you flog them? Did they have any manuals?

 

They had about 1/3 manuals they were in demand. You are in the car alone, however it's strictly lead/follow so you can only go so fast and hard as the lead driver and car in front of you. I got frustrated a few times with slower drivers in our group. My video will have me cursing on it haha.

 

Thanks for the tips! Rep given.

 

I wonder if this statement would still be true when comparing the C7 to the 991, which is a bigger car than the 997?

Has anyone driven both the 991 and C7, and what did you think about the sizes and roll characteristics of the two cars?

 

From what I have read the C7 Z51 is quicker around the track than a 991S which is quicker than a 997S. Style as is color choice is up to the individual. If a base Z06 comes in around $85k that will be an amazing deal.

 

Porsche 39 and 40 are in my garage and I have owned my share of vettes as well including a very modded C6 Z06 (I am first on the list for the new Z06), and I have driven the new car (my girlfriend is getting a convertible) and it is in my opinion remarkable. I was amazed at how easy it was to control with the traction controls off (when I learned to drive they did not have that stuff I hate it) and at first you think it is big because of that large front hood sticking out but after you get over that the car is very agile and a blast to drive. And get with the program Porsche, Ferrari, etc, heads up displays are a great drivers aid. Is it better than a 997 I cannot answer that. My car stopped being a 997 24 hours after I bought it and it laid in pieces at my shop. I will say this, it is a great car and there is not another new car under 100K that I'd want over it. I don't live by the mines better thing, I think every car has it flaws and every car can be made better (at least for me) after it leaves the factory and I have been doing that for 38 years to everything from a Mini Cooper to a Lamborghini.

 

that s what I have read also..... too many around for my taste. I guess I should drive one before I give my uneducated opinion .

nice post, thanks.

 

Still want to drive one myself. But the more I see them, the less I want one. That and at a cars and coffee or whatever, there always seems to be 4 or 5 Duck Dynasty shirts standing around it. Like 13 yo boys to a GTR!

Appreciate the review though! Too bad you couldn't have driven the manual. I'm sure that's where the love is at.

 

Did the event today. The car is fun, no doubt. Really easy to get the tail lose and super predicable once it is. The sport seats were excellent, manual transmission produced clean, crisp rifle bolt shifts (even a heel toe downshift to first on the autocross course was no problem). The auto was near dismal... mine felt like it kept cutting out the throttle during long pauses between shifts on the big track.

The steering was numb, and the handling, while great, also felt a little disconnected. The road was too dampened out from the ride. Even in track mode I missed the stiffer ride of the 997 in sport. Super fast in a straight line, but it felt like the back end stepped out too easily, which is fun, but the car could be faster if it didn't happen so much. Not sure what the skid pad is on the stingray, but it didn't feel better than the 997... Even if it is.

All in all a fun car, but it felt like it was just the big 6.2 liter engine that made it. Kind of a one trick pony. Also the engine when you look at hp per liter is awful. I think the V6 Camry might be better.

Still I get why these are so popular, but I'll take the 911 over this any day of the week. Unless of course you're taking about a pure hoonmobile... Then the C7 has the Porsche beat.

 

Glad you had a good time. It wasn't that tail happy for me, but maybe on Thursday the roads had a bit of wet on them? It's a fun car for sure md I'm sure sure it will sell great. And yes the auto sucked it has to be manual for sure.

 

First: HP/L is a mostly useless statistic.

Second, I'm glad GM has upped their game. With the way new Pcars are priced, Porsche could use a little more competition in the area. The Z06 will be even more interesting, when you consider things like the same Brembo ceramic brakes will cost half the price on the Chevy.