When the C4 came out in the 80’s I thought it was THE car to have when you were limited in your budget providing much of the performance of the exotics for a fraction of the cost. Fast forward almost 30-years, and with the C6-based Grand Sport, I was excited to drive this beast with the “base” 6.2L V-8 engine.
Driving Impressions
This Jetstream Blue Grand Sport convertible with dark titanium interior started at $58,600. Added to the base price is the 4LT Premium package ($9700k – leather, Bose speakers, satellite radio, heads up display, heated power sport seats), Grand Sport Heritage Package ($1200 – 2-tone leather seats, seat embroidery, fender stripe), navigation ($1750), 6-speed paddle shift automatic ($1250), dual-mode performance exhaust ($1200), Jetstream blue metallic tintcoat ($850), pedal covers ($250) for a grand total of just over $16k in options bumping the price with destination charge to $75,740.
Pros:
- Engine flexibility
- Seat comfort
- Exhaust sound
- Handling and ease of driving
Cons:
- Noise (wind, road, and tire)
- Ergonomics and amenities (for a $75k vehicle)
- Chassis jumpy on uneven surfaces
- Rather cheap looking interior
Lower yourself into the low slung seats, press the start button and you are greeted with an initial throaty rumble from the V-8 before it settles into a smooth idle. Rev the engine and you notice it revs smoothly and rises quickly. The gas pedal is heavily weighted (compared to every other car I’ve driven), and requires some effort to depress. Regardless, I loved the flexibility of the engine whether cruising around town or passing at 80 mph – the 6.2 liter engine never disappointed and remained extremely smooth. It’s not only fast and furious, but easy to drive as well.
Steering is a bit numb and heavy at lower speeds until you drop the throttle and pick up the pace, then the steering comes alive and feels perfect. I tried the shifting with the paddles a few times, but found the transmission in auto mode to be more than adequate for performance driving — seamlessly dropping into lower gears when necessary, followed by smooth up-shifts.
Be careful driving in parking structures or over speed bumps as the very low lip spoiler will scrape if you’re not careful. Road and wind noise permeate the cabin with wind turbulence from behind the closed top resulting in a load roar. With the top down (and no wind screen), the wind continually buffets the passengers and it’s difficult to carry on a conversation.
Build
Doors close easily and solidly, and have a neat push-button opening feature. I did notice some random creaks from the convertible top while driving around town. Nothing too annoying and I eventually didn’t notice them anymore due to the greater wind and road noise.
Closing the trunk was a bit of a hassle because if you didn’t close it with enough force the first time, you’ll have to place your palm on the trunk surface and give it a solid push for the latch to engage. I’m sure this can’t be good for the paint long term.The engine compartment is spacious and all fluid caps are well labeled.
Overall, the construction is good, but the quality of the materials (and design) for a $75k car is lacking. An example is the steering wheel that was leather covered and hard – a slightly thicker and more padded wheel would have been a nicer touch for a performance coupe. I’ve driven cars costing half as much with interiors that felt “richer”.
Interior Comfort and Ergonomics
To understand how to use some of the simple features (like customizing some of the parameters like locking and lighting), I had to consult the manual. Buttons are not intuitively labeled, and the user interactivity needs considerable development. For example, cruise control is located on turn signal stalk (on left); push the button at end of stalk to engage the cruise control and slide a switch on the same stalk to increase speed with finger tip push (which can be done with your hands remaining on the wheel). However to disengage cruise control, you have to remove your hand from steering wheel to push the same switch to left (and it stays in “off” position) – if you don’t switch it back to the neutral position, you can’t re-engage cruise control – a lot of work for a simple feature that most manufacturers integrate within the steering wheel. In addition, there’s no indicator on instrument panel that indicates cruise control mode (except for momentary display on information screen that says “Cruise control speed set at 70 mph”, and sometimes even the set speed didn’t match the heads up display vehicle speed. One said 70, and the other said 69.
Some other ergonomic features that need work:
- Closing the window – has one-touch switch to open, but not to close.
- Steering column adjustments: manual tilt adjustment on the left and electric telescope switch on the right. Why not combine them into the electric switch?
- I wanted to cancel navigational guidance, and it took a minute of hunting through the menu system to find the button on the LCD display.
- Audio touch controls (i.e., satellite radio) on the same screen are not intuitive and confusing
Speaking of the navigation system, it’s a relic. With the current availability of high resolution detailed maps on portable units and intuitive user interfaces, the nav system in the Corvette seems like something from a few years ago with its antiquated graphics.
With the low-slung seating position and narrow rear window, there’s limited rearward visibility with the top up. With the top down, visibility is far better. Lowering the top is a quick and easy process involving releasing an interior latch and pressing a button. The whole process is completed within 30-seconds, and the top is nicely covered by a sculpted cover.
Even though the seats are thinly padded with limited fore-and-aft adjustments, my wife and I found them to be comfortable and supportive for a day-long, 500-mile trip. With the tilt and telescoping steering column in combination with the seat adjustments, I found a comfortable driving position that I saved as a memory setting. The head up display (HUD) can be configured for height as well as the information displayed. The HUD was clear and bright displaying relevant information without the need to remove my eyes from the road. Dual-zone HVAC controls are clearly labeled and easy to set.
Performance
Driving the Corvette gave me a weird sense of power – that I could accomplish anything with this car. I confirmed this feeling when stuck behind a train of 5 slower cars on a 2 lane road to Hearst Castle. Normally, I would pass each car one-by-one, but faced with only a short straightaway, I floored the throttle, and effortlessly passed all 5 cars in a single move with time and room to spare before the next turn. How awesome to have such power under my control.
Braking capabilities are phenomenal as well with 6-piston calipers up front clamping 14” discs, and 4-piston calipers clamping 13.4” discs out back. Slam on the brakes, and it feels like a drag chute was deployed enabling me to quickly and easily bring the GS down to safe speeds. The large calipers are painted in beautiful silver adorned with “Corvette” in red letters.
Handling
With super wide (275-fronts and 325-rears) 30-series Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires that stuck like Gorilla glue on wood, the Vette did not disappoint affording ear-to-ear grins when pushing the limits. It remained Kansas-flat through all of the twists and turns I put the car through instilling confidence on any smooth surface. However, the suspension feels over damped on choppy surfaces causing the tires to break contact and jump a bit mid turns. Though the sensation was a bit unnerving, the car never was out of control. Overall, anyone who drives the Grand Sport will feel like a better driver due to its handling capabilities. On-center feel is solid never seeming to stray either right or left.
Styling
Silver heritage stripes on the front fenders add classic style to the Corvette. From the side, the convertible top’s lines just don’t flow as smoothly as the hardtop disrupting the aerodynamic shape of the rest of the body. I prefer the cleaner lines of the hardtop. With the top down, however, the double-bubble convertible cover is a clean design adding a bit of design flair.
Value
For $75k, you definitely get a lot of bang-for-your-buck with a flexible and powerful engine, race track handling, and race-spec brakes – super car stuff for a fraction of the price. A base 911 starts at $77k, and sure, it’s a bit more refined with a much nicer interior, but here you get similar performance AND a convertible (911 Cabriolet starts at $88k). The Vette excels in raw performance while providing its owner with an iconic image. For longer trips, be sure to travel lightly because with the top down, the trunk shrinks to hold two golf bags (maybe) and not much more. For our day trip to California’s central coast, the storage space was adequate.
Conclusion
Never have any of the cars I’ve driven attracted so much attention. Maybe it was the Jetstream Blue paint? The fact it was a convertible? Or simply the fact that it was a Corvette? Friends at church, my nieces and nephews, my BMW 5-series driving neighbor, people at work or college friends: they all flocked to check out the car. As mentioned earlier, I felt different driving this car not because of the image, but because I knew what it could do. That is an emotion that is missing with many cars today, and kudos to General Motors for creating a car that embraces that emotion.
The EPA mileage values are 15 mpg city and 25 mpg highway … that’s damn impressive for a 6.2 liter engine putting out 436-hp (with the performance exhaust). Driving down to Hearst Castle (using mostly cruise control), I managed 25.5 mpg. At the end of the day with 475 miles of driving, my average only dropped to 24.5 mpg (mostly highway). Prior to the road trip, around town driving mileage hovered closer to the EPA rating. Not bad at all. If you can tolerate the wind and road noise, limited storage, and ergonomic issues, the performance more than makes up for the deficiencies providing endless facial grins during spirited driving.
Source: http://reviews.carreview.com/
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