2020 C8 Corvette Z51 Review // Expectation vs Reality

yeah no that's what I said to it the co six is gonna be so good oh my god James well the windows are smashed I think somebody tried to break into the car no and he did glass is smashed oh he left a note sorry bro I thought I was stealing a manual enjoy it I guess watch bottle s on Thomas and I'm James this is the c8 Corvette and this is an exciting day not just because we're driving in the new 2020 Corvette but also we've teamed up with our mates to give away one and twenty thousand dollars we'll talk about it more at the end all you need to know right now is for your chance to win go to our maze comm slash throttle house the new c8 Corvette a Corvette in our eyes has always been a supercar killer like a GTR small price big performance but now to the untrained eye with its mid-engine layout and exotic styling it's every bit a supercar at a literal fraction of the price but here's the thing initial opinions have come back a bit of a mixed bag some of said it's not quite there yet some have said it's brilliant and since James and I spend a lot of time at the racetrack and like to pick apart vehicle dynamics let's just say we will be paying close attention to how the c8 goes around a corner but from the rear horns to the side vents to the razor-sharp nose it's looks certainly exude performance and this particular one is a fully optioned out 3 LT with the z51 Performance Package magnetic dampers and some other goodies and even in this decked out form it's still well under $100,000 us and a little over that number in Canadian and a massive thanks to Morgan from cars and Crosby for lending us his baby this day will link his channel in the description where you can find tons of awesome c8 content we do car reviews and quite a lot of messages out to subscribe hit the bell we are part about this is that from where I'm sitting this feels all supercar the steering wheel the driving position the fact that the engine is behind me but then it only registered six and a bit thousand rpm and it's got a big pushrod v8 sound it almost doesn't fit with the car I find myself tapping off the limiter because you don't have much Headroom in each gear not that it needs it because it's got so much v8 grunt but it has an exotic vibe about it that the engine doesn't really match with it's strange to me one thing I do appreciate about the engine though when you want it it's there for you it's just really really there for you bottle response is great and there's just displacement so you just go what you want to 495 horsepower at my fingertips [Music] because we go visit 51 package otherwise it's for 19 and a roaring v8 now this is the target shop and you can get it in the convertible as well I struggle with the targa stuff even with 911 and the Miata as well with the RF because as good as it looks there's a lot of wind noise involved you still got the blind spots you still got the added weight I feel like I'd rather drive this with the roof on it or I'd get the full convertible that's just me the steering is kind of a weird thing for me at first I thought it was really good and GM is very good at steering I loved the Camaro steering this feels fantastic just off-center like it has a lot of positive caster but it doesn't really talk to me quite as much as I was hoping that it was going to I'm getting a nice feel of the resistance of the tire but no feedback fortunately like the zl1 what it lacks in steering it makes up for with an incredible chassis I could fill everything one of the first things I've noticed about this car is it even though I'm in track mode right now the ride is incredible it's like a luxury car and that's helped because obviously it has those magnetic dampers which are really well designed but it also has a really stiff chassis so the dampers can do their job but that stiff chassis comes with the downside since there's no roof and the sills are really low so it's easy to get in and out they had to find the torsional rigidity somewhere so what they did was they designed this transmission tunnel which they called the backbone to be incredibly strong the problem with that though is that if you were to penetrate it with something like a gear lever it would lose its torsional rigidity so you're stuck with a car that has to have a DCT in order to stay as stiff as it is so GME did a great job I really liked it but maybe for the next one please find a way to do a manual and so perhaps the fact that it shifts so often isn't such a terrible thing because at least it gives you something to do before you hit the speed limit I still think a manual gearbox would really complement this at least in stingray form that's chris vichon it's really fast it's not Porsche fast but it's really fast and thankfully it doesn't have like a fart on the upshift like you get in an Alfa 4c or like something Volkswagen with DSG it has a clap on the upshift which is great Thomas wasn't lying about the ride it's almost too good it doesn't it doesn't go to a crazy enough level in track mode don't get me wrong if it can be wonderful in touring amazing I love when cars have two personalities but and I even have cool Z mode or Zed mode that allows me to have my individual setting and I click that and it lights up in rigs so it's even aluminium or magnesium on the wheel so it has some sense of occasion about it but even if you have everything said in the harshest of all settings it's still a bit subdued it's a bit like the Audi r8 in that sense except with no screaming v10 behind you however we found at the c7 couldn't handle 0-6 levels of power that the car became unusable so maybe this is just setting up for the most incredible 0/6 the world has ever seen so it's clear that we were impressed with the c8 but it wasn't long before we noticed something such power such flatness such understeer catastrophic understand reporter not even a hairpin pretty car exciting proposition flawed I haven't felt understeer like that this is the Audi rs3 we're just funny because bonus on that sound great something's not dialed in there interestingly if you're a nerd like me Randy Pobst wrote a great article for Motor Trend discussing how the rear differential needs to be calibrated a little bit differently to prevent understeer like that from happening so look that up if you want more information on that but I think I agree that something needs to be altered I'll have to explore it more on the track so much understeer that the stability control feels like it's biting me even with the traction control rode off well as satisfying as I thought it would be to turn this into a corner come me out of it and applying the power is brilliant but I guess it's going to stay American in some form and lazy in a corner I don't have the confidence going into a corner in this that I do in a Camaro zl1 for example which is the same price if it's less than this doesn't look like this thing what do you think there is so much performance here I just yes what it was gonna be rora join me no roar roar roar roar roar ah Oh like more raw more raw okay no I know I agree listen okay so here's the thing I felt like I couldn't get any more out of it now it needs to see the track yeah it absolutely does how does it look because it's currently dressed in ceramic matrix gray ooh even though it's white what's blue it's not blue it's blue okay maybe it's reflecting the blue sky on them no it's a light look at its light blue okay probably the editing suite we can change this cut any color we want okay if he doesn't do that Thomas needs help okay in the flesh though as a sub hundred thousand dollar car this has a road presence like nothing I've ever seen yes because it is mid-engine it just inherently has to look like this it looks great right like all the engineering and the styling that went into this section here to route the air in the correct channels obviously we got the massive intake on the side I will say though when the pictures came out and the the rear end looked terrible it doesn't look good in the flesh what no there's too much going on I disagree I think the rear end looks fantastic I like the taillights I like the square exhaust tip wrong very cool it's the front end that I don't well can you have an issue the front and it looks exactly like a Corvette maybe that's why I don't like it I think that the headlights are 10% to make 10% 10% ridiculous percentage tower problem I did the calculate to serve you parmesan at a restaurant it's never gonna be the right amount you mean Parmesan parmesan yeah parmesan what's happening I don't know alright we're from two different countries anyway this has the z51 package or for the Americans z51 yes sits on the brake caliper yeah it's on the brake calipers we've got bigger brakes bigger rotors we've got the Michelin ps4 S's but the biggest tell about a Zed 51 if you see it at the traffic light is the spoiler yeah that's the Zen 51 spoiler very cool I think it looks good it actually lowers the top speed though and the fact that you can see the engine through the back oh yeah a peer supercut although you can't on the normal convertible option obviously you need this one because you need to be able to see the engine yeah that's the UFO VA this has the engine appearance package as well so it's even more beautiful let's look at the interior okay this is a very cool cockpit it's yeah for you yeah this is a real fu - you don't matter okay so the reason for this all completely being centered around here and the reason this is like this massive center console I spoke with this already it's because all the stiffness from the car comes from this Center transmission tunnel so you've got this giant thing here which is cool-looking except I find that just because of its position when I put the steering wheel in a position that makes sense for me yeah I can't get it high enough to not hit my elbow on this well it's already a point that people are upset about I don't I don't like it really I know with the round steering wheel I'm feeding the two spokes these days okay the two spokes is cool I just don't like the square that cuz squares obviously there so you can see the gauge clearly but like it doesn't know I can't believe how much disporting do you prioritize yeah this is yeah you kind of over there it barely matter I thought you know I feel like I feel like I'm in the side cart of a motorbike and sidecar yeah I'm the little dog with the goggles yeah yeah but the gauge cluster is really really nice very clean right yeah and this house she has an amazing rear view camera although this still suffers from having this so the visibility is not good and this has the digital rear view mirror okay I still can't get used to them no you can't because I realize what the reason was is because when you're looking out you're actually focusing at a distance and when you look in a normal rear view mirror yeah your focus you get the same distance in the mirror this you have to adjust your eye I don't like it it makes me feel sick yes exactly right but to remember this is fully optioned out so this is the 3 LT 3 the 3 LT we get the the seat stars that are an option on the 2lt these GT 2 seats which are incredibly comfortable it Creek though I've noticed some creaking at sporting and then we got the stitch leather everywhere and this is you in a GM product put your hands here this is a wonderful leather it honestly is like yeah they did a really good job it feels like they didn't skimp on the parts to get the Alcantara on the the a-pillars yeah we've got the carbon fiber but that's another option on top of the 300 really but it looks great around the gauge and finally in a GM product we have an infotainment screen that's actually facing you oh yeah who's in the Camaro it's on a slant this way the Cadillac became like this finally this is in the correct so you've learned yeah and then you don't matter you can't use no I'm important in this vehicle but yeah and this also has the most powerful Bose sound system in any car ever the performance series which really looks good on you on here it has the actual Corvette symbol depending on which direction you look at it really you can see it in so it feels bespoke cool it feels special you just love that word bespoke yeah and then we've got wireless charging and other stuff like that but yeah I really think it feels very supercar in here it definitely does that there's there's a slight intimidation factor to kind of where I'm sitting like everything feels like it's you look old Jesus but you kind of do get used to it and it's got that rake and the windscreen yeah yeah feels you know a Lambo no but honestly compared to old Corvettes and even even just going back to generations yeah in Corvette it's laughable compared to this which is good because actually if you look at C once or C 2's now yes that's stunning they are again and then they kind of went a weird way they went yeah a nice false quality again yeah again 3lt if you want to track this the 1lt is gonna be where you're at yes all right should we do a conclusion on the road let's do it [Music] good noise what do I think about the CA Corvette I think that it is a fantastic car it is a well designed very precise amazing writing beautiful looking vehicle I think when it comes to really driving it hard though it's kind of missing a few things for one there's an understeer problem and I I don't know if there's some more calibration that needs to happen but it's just not quite there okay my final thoughts on this call it moves it looks fantastic you know people have been questioning is it a Corvette is it true Corvette to me as an Englishman who came over here for holiday once every three years a Corvette was the thing that you mistook for a Ferrari or a supercar and not actually when you hunt on it it still had crazy levels of performance so in that sense this absolutely is a Corvette and since I moved to North America and driven Corvettes I understand they've always had a limitation and this has its limitations that understeer is significant and the fact that what Thomas said is right and that it's mid-engined and when you're in a car this you're used to feeling some crazy engine that goes with it it's not paired with that in stingray form so then maybe for the stingray a comfortable lower trim cruiser is the way to go and then put all the fancy stuff if you're going to really spec out a 0-6 when it's available but I think for just a car that makes you feel special looks fantastic is really comfortable for long distances this accomplishes all of those things perfectly which makes it a Corvette I think in its current form this is just missing something about its character its tie is tied on just a little bit too tight it's hankerchief is too perfectly folded it needs it needs a bit more of a wild card okay to win your own c8 Corvette with the said 51 package and $20,000 go to amaze calm / throttle house and enter and the best part is not only do you have a chance to win the car your donation goes to a good cause in this case it's the UCLA Medical Center it's easy go there donate help a good cause and maybe win a car good luck you

Channel: Throttle House

Views: 918,575

Rating: 4.8687615 out of 5

Keywords: Chevrolet, Corvette, 2020 Corvette, 2020 C8 Corvette, 2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8, 2020 Stingray Corvette, 2020 corvette z06, 2020 corvette top speed, 2020 corvette 0-60, 2020 corvette, 2020 c8 corvette interior, 2020 3LT corvette, 3LT C8 Corvette, Chevy corvette, 2020 C8, C8 Corvette, C8 Corvette Z51, mid engined corvette, mid engine C8, V8 C8, 2020 C8 review

Id: 5UQB17UWxvQ

Length: 17min 32sec (1052 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 17 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/fireinthesky7]

This is one of the C8 reviews I've been waiting for, along with savagegeese. I know all the enthusiasts are lamenting the death of the manual Corvette, and I agree with them completely, but even with that in mind, this thing is really cool and a legit American supercar. Hopefully Chevy can tune out the understeer and perfect it.

[u/bumsdeclaf]

I hope they wore the "how about the corvette c8" shirt. I got one lol.

[u/soundfx127]

Where are these roads? I live in the GTA and am always looking for roads like this.

Thanks!

[u/ringolio]

When they talked about how it looks live compared with early pictures, I realized you never see any shots from above about a foot off the ground. Why does no one ever film cars from eye-level where we all see these cars in real life? Or does everyone except me lay down on the ground to check out new cars?

[u/RicciRox]

Best YT car channel right now.

[u/dylanosaurus_rex]

I’ve seen two of these in GA so far. One in white and one in black. They look amazing in person.

[u/jompiesaus]

Throttle house is great

Edit: if throttle house actually upvoted this, then fucking love the idea, you guys are the best mix of fun to watch but still very informative, keep up te work!! And especially the intros!!

[u/Chisae7]

I never realized how insanely good the interior of this car looked.

[u/I_Am_Moe_Greene]

So, are these guys trying to be the next-gen of Top Gear presenters? Seems like good chemistry with a mix of solid auto knowledge.