Should The Corvette Be More Popular? (Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2024 Review)

I'm Kurt depre this is chasing cars and this is the 2024 Chevrolet C8 Corvette Stingray this is our second swing at the C8 generation the last time in a 3T Coupe much like this one however that was 2 years ago and this is a newly updated 2024 version but prior to this week the last new Corvette that i' driven was around about 15 years ago so after my time with it this week I'm pleased to report that it is very very fast no surprises there but what has actually really surprised me is how easy to live with this current C8 generation actually is and because this stingr is both very fast and very easy to live with even around town at Urban speeds I'm inclined to think it's a bit of a bargain and that's even at 195,000 as a Clean Skin before on roads or 215,000 as optioned here with 20 grand worth of options and even for a car that still fits push rods that's right push rods in a superc car in 2024 so for me at least there's quite a bit to unpack here so let's start at the business end at the rear Chasing Cars honest reviews of your next car brought to you by famously it took 67 years and seven generations for the Corvette to finally Mount its engine at the business end of the Chazzy not that Chevrolet hadn't thought about it for a lot longer than that what that does do is it kind of legitimizes this as a superc car and it also affords one other thing it means that this version can be built from the factory in right hand drive so while the Corvette is currently imported by GM special vehicles who do a lot of left to right hand conversions on a lot of pickup trucks this Corvette arrived on the boat as a right-hand Drive no remanufacturing or cutting and shutting required so let's get in close and check out some of the details with the engine behind the cabin Chevrolet was forced to rethink Corvette's rather unorthodox suspension system now the last Corvette that I drove was a c606 around 2009 and a handled pretty well given that the rear suspension was leaf spring now it's not the dodgy Ox cart stuff that's in the back of your typical hux but instead it's a lateral leash spring that was basically connected the two wheel carriers now there's a big lump of engine between the two wheels the Corvette fits an all aluminium structure with double wishbones and core Springs just like a proper Supercar the lumping question is 6.2 L of naturally aspirated V8 Fury with a single cam shaft and push rods which is hardly exotic supercar stuff but GM's LS family of engines with which this lt2 was derived has a deep rich well of pedigree this lt2 outputs 369 KW and 637 NM that's just shy 500 horsepower and not too bad given that there's no Force induction or electrification paired with an 8-speed dual clutch transaxle a limited slip rear diff and traction control it's said that the stingray will Sprint to 60 MPH from a standstill in just 2.9 seconds so let's call it 3 seconds flat for the Sprint from 0 to 100 km hour so right off the bat a sub $200,000 ask for a 3second mid-engine Supercar starts to look like a pretty handsome deal and that's for this higher grade 30 or2 version now there is a 2LT version that does remove some fancy stuff in the cabin and that will save you around 15 grand what you probably don't want to know is that this car has a clean skin cost only 82 Grand in the US however in Australia we get a fairly High specification including the tasty z51 performance pack gets a lot of goast addenda the z51 addenda includes upgraded brakes a specific suspension tune an electronically limited slip rear axle and its own final drive ratio a bold z51 spec exhaust and updated heavyduty cooling plus grippy Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires that are 90 in on the front and 20 in on the rear again this car fits 20 grand worth of cost options and that includes 32 Grand worth of forged alloy wheels and about 500 bucks worth of black detailing on the outside but most of the cost the upgrades are on the inside so let's go check that out when it comes to fancy overstyle cabins the Corvette stingo really takes some topping and if you want to feel like Luke Skywalker ping an X-Wing through the trenches of the Death Star this is likely the place so let's start with some of those costly options you'll need an additional 11 grand for this jet black theme and these competition option seats which are trimmed in leather and suede which is matched with this rather unorthodox steering wheel but these race buckets are seriously uncomfortable despite the fact that there's a lot of electric adjustments so they're a hard pass for me and I reckon the standard pews will be much more comfy usually the Stingrays interior is a lot more colorful than this so this car gets 6 and2 grand of stealth effect which gives you basically the blackout effect plus a lot of gloss carbon fiber in some of the detailing of course the squat off wheel looks totally bongers but as I'm fast discovering it does feel quite comfortable and quite natural and you do get an unfettered view of the 12-in configurable driver screen and you also get the tasty large wheel mounted paddle shifters unlike the colum mounted stuff that you get in some Italian supercars but the real elephant in this cockpit is the self-indulgent driver Centric design it's so self-indulgent that at times I think why Chevrolet just didn't even bother dispensing with the passenger seat to begin with and just make it a single seat of it because the front passenger is pretty much left out of the cold for any of the features of the cabin now take for example the media system now it's an 8in touchcreen and it feels very personal and it's angled straight at the driver I don't even think the passenger could see it but despite its small size it's reasonably sharp has good smartphone mirroring excellent camera system and it's about all you need in a Bonafide Supercar at least the media system is conventional which is more than could be said about the transmission controller the drive mode select and the HVAC controls so when it comes to transmission control it's all levers in buttons and it's very unorthodox now I think what they were going for was a bit of a jet fighter effect but given I've never flown one I wouldn't know stranger still is the drive mod selection dial which is actually hidden under a tiny little Cod piece but above it you do get a fairly handy button for the 40m front lift system which can lift the nose in 3 seconds which is pretty cool what really tops the weird cake is the HVAC controls which are arranged on a line across what it can only call a fence between the driver and the passenger now the novelty Factor might be through the roof but I do think it's quite weird that if you're driving along and you want to adjust the temperature you have to look under your left armpit but all in all it drips with Supercar Vibes of course you sit very very low which raises the Bonnet up in your eyeline and the roof is slung down almost touching your hair it's all good for Bonafide Supercar Vibes and in fact you can actually pop the top of the coupe roof off which saves you 15 grand from having to buy the convertible version so the roof detaches via three levers one lever in the rear and two levers up the front and you have to physically remove it but it can be stowed under the clam shell in the rear in the surrogate boot section elsewhere the 3 LT spec gets lashings of leather over the dash faes to give it a bit more of an upmarket feel and of course with a two-seater Cee like this you get lots of little hidden Cubbies such as the inductive phone pad that sits right behind your rear elbow storage is at a premium though it has a orely handy boot so let's go check that out when you're not stowing the roof panel in the boot section there's actually quite a lot of room in here for a few soft bags or even the week's groceries though I don't know how you're going to go putting the ice cream next to the hot engine bay you also get a pretty decent frun that's nice and deep and can load all sorts of objects and when you add the front and the rear storage together it's 356 L which is about the size of a small hatchback also quite cool is both the front and the rear Lids are soft closing with all of that covered off it's about time we hit the black top after a short sharp bark into life the Corvette settles down into a very mild manner indeed the engine might be perched behind your ears but it purs along like a kitten and the whole experience at a cruise is really surprisingly Serene certainly not as hard wide and as highly strung as a car with this much on tap performance that continues through the steering which is really direct and has brilliant communication but around town it's very very light the same goes for the ride and handling balance now there's a certain rigidity to the all aluminum construction and there's certainly a lot of rubber foot pit on the ground but the compliance from the dampers is really nothing short of sublime for this kind of car this is really where the Americana comes out in this particular Supercar the American Market is really one who enjoys cruising the boulevard as much as it does taking a racetrack or a twisty Mountain Road and the Corvette settles into that Cruiser roll really well indeed some of that character extends through to the powertrain now the big V8 is actually quite soft rounded and doughy when you're a around tan or you're at a cruise so there's nothing too picky or edgy about it for the most part the Dual clutch transmission is a polite Shield shifter when you're on the Move though around town it can be caught jolting a little bit between gear changes particularly at low speed but it's still feels like a genuine Bonafide sports car now there's a few knocks from the suspension and a couple of creeks here and there just to remind you that there's still plenty of character Mojo about this vehicle now what's really clear is that this Corvette is wide and takes up a lot of real estate so you do have to be careful particularly around town about curving those Forge wheels or slapping its wing mirrors against p traffic and the rear visibility is less than Stellar but thankfully it's got a pretty decent reversing camera when it comes to taking on that jaal roll it really is about as easy to live with as you could possibly imagine for a car of this magnitude but serious fire and brimstone really is only a prod of the right foot away there are six Drive modes to choose from and in The Fairly lazy tour mode it's hardly what you would call urgent in responses but with a Twist of the D you can activate sport mode and it really starts to flex its muscles in sport it gets louder Bolder and noticeably more urgent but without feeling unhinged or completely losing its manners but while it's clearly amped up it Still Remains a very Progressive performer find some corners and push on and the Corvette really amps up the engagement with the driver I've heard criticisms of the steering particularly about the weight but for me it remains crisp and clear and that is ultimately the most important thing with the direction finder with a 40% front and a 60% rear weight bias the nose tends to push on a little bit first when you start digging into the corners but all required is just the slightest lift to regain grip and tidy up the front end and your line in terms of balance it just really is super Cooperative it really is a Chazzy that inspires confidence and encourages you to push on nothing weird nothing spooky and like a true thorough red it tends to encourage the driver rather than intimidate dial it up to its ultim at Z or Zed mode and its respones really become quite rifle Bol and if you are tempted to start messing about with a multi mode traction control the Chazzy really does start to come alive engine transmission steering brake fill it's all customizable as well but even left in its set and forget sport mode it's wickedly quick point to point across a back road if you're trying to keep those sticky rear Michelin 305 mil tires nice and tidy track mode of course is left for Nam sake at least for dry days than what we've got today but there are certainly more than enough signs on road that when you do let the Corvette hang its tail out on track it's absolutely and fully capable to do so frankly I wasn't expecting to warm to the Corvette Stingray nearly as much as I have we raved about it 2 years ago and I'm going to Rave about it now but what we haven't covered off is what's new for 2024 so you now get a choice of four new colors two new wheel designs some adjustments to the arrow Style Ing and the nice soft closing effect for the frun there's also a host of new safety features to bring it up with the times and that includes some pedestrian detection and for Collision warning for the AE active Lane keeping and Lane departure warning and some smarter technology with the headlights it's worth a chat 2 that was seen around 11 L per 100 for the combined cycle and around 13 L around town which isn't too bad for a super car with this level of performance less impressive though is the 3year 100,000 km warrant which isn't a lot of shity for your $200,000 investment Alternatives well with Porsche's cman on the chopping blocks and Audi's R8 now defunct there aren't a lot of other Alternatives out there for mid-engine Supercar experiences with internal combustion for similar money there are other Alternatives in Porsche 911 and McLaren's menu but you will need to spend well north of $300,000 for this level of performance yes a hotter Z06 version and the hybrid electric r-ray will bolster the Aussie Corvette lineup soon enough which will make this Stingray the slowest Corvette in the current lineup but that shouldn't attract from the virtues that's on offer here with a regular Stingray version the C8 Stingray is lots of fun super fast easy to live with and oozes lots of Charisma it has superc car presence and does command a lot of attention when you're driving it around better yet it's such a rare bird that it doesn't really have the kind of stigma that is associated with Lamborghinis Porsche 911s and Ferraris so that's what I think but how about you put your thoughts in the comments below don't forget to subscribe while you're at it and as always thanks for watching Chasing Cars

Channel: Chasing Cars

Views: 17,635

Keywords: chevrolet corvette, 2024 chevrolet corvette, c8 corvette, 2024 corvette, chevrolet corvette c8, car review, 2024 c8 corvette, corvette 2024, corvette review, 2024 corvette stingray, corvette stingray, chevrolet corvette 2024, c8 corvette review, Corvette Australia, Chevrolet Australia, Corvette Stingray review, Chasing Cars, sports cars

Id: YmqaYkPjZFM

Length: 13min 35sec (815 seconds)

Published: Wed May 22 2024