Bloomberg's Claims 2020 Chevy Corvette “Has Chevy Knocking on Ferrari's Door”

Writer Hannah Elliot has covered the scoop regarding all things horsepower-and-torque related for quite some time, and her insights and recommendations are among the best in the entire industry. When beginning an in-depth review of the new 2020 Corvette Stingray last week, she claimed that the Corvette has “proven the worth of down-home American car design by dominating drag strips and track days since 1953”. She then reflects that the new 2020 'Vette with its improved interior and mid-engine placement is a true astonishment regarding the incredibly low-price tag!

She claims that her article title's allure is true: if you are considering something from Ferrari or McLaren, make sure you give the Corvette a run for its money as well. Now that there is a mid-engine placement, it was the final positive push that aligned the new model with the very top sports cars of Europe. Hannah outlines in this article how it now has earned the Corvette a right of consideration from anyone who was previously predisposed to overlook it in favor of an offering such as a Lamborghini or Ferrari.

The engine's new location more evenly distributes the car's weight, providing a much more balanced drive. With the driver now closer to the front axle, you get a massive sense of visibility over the hood. Finally, it forces the center of gravity to the driver's hip, which gives it an immediate turn response and a nimble preciseness during steering that allows it to stare down the more expensive European models with a true edge. Hannah was lucky enough to take the new Stingray to Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, a six-mile track in the desert near Las Vegas.

The first thing she noticed about the 'Vette was its amazing grip, and the lack of any problems whatsoever with going out-of-control or fishtailing. She purposefully executed a few turns that were on the sloppy side and claimed to still stick to the asphalt “like a gymnast nailing her routine”. After driving the previous C7 model, she stated the new mid-engine setup is a wildly drastic improvement, and the four selectable driving modes give you ultimate control over steering, chassis, acceleration, and braking.

For the purists out there, even though there is not a stick-shift offered, you can enjoy manual mode with paddle shifting, although it is good to note that the new 8-speed dual-clutch automatic is faster than any human can shift manually. With a zero to 60 mph sprint of 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 194 mph, the new Corvette absolutely can match speeds once reserved for Lamborghini, Ferrari, McLaren, and even Bugatti. What all of us on staff here at Chuck Hutton Chevy of Memphis appreciated about her praise was that the recognized the design's happy medium: it is still recognizable as a Corvette, but much more evolved and sleeker.

The interior leather is a drastic improvement from past models, and 8-way power bucket seats provide a good amount of comfort and support. Until now, Corvettes had not been able to boast on features such as dual-zone air conditioning, air filtration, heated and cooled seats, and suede microfiber trim. We hope you come down and visit us during March and check out “the most driver-oriented cabin in recent history”, within a car that is one of the largest milestones of engineering to date!

2020 Chevy Corvette's Hidden Features: The Mid-Engined Game Changer's “More Things to Love”

Christopher Smith of Motor1.com News began his blog feature about the C8 last week by admitting right off the bat that “Chevy absolutely knocked it out of the park with the C8 Corvette”. Some have been critical on its styling, and others believe that a genuinely “real” Corvette must have the engine situated properly upfront. This is a mid-engined supercar that can hit 60 mph in just three seconds, as you can see in our feature last month about the “science of zero to sixty”.

Enthusiasts worldwide have been very excited since its release, and this particular feature provides a close-up look at six key things about the car that aren't exactly common knowledge. The top fitting is not huge news and something that Chevy made clear to everyone during the initial reveal, but the super cool hidden button that opens the frunk or “front trunk” is a pretty unique feature: it's located above the left vent on the lower fascia so you can open the lid without having the key fob or getting in the car, provided it is already unlocked.

The center speaker located between the two seats sports the Corvette logo, but you do have to hunt a bit to find it. The holes of the speakers are drilled in a way that you can see the flags from certain angles, and its easier to see them from the outside. Another very useful feature to have on hot days is the unlock button on the remote key: just like on other Chevy models, if you hold it down, the windows automatically lower.

Continuing with the longstanding tradition, the Corvette C8 has a pattern of black flags on the rear window facing straight downward. This began with the Corvette C7 and continues in the mid-engine car. The flags are a bit more narrow on the C8, and are more V-shaped along with the C8's updated logo.

Another feature of note here on the new C8 is that the trunk is thankfully soft-close: you can just gently close the hatch, and the soft-close system will assure that it closes just right without that extra hard push. Many other current vehicles will flaunt this trait as well, but we admit its extra-nice to have on a car that is bound to see many Saturday afternoons of back-road use and traveling not need a persistent slam to get the job done.

Removing the top is very easy as well, and once you have it off, the carbon-fiber, body-colored, or glass version can be secured easily in the trunk. There are latches on either side to keep the top in place, and you can also store much smaller items if the need arises. While you are cruising around the settings menu of the Infotainment screen, you can change the exhaust mode manually, and the Z button on the left spoke of the steering wheel puts you into a mode that allows you to configure your preferred engine, suspension, transmission, and instrument cluster settings.

Loving The New C8? Motor Trend Weighs in on Faster Variants Coming Soon

Every year attendees can feast their eyes on the many different types of 'Vettes as they participate in the Woodward Dream Cruise: it is the world's largest one-day automotive event, drawing 15 million visitors and 40,000 amazing cars from around the world. This annual caravan to Detroit scrolls past some of the sites of Michigan's very first classic drive-ins, such as the Totem Pole that opened back in 1954. Motor Trend caught up with the C8's chief engineer Ed Piatek at a Dream Cruise event, where they were able to nail him down on just what may be in store for the future of the C8.

 

The base Stingray now sports a pushrod 6.2-liter small-block V8, and the updated LT2 makes 490 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque. Adding on top of that the performance exhaust with the Z51 package stacks five more horsepower on the galley, as well as 5 more pounds per ft of torque. Launch of the base car itself for starters was very exciting for him, because it has been more than 60 years since Chevy began to closely study the physics of shifting the weight of the engine to the rear axle. The outgoing C7 was a phenomenal car, but had recently reached a tapped out state and had achieved its maximum performance level on all fronts.

With the engine in the rear, Piatek detailed how the use of horsepower can be much more efficient and gives the 2020 Corvette “more bandwidth” right out of the gate. Taking a close look at the current generation car with 460 hp and the 0-60 time, you can add 300 horsepower to that number, and the 0-60 time does not improve that drastically. With the new C8, you start with a somewhat lower 0-60 tie, but also sporting 20 percent more of the mass on the rear axle and wider tires in the rear, so the opportunity to have an astonishingly high powered car exists.

When asked if he had any concerns about the potential of the C8 completely maxing out, Piatek did claim that he felt it was “a long way”, and reminded us that the outgoing 2019 Corvette ZR1 with the LT5 supercharged 6.2-liter V8 is rated at 755 horsepower, and 715 lb-ft of torque. The Eaton supercharger for the 2019 ZR1 is situated at 2.9 inches taller than the blowers that were in the 2009 ZR1, or the 2015 Z06.

Don't forget to ask us here at Chuck Hutton Chevy of Memphis about extra goodies for the C8 such as the front suspension lift system, which can hike the nose of the car hastily up when you reach a low curb or steep embankment. The release this year was so exciting because it offered up a prime chance for Chevy to innovate while pushing the envelope and the arrival of the C8 will forever mark 2019 as a game-changing milestone in auto history! The low entry-level pricing point, onboard arsenal of available power, and newfound stance with the engine's location have been key components during this groundbreaking release of a long-awaited champion.