For more than half a century, the automotive world had its very own mythical creature akin to Sasquatch, Yeti and Nessie. Every few years there would be evidence released purporting to prove that this beast really existed, but yet no one actually managed to capture one in the wild. Even the great Don Sherman, long-time technical editor of Car and Driver and other publications virtually made a career of tracking this automotive myth. But it wasn’t until GM CEO Mary Barra emerged from a lightly camouflaged prototype in New York in April 2019, that we knew for sure that the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette was real.
A condensed version of this review originally appeared on Forbes Wheels
I recently got to spend a week with the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette and I’ll jump right to the chase. Even in its base form, it is every bit as good as we hoped it would be. But first let me step back in time to 1976. At the age of ten, I went to my first auto show in Toronto. I have two distinct memories burned into my brain from that time. One was the so-called “shape of things to come,” the Triumph TR7, which clearly wasn’t. The other was a sleek silver concept called the Aerovette.
The Aerovette had been on the auto show circuit for several years already by the time I encountered it and had reportedly even been approved for production at one stage. Originally fitted with a four-rotor Wankel engine, by the time I saw it, it had a small-block V8. One lasting design legacy of that car finally made it to the road 40 years later with folding gull-wing doors that appeared on the Tesla Model X. But the Aerovette was just one in a long line of mid-engine Corvette concepts and experimental vehicles that finally concluded with the 1990 CERV-III. For the next 25 years, things went quiet.
Then a few years ago a strange development mule based on one of GM’s Australian-built, El Camino like Utes appeared with signs that it had an engine in the pickup bed area. This was followed by the fuzzy shots of heavily camouflaged prototypes and the aforementioned Mr. Sherman was hooked again, so much so that he placed a deposit with his local Chevrolet dealer for one of the first examples.
Many of us remained skeptical that it was actually real though. I thought perhaps it was an elaborate troll of Sherman on the part of some GM engineers, throw some body work on a tube frame chassis and put it out on the road where it could be photographed periodically. But last July, it was finally shown off in all its glory.
The most remarkable thing about the C8 Corvette is not so much that it exists at all, but that GM actually managed to make it remarkably affordable by the standards of this type of car. When GM announced that it would start at just under $60,000 we were all shocked. I remember a conversation among several of us a couple of years ago where we speculated that the mid-engine Vette would have to cost over $100,000 and GM would perhaps keep an updated C7 around for several years to offer at its traditional more affordable price points. After all competitors like the Audi R8 and Acura NSX start at over $160,000 and most like Ferrari and Lamborghini are well over $200,000.
And yet GM managed to do it. But how? In hindsight, it actually makes a lot of sense thanks to plenty of very clever engineering. Unlike the extremely costly carbon-fiber tub you’ll find in every McLaren or the current Ford GT, the C8 is actually constructed in much the same way as the last three generations of Vettes. A very strong, yet relatively lightweight aluminum chassis is clothed in plastic skin with suspension components attached to the corners and an updated small-block V8 bolted in.
While a number of major components were shifted to new positions, the basics of how it all comes together were well known. There’s no fundamental reason that the C7 had to suddenly double in cost.
But shifting from a front-mid-engine layout to a rear-mid-engine does trigger some fundamental changes in the character of this car while retaining a lot of core DNA. There are design cues that have been evolving over the last several generations of Corvette, but overall long-hood proportions suddenly transformed in a way they had not since the first Corvette rolled off the Flint assembly line in 1953. Suddenly this car shares more visually with those supercars than it ever had. Yet its bold lines somehow seem distinctly American.
I personally preferred the cleaner look of the 2005-2013 C6 generation to the messier C7 and it remains my overall favorite Corvette. But even with its bold surfacing I think the C8 feels far more coherent than its predecessor and the design really works for me. It feels tight and compact, despite its wide haunches.
GM stuck with conventional doors instead of the McLaren’s dihedrals or the Lamborghini’s scissors. The electronic switch that releases the door is now hidden under the top edge of the side scoop, convenient and easy to trigger. The door openings are surprisingly large and despite its low-profile, it’s relatively easy to get in and out. Given that most Corvette buyers have long been middle-aged and older gentlemen this makes sense.
While I like the exterior of the C8, when I first saw the interior, I was far less enamored. I’m fine with a large central tunnel in a mid-engine sports car, but this one exacerbates the effect with a wall that rises up from the passenger side of the console and slopes up to meet the dashboard. A slim row of climate control switches spans the length of this wall. All of this means that the passenger is more isolated than ever from the driver and can’t mess with the audio system on the central touch screen that is angled toward the driver.
While I found the wall less intrusive than I expected, the row of nearly identical buttons was harder to operate without looking than traditional round knobs. Worse still, they are backlit and when the top is off and the sun is shining in, they are often hard to read. GM really needs to rethink this set up for future iterations of this car.
The digital instrument cluster is clear and bright and easy to read and has several layouts depending on which drive mode is selected. The mostly squared off steering wheel is certainly evocative of modern racing cars, and maybe takes this to a bit of an extreme for a road car, but the thick rim provides a good grip it does make getting in and out easier.
With the shift to moving the engine behind the driver, a manual gearbox is no longer available for the first time since 1955. The Tremec supplied 8-speed dual clutch transmission is however, an excellent piece of kit and undoubtedly changes gears faster than almost any human manipulating three pedals and a shifter could. A set of switches on the console allow the driver to select park, reverse, neutral, drive or manual modes.
With drive selected, even in track mode, the gear changes are remarkably smooth and the speed with which they are executed makes them almost imperceptible aside from the change in engine note. In daily commuting, the DCT is as good as any torque convertor automatic I can recall.
For now, only one engine is available, the 6.2-liter LT2 small-block V8 pumping out 495-hp and 470 lb-ft of torque. GM engineers did some clever packaging on this already surprisingly compact unit. A dry sump system allows the engine to be mounted lower in the chassis for a reduced center of gravity. The oil tank is mounted to the front of the engine. Sometime in 2021, a Z06 version of the Corvette is expected and rumor has it that this will be propelled by twin-cam 5.5-liter V8 with a flat-plane crankshaft that enables a 9,000 rpm redline. Whether this new power unit is based on the short lived Cadillac Blackwing is unclear, but it should be spectacular sounding.
Even with just shy of 500-hp, the current C8 Corvette is a shockingly quick car. Switching the display over show the performance timer, I brought it to a halt on a rural road with no one else around. Even without engaging the launch control and with Michelin Pilot Sport all-season tires, I stood on the go pedal and let the computers do all the work. In just 3.3 seconds I was at 60 mph, going slightly uphill. On a proper drag strip with the optional Pilot Sport 4S summer tires, it should be able to get under 3 seconds with ease.
On Michigan’s notoriously choppy roads, the Corvette rides surprisingly well, even without the optional Magne-Ride dampers. As Corvettes have done since the C4 debuted in1983, this car delivers tons of grip. Unlike those old beasts that would bounce sideways on anything but the glass smooth GM proving grounds “Black Lake” pad, modern Vettes have enough compliance to maintain road to rubber contact even on broken pavement.
My tester was a base model with the only options being the performance exhaust system and torch red seat-belts to match the bodywork. While the $60,000 base price is a true bargain relative to its most direct competitors, GM did have to skimp on a few items to make that price point viable. It’s certainly items you can live without, but they would be absolutely nice to have.
For example, the base car has no driver assists apart from the mandatory bits like stability control and a backup camera. Given the girth of the rear fenders and the realities of rear visibility in a mid-engine sports car, features like blindspot monitors and a rear camera system would be very helpful in gauging what’s behind you. You’ll have to pony up an additional $7,300 for the 2LT trim level to get those and a host of other features such as heated and cooled seats, heated steering wheel and the performance data recorder system. The 2LT also has an optional front lift system that can raise the nose by 2-inches if you have a steep driveway or speed bumps to deal with. I’d like to see GM offer the camera mirror and blindspot monitor as stand-alone options but I understand why they don’t, so you should seriously consider going for the 2LT. (As I publish this, the 2021 models will shortly become available to order and the camera mirror and blindspot monitors are now standard on all trim levels).
One feature that is standard on the coupe is the removable targa roof panel. On the C8, there are two latches on the windshield header and one between the seats on the rear edge, all easily reachable from the driver’s seat. The panel itself is very light and easy to lift out. The rear trunk is wide enough to accommodate the panel and has receiver pockets to snap it into so it doesn’t rattle around. While the panel does take up most of the rear trunk, at least the front trunk remains available to accommodate a couple of bags of groceries or a couple of small duffles or backpacks for a weekend getaway.
The C8 is also reasonably fuel efficient for a road trip given its performance with EPA ratings of 27 mpg highway, 15 mpg city and 19 mpg combined. During my week in the car, I averaged 22 mpg without trying hard. If you are enamored with the idea of having supercar performance and looks as well as a new car warranty without a six-figure price tag, this automotive unicorn come to life is an excellent choice and would be well worth considering even if there were other options in this price range.
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