For more than 30 years, ever since the launch of the C4 Corvette, I’ve been hearing Chevrolet talk about America’s longest running sports car being ready to take on the best in the world. Unfortunately, while each subsequent edition was a significant advancement on what came before, Corvette never quite hit the mark. While the 2005-2013 C6 came tantalizingly close to fulfilling that promise, especially from a performance perspective, the interior continued to be a let down. Two years ago, Chevrolet brought us an all-new seventh-generation model and I just got to spend a week with a ragtop variant.
The C7 Corvette builds on the strengths of the C6 while adding some more dramatic design flourishes and the kind of refinement that customers cross-shopping the Chevy’s European competitors expect. Those competitors include the likes of the Porsche 911, Audi R8 and even the V8 Ferraris. Some of those new design elements took inspiration from the 2009 Stingray concept that was featured in the film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Most notable among those are the more prominently arched fenders and the general shape around the taillamps. Overall though, the design of the C7 continues the trend we’ve been seeing since mid-1980s and the C4. That generation significantly toned down the overwrought disco-era look of the last C3s into a more subtle rendering of the Corvette’s long-nose, front-engine proportions. Each subsequent generation has added back some distinctive style and from the front and sides, I really like the C7. The one complaint I’ve had since I first saw design studio renderings back in 2011 is the rear face which has and continues to strike me as somewhat cluttered but I can live with it.
The materials and finish of the C7 are also vastly improved over any previous Corvette. The thick-rimmed steering wheel is wrapped in leather with contrast stitching and the controls wrap around the driver. The instrument cluster consists of a large, high-resolution LCD flanked by semicircular analog gauges for speedometer, fuel and coolant temperature. The reconfigurable display can provide a wide variety of instrumentation in addition to the tachometer including g-meters, oil pressure and temperature and more. The current generation Corvette is the first of its long-running line where the cockpit is truly enjoyable place to work at the art of driving.
Every great sports car is of course built around its powertrain. When the Corvette debuted in 1953, it was only available with a wheezy old inline-six with roots that could be traced back to 1929. It wasn’t until two years later that the Vette really hit the road toward becoming an icon when it was equipped with the new small-block V8. Six decades later, that same basic architecture continues to power Corvettes to victories at Le Mans and on the road.
The optional multi-mode performance exhaust adds another five to each of those values and creates a remarkable automotive symphony when driven hard. My test car had the optional eight-speed automatic transmission which provides quick shifts but combines with the immense torque of the LT1 V8 to keep engine revs very low when driving around town or cruising on the highway. At 70 mph, the Vette’s engine is barely above idle at just 1,500 rpm. Even with the top down, this car is surprisingly quiet and relaxed. Taking a long road trip in the C7 would actually be pretty easy thanks to the surprisingly good ride quality and the subdued noise.
However, this is after all a sports car and the sound is a critical part of the total experience of driving a car like this. After you press the start button, this car feels alive and provides visceral feedback you’re never going to get out of a Cruze or Camry. From a standstill or at any speed, squeeze the right pedal and as the tach swings up through 2,000 rpm and beyond and that multi-mode exhaust lets out a deep-throated wail that will make your spine shiver. It is indeed a glorious rumble that no machine with sounds augmented by the audio system can ever truly replicate. When I recently drove a 2015 Mustang convertible with the EcoBoost four-cylinder, it could not even come close being as stimulating as this song. If AC-DC were a machine, this is the sound it would make.
Have I mentioned how much I love the sound of the Corvette at full-throttle? And this isn’t even the Z06.
Back in the days of the C4, GM was able to generate huge lateral acceleration numbers on smooth test tracks with the help of a stiff suspension and big sticky tires. Structural rigidity was not one of the talking points of that car. Even back in 1993, the last time I drove a C4 after GM had added the massive rocker panel reinforcements from the convertible, you could still feel it flexing over rough pavement and the clamshell hood was all over the place. Corvette structures are now made out of high-strength aluminum alloys and even in top-down mode, the convertible feels solid and never exhibited any shuddering in the A-pillars.
Like the best from Europe and Japan, Corvettes today are truly capable of being ultra-high-performance daily drivers. The C7 is a gorgeous (aside from that tail, but I can live with it), well-built, comfortable car that can go wickedly fast, stop on a dime and thrill your ears when you want it too. At a starting MSRP for the convertible of $59,400 it’s not inexpensive. On the other hand even at $73,455 as delivered, this is a bargain compared to any of those fancy competitors. When I was a youngster learning about cars, the Corvette was often deridedly referred to as the rolling shampoo bottle for its plastic body. If you must refer to it as such today, it’s very definitely filled with “product” from a high-end salon rather than the generic stuff from CVS.
Click here for full specs of the 2016 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible