{"id":24277,"date":"2019-10-17T14:47:13","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T18:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=24277"},"modified":"2019-10-17T14:47:13","modified_gmt":"2019-10-17T18:47:13","slug":"payne-first-drive-mid-engine-corvette-lives-up-to-hype","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/payne-first-drive-mid-engine-corvette-lives-up-to-hype","title":{"rendered":"Payne: First drive, mid-engine Corvette lives up to hype"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n<\/div>

Ann Arbor<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 The book on the Chevy Corvette has long been that it\u2019s the poor man\u2019s supercar. Accept compromises in handling and interior comfort and you can afford a Ferrari-like performance machine for under $100,000.<\/p>\n

Throw out the book.<\/p>\n

I have driven the all-new, 2020, mid-engine Corvette C8 for the first time, and it is a supercar without compromise. These are early days as the C8 comes to market, but the C8 holds the promise of a supercar paradigm shift: affordable, Porsche Cayman-like handling with the raw power of exotics costing four times as much.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s elite auto car makers should be very afraid.<\/p>\n

I will be able to give more detailed critique early next year after a more extensive on- road\/on-track test, but on first impression at the North American Car of the Year jury test over twisty Ann Arbor roads and I-94 interstate, the car is fundamentally sound from the inside out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a Cayman with cargo room,\u201d I told chief engineer Ed Piatek a couple of days later in Road Atlanta where Chevy introduced the C8.R race car model.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll take that as a compliment,\u201d smiled Piatek. Please do. The Cayman is the best-handling production sports car I\u2019ve driven.<\/p>\n

Since we first learned of a mid-engine Corvette in the works, expectations soared. Could it marry the brute force of a small-block Chevy V-8 with the nimbleness of a Cayman? Could Chevy render a pleasing, mid-engine design? Would there be any money left for a livable interior? Yes, yes, and yes.<\/p>\n

Start with the handling. I have raced mid-engine, Porsche and Lola sports cars all my adult life. From Le Mans prototypes to Indy Car, the world\u2019s fastest cars are mid-engine. It\u2019s why Corvette\u2019s Pratt & Miller race team has craved a mid-engine vessel to go up against the likes of Ferrari and Porsche that also locate the engine aft of driver.<\/p>\n

Let Corvette race driver Tommy Milner explain.\u00a0\u201cThe driver is more centrally located in the car, so we get immediate feedback from understeer or oversteer,\u201d he said in introducing the race car version in Road Atlanta last weekend. \u201cThe car rotates around the driver.\u201d<\/p>\n

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