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<\/p>\n<\/div>The mid-engine\u00a0Corvette C8 Stingray is a new performance paradigm. Everyone has their own aha! moment. For many of my media peers, it was the $59,995 starting price announced at C8\u2019s unveiling last July that elicited gasps from the audience.<\/p>\n
A car with Ferrari-like specs for a quarter the price!<\/em><\/p>\n For visitors to Chevrolet’s mobile Corvette showroom, it was seeing Stingray in the flesh.<\/p>\n It\u2019s even more beautiful than I thought!<\/em><\/p>\n I got tingles at those moments, too. But my true aha! moment came last week\u00a0in Nevada entering Turn 9 at Spring Mountain Raceway\u2019s Villeneuve Course. Villeneuve is considered the sprawling desert facility\u2019s most technical course \u2014 a writhing snake’s nest of kinks, double-apex turns\u00a0and long sweepers.<\/p>\n Turn 9 is a pucker-inducing, decreasing radius sweeper entered at 120 mph with a hard stab of the brakes at the end of the back straight. Car control is critical as you downshift, rotate from left to right under increasing g-loads, then nail the brakes into a chicane leading onto the front straight.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t believe how predictable the Corvette\u2019s handling is through here!<\/em><\/p>\n Each lap I pushed harder, the 495-horse C8 a sharp tool in my hands, carving the turn ever finer. Predictability in turns like this hasn\u2019t been Corvette\u2019s calling card. \u2019Vettes were cars to be manhandled, though the last-generation front-engine C7 represented a gallant effort. Sure-footedness was a rear-engine thing, found in Porsches, McLarens and Ferraris.<\/p>\n Add the $59,995 C8 to that list.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d put it between a Ferrari 430 and a 458,\u201d veteran Spring Mountain instructor Jason Aquino said in reference to recent mid-engine Italian stallions. He flogs exotics for a living. \u201cIt\u2019s better than a Lamborghini.\u201d<\/p>\n Where I usually emerge from C7 track outings satisfied but relieved I hadn\u2019t swapped ends, I wanted to drive the C8 all day. This despite gaining 300 pounds (tipping the scales at 3,647) over the C7 thanks to bigger proportions and a boatload of electronics.<\/p>\n The C8\u2019s track prowess fulfills its promise to be, pound-for-dollar, the best supercar on the planet. Like a baseball player that can field, crush homers\u00a0and hit .300, the Stingray is an all-star.<\/p>\n That was the intent in 2014 when veteran engineer Tadge Juechter and his troops got the green light from The General to transform the Corvette for the 21st-century battlefield.<\/p>\n This is a clean-sheet cyborg. Not just an engine in back, but a fresh V-8, dual-clutch tranny, interior, electrical system, mode selector, cockpit, the works. OK, Michelin remained the tire manufacturer.<\/p>\n The result? For most owners, the Stingray will be an easy daily companion. Before tracking the C8, a media colleague and I took a day trip to Nevada\u2019s Valley of Fire State Park. My red Corvette complemented the tourist haven\u2019s dramatic red rock, and passersby found the C8 as much an attraction as the natural surrounds.<\/p>\n We were flagged down for pictures from bikers, families, even a Corvette customer who had recently acquired a used C7. He couldn\u2019t take his eyes off C8. I\u2019ve been around the car for eight months now, but I still ogle it. Its\u00a0\u00a0sensual curves never get old.<\/p>\n I removed the coupe\u2019s roof panel and stowed it in the boot for open-air driving (the convertible hardtop trim goes into production in April) and the C7 owner lamented the absence of the last-gen car\u2019s hatchback utility. True enough \u2014 storage is now split between trunk and frunk (front trunk).<\/p>\n The C8 is comprehensively superior. Begin with the chemical smell that blanketed the C7\u2019s interior,\u00a0a problem C8 has solved by \u201cpre-baking\u201d materials before installation.<\/p>\n The driver-centric cockpit features state-of-the-art tech like a compact button-shifter, heating and ventilation\u00a0controls\u00a0and 12-inch instrument display. The passenger is more isolated due to a center spine of climate buttons \u2014 but, this being a two-seater, passengers may appreciate a little \u201cmy space.\u201d<\/p>\n We navigated across Nevada on Android Auto,\u00a0the seats (one of three styles offered) never chafing. As in my first Stingray test in Ann Arbor last fall, I was struck by C8\u2019s dual cruiser\/sports car personality. Stingray cruises with a compliant ride and good forward visibility though it curiously lacks adaptive cruise-control \u2014 and adding blind-spot assist (to help with b-pillars the size of the Hoover Dam) requires a pricey jump to the $67,295 2LT trim.<\/p>\n Then, as quickly as you can say \u2014\u00a0\u201ctwisties ahead!\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 the C8 transforms into a cheetah. Push the steering wheel\u2019s pre-configurable Z-mode button (I chose Track steering and drivetrain settings) and the steering firms, shifts quicken and Stingray coils for aggression.<\/p>\n But to truly know C8\u2019s limits, you must take it on-track.<\/p>\n That, after all, is the core reason for the mid-engine Corvette\u2019s existence, so the C8 could run with elite supercars on the world\u2019s auto playgrounds. The C8 Stingray\u2019s 7.29.9-minute N\u00fcrburgring lap has already buried the C7 Stingray\u2019s by a whopping 10 seconds.<\/p>\n Ergonomic details assist the mission. I folded my 6-foot-5 frame into the cockpit and sat upright (unlike the C7) with a helmet on, thanks to better seat travel. I scanned the instrument display, its details unobstructed by an IndyCar-like, square steering wheel. Improved forward vision helps cornering visibility. Other details will cost you, and outfitting the car with aforementioned blind-spot assist plus Z51 performance package (bigger brakes, bolstered seats, Michelin Sport 4S summer tires) can quickly balloon the price to $75,000.<\/p>\n True to its dual personality, the console\u2019s drive mode selector is hidden under a shroud like a missile switch cover. To ensure I know I\u2019m about to engage the car\u2019s hyperspace capabilities, the C8 must be armed by a multi-step process.<\/p>\n Liberated, the C8 is now capable of ferocious, 2.9-second zero-60 launches out of the pits and instant corner traction.<\/p>\n This is the mid-engine car\u2019s secret sauce. Not only could I rotate the C8 through Turn 9, but with weight over the rear wheels\u00a0it would explode off the Turn 10 chicane, the V-8 roaring its approval. Tire temps told the tale as the balanced C8\u2019s fore-aft tire temps were similar after hot laps, compared to the C7 where the rears were typically 5-7 degrees cooler than the fronts.<\/p>\n What an athlete. And this is only the standard Stingray model. There are\u00a0performance Z06 and ZR1 variations in the works. More aha! moments to come.<\/p>\n Vehicle type: Mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-passenger super sports car<\/p>\n Price: $59,995, including $1,095\u00a0destination charge ($85,710 3LT as tested with Z51 performance package)<\/p>\n Powerplant: 6.2-liter\u00a0small-block V-8 LT2<\/p>\n Power: 490 horsepower (495 with Z51 package), 470 pound-feet torque<\/p>\n Transmission: 8-speed, dual-clutch automatic<\/p>\n Performance: 0-60 mph, 2.9 seconds (mfr., with Z51 package);\u00a0top speed, 194 mph<\/p>\n Weight: 3,647 lbs.<\/p>\n Fuel economy: EPA\u00a015 city\/27 highway\/19 combined<\/p>\n Report card<\/strong><\/p>\n Highs: Predictable\u00a0mid-engine handling on the limit; quick, dual-clutch tranny<\/p>\n Lows: No standard adaptive cruise-control; gets pricey with tech packages<\/p>\n Overall: 4\u00a0stars<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The mid-engine\u00a0Corvette C8 Stingray is a new performance paradigm. Everyone has their own aha! moment. For many of my media peers, it was the $59,995 starting price announced at C8\u2019s unveiling last July that elicited gasps from the audience. A car with Ferrari-like specs for a quarter the price! For visitors to Chevrolet’s mobile Corvette […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24856"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24856"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24857,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24856\/revisions\/24857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2020 Chevy\u00a0Corvette C8 Stingray<\/b><\/h3>\n