Sportscars got more and more refined through the years.
They became more suitable as a daily driver, and less rough.
However, some cars are an exception to this tendency.
This car, the new Corvette C7 Stingray, is one of them.
Of course, its better and more refined than its predecessor,
but still it is raw and unmanageable.
The engine is very characterful,
even AMG's 6.2 is more civilized than this engine.
If you drive at low reps, for long distances, it behaves itself.
But when you drive at high reps it is like you are …
...participating in a NASCAR race. That hammering V8 sound.
Completely different sound than a Jaguar or even a Mustang.
Brutal!
Chevrolet offers the C7 only with manual gearbox in Europe.
Good choice if you ask me, the automatic doesn't suit the car.
The manual is a 7-speed, only Porsche offered this until now.
On long distances shift up to gear 7 to have a low RPM.
If you have a more sporty driving style,
you'll notice the gearbox feels quite heavy.
You'll have to get used to that,
but after driving this car for two days, shifting feels satisfying.
Besides that, the Corvette is provided with “Auto Rev Control”.
This means that when you shift down it seems to double clutch.
We have seen this before on the Nissan 370Z.
One drawback: it's a shame if you just learnt to double clutch.
But, if you're driving very fast, it's a nice feature.
The gears are very long: it reaches 120 km/h in second gear!
When driving fast, you only need 2nd and 3th gear.
Funny detail: it has paddles on the steering wheel,
with which you can turn on the Auto Rev Control.
But still it's strange, paddles on a manual.
But Corvette only offers this steering wheel with paddles.
So as a solution, they came up with the ARC-switch.
The rest of the steering wheel is great,
just like the steering itself.
The direct steering gives you a great sense of the car.
This car doesn't know the word 'understeer'.
No matter what you do, the nose points in the right direction.
Nothing makes a car more fun than a lack of understeer.
This is a result of the great balance.
50/50 weight balance, because the gearbox is in the back.
I just know, if you force it this car will easily drift.
Unfortunately, I promised Chevrolet not to drift this car.
But I just feel this is a very controllable drifting car.
This absolutely is a real sportscar.
A 911 is probably better and more refined,
but this makes no concessions, it's very pure.
I think the Jaguar F-type is the ultimate competitor,
but without a doubt, this is better as a sportscar.
The interior is way better than it was in the C6.
It still isn't very refined, but it works great, all is clear.
It's not a Porsche, but it's getting better.
I keep comparing it to Porsche:
the US have Corvette, Europe the 911.
But I don't think the 911 is a good competitor for this car.
You buy a 911 because it's a 911,
You buy a Corvette because of the way it drives.
This Stingray is a Corvette as it was meant to be.
The Corvette is better than it ever was.