C7 Corvette reveal

Driven5 wrote: Either way it'll still be the hands down best bang for your buck high performance sports car/image-mobile

Yep. It also gives us cheap engines to swap into other cars when its a few years old.

The back looks good but also very Japanese. Somehow this bothers me less than the Viper looking Italian.

carguy123 wrote: There is no way the present day Vettes are 1000 pounds less than a Camaro.

My C5 Z06 weighs 3150 lbs with its 19 gallon tank brimmed to the top and zero weight reduction. Verified on the scales at work one day a couple years ago.

I don't have an equivalent weight on a 5th gen Camaro SS. It may not be 1000 lbs lighter, but damned close.

novaderrik wrote: i hope those aren't what the taillights look like... leave those for the Camaro and Malibu and keep the Vette distinctive..

Yes. Why make a Corvette look like a lesser car?

Why does the styling have to be over the top every time?

How about smoothing it out a bit, drop the body over competent underpinnings and have a great car that's actually attractive?

"There is no way the present day Vettes are 1000 pounds less than a Camaro."

Curb weight of 2012 Z06 is 3199 lbs. Curb weight of 2012 ZL1 Camaro is 4120 lbs.

Speaking of size, wasn't the C6 at it's introduction actually smaller than the then current 911? (outside dimensions that is..)

carguy123 wrote: The taillights are supposed to be the new look. I've read a bit and if what I've read is true they kept the too large size, but did manage to reduce the weight to about 3000 lbs. The new LT1 (I believe that's the number) was part of that drop in weight. It reads a lot better than in years past, but we don't drive a car by what we read. We'll still need to see it and drive it, but this is the first Vette I've been looking forward too since the "Stingray" series. Remember when Vettes were smaller and weighed less than the rest of the Chevy line?

I don't get the too large size comment. The C6 is already smaller than the 911 in every dimension.

Vette is 2" shorter in length, 9" narrower and 2" shorter in height. Only the WB is longer on the Vette by 9" as it has the engine front/middle rather than arse ended.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

But, but, but.....it LOOKS big! It's a big fat American car!

It always amuses me to park next to a Corolla or Focus and see how huge they look in comparison.

HATE the taillights. Like most of the rest. They took the worst part of the Camaro, and copied it. The camaro looks spectacular outside of the front 6" and rear 6". And yet, that's where they took inspiration. Designers are weird.

ReverendDexter wrote: My understanding is that the big changes for the C7 are the new engine, aesthetics, and the interior (which is supposed to be a huge improvement over C5/C6); the chassis/suspension is basically the same. Keep in mind I'm not a huge GM guy, I'm fighting the fact that a C4 would really be the ideal AX car in my budget, but I just can't bring myself to put Chevy in the driveway

I would LOVE to hook you up. I'd make you a special price!

DILYSI Dave wrote: HATE the taillights. Like most of the rest. They took the worst part of the Camaro, and copied it. The camaro looks spectacular outside of the front 6" and rear 6". And yet, that's where they took inspiration. Designers are weird.

It also looks like it has a big, fat, butt, like the C5.

i will try an watch it but i do love the new look of the C7 (even the taillights - if that really is the new look for it). From all the corvettes i've owned, the C6 is still my favorite Corvette (Z06).

I'm excited for it, both because I'm sure it'll be a great car to drive but more so because it should bring the prices of C6 vettes down just a bit. :-)

I also don't get the big or heavy comments, the C6 is neither of those things. It's got a great power/weight ratio, is lighter than all of the reasonably price competition and most of the unreasonably priced competition, and is actually quite small in comparison to most cars. If you've had time around a C6 you would know they're not big cars. Maybe if you're comparing it to a Berkeley it would seem big, but compared to anything else out there it's small or reasonably sized.

Where would they take size out of it? The wheels are at the corners, there's almost no overhang. The passenger compartment isn't overly large. The "trunk" area is only as big as the transaxle makes it. I think it's really a case of complaining for complaining's sake.

Weight-wise, it's got twice the horsepower of any of the cars that are lighter than it. What is lighter and as powerful? Anything? Okay, what about anything within 2x the price?

Woody wrote: Why does the styling have to be over the top every time? How about smoothing it out a bit, drop the body over competent underpinnings and have a great car that's actually attractive?

You mean like they've been doing since the 50s? 57 fuelie, 63 fuelie/Z06, 65 fuelie,67 L88, 69 ZL1, L88, LT1, 70 LT1, 73 454, 78 Anniversary, 82 Collectors Edition, 84 Z51, 88 ZR1, C5FHC Z06, C6 Z06, GS, ZR-1, 427,etc

Exactly.

MichaelYount wrote: "There is no way the present day Vettes are 1000 pounds less than a Camaro." Curb weight of 2012 Z06 is 3199 lbs. Curb weight of 2012 ZL1 Camaro is 4120 lbs.

the real sin is the weight of the Camaro

dculberson wrote: I'm excited for it, both because I'm sure it'll be a great car to drive but more so because it should bring the prices of C6 vettes down just a bit. :-) I also don't get the big or heavy comments, the C6 is neither of those things. It's got a great power/weight ratio, is lighter than all of the reasonably price competition and most of the unreasonably priced competition, and is actually quite small in comparison to most cars. If you've had time around a C6 you would know they're not big cars. Maybe if you're comparing it to a Berkeley it would seem big, but compared to anything else out there it's small or reasonably sized. Where would they take size out of it? The wheels are at the corners, there's almost no overhang. The passenger compartment isn't overly large. The "trunk" area is only as big as the transaxle makes it. I think it's really a case of complaining for complaining's sake. Weight-wise, it's got twice the horsepower of any of the cars that are lighter than it. What is lighter and as powerful? Anything? Okay, what about anything within 2x the price?

Of course that's why there are complaints. Some folks just hate domestic vehicles and since the Corvette has been the big dog for decades, that's where the anti-(GM, domestic, pushrod,V8,etc) hatred is focused. especially grating is the fact that the Corvette(even the base model in many cases) absolutely lays waste to such icons of tiny goodness as the Lotus, Miata and the Toyoburus. Other icons of European "superiority" like various BMWs, Porsches, Audis, Ferraris and the rest have all fallen to the mighty Corvette at one time or another. Ironically, some have resorted to complaining about the Corvette interior as there really isn't much left(great brakes, power, economy, reliability, looks, racing success, handling and ease of service) to fuss about. Personally, I find the interior complaints to be nit-picky as well. In my Z06, every gauge is perfectly placed, the HUD is a wonderfull option and I'm easily able to drive in a sporting fashion as the Vette seating position is great. Sure, they should have offered a sport seat option in the C6-easily solved.

I'll reserve my judgement for the actual debut, but that rendering in the first post looks clumsy compared to the C6. Kinda like a fantasy hotwheels car, but not in the way you want. I could live with the taillights, but the rear quarter "haunch" looks too long and exaggerated. Also, the way the scalloped rear window integrates into the bodywork isn't exactly beautiful. Hopefully the whole package comes together better.

My big comments go to the BUTT #1, but also at the local BMW & Porsche autocrosses they run some weird boxes that the Vettes can't get through without just about stopping but all the Hondas, BMWs & Porsches fly through with ease.

Also sit in one.

carguy123 wrote: Also sit in one.

Have you? Have you driven one?

Sure, the interior isn't up to the level of a Bentley, but it's perfectly acceptable for a sports car. Hell, the interior in my 1985 MR2 looks/feels pretty damn similar to my friend's 1987 911!

The biggest disappointments in interior quality in vehicles I've driven lately were a Porsche Cayenne SUV, and a Volkwagen CC. Both were TERRIBLE. Material quality, fitment, feel, were atrocious. The plastics somehow felt hard and featureless, while at the same time feeling brittle and insubstantial. I actually wrote it up in my test report because I was so disturbed that they'd obviously thought about it and actually ENGINEERED it to be crappy. So it's certainly not something exclusive to GM products.

EDIT: And to the auto-x comments, I'm going to wager the Vette owners that show up to a PCA auto-x are new to the sport and getting their feet wet, so they drive cautious, like EVERY new driver at our events do. Considering we've already debunked the bigger and heavier myths, and that SS and AS SCCA Vettes do very well, I really don't think there's much of an argument there.

It's obvious that you don't like Corvettes, and that's fine, but just say so and accept it's your opinion, rather than fact.

I'm not terribly impressed, but a drawing is far less a measure than the actual car. It kind of looks like there was a good C7 design under there, but then they added an over-hyped, JDMyo-drifto bodykit from the back of Superstreet Magazine. It's trying a little too hard to out-edgy Godzilla.

But that opinion is absolutely open to revision when I see one in the flesh...er, sheetmetal.

Yeah there's definite R35 influence in this design...

carguy123 wrote: Also sit in one.

I've spent quite a bit of time in one and found it to be really comfortable and all the controls were well placed. Even after 2 hours of driving it was comfortable. It was comfortable in stop and go city traffic and at high speed on winding canyon roads. I loved it. Some day I will own one, but for now I'm too cheap.

C6 Gran Sport is still very very high on my list of dream cars. I'm excited about the C7. Corvettes always give me hope for GM. I know they can make a world class car. I just desperately want to believe that some of that will bleed over to the rest of what they make. I'm eagerly awaiting the reveal. I'm hoping it will be one of the cars that make the trip from Detroit to the Houston auto show in a couple of weeks. Not everything makes the trip, but if that does, I'm going.