C8 Corvette: One Week Later

No manual is a real issue.  After owning nothing but manuals for the last 50 + years and being convinced that the auto in a Corvette is much faster I promise you you would not like dialog while I am driving around town.  Its a slush box unless you max throttle and paddle shifting ain't the same.  I reserve judgment till I get my hands on the dual clutch.

In reply to KrankyKoot :

I've almost exclusively driven manuals. The automatic car I've most enjoyed was my Volt lease for two years. Somewhere around 18 months in, I still liked the car, but I really wanted to drive a manual.

I feel like I would be fine with the Corvette double clutch, but I'd like to have a manual somewhere in my fleet. It could be a Geo Tracker or something.

Mike said:

I feel like I would be fine with the Corvette double clutch, but I'd like to have a manual somewhere in my fleet. It could be a Geo Tracker or something.

Maybe that is part of it for me. If I were to get a C8, it would not be my only car by a long shot. Not even my only sporty car. I'd still have my older classics with stick shifts. 

Knurled. said:

In reply to te72 :

In 1997, retail on an MR2 Turbo was indeed around $70k in 1997 dollars.

 

That is why sales figures were so low.  Notice the other Japanese makes pretty much stopped selling their performance cars around the same time.  It wasn't OBD-II, it was a really strong Yen and weak dollar.  

I think you might be thinking of the NSX here. The SW20 MR2 was last sold in the US in 1995, per a quick search of my memory, and the wikipedia article on the MR2. As far as pricing goes, not sure how accurate NADA is, but here ya go:

https://www.nadaguides.com/Cars/1995/Toyota/MR2/2-Door-Coupe-Turbo/Values

Shows an MSRP of $28,668 which sounds a bit more accurate. The NSX was in the 70k range by then though. =)

As far as why the Japanese sports cars died off, their economy had a bubble that burst in the early 90's. By then, they had already done the R&D for all those cool cars. I'm no economist, but it does seem strange to me that when an economy suffers, the value of that currency rises in regards to other currencies, that seems backwards. When our economy here in the US tanked about a decade ago, the value of the dollar dropped.

In reply to KrankyKoot :

I'm a manual fan myself, all but 5 cars I've owned over the years (two of which were automatic only, the LS400's) have been manuals. So, while I think it would be nice to have the option, I've driven a few cars with dual clutch transmissions. They're pretty great, and you owe it to yourself to try one out before writing them off completely.

EDIT: My frame of reference is two different Ferrari 458's (one with 111k, yes, over a hundred thousand miles!) and an Audi R8 V10. Both of these cars were a few years old, so it'll be neat to see how the C8 compares.

FINALLY!

I haven't seen it reported elsewhere, but I just noticed that pricing is expected August 15th, according to the fine print on my reservation request confirmation email.

Minor rant: I filled the form the day after the reveal. Had a conversation with my dealer on the phone. Had a conversation with a second dealer in person. Now I'm hearing about 2020 selling out. I'm hearing about deposits being placed. I'm hearing about dealers getting told what their allocations are. My dealer didn't say anything about deposits. I hope the train isn't leaving without me.

Saw the blue one today and a second one in white. I wonder if the high ranking dudes at the proving grounds have daily fist fights to determine who gets to drive the C8s home.

White looks good. The body color accents would help the rear end a lot in the lighter colors.

Knurled. said:

That does it, if the stitching is flawed, I'm definitely not buying one.

 

 

(And I don't have room for it.  And I don't have a purpose for it.  And I don't have the money.  But it's because of the stitching.  And the lack of amber turn signal lenses in the rear, red turn signals screams "cheap")

The pixels though....

I happened to see the Motor Week program on the Motor Trend channel tonight, and they did a review of the latest McLaren 720S. I noticed it has a bar on the center console with a row of switches on it that's somewhat similar to the Corvette. Maybe that's where Chevrolet got the idea.

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

Body color is the only way I could do the accents. I'm sorry, they just don't really add anything, at least in pictures. Usually contrast and accents are a good thing, but in this car's case, I feel they look out of place. The Audi "blade" on the R8 works, and the car looks odd with that in body color, but the C8 is better in one color.

captdownshift said:

This will be the first time (in roughly 7-9 years) that you'll be able to get a mid engined V8 car for less than the cost of a new Accord and maintenance and repair will be no worse than ownership of any Audi. 

What satisfied that price criteria 8 years ago?  A 308, before the prices climbed?  Pantera?

Looks like you can get a V8 Esprit for around $40K, which is close on the price front. :)

@bradbuilds on instagram is posting some wicked chops. 

Not sure if anyone posted this up on GRM yet, but the donut media overview gives a pretty good look at the C8.

I want to like Donut Media, but that guy has the most punchable face this side of Guy Fieri.

KrankyKoot said:

No manual is a real issue. 

It's a twin clutch, not an "automatic".

Where do you define "manual"?  Corvettes have had automatic rev-matching for a while.  Where do you put the goalpost on the slippery slope?  Is it the left foot action to allow you to think you are responsible for the clutch?  (You're not, and haven't been for years: the clutch engagement is defined by the hydraulics, not your left foot)

To be honest, trying to make an H gated shifter for a mid engined vehicle would well and truly suck, especially with a wide engine like a V8.  You'd pretty much have to run cables, and cable shifter anything feels like E36 M3.

Appleseed said:

I want to like Donut Media, but that guy has the most punchable face this side of Guy Fieri.

They are backed by a ton of money and are essentially the LCD of auto "journalism"  In a word, they are terrible, simply terrible and more often than not incorrect in one way or another.

They produce junk quickly and in short enough bites to get clicks and clickthrough revenue.

So no.  You shouldn't like them.  Not really.

Appleseed said:

I want to like Donut Media, but that guy has the most punchable face this side of Guy Fieri.

I didn’t want to say it, but yeah, well put. I tried to watch that video last night and didn’t make it through “Yo fursss I need ta give a shoutout to Monster Energy Drank, White Claw, neck tattoos, and skinny jeans....” or whatever.

poopshovel again said:

@bradbuilds on instagram is posting some wicked chops. 

That looks absolutely horrible.

Even 13 year old Knurled would be saying "Dude, that sucks"

Appleseed said:

I want to like Donut Media, but that guy has the most punchable face this side of Guy Fieri.

You leave Violent J alone!  He knows some awesome diners, drive-ins, and dives, AND has some wicked rhymes.

Appleseed said:

I want to like Donut Media, but that guy has the most punchable face this side of Guy Fieri.

I can't watch so I don't. Super cringey!

They had one in a tent at Road America today - can’t they do a lap and tease us?

In reply to codrus :

Maintenance and parts pricing and availability wise, nothing ever has. Lotus, Ferrari and Pantera parts pricing and availability have never been comparable to Audi. 

I'm jealous of you guys back east. I probably won't see one in the flesh til next year.