Tuesday 18th June 2013

Corvette Stingray: £61K

Track ready Z51 pack as standard and a starting price of just over £60K for the new Stingray

---

There's been a fair bit of excitement round these parts about the C7 Corvette Stingray. An overhauled V8 engine, carbon panels, a rev-matching seven-speed manual and a lower kerb weight are all tweaks we wholeheartedly approve of. That it looks great only sweetens the deal.

£61K looks good, and then you see the spec...

Well now Chevrolet have released prices for the Stingray, and they're competitive to say the least. For £61,495, Chevrolet will offer UK buyers a C7 coupe with the Z51 Performance Pack as standard. The Z51 Corvette is dry-sumped and also comes with (deep breath) a fully active limited-slip diff, uprated springs, additional diff and oil cooling, plus larger tyres all round with bigger brakes measuring 345mm diameter (front) and 338mm (rear). That's in addition to an enhanced aero package to provide greater stability at speed. Moreover, all UK Corvettes will come with GM's latest Magnetic Ride Control adaptive damping with specific tuning for Europe. Dynamic settings will be controlled by a five-stage Drive Mode Selector.

With 460hp and 465lb ft, the Stingray is claimed to hit 60mph in less than four seconds. No top speed has yet been given, but somewhere around 180mph, if not slightly more, seems likely. Chevy's MyLink infotainment system provides the entertainment when 460hp can't be exploited, featuring all the media input methods anyone could conceivably require as well as two display screens.

Z51 aero kit means it'll stick to vertical surfaces

The options list for the Corvette is refreshingly sparse. Though Chevrolet boasts of 'several' being available, speccing a Stingray won't be the kind of agonising decision faced by prospective Porsche buyers. It currently list four extras: metallic paint (£600), Tintcoat paint (£1,000), sat-nav (£1,450) and black aluminium wheels (£550). No deliberating on PDCC, PASM or PCCB here.

But of course it's only natural to highlight Stuttgart's offerings when searching for something to rival the Corvette. A base 911 Carrera is £71,449, very nearly £10,000 more than the Corvette and considerably more if you start throwing Powerkit, chassis options and the rest to match the Z51 pack. A Cayman S is under £50,000 but 140hp down on the Corvette, and we all know how that price could swell with a few 'essential' extras.

For pure driving enjoyment, the Corvette will do exceptionally well to rival the supercharged Lotus Evora S, which costs £62,290. If only a 6.2-litre V8 will do, the Mercedes C63 AMG coupe offers similar power to the Corvette, albeit with more weight to carry from £58,165.

Tweakable displays include race car's dash

A Nissan GT-R perhaps? Its price has swelled from the sub-£60K people's champion to a £76,610 sports car since 2009, but offers a driving experience like no other. Our wild card Corvette alternative is the Jaguar F-Type, although it again loses out on the price-to-power ratio; the V6 S is £7,000 more expensive than the C7 but 85hp down. A Corvette convertible would be a more natural rival, but the UK availability of that is unknown right now.

This is a very crude comparison method and by no means definitive. However, if LHD isn't an issue, the Corvette Stingray could be one of the best value drivers' cars in years. We can't wait to drive it.

[mikebradford]

i liked the new corvette, in early articles, but those pictures are not flattering to me

[Alias218]

Want. A lot.

No flappy paddle rubbish here!

[unpc]

Yes please. In metallic grey.

Cue a ton of people coming on here now to moan about the lack of RHD.

[adeelster]

Bloody barstewards! Release the damn thing in RHD here in oz and I'll trade in my 370z like a shot.

[Krikkit]

[redacted]

[Monty Zoomer]

adeelster said:

Bloody barstewards! Release the damn thing in RHD here in oz and I'll trade in my 370z like a shot.

[adeelster]

I just want to clarify that I am not moaning about LHD in itself. Here in Australia LHD cars are banned. I'd buy one here if LHD was allowed and they released it.

[SimonSaid]

[redacted]

[anonymous-user]

Where do I pay my deposit? Should be a stunner!

Never mind the Germans, a "new TVR" will have to be quite something to get anywhere near this performance and value.

[Marc p]

LHD doesn't actually bother me so at that price I don't think their is a single car that comes close, the noise, the drive, the incredibly striking looks, it is awesome in my opinion.

On a slightly related note a black on black Z06 passed me this morning with aftermarket exhaust pipes and I 'may' of had a crisis in my pants

[anonymous-user]

Never thought much of American cars but I must say, there is a lot to like about this ‘vette. Push comes to shove, I would still buy a Porsche.

I do like the presentation of the options list. You don’t feel like you’re getting gouged. Besides, it’s well known that you won’t get away with less than £10k on a Porsche or virtually any German car for that matter unless you’re being very frugal.

[Roo]

Monty Zoomer said:

adeelster said:

Bloody barstewards! Release the damn thing in RHD here in oz and I'll trade in my 370z like a shot.

He's not allowed LHD.

Aren't the people who normally do the conversions from left to right going to be doing these as well at some point?

[Stu R]

[redacted]

[Mastodon2]

I love it, the Americans are making some blinding cars these days. I wonder how the rev match manual works though...

[kambites]

Article said:

With 460hp and 465lb ft, the Stingray is claimed to hit 60mph in less than four seconds.

That implies quite remarkable traction for a front-engined RWD car.

I'd love one (in a few years time when they start to trickle onto the used market), but I'm another person in the "can't live with the steering wheel on the wrong side" camp. I've tried and hated every minute of it. Should be a wonderful car for those that it doesn't bother, though.

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 18th June 17:10

[Fittster]

That's rather an impressive package. Certainly emphasis just how poor value for money the cars from Europe are.

[Stu R]

kambites said:

Article said:

With 460hp and 465lb ft, the Stingray is claimed to hit 60mph in less than four seconds.

That implies quite remarkable traction for a front-engined RWD car.

I'd hope so, considering it comes with 10 inch wide Pilot Super Sports.

[Alias218]

LHD doesn't bother me in the slightest, I drive them all the time at work. Besides, not being able to see past a vehicle because you're on the wrong side gives you an excellent excuse to drop back a bit 'to get a better view' before blatting past

[Vetteran]

Pricing in the USA $52,000 hardtop $57,000 convertible (£33,000/ £36,500) Why so expensive in the UK?
LH drive not many dealers why load the odds with a £62,000 price tag. Ok if you try to import you get hit with import duty, VAT, shipping costs etc but to know your American cousins are driving around in the same car having paid 50% less would be irksome.

[Marc p]

Vetteran said:

Pricing in the USA $52,000 hardtop $57,000 convertible (£33,000/ £36,500) Why so expensive in the UK?
LH drive not many dealers why load the odds with a £62,000 price tag. Ok if you try to import you get hit with import duty, VAT, shipping costs etc but to know your American cousins are driving around in the same car having paid 50% less would be irksome.

If you find that shocking, I have a friend in Austin who paid $19,000 for a GT86 brand new.

We just get taxed, taxed, taxed and then taxed again when we die