There's been a fair bit of excitement round these parts about the
C7 Corvette Stingray
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
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.