I did a double take at our local King Harbor cruise in Redondo Beach late yesterday afternoon, but yep, that's a new Stingray, red on red, and it was a Z51
It was under the tutelage of Car and Driver's Aaron Robinson. My first impression on sitting in the driver's seat was mind blowing. The cockpit is very intimate with superb ergonomics. From the door arm rest to the center consol the controls and telemetry sweep around in a semi-circle that are within easy reach and view. This is a car that you put on and wear like a finely tailored suit. The last time I was so-seduced was over 20 years ago when I first sat in a second generation MR2, and I bought one of those.
The passenger seat is also very comfy and intimate, and the conveniently placed grab handles on the center consol and door will console your wife/GF when you're pulling 1.1g on Mulholland.
I asked Aaron to open the hatch and immediately saw "Willow Springs dust" (I know it well.) in the gutters, and the outside shoulders of the tires clearly said that this car was on the track recently.
I like the front end which looks very tidy and modern with some traditional Corvette styling cues, but I'm still trying to come to grips with the rear - the tail lights and black valence panel that extends all the way to the top of the license plate housing. I'm thinking it should be lower - no higher than the bottom of the license plate housing or body color.
I had a couple of questions for Aaron that will require answers from the engineers. First, how do they keep the hot radiator exit air from the very functional hood extractor from entering the HVAC system inlet that appears to be, as on most cars, at the base of the windshield.
Second, though the LT1 has nearly the same average torque up to 4000 as the LS7, it does have a shallow "hole" from about 2500 to 4000 that I think may be the result of single cam phasing rather than a mechanism to vary inlet and exhaust phasing independently as with the new Viper engine.
Whether this could be detected by a sensitive driver, I don't know. My Cosworth Vega has a similar shallow, but broad hole in this range even after I reindexed the cams to what is essentially L79 valve timing. I can feel it, but it's only a two-liter engine.
C and D has test results in the September issue and online, and they have nothing but good things to say, especially about the interior that's been the subject of constant criticism for the last two generations. Regardless of how you have all the electronic assists configured, the Z51 with the dry sump, engine, trans, and axle coolers makes for a street legal race car when you want it to be, but a near luxury car on a long freeway cruise. Seventh gear (0.47:1) yields a little under 1300 revs at 70, and the interior sound level is 69 dBA. That's luxury car territory, and you'll be getting close to 30 MPG, too!
Duke
It was under the tutelage of Car and Driver's Aaron Robinson. My first impression on sitting in the driver's seat was mind blowing. The cockpit is very intimate with superb ergonomics. From the door arm rest to the center consol the controls and telemetry sweep around in a semi-circle that are within easy reach and view. This is a car that you put on and wear like a finely tailored suit. The last time I was so-seduced was over 20 years ago when I first sat in a second generation MR2, and I bought one of those.
The passenger seat is also very comfy and intimate, and the conveniently placed grab handles on the center consol and door will console your wife/GF when you're pulling 1.1g on Mulholland.
I asked Aaron to open the hatch and immediately saw "Willow Springs dust" (I know it well.) in the gutters, and the outside shoulders of the tires clearly said that this car was on the track recently.
I like the front end which looks very tidy and modern with some traditional Corvette styling cues, but I'm still trying to come to grips with the rear - the tail lights and black valence panel that extends all the way to the top of the license plate housing. I'm thinking it should be lower - no higher than the bottom of the license plate housing or body color.
I had a couple of questions for Aaron that will require answers from the engineers. First, how do they keep the hot radiator exit air from the very functional hood extractor from entering the HVAC system inlet that appears to be, as on most cars, at the base of the windshield.
Second, though the LT1 has nearly the same average torque up to 4000 as the LS7, it does have a shallow "hole" from about 2500 to 4000 that I think may be the result of single cam phasing rather than a mechanism to vary inlet and exhaust phasing independently as with the new Viper engine.
Whether this could be detected by a sensitive driver, I don't know. My Cosworth Vega has a similar shallow, but broad hole in this range even after I reindexed the cams to what is essentially L79 valve timing. I can feel it, but it's only a two-liter engine.
C and D has test results in the September issue and online, and they have nothing but good things to say, especially about the interior that's been the subject of constant criticism for the last two generations. Regardless of how you have all the electronic assists configured, the Z51 with the dry sump, engine, trans, and axle coolers makes for a street legal race car when you want it to be, but a near luxury car on a long freeway cruise. Seventh gear (0.47:1) yields a little under 1300 revs at 70, and the interior sound level is 69 dBA. That's luxury car territory, and you'll be getting close to 30 MPG, too!
Duke
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