The elegance of an Italian super-car
with the triumphant rumble of a pushrod v8- anyone giving this car a quick glance
would think Ferrari, maybe even a Maserati. But no, this is the all-new 2014
Corvette Stingray. Redesigned and ready to compete with its European rivals.
That statement may seem like a
sales-ad pitch, but that is exactly how I felt when I first had the chance to
look at the newly redesigned Stingray. I’ve spotted a few while driving around
Jacksonville, but I never had the chance to actually look at one up-close. This
particular car was the Z51 package being driven by the owner and publisher of
AutomotiveAddicts.com, Malcolm Hogan.
I had the chance to catch up with
Malcolm on his way to Jacksonville’s Main Street Cruise-in on January 25th.
I hopped in the passenger seat and was instantly shocked – no more cheap
plastic?? No. Not in this Stingray. The interior underwent a complete one-over
and has now been graced with heated and cooled leather seats, two LCD screens,
dual-climate controls, and all while the dash and complementary panels are a
mix of leather, stitching, brushed aluminum, and carbon fiber. The driver seat
looks as if it’s a cockpit, while the passenger gets nothing more than two
handles and a climate control panel. This car now has my complete attention.
We started the all-new 6.2L LT1 V8
and what a sound this car makes. The 6.2L power plant puts down 460 horsepower
and 465 ft-lbs of torque all while receiving 16mpg city and 26mpg hwy, thanks
to cylinder shutoff. The power passes through the 6-speed auto (7-speed manual
option available) and putting the car in one of its five modes can vary how
this car reacts. The modes include: Touring, Weather, Eco, Sport, and Track.
There was a noticeable difference in Touring and Track, the two we switched the
most. Touring left the car with a docile exhaust note and a forgiving, yet
still stiff, suspension. Track, on the other hand, allowed you to use the
paddle shifters, opened up the exhaust valve for the full V8 rumble, and gave
you a noticeable stiffened suspension thanks to its magnetoheological dampers. In
simpler terms: the suspension can quickly adjust in about 10 milliseconds.
When we arrived to the meet, and
after gaining everyone’s attention, I had the chance to give the car a full
walk around. The rear of the car took some time to grow on me, but I can
understand why they did what they did. The car looks like it has spent some
time in the wind tunnel. All the vents are useful on the body of the Stingray,
or have some purpose other than looks. If you are not sold on the looks yet, go
find one. Walk around and have the owner blip the gas. If that doesn’t do it,
or even it does, ask for a ride. You may surprise yourself.
If you find yourself interested in
the C7 Stingray, and want to see more pictures, please check out
AutomotiveAddicts.com. Thank you again Malcolm for the ride along and thank you
to the readers for reading. I leave you all with an in-cockpit view of the new
C7R Stingray from the previous 24-hours of Daytona:
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