So, we were discussing the Corvette Grand Sport. (There's a new review on the home page..)
Some of us think the Corvette represents the best things happening at GM today. Others of us (cough cough...FNG...cough...) say that the Corvette represents many of the worst things going on in Detroit.
What do you think?
What about it is so terrible?
It's a giant go-cart and feels like one. Servicing one becomes frustrating with the amount of stupidness designed in. JMO.
Fire the FNG. I am one of the biggest anti-GM guys here, yet the 'vette is the ONLY reason for their existence. How about he 'splain this reasons before he's run out of town.
It's cramped, uncomfortable, has crap visibility, and nothing about it made me happy driving it on the street—this coming from the guy who dailies a Miata. But it's the 50th anniversary package that particularly annoys me. All that alcantara inside next to some incredibly cheap plastic panels and switchgear.
If you're gonna charge five grand for what is basically just an appearance package, it should be considerably nicer. Even some fake carbon fiber appliques over the flat black stuff would've made it more palatable. And the flat, narrow seat drove me nuts. I don't doubt its performance cred, but man, I hated every minute inside that car.
I mostly think it represents everything that is right and wrong with GM.
A masterful blend of performance, reliability and economy rendered mediocre by the execution of detail. It pisses me off that they don't copy the things that are are done BETTER elsewhere from the competition. It has been a loooong time since the C5 came out and I still see the same shortcomings over and over and over.
Imagine a new Vette with a steering system designed by BMW or Porsche and an interior executed by the folks at Audi. When the car is as good as it is... you can stop adding more power until you get the seats right.
In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:
I'd say that.about nails it. I love the vette... From afar... Having never driven one...
Still the biggest performance bang for the buck out there. Looks good, sounds good, handles well, stops well. Interior is leagues better than it used to be, but still needs improvement. Parts are cheap and easily sourced, gets good gas mileage on the highway. Besides the interior, it's an amazing package.
A monster track car, the Z06's are animals on the track. I hope to get one as my next track car once they depreciate more.
Edit, just read the review. So you're seriously knocking the car because it's a two seater and it performs too well for normal street driving? Really? All corvettes are two seaters and the past few generations have awesome cargo space, unlike a lot of other sports cars. Almost any modern sports car performs too well for the street, including many mid level performance sedans. I don't get your complaints there. Interior I can understand, the other two are just ridiculous.
I dunno.......I found the seats supportive, comfy and nice.
Of course the seats in the 370z nearly killed me they were so uncomfortable, but no one else on staff had a problem with them. A lot of what makes a car comfortable or not is how you are built and where your pressure points are.
I also don't get the "cheapness" of the interior. Maybe I'm just used to the hideous Vettes of yore, but I though the interior was a pleasant place to spend time, and although there was some plastic it wasn't offensive. No it wasn't an Audi, but at least the headlights and tail lights worked!
I thought the interior was easily on par or better than the GTR, or even newer Japanese offerings. (Toyota / Acura / Subaru / etc.)
I love it.
Purple has it fairly right.
It is at once remarkable in how good it is and at the same time remarkable for how much better it could be.
I think the fact that it is, by default, in the same weight class as Porsche doesn't do it any favors.
GM did a great job witht he 'Vette in so many places: the drivetrain, the suspension, brake feel, etc then put it in a package that's at least 20% larger and heavier than it needs to be. It fairly screams 'mid life crisis' as well.
The interior is not precisely the most comfortable or have the best visibility I have ever been in but it beats the C3's cockpit all to hell. And yeah all the electrics work. 
Even though there's way too much of it.
it's is a supercar built to a lower price point than other cars with similar performance numbers.. that's why they cheaped out on some of the interior details.
I think it's a great car.
It sounds oh so right on paper, but is oh so wrong in person, but it is the best thing GM has going.
Cut it down to 3/4 or 7/8 size, GET RID OF THAT HORRENDOUS BUTT, and give it some interior class and it'd be a winner vs a whiner.
Also there needs to be a law that doesn't allow big guts and gold chains to even get in the car. Trophy wives are OK.
Alan Cesar wrote: It's cramped, uncomfortable, has crap visibility, and nothing about it made me happy driving it on the street—this coming from the guy who dailies a Miata. But it's the 50th anniversary package that particularly annoys me. All that alcantara inside next to some incredibly cheap plastic panels and switchgear. If you're gonna charge five grand for what is basically just an appearance package, it should be considerably nicer. Even some fake carbon fiber appliques over the flat black stuff would've made it more palatable. And the flat, narrow seat drove me nuts. I don't doubt its performance cred, but man, I hated every minute inside that car.
Wow, the new guy gets it. My thoughts exactly. The vette, to me, is a poop filled twinkie. Looks oh so right on the outside, but awful on the inside.
Ok here is my take and this is coming from a guy who has driven crap cars most his life.
Anyone who purchases a Vette either is buying one as a midlife-crisismobile or is upgrading from the previous generation of Vette.
Anyone who has had owned or driven something like a Lambo or Ferrari and then jumps into a Vette, will not like the interior. However if you have never driven any of those, The interior is not that horrible. Sure there's plastic. Sure it uses some switchgear from other GM vehicles. But also, the Vette is less expensive than Lambos and Ferraris.
I recently drove a C6 stock Vette and loved it. The seats are comfortable and the interior didn't even bother me. Why? Because I drive a 2003 Dodge Durango with one of the most plastic interiors in the last 20 years.
I personally think that the Corvette shows the best of GM.
I'm not going to read this thread (maybe later) but by now I'll assume at least one of our supposed grassroots brethren has chimed in about "cheap plastics" lol.
From a purely objective standpoint, the Vette represents the performance bargain of the last century.
From a more subjective marketing standpoint, the car is saddled with the image of being a billboard announcing the arrival of an old fart with a dead-dick. This illustrates what is wrong with GM in general; the cars are OK, yet GM is seen as an old peoples car company and they seem oblivious to the repercussions of having this image.
Do Ferrari and Lambos have the same issue or is there a way to avoid/remedy this image?
After reading the reviews and having spent time in a C6 I fall closer inline with Tom and Joe. I can however understand Alan loving and owning a crap box DD I just don't see much of a point using one as a point of reference.
Just because all of a Miata's limits can be reached on street while getting beat by the latest minivan doesn't mean that everything else should be dumbed down. I also don't remember thinking all that highly of any Miata interior be that the NA's or NC I've driven. I would put the NC on par with a C6.
Spending 6 hours with the top up (cold) in an NA on the highway getting 23mpg (70+ mph here in FL) didn't do much for me thinking they were roomy or economical either.
if i had to pick one part of a car to suck, it would be the interior. that said, if it's so bad you can't enjoy the drive...
Me, I'm not saying the 'Vette is dumbed down, I love the powertrain (particularly the way it sounds!) and the great weight balance it has from putting the gearbox in the back. I just would like to see it go on a diet, then go through a too hot clothes dryer and get a bit more user friendly inside.
100% supercar performance at 50% supercar price and 100% more reliable/less likely to nickel and dime you? Okay, I'll live with the lousy interior.
mtn wrote: 100% supercar performance at 50% supercar price and 100% more reliable/less likely to nickel and dime you? Okay, I'll live with the lousy interior.
+1
Although I'd like to see the Vette a little smaller and lighter, 3300 lbs for a car with as much equipment and performance as the C6 is pretty respectable.
and if you haven't sat in a new C6, go check one out. I don't really get all the hatred.
to discuss this intelligently you will need to deliver the car in question to my driveway. PM me for may address.
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