1998 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible

1998 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible 1998 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible
Road Test From the October 1997 Issue of Car and DriverTESTED

Doyle Road, about 30 miles west of our Ann Arbor headquarters, serves up a diabolical combination of crowned tarmac, humpbacked bumps, zipperlike asphalt zits, and one-wheel sink holes that is sure to uncover any flabbiness in a car's structure, discontinuities in a suspension's damping curve, or directional independence in the steering system. That's why Doyle Road has been a part of our Ten Best car-evaluation loop for more than 15 years.

Yet at double the 35-mph speed limit, the 1998 Corvette convertible remains calm and collected. Although its suspension is pumping furiously to let the wheels maintain purchase on the wildly undulating pavement, the body remains generally level and responsive to instructions from the steering-wheel rim.

Most surprising of all, we perceive no cowl shake, no rattling body panels, not even any of the tremors deep within the body that most convertibles exhibit. In fact, the C5 convertible is as solid as any we've driven. Only the Mercedes SLK and the Porsche Boxster seem to be in the same league.

Chevrolet's engineering measurements support these perceptions. The torsional rigidity of the new convertible, with the top down, measures 21.3 hertz. (The measurement of a vehicle's natural frequency relates its structural stiffness to its weight. Higher numbers are better.) That's only two hertz down from the C5 coupes with the targa top in place and well above the 17.0-hertz rating of the admirably solid Mercedes 500SL.

Moreover, Chevy offers up a shower of statistics demonstrating how much stiffer the C5 convertible's steering column, windshield frame, and various mounting brackets are than the C4's equivalents. Because Chevrolet designed both the convertible and the coupe versions of the C5 right from the get go, this solidity was achieved without adding any structural reinforcements to the coupe.

As a result, the convertible is only one pound heavier than the coupe, according to Chevy's specs. Sure enough, our test car weighed 3282 pounds, only six pounds more than the coupe we tested in the August issue. Besides the stout and efficient structure, the other major contributor to this absence of obesity is a manual top.

Feast your eyes on the first proper Corvette trunk since the 1962 model's. It can easily swallow two large golf bags.

Although this may strike some as odd, the manual top cuts costs, saves about 15 pounds, and occupies much less trunk space than a power-operated lid. Besides, it's an excellent manual top.

To drop it, you first release the two clamps at the top of the windshield header. Then you step out of the car and partly fold back the front of the roof, an action that lifts up the rear of the top. Pressing a button on the driver's side of the hard tonneau cover releases it, letting you drop the roof down into the front of the trunk, after which you shut the tonneau over it. No unusual dexterity or strength is required, and the job takes only 18 seconds.

Top down, the C5 presents a particularly clean appearance. The hard tonneau flows into a waterfall of exterior bodywork that plunges between the seats, and there's a vestigial fairing molded into the panel behind each seat.

A few staffers thought the topless mode exaggerated the large-rump aspects of the C5's styling. Others thought that the bulges behind each headrest could also be bigger, and just about everyone agreed that some sort of shiny, gleaming exhaust pipes would enhance the rear view of the car. Still, the overall look is rather stunning.

And the C5's expansive posterior is not without its benefits, especially since it's fitted with the first proper trunk on a Corvette since the 1962 model. Thanks to the compact manual top and the runflat tires that eliminate the need for a spare, this trunk is amazingly generous.

Among two-seaters, only the Porsche Boxster, with its top up, can equal the 11 cubic feet of luggage space offered by the C5 roadster with its top down. And with its top up, the C5 offers 14 cubic feet of trunk volume, more than any other convertible on the market.