Road Test
So, do you still think it's a C5 and 11/16ths?" asked Corvette assistant chief engineer Tadge Juechter in a half-joking, half-serious tone. We had just spent two days driving the newest Corvette—the so-called C6—around the hills of southern Virginia and at Virginia International Raceway, and Juechter was repeating, almost verbatim, a headline we'd placed on a preview story of the car. It had probably ticked him off then, but it wasn't showing now.
Although most new-generation Corvettes have been a dramatic departure from the previous version, the C6 Corvette is not a clean-sheet design. And so what? It only proves what we already knew: With the C5, Chevy got most of it right. Even in its last year of production, 2004—after an eight-year run—the C5 Corvette was judged a 10Best Car by us. Corvette chief engineer Dave Hill alluded to that point when he said, "We're not inventing—we're perfecting."
And perfect they did, making a mix of dramatic and detail changes to the C5 and creating a Corvette that's better in every way.
It's now a tidier package—shrunk by 5.1 inches and riding on a wheelbase 1.2 inches longer. The wide rear flanks have been trimmed an inch. The result is quite dramatic. The Corvette has shed its extravagant proportions for a body that's much leaner and looks more aggressive. The body is still fiberglass, but the design team spent hours in a wind tunnel searching for ways to reduce both drag and wind noise (see sidebar "Aero Tricks").
Then there's the engine (also detailed in a sidebar, "The Small-Block Keeps Chugging Along"). The basics are quite sweet: A 2.6-millimeter increase of the bore bumped displacement from 5.7 to 6.0 liters. It has 50 more horsepower and 25 more pound-feet of torque (40 more pound-feet in automatics), elevating the output to 400 in both departments, with the redline increasing by 500 clicks to 6500 rpm, the same limit as in the old Z06. The gear linkage of the six-speed manual transmission has been updated for shorter throws and a more precise feel.
The suspension got a thorough redo, too. With new shock absorbers, the length of travel is increased by 0.3 inch in front and 0.8 inch in back. The front caster angle is up one degree for better straight-line stability, the anti-roll-bar mounts are stiffer, the bushings have been revised, and the spring and damping rates have been modified.
The wheels grew an inch in diameter, with 18-inchers up front and 19s in back. The run-flat tires remain, but Juechter says Goodyear softened the sidewalls to improve ride quality.
We had two major complaints about the old car: The drab, monochromatic interior had a cheapness you wouldn't accept in a Cavalier, and the seats felt flat and flimsy. Both are gone. The new seats feature a longer bottom cushion, have supportive bolsters, and hold the driver in place far better than the old ones. The dash was redesigned and uses a combination of textured plastic, vinyl, and aluminum that looks and feels like high-quality stuff. And as before, The Vette is generously roomy inside.
For the first time, the Corvette is available with such luxuries as a navigation system and seat heaters. Keyless entry and start-up with a pushbutton are standard. Electric door latches have been added, so the odd-looking interior door handle is replaced by a simple button. The interior looks and works better, with only one ergonomic mistake: The buttons used to page through the trip computer and a series of various gauges are mounted on the outer rim of the gauge cluster where they are blocked completely from view by the steering wheel.
Nothing in our test car rattled or squeaked—a testament to the C6's rigid frame, changes to which were minimal, other than having its ends clipped. Hill says the frame is only fractionally stiffer and lighter than the old one. More significant, a second transmission mount has been added, and the engine was moved forward a hair (0.07 inch) to make room for a larger clutch that the team thinks will be necessary for the next, higher-powered Z06, due late next year with a rumored 500 horsepower.
