For over 60 years Corvette has been one of the symbols of American driving pleasure. Now it has been turned inside out like a sock and with an unexpected and risky move points the finger at European rivals. The C8 Stingray can be the car to have or a colossal disaster. Clue: I don’t want to get off anymore!

 

Words Alessandro Marrone / Photos Daniél Rikkard

Americans like it when it’s bigger: houses, donuts, cakes, roads and of course cars. I prefer cars when they are fast, but to be honest I also know how to compromise and appreciate those that do not embody the absolute dictate of performance, as long as they still know how to arouse emotions even when driving is less frantic than usual, something that is almost spontaneous when under the bonnet there are those generous eight cylinders that in the current state of things seem to have their time counted. Then there are those who decide to revolutionize the winning formula introduced in 1953, with the birth of the C1 – the first ever Corvette – aiming at the tastes of the old continent and entering with a straight leg into a segment that for stars and stripes sports cars has been almost limited to a marginal role, not so much in terms of performance, but rather in terms of driving precision. Bear with me a second.

 

 

 

The Corvette C8 – yep, the eighth generation – introduces a whole new concept and cuts the ties with its past, both in terms of design, both for what will be the involvement once you find yourself grappling with a road full of curves, a situation often referred to as the Achilles’ heel for every great and big American metal. It is legitimate to wonder what other direction could have been taken, given that the C7 has reached extreme aerodynamic development in recent years, sharpening one of the models that once retired confirmed how much this was a double result: a bridge to an innovative future and the swan song of the Corvette as we have always known it, that is a coupe (or convertible) with a far back seating position, a gigantic engine under the huge front hood and rear-wheel drive ready to finish the tires in the blink of an eye.

 

 

 

The Corvette has always been the perfect meeting point between a grand tourer and a thoroughbred sports car and it didn’t matter if there was an obsolete frame under the sinuous lines of its body – at least for the canons of us Europeans. Like the Ford Mustang, it has always maintained that innate charm amplified by the thousands of roles earned in Hollywood films, so much so that it became a must-have when on the second-hand market and especially for the C4, C5 and C6 it was possible to buy one at the same expense as a random VW Golf. The C8 gambles, but does so by overturning the table and making everything fly in the air, introducing the first mid-rear engine layout for Corvette, still without distorting the identity of a pure-blooded American GT.

 

 

 

I am finally able to take my place behind the wheel of the new C8 Stingray, here in the Convertible variant, a Targa-type bodywork that accentuates driving involvement without increasing in terms of weight a mass that stops the scales at 1,700 kg. Not a featherweight – purists will say – but it is good to know that there is no type of downsizing, hybridization or else in here. Behind the back of driver and passenger is in fact placed a naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8, the beating heart of a car that has to compete with completely new rules in the game. This can be seen from the first approach with the C8, observing that riot of edges that evolve the design of the C7 and decline it on a car shape with small dimensions (4.6 meters in length, 1.9 in width and just 1.2 in height) which in the side profile exemplifies the work done by technicians and designers in order to create the car around the main parts of the main ingredients: engine and transmission.

 

 

 

Corvette is synonymous with emotion, it is an instrument designed for pleasure and never as today is one of the best weapons if you intend to shake up the uniformity imposed by European standards in terms of performance at your disposal. Once on board, I am greeted by an interior with attention to the smallest details, extremely driver-focused and which introduces solutions that you will not find on any other car on the list today. Take a look at the central tunnel that divides driver and passenger, which integrates a multitude of controls and does not leave everything in the hands of the digital displays, one positioned in front of the driver’s eyes and the other in the middle of the dash, also turned without half measures towards the gaze of the one holding the wheel.

 

 

 

Already from here you can feel how the Corvette is a car designed for those who love driving and not just to turn heads at intersections. Time to fire up the V8 and once Sport mode is engaged, the notes of the two pairs of pipes at the back intensify until they fill the cockpit. Another demonstration of how much work has been dedicated to the dynamics of the C8 are precisely the parameters on which the various driving modes intervene: steering, suspension, ratio between engine and gearbox, brakes, engine sound and PTM, all further configurable or extensible in Track mode. No more wait, we know very well that you can write whole pages about how beautiful the small-sized steering wheel with a squared bottom is, or praise the design and comfort offered by the sports seats – among the best on which you will be able to perch – but what really matters is how this Corvette will deal with bends.

 

 

 

We quickly leave the busy streets of Monza and head towards the roads behind the hills overlooking the Lecco lake. The Colma di Sormano will not be comparable to the Alpine passes we usually attack, but its curves and an almost flawless asphalt offer the possibility to put the C8 Stingray to the test and take the right measures to increase the pace, kilometer after kilometer. The 6.2 is a huge engine from any point of view, it gulps down air and spits it out violently, but above all with a linear delivery as only a naturally aspirated can do. There are 482 horsepower available and the maximum torque peak touches 613 Nm at 4,500 rpm. From that moment up to the red line – placed at 6,600 rpm – the Corvette is like a missile fired on asphalt and capable of a 0-100 kph in just 3 and a half seconds.

 

 

 

They say that power is nothing without control – a concept we all agree on – but it is also true that speed is superfluous if when you approach a corner you have to throw yourself on the brakes and pray in ten different languages. Not this time, given that the C8 establishes a relationship of mutual trust with the driver, reading the asphalt without being excessively rigid. The front end is extremely precise and the Brembo brakes do not make you feel the lack of a carbon-ceramic system, another aspect that helps to keep the final price of this very Corvette as competitive as it has always been. The curves increase, traffic decreases and the sun offers the possibility to open the roof over our heads, letting the roar of the V8 and the related pops and bangs act as the ideal soundtrack to enjoy a mechanical package that I never thought I’d find today, even with the most optimistic hopes granted by a full European-style layout. Among the driving modes completing the package we have Weather (for road surfaces with bad grip), Tour (which corresponds to Normal), Sport, Track and an individual one useful to configure each single parameter at will. It does not end there, because from the left spoke of the steering wheel it is possible to recall Z mode, fully customizable and obviously devoted to maximum performance.

 

 

 

I’m looking for the best way to make the idea of ​​how incredibly fun the new C8 Stingray is to drive (fast), but without comparing it with other brands, also because there is really no need. I’m not sure this would be the benchmark for a new breed of sports cars, especially with an engine unfortunately doomed to disappear, but this is the absolute symbol of how it is possible to shed skin and transform a myth that lasted decades into a classic future that will know how to catalyze the attention of petrolheads in the years to come. Yes, it is. In the most excited driving moments you forget you are driving a Corvette, after all you have no reference point compared to before and then with a totally clear mind you realize that all that matters is the huge smile that is drawn on your face as you hit the throttle and the tachometer needle rises in unison with the roar of the V8 behind your head. Soft turn and hold down firmly, more challenging cornering and it’s pure stars and stripes enjoyment, with the rear that seems planted on an invisible track and a car body that doesn’t fall apart even when spanked hard.

 

 

 

The response of the chassis, also thanks to the electronically controlled suspensions, is as fast and precise as the movements of the manta ray (the Stingray, in fact) well on display on the portion of the rear bonnet that houses one of the two load compartments, the other is up front and roomy enough not have to leave anything at home when you leave for the weekend. The first dual-clutch gearbox is also introduced, an 8-speed at ease when used in automatic mode and exhilarating when you act on the paddles behind the steering in first person. This American loves curves and I love her, especially when, thanks to the limited-slip electronic differential, you realize that widening its tail is as greedy as opening a box of donuts.

The Stingray has two versions called 2LT and 3LT, with prices starting at € 93,170 for the Coupe (2LT) and reaching € 103,580 for the Cabriolet (3LT). An expense that once you have touched the build quality of the car and especially after spending a few hours in the warm and vigorous embrace of a road full of curves, confirms that once again Americans liked to do things big.

Special thanks to CAVAUTO Group, the only official distributor in Italy with mandate from the Cadillac & Chevrolet Europe branch.

 

CORVETTE C8 STINGRAY CONVERTIBLE

Engine V8 cylinder, 6.162 cc Power 482 hp @ 6.450 rpm Torque 613 Nm @ 4.500 rpm

Traction Rear Wheel Drive Transmission 8-Speed Automatic Gearbox Weight 1.700 kg

0-100 kph 3,5 sec Top Speed 296 kph Price from €99.840