Motoring Middle East: Car news, Reviews and Buying guides

America’s Sportscar Is Back With A Challenging New Look
By Imthishan Giado 

UPDATE
Chevrolet has confirmed the final outputs of the Corvette’s 6.2-litre V8 LT1 engine – 460bhp at 6,000rpm, and 465lb ft of torque at 4,000rpm, which put its uncomfortably close to the 505bhp, 470lb ft king-of-the-hill Z06 model. No doubt, the next Z06 – a trackday special, remember – will see outputs soar well north of 550bhp and 500lb ft of torque.

On the pricing front – sources at local dealers suggest that the new Corvette will debut at the Dubai Motor Show with a price just shy of AED300,000. That’s a considerable step from the AED190k it sells for in the US so you can bet that GCC-spec cars will be loaded down with pricey options. Stock will also be limited – sources suggest that less than 200 cars will be available at launch with most already spoken for.  

Our plane was delayed on take off. We missed our connecting flight to Europe. Heck, we barely made it through American Immigration. But no force on Earth could stop us from making it in time for the reveal of the all-new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray at Detroit’s gloriously baroque Russell Industrial Center.

The new Corvette is a very, very big deal to Americans – it’s their heartland sportscar, a distillation of everything they know about making something go very fast, corner very hard and well, make a God-like bellow. It’s been nearly 60 years since that first Harley Earl-designed  Corvette, but this new C7 Corvette is no throwback – it’s bang up to date with technology that’s bound to make rivals quiver.

First things first – the design. For C7 the Corvette has moved to an unmistakably Italian-influenced look with taut, muscular body lines and crisp angular surfacing. In person, the look can be a little…different, like a strange halfbreed of American steroid-infused muscle and catwalk-glamour. From a side angled view, the front fenders are very reminiscent of the Ferrari 599, and the tail certainly owes something to Nissan’s squared off GT-R butt. Purists will lament the loss of the old circular tail lights but I’m here to tell you that in the metal, the futuristic new rear end is an absolute showstopper. If this is what change feels like, sign me right up.

Some other interesting notes from the exterior: those vents you see on the rear three-quarter fender (and the front wings)? Completely functional attached to heat exchangers, and an essential part of keeping the differential and other components cool. Tyres – Goodyear is out and Michelin is in, so the meats are all Pilot Super Sports. The rear window is also no longer a wrap around glass – the largest one in production, incidentally – but a flat piece, which keeps things simple.

Speaking of keeping things simple – the aluminium frame is 45kg lighter and 57% stiffer than before. GM has been absolutely anal about saving weight, so the hood and roof are now carbon fibre panels and the underbody panels are carbon-nano-composite which save another 17kg. The body? Still good old fibreglass.

While the body may get your attention, it’s the interior that’ll knock on your posterior. No longer the tired pensioner lounge that blighted every previous Corvette, the C7 gets a proper luxury habitat with premium leather covering every surface. If it looks like a carbon-fibre trim piece – it is. If it looks like metal, it’s cool to the touch. The old lazy-boy seats are replaced with a set of proper driver-focused pews with some chest-hugging bolstering. Two in fact; there’s a second Competition Sport option with holes for four-point harnesses and even more aggressive cushioing. Also gone are the old analogue gauges and in their place, there’s an eight-inch full colour display for the rev counter, which changes to an S2000-style bar graph when you change to the Drive Mode Selector to Sport or Track.

Wait, Drive Mode What? Yes, the humble Corvette has now joined the ranks of the Europeans and has an dash-mounted dial that allows you to change the performance level. Five modes are on offer – Weather, Eco, Tour, Sport and Track – all are customisable and more than a dozen settings change when you spin the little knob, including throttle response, exhaust note, steering effort and stability system intervention.

Under the hood is where the real demon lurks. For 2014, the Corvette is sporting an all-new, ground-up redesign called the LT1. Like the outgoing LS3 motor it’s a push rod, but boy, don’t call it an antique. Fully built from aluminium, this direct-injected unit produces 450bhp and 450 lb ft of torque, with the option of being mated to either a seven-speed, rev-matching Tremec manual or GM’s trusty six-speed auto. Oh, and it’s got Active Fuel Management so it can shut off four cylinders when cruising down the highway. Interesting footnote – this is the first time anyone’s managed to make cylinder shut off work with a manual transmission.

Two models will be available from launch: a regular Stingray and a special Z51 package meant for track use. The latter adds a dry sump system, electronic LSD, bigger brakes and GM’s patented Magnetic Ride Control that is used to such brilliant effect in the Camaro Zl1. You also get 19″ wheels in the front and 20″ wheels in the back (versus 18s” and 19″ for Stingray). Only drawback of opting of Z51 is, you’ll lose the uber-cool Stingray badges fitted to the flanks.

This is a very early reveal – the new Corvette isn’t scheduled to go on sale until the third quarter of this year and there’s no official pricing info available yet either. Going by past experience, I would think that the car will arrive in the Middle East around the time of the Dubai Motor Show with pricing in the AED250k-AED270k mark, depending on whether you want a coupe or a targa-topped convertible. And since I’m still forecasting the future, I’m highly sceptical that the Z51 package will make the trek to the Middle East.