2014 Corvette Stingray Makes Good First Impression

The first wave of critical reviews and instrumented tests of the completely redesigned 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray have just been completed, and reviewers find the results pretty impressive.
A few publications, including Car and Driver, Motor Trend and Edmunds, have just published reviews with their first impressions after driving the new Corvette. As we recently published, the seventh-generation Corvette is powered by a 6.2-liter V8 that produces up to 460 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque. The EPA gives the Corvette a fuel economy rating of 17/29 mpg city/highway.
Reviewers report the Corvette’s new LT1 V8 is very potent. Both Motor Trend and Car and Driver recorded 0-to-60 sprints of 3.9 seconds. Car and Driver says these acceleration times put the Corvette in “elite territory.”
In any car, but especially in high-performance cars, the brakes are just as important as the engine. Edmunds recorded a stop from 60 mph in 93 feet. They said this is the shortest stopping distance they’ve ever measured.

(General Motors Co.)

A major shortcoming of the last generation Corvette, according to most reviewers, was its cheap interior and unsupportive seats. Test drivers report that the new model’s interior is a great improvement. Motor Trend and Edmunds are pleased with the Corvette’s base seats, although Car and Driver said these seats don’t have quite enough side support for hard cornering. More aggressively-bolstered Competition seats are optional on the 2014 Corvette. The base model is equipped with a vinyl-wrapped dashboard that both Car and Driver and Motor Trend say has a high-quality look to it. A full leather-wrapped interior is also optional. Edmunds says that the Corvette’s interior quality “isn't Porsche materials quality. Nor is it Porsche pricing.”
The 2014 Corvette Stingray is an important model for Chevrolet and for General Motors as a whole. Noting that the Corvette represents a very small fraction of Chevrolet’s overall sales, which is often the case with sports cars, Edmunds Senior Analyst Michelle Krebs says the new Corvette is “more about image” for Chevrolet. She says this car is a renaissance symbol that shows that GM has emerged successfully from the recession and from bankruptcy.
According to Krebs, the new Corvette, along with cars like the redesigned Impala, which is also receiving good reviews, will hopefully inspire Chevrolet’s design team. She hopes that the appealing styling of these cars will have a positive impact on the future designs of Chevy’s other mainstream vehicles like the Malibu and Cruze.

Stingray emblem (General Motors Co.)

The new Corvette’s Stingray nickname harkens back to the 1963 Corvette, which Krebs says is regarded as one of the greatest Corvettes of all times. When asked if the new Stingray will live up to such a legacy, Krebs says that is a question that we won’t be able to fully answer for another 20 years.