New Corvette!!!

[Lee Janotta]

Y'know, I don't hate it.

Story here:
http://www.autoweek.com/cat_content...._code=00790378

[Sim_Da_BTCC_Man]

I looks like a cross between a Mazda and a dogde viper don't you think?

[Lee Janotta]

Only the lights and wheels.

The rest actually looks a bit like Reeves Callaway's take on the C5:

[JonesF1]

Geez, that vette looks like a hillbilly with glasses and buckteeth. Basically a warmed over C5 with the most uninspiring front end design in sports car history.

[avsfan733]

It looks like a Jaguar XK!

[woodyracing]

its good but it looks a lot different.
that first pic instantly reminded me of a Viper.

[429CJ]

It looks like Japanese.

[Dani Filth]

and is that a bad thing

[Tristan]

Quite probably one of the top ten most ugly cars of the past year. The old one couldn't exactly be called "pretty", but... oh yanks can't build sports cars!! They just CAN'T!!

[Korr]

The picture is an artist's rendition of what it might look like.

http://www.autoweek.com/cat_content...._code=00790378

[429CJ]

The new one is just too clinical, compared to this classic:

[Tristan]

Ah yes, but even the Stingray was/is pretty awful to drive. Beautiful cars though. Unlike that "thing" posted above. Oh no, I just scrolled up to look at it again!! Christ, it's hideous, it really is!!

[Dick Spanner]

I wouldn't even credit it with hideousness, it's just bland generic nothingness. Compare that with the new mustang, I suspect GM are going to be on the wrong end of an ar$e kicking.

[gttouring]

Corvette always get sbashed about when a 'new' model comes out. But face it, every vette is arguably more striking than the out going model, I love the Z06 absolute cool, and the regualar hatchback version is my fave...The new vette will be a stunner, it won't look like the artist rendition close but it couldn't

[bcobbus]

How big are the wheels there? I don't put much faith in artist's drawings of what it may look like.

[Neil C]

Originally posted by Tristan
oh yanks can't build sports cars!! They just CAN'T!!

If by "sports car" you mean one that requires ten hours garage time for every hour on the road, you're right. I put myself through college thanks to the reliability of British Leyland products. But I do love them in spite of themselves.

North American geography and it's roads have defined sports cars much differently than in Europe.

When you consider the current 'vette matches the performance of European and Japanese cars costing twice as much, I'd say the Chevy accomplished exactly what they set out to do. My only regret is GM did not follow through on the original plan to make the Corvette into a lighter weight mid-engine car a few years ago.

[garcon]

Originally posted by Tristan
... oh yanks can't build sports cars!! They just CAN'T!!

I s'pose that's why US built cars tend to dominate their classes in GT racing then... ok, things seem to be on the turn this season, but look over the last few years and tell me where/when Corvettes, Vipers and Saleens have been consistently beaten?

Purely going from the artist's impression, that new Corvette ain't exactly a Lambo, but it's far from ugly. The Subaru Impreza's ugly. I know - I've got one. But I didn't buy it for its looks.

[Tristan]

You bought it so that it could run rings around a Corvette on any road that isn't dead straight. EXACTLY.

[Neil C]

Tristan, obviously you've never driven a Corvette newer than 1966. They handle on a par with Porsches, NSX's and other such exotica costing far more. Because they carry so much more horsepower than most euroexotics, the assumption is they can't handle. Wrong.

A 'vette wouldn't be my first choice in which to tour the Pyrenees but I wouldn't bet against it arriving first at the Bay of Biscay.

[garcon]

Originally posted by Tristan
You bought it so that it could run rings around a Corvette on any road that isn't dead straight. EXACTLY.

WRONG.

I bought an Impreza cos it suits me and my lifestyle and my allegiance to Subaru and rallying.

If I didn't want the ability to go into the country in winter, lugging around a weekend's worth of cr*p, I may well have looked at a C5 'vette.

In terms of motor racing, I'm a HUGE fan of big stuff. Massive horsepower and torque, bomb proof resilience and so on. That's why I love GT endurance racing, and that's why I love the Saleens and the C5Rs.

Tristan, I seem to remember that somewhere else you questioned the design of the Porsche 911 too. This all kind of leads me to wonder what your idea of a sports car actually is? :confused:

[Aysedasi]

Originally posted by Neil C
Tristan, obviously you've never driven a Corvette newer than 1966.

Sorry, but I just find that comment sooooooooooooooooo funny........

I think it's time for Tristan to provide us doubters with a list of those US designed/built sports cars he has driven.....

[garcon]

Why limit it to US designed/built - I want to see a list of ANY sports cars he's driven.

Come one Tris - post in the other thread - what's the fastest car YOU'VE driven, eh??

[Tristan]

Honestly?? The fastest car I've ever driven is an Audi TT!!

THAT BEING SAID, the Corvette got reviewed in Evo against the new NSX, the Porsche C4S, a TVR Tuscan S and the BMW M-Coupe. It came last, obviously, BUT... 1) it still got **** and 2) whilst it was "not worth £50,000" and "difficult not to be cynical with something this big and brash, the Z06 deserves respect as it's a far more serious tool than prejudice would have you believe". Sure, all the other reviews I've read has said it was rubbish, BUT I TRUST EVO as they usually talk sense and are not afraid to go against convention (whilst most of the motoring press have eulagised about the Focus RS, they slated it).

However, I would not bee seen dead in one. It's over priced, its looks and hadling are dated and it's got a nasty image problem which leads to some serious depreciation. I do not own a chest-wig or a medallion either.

I have no desire for a Firebird, a Camaro or a Mustang, let alone a Viper for the same reasons.

To answer the "what is YOUR idea of a sportscar, Tristan??", bearing in mind the 'Vette costs £50,000, I'd have to go for... hmmm... dare I say NSX-R?? Whilst I often find myself disagreeing with Evo (I may SOUND like a kiss-ass...), their current Car of the Year does look the beeswax. But actually I'd probably settle for a Boxter S or a TVR Tamora/T350C and keep the change (save up for an Ferrari, preferably Enzo-ey).

[garcon]

Audi TT? Not bad. At least you have some grasp of what driving a performance car is like. Did you get the chance to floor it? I expect even the 180bhp version gives you a healthy push in the back that lets you know it ain't no 1.8 Vectra...

At £50k, the Z06 is competing with genuine sports/GT cars on their own territory, so you're right it's not value for money in the UK. But the standard C5 is damn near as quick (it'll do 170mph) and only costs £30k. If you like rear drive, normally aspirated sports cars, there's not much competition at that money, except for the hairdressers stuff (Z3/4, Boxster etc). The nearest is possibly the TVR, but that has its own image problems associated with medallions and frequent/long/expensive trips back to TVR to be fixed...

I too enjoy reading evo, and share their undying passion for the Impreza. But I've driven enough cars to know that a weekend trip to Anglesey can't possibly tell you everything about a car, and a tired press vehicle can have problems that completely taint their impression. And besides, everybody is different, each driver has his/her own tastes, and you or I will probably never get even close to the limits to which the experienced hacks at evo can take a performance car.

So by all means see what evo (and the other mags) have to say, but whatever you do, don't completely discard a car on their advice without trying it out first.

[Bluebottle]

Originally posted by Tristan
Honestly?? The fastest car I've ever driven is an Audi TT!!

Hairdressers car