And she’s doing it again! Almost tenderly, I stroke the accelerator pedal of the brand new Corvette C8 – and the only thing that comes to mind in the American sports dream in red is the wild prancing of the rear axle! I hadn’t imagined it this way: Before the test drive on an extensive coastal road in California, I imagined myself to be with the removable Targa roof stowed in the bulging rear, and the thumping of the 6.2-liter V8 small block, which continues to breathe turbo-free, in the front of my mind’s eye Ears, hair fluttering in the wind. And now this: Hessian bad weather on narrow, slippery streets and, with the tiniest gas bump, the fear that 482 horses will maneuver the completely supercooled 20-inch rollers on the drive axle in the direction of forests and meadows.
The V8 is new to the neck
The Chevy executives praised it before the ride, the eighth edition of the American sports car icon. It is more precise than ever before, after all, the drive layout that has made “the Vette” special for almost 70 years has been completely thrown overboard on the C8: the powerful naturally aspirated V8 is no longer at the front under the previous one gigantic hood, but moves behind the driver. The mid-engine concept, standard in many European sports cars, has a decisive advantage over its seven predecessors: the significantly better weight distribution. This means that 60 percent of the slim 1655 kilos now press on the rear axle.
New attempt: the streets around the Main metropolis Frankfurt have finally dried up. Again I press the start button, again the monster growls dully in my neck, but firmly. First of all, the “travel” mode has to set it up, in which the traction reins are tighter. We cruise there, deeply relaxed, the Corvette and me. Now I feel it, the American way of drive. The optional Magnetic Ride chassis irons out any bumps in the road – a perfect Gran Turismo! Continue via sport to Z mode: transmission, steering, dampers, exhaust sound, accelerator pedal characteristic – everything is now on attack.
How crazy it pushes!
From a standing start, the Corvette thunders forward as if there was no tomorrow. A mere 3.5 seconds pass up to 100 km / h and the Corvette keeps on running – theoretically up to a top speed of 296 km / h. Madness, this force of up to 637 Newton meters of torque, which pushes over a huge speed range. The automatic double clutch exhausts the limiter and pounds in the next gear. Directional commands via the hexagonal Alcantara steering wheel are immediately followed by the short front. The best Corvette ever? Probably. But to test the machine’s limit, it would have to be a racetrack. Hessian trenches seem to me to be a bad alternative.
Fully digital cockpit
I prefer to take a closer look at the inner workings. After an acrobatic introduction, we slide into the perfectly shaped sports seats. The gaze wanders over plenty of informative digital instruments – a head-up display only projects the most important parameters into the field of vision. Infotainment can now also be used by Google and the US production can also use European quality standards: Alcantara, leather, carbon – everything is fine. The bulky center tunnel, which makes the already stiff Corvette even more stable, significantly restricts the feeling of space. And who came up with the central bar with an estimated 40 buttons?
Not cheap. But inexpensive
It is and will remain unmistakable, the Corvette. Because as much as she approaches the Europeans in terms of design, concept and quality, she is still the American bad boy in spirit who doesn’t care about conventions. Which shows the limits of physics faster than a Porsche 911 trimmed to perfection. Emotion instead of perfection, you could say.
In contrast to the almost $ 60,000 for the US entry-level version, at least 113,690 francs for the coupé version (new convertible with hardtop from 120,760 francs) doesn’t sound like a bargain for us. But first of all, no American orders the Corvette in a bare basic version. Secondly, in Europe both the Z51 performance package with adjustable suspension, Brembo brakes, electronic locking diff or aerodynamics package and the 2LT package with all kinds of comfort features are standard. Not a bad deal, that bad boy!