Performance Review: Chevrolet C8 Corvette Z51

Article content

A small child was walking with his mother. In one upswept hand he held the hand of his mother, and in the other a rapidly-melting cone of vanilla ice cream. He made it about halfway through the crosswalk before the tractor beam grabbed him.

Article content

His feet ceased to make forward progress despite urgings from his mother’s outstretched hand. A drop of melting ice cream ran down his fingers as he stood transfixed, powerless in the hypnotic field generated by an atomic yellow 2021 C8 Corvette. In that moment, time stood still for that child and he stared straight into the cosmos. I pulled back on both paddles shifting the car into neutral and gave it a quick playful rev. The mom smiled, the child was able to be peeled away from his post, and life resumed as normal. That’s the power of the new Corvette.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Performance Review: Chevrolet C8 Corvette Z51 Back to video

The new eighth-generation Corvette is the most radical change the nameplate has ever seen. The engine being in the middle isn’t even the largest change to be found — the manual transmission option is gone, never to return (despite a healthy take-rate), as are chrome wheels and cloth soft-tops. This is not only a new Corvette, but a new kind of Corvette. It’s not for my dad, who previously owned a red 2009 C6 Corvette with a 6-speed manual. He’d finds the new one less spacious, harder to get into, and not as satisfying to drive without a clutch pedal. No, this is the Corvette for people who never even considered buying one before; the people who drive BMW Ms and Porsche Caymans.

Toggle full screen mode Previous Gallery Image

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

Next Gallery Image Toggle gallery captions

View All 8 Photos

1 of 8

All 8 Photos for Gallery

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 

Function Not Available

Full Screen is not supported on this browser version.

You may use a different browser or device to view this in full screen.

OK

Article content

The C8 debuted during the before times, back in July 2019. Back then is when we learned all the hard points about it: we’ve known for nearly two-years that it had a 490 hp 6.2L V8 making 465 lb-ft of torque; we knew it could scoot to 60 mph in 3.0 seconds (No 0-100 km/h time has been claimed by GM, though they do gleefully claim it will do 0-96 km/h which is 59.6 mph in 2.9 seconds); and we knew that it had a Tremec TR-9080 8-speed dual clutch automatic. What we only learned recently is how it drives.

The view over the hood is similar yet different. It’s like a cover of a song you know well by an artist you’ve never listened to before. The front fender haunches peek out in front of the windshield and dip down to meet the road more sharply than they did on C3 and C7 Corvettes. It’s odd to be in a Corvette and not see a suggestive hood bulge up front covering a V8.

Article content

The cockpit is another break from Corvette tradition. Ever since the C5, Corvette interiors have been noted for lots of stretch-out room despite the somewhat small size of the cars themselves. Not so much here: there is ample room for legs and heads, but it’s the horizontal room that’s lacking. A high console runs through the car, and it intrudes far more than one in any previous Corvette. The situation is even more restrictive for the passenger, who has access to none of the Corvette’s interior controls and is crowded by what can only be described as a wall on their left side, used to present the Corvette’s 20 buttons on the centre console. This is clearly a driver-focused cockpit.

Toggle full screen mode Previous Gallery Image

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

11. 

12. 

13. 

14. 

15. 

Next Gallery Image Toggle gallery captions

View All 15 Photos

1 of 15

All 15 Photos for Gallery

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 

Function Not Available

Full Screen is not supported on this browser version.

You may use a different browser or device to view this in full screen.

OK

Article content

Despite the cozier confines, there is plenty of space for storage in the cockpit itself. The console holds two useable cupholders, a cubby for your trinkets, and a neat little rubber pocket to hold your phone in place for wireless charging. There are also door pockets and a bit of room behind the seats for soft items. The C8 Corvette also has two trunks! The front one can hold a carry-on bag with a thick jacket wadded on top, and the rear compartment can hold plenty of luggage for two people. It’s worth noting that the rear trunk is located atop the muffler and behind the engine, so it gets plenty warm while driving. Don’t put a chocolate bar back there unless you want to drink it. And don’t ask me if it fits golf clubs. If you want to trundle to and from the golf course, there are plenty of C7s on the lot.

Article content

If you taped up the badges, dropped someone in the C8, and told them to go drive it around, they’d probably guess that it was a McLaren before they would guess Corvette — or at least they would until they heard it. Amidst a world of change, the familiar small-block V8 roar and its signature speedboat idle are both present in the C8. It’s the only part of the driving experience that links it to previous Corvettes. The steering is lighter and more communicative that it ever has been; the car feels lighter, more playful, and easier to rotate than its long-hooded forbearers. I didn’t get a chance to thrash it on a track, but I would imagine it would be great fun and a far easier experience than the slightly-nervous C7. Traction is abundant, and sliding it on public roads would require some pretty impressive recklessness.

Article content

In every other Corvette I’ve driven, the engine dominated the experience. Corvettes felt like a single massive engine that I was tied to the back of and slung around like a child on an inner tube being pulled by a boat. That feeling is gone and replaced by nearly-telepathic translation of my thoughts into motion. The C8 is a revelation, people. It’s not good for a Corvette; it’s downright good.

Toggle full screen mode Previous Gallery Image

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

Next Gallery Image Toggle gallery captions

View All 9 Photos

1 of 9

All 9 Photos for Gallery

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 

Function Not Available

Full Screen is not supported on this browser version.

You may use a different browser or device to view this in full screen.

OK

Article content

And what will all this goodness cost you? About as much as the first 18-months of depreciation on a Porsche 911 Turbo S. In Canada you can walk into any of the fiercely air-conditioned Chevrolet showrooms, hand the nice person at the counter $69,398, and walk out with a C8 Corvette coupe. The folding hardtop convertible is a full $9,000 dearer, and our test car was loaded up to $111,463.

The C8 option list is long, and includes things like garish wings, childish racing stripes, and an amusing ‘colour combination override’ option for $680 to allow you to create something so ugly it goes past even GM’s better aesthetic judgment. But among the dress up knick-knacks there are two options that I guarantee you want to have. The first is the Z51 performance package, which costs a considerable $6,995 but it turns the Corvette into a car you can take to the race track — and do so with confidence. For that chunk of change you get an electronic limited-slip differential, a shorter (numerically higher) rear axle ratio of 5.17:1, Brembo brakes, and a heavy-duty cooling system. Interestingly, GM says that the Z51 package is “required for track use.” It also includes a performance exhaust which Chevy says neatly raises horse and torque figures by 5, or to 495 and 470 respectively. I think that’s a bit of marketing, but it does sound good.

Article content

The other thing you want is the $2,180 magnetic ride control. This is basically magic suspension, and in my opinion it is literally the best damping in the world. Click a button for sedan-smooth ride over bumps, or click it to make it rock-hard for the track. Every setting is well-calibrated and quick to spring into action. The system has quite a name too, and if you watch our video, you get to watch me try to pronounce magnetorheological. This option is key for making the C8 as good as it can be.

But regardless of which options you choose and whether or not you have the fancy suspension, the C8 is a car people like. Some people may confuse it for an exotic, but it doesn’t exude any of the pompous arrogance that some of those cars have. The C8 is not a billboard that outs you as a millionaire; it’s the people’s exotic. As an older lady told me when I climbed in one morning, “your car is well-admired.” It makes an entrance without being too much — a hard feat to manage when painted highlighter yellow. Men and women of every age encountered this new Corvette with kind words and friendly faces. People on Twitter will complain about the nuances of its design, but it doesn’t seem to matter in the real world.

Because even though that child at the crosswalk doesn’t realize it now, he just saw the Milky Way for the first time. He heard a song for the first time that they would never play on the radio. He tasted a foreign dish that his parents would have never cooked for him. He saw the first car that made him think about cars. Years will pass, and eventually he’ll be old enough to drive. Maybe later on he’ll have a little spare money to buy something really nice, a fun car. And he will want a Corvette.