Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible – The Big Payback (Part 2)

Chevy claims the convertible’s weight penalty is a slap on the wrist at merely 64 pounds, less than the delta between our fittest and fattest staffers. So performance should nearly equal the coupe’s, putting the Corvette convertible into the low 12s for the quarter-mile. Our best test-track results in the coupe with the optional Z51 performance package ($2800) saw braking from 70mph in as little as 146 feet, with grip measured at a fairly astounding 1.08g’s, numbers a similarly equipped convertible should meet.

While a wind blocker is not really needed, we are told that one will be available as a dealer-installed accessory

The coupe and convertible drive identically, too. The engine is so powerful and tractable that you can leave the car in third gear pretty much all the time if you like. The brakes are good enough that your greatest fear in a panic stop should be the guy behind you. All the great balance and feel inherent in the coupe’s controls are present here. And the convertible has the same little shake at idle (that’s a feature, by the way), as well as the same scrubbing of the front tires when they’re cold. It also gives off that same fiberglass odor once everything gets good and heated up.

The furnace is the 6.2-liter LT1 V-8, making the same 455 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque as in the coupe. It’s mated to the same seven-speed manual or six-speed automatic. You can add five to both the power and torque figures if you opt for the performance exhausts, a $1195 option that’s even more desirable on the convertible. Not for how it gooses the spec sheet, but for how it heightens the experience of a folded top. Like Keith Moon’s exploding drums, the sound ripples with raw emotion.

The brakes are good enough that your greatest fear in a panic stop should be the guy behind you

One of the two Corvette convertibles we drove for this review had an ill-sealing driver’s-side window. But it also had an automatic transmission, so we’ll just conclude that it reinforces the desirability of a manual. Not that the paddle-controlled six-speed is bad, but it doesn’t shift quickly enough for a car of this caliber. GM likely doesn’t care, as the six-speed is only a placeholder until an eight-speed automatic arrives in the Z06. Chevy refused to confirm if, or when, we’ll see the eight-speed in the Stingray. But, then again, it also wouldn’t confirm tomorrow’s sunrise.

With its top up, the convertible is actually more hushed than the coupe, as you can’t hear the resonance from the latter’s open cargo space

On the convertible drive, we also got our first taste of the optional Competition Sport seats ($2495). Despite their adjustable side and bottom bolsters, plus cutouts in the backrest large enough to pass a racing harness through, they aren’t nearly as extreme as the seats in some competitors. Although you can’t order a harness from the factory, we’re told that the mounting points should be obvious once you peel back the interior. But if you’re going that route, you should just install a real racing seat, because despite its name, the Competition seat is closer to the stock seat than it is to something in which you’d find Jan Magnussen’s behind.

But designing a new Corvette cost GM plenty, and as Juechter says, it’s time to start “paying back”

Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter admits that this early onslaught of Corvette models is less than ideal, given the need to maintain interest in Chevrolet’s halo car over what tends to be a lengthy life span. But designing a new Corvette cost GM plenty, and as Juechter says, it’s time to start “paying back”. Convertibles comprised 27 percent of all C6s, so the droptop Stingray’s contribution to GM’s coffers is substantial. Even at a $5000 premium over the coupe, the convertible’s $56,995 starting price is not unreasonable. In an era in which you can spend nearly $40,000 on a Ford Fusion, this is still the deal of deals. We expect that the sales numbers will soon reflect it.