The Brand-New Chevrolet Corvette Stingray – Genteel Giantslayer (Part 2)

I end up preferring one of the “middle” PTM settings for the greater control it provides on the rise coming off turn eight, but with each lap I marvel at the way the magnetic shocks cushion the rough transition onto the carousel apron without ever bottoming out. These shocks make the car ride like it’s suddenly wearing 60-series tires.

After my final lap with all nannies switched off, I dial back to touring mode (forgetting to re-engage StabiliTrak) and nearly spin it in the first turn. The combination of much lighter steering (and hence too much input) with reduced body-motion control and no nannies reveals how much of my heroic driving in the few laps before had relied on electronics.

I got the same sensation the first time I switched everything off in a Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano – three cheers for trickle-down technology. In sport mode, the car feels a little nervous when driven hard on the track, with too-light steering and insufficient body control.

I later ride shotgun for a few laps with Corvette team racer Ron Fellows, who turns everything off and generates face-distorting GS in every direction. These ultra-hot laps reveal the new base GT’s bucket seats to offer considerably better support than the C6 chairs, but (narrow-of-beam) drivers serious about tracking their C7s should hold out for the Recaro thrones, which will arrive about the time the convertible arrives (in the US) later this year.

So far the loaded Z51 seven-speed test cars impress me with their greatly broadened performance envelope, but what about the base car? There just so happens to be such a beast on hand for drives around the perimeter of the proving ground. First impressions: the vinyl-wrapped interior virtually matches the look, but not the smell, of the leather-wrapped one that comes with the 3LT package, and the base woven nylon A-pillar roof trim is shinier and less posh than the sueded microfiber trim. Taking no chances, the team changed nearly every single thing you see and touch in the interior, from the frameless, compact inside rearview mirror to the loop-pile carpet, and there’s an unprecedented ability to personalize it with options including a carbon-fiber dash panel, sill plates and custom luggage.

All Corvettes get the big touch screen and a drive-mode selector, but without the magnetic shocks or eDiff, the latter doesn’t do as much. The base nine-speaker Bose stereo doesn’t quell the V4-mode thrum as thoroughly as does the 12-speaker one with the 9,1-litre bass box. Ride quality is exceptional, and even with the roof panel out, the car feels as rigid as a Mercedes-Benz SL – no twist or shake, no motion in the door-to-dash gap, nothing.

I also take a public-road spin in a Z51 automatic and note that, even in the magnetic shocks’ softest setting (with damping rates lower than those of the base suspension), the bigger wheels and stiffer anti-roll bars produce a slightly more jarring ride. While the automatic gets well-positioned shift paddles, the transmission also utilizes performance-algorithm shift logic that holds lower gears in sharp cornering and grabs lower gears when braking into a turn.

Gadget lovers will revel in the dizzying array of instrument-panel configurations. Three basic themes co-ordinate with the laid-back touring, higher-adrenaline sport or full red-mist track settings, presenting info tailored to the driving style (analogue speedometer, fuel and coolant-temperature gauges are always active). There’s room on each screen for a wealth of other info such as 0-96 km/h or lap timing, a G-load diagram, tire temperatures – even total engine hours and revolutions (our test car’s 1 400 km had racked up 1,76 million revs in 21,9 hours).

The Chevy MyLink system is app-ready and its high-resolution touchscreen is twice as bright as Apple’s latest Retina display to withstand direct sunlight with the top off. Lower the screen and you can store valuables and connect a USB stick or phone in the “safe” behind it. You can also control most infotainment functions using relatively natural voice controls. Further comment on its overall user-friendliness must wait for a longer drive.

So what answers did I come away with? Yes, the ability of StabiliTrak to twiddle electronic differential, magnetic damping and other settings while simultaneously modeling the tire temperatures and more seems almost wizard-like in the way it squeezes the utmost performance and handling out of the C7 Z51′s more rigid chassis and stickier Super Sport tires. The magical result is quite simply the easiest Corvette yet to thrash hard.

And, yes, it does so without emasculating the car or making it feel anodyne, while preserving its Corvetteness. The view out over its impressively low, long hood is similar to that of every Corvette since the last Stingray. The burbling fourth-order engine and exhaust notes are every bit as intoxicating as the first Sting Rays’. And its ability to lope along in V4 mode displaying instantaneous economy in the 6,0-litre/100 km range gives hope that the venerable small-block may well survive to power C8 and C9 ‘Vettes. Based on one memorable day in Milford, I predict the C7 will elicit relaxed smiles or slow sighs of ecstasy.

Yes, no, yes!

The issue of a right-hand-drive version of the C7 Corvette, one which could ostensibly become available in South Africa, has been contentious ever since the newcomer was unveiled at the Detroit Show at the beginning of the year

When an Australian reporter asked General Motors CEO, Dan Akerson, whether the new Stingray would get an RHD version, he answered “yes” and “soon”. That same question was put to the chief engineer for the Corvette-producing division of General Motors, Tadge Juechter, and CAR quoted him as saying that right-hand-drive versions of the C7 Corvette would enter the production lines after 2015. Juechter admitted that the newcomer’s interior would require a major overhaul to be suited to this configuration, but also reportedly said that Chevrolet wanted the new C7 model Corvette to be a world car.

The enthusiasm of muscle-car lovers in right-hand-drive markets was however curbed abruptly when Tim Lee, GM’s vice-president of global manufacturing and president of its international operations, said, “I have no idea what [Akerson] said but we have no plan to put a right-hand-drive under that bonnet. You can write what you want to write, but it is not in the mainstream plan.”

Oh no? Less than a year since the controversial launch of the C7, General Motors SA product communications manager, Lunga Ntsendwana, told CAR: “I can confirm that there is a plan in the development program for RHD Corvette; however, it is too early at this stage to say if this would be available in South Africa.”

If there is any chance a Corvette coming to South Africa, we bet we’ll get it!