All has been changed with the reveal of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette C7, a change so drastic that when you park the C7 beside the C6, you would think the C7 is from the future. When you hear Corvette, you immediately think of an American racing icon. With a well established reputation as an American sports car, Chevrolet always opted to stick with tradition, and to some the strategy has aged like the target market for the car; it’s not appealing anymore.
The 2014 Chevrolet Corvette C7 Hides in Being a Bang for Your Buck Budget Sports Car
Tradition was always Chevrolet’s aim with the design of every Corvette, paying homage to the original Stingray from decades before, all that changed with the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette C7 as the traditional lines are gone and replaced with aggressive angles. The silhouette is traditional Corvette but the looks are miles apart from the tradition Chevy always stuck with. Under the hood is a brand new engine; the LT1, a 6.2-Liter V8 providing for 460hp and 460lb-ft of torque. The new engine is mated to a 7-speed manual and traditional rear-wheel drive.
Step inside the cabin and the then reminder that “this car costs less for what you’re getting” is gone with the 2014 Corvette C7, well a few steps up but better nonetheless, nicely bolstered seats, no more cheap plastic dashboard, the gauges could use some effort along with the barebones radio, but it’s fine as you’d listen to the LT1 engine anyway. There’s a touchscreen on the center console and features a backup camera.
Driving the Corvette is the real experience, an experience that actually seeks effort, not to get the car up to speed but to make the car reach its limits. The car just keeps on delivering without breaking a sweat like it’s some supercar from the upper end of the price range. Handling is superb, so good that it doesn’t care what you do want it to do, it just does it. That’s from driving on backroads, put it on track however and that’s where the C7 is truly unleased. There’s a mountain of torque available upon touching the throttle, no downshifting needed.
It’s already apparent, the C7 looks absolutely stunning. The new engine sounds amazing and the power it produces is like magic for what you’re paying for the car. Unlike tradition, this Corvette actually handles like a dream on corners. There are, however, minor nit-picks for interior such as the cheap TFT display on the gauges and the crappy radio.
The 2014 Chevrolet Corvette C7 kicks off the seventh generation with a lot of positives and delivered promises. At the mid range of the sports car price range, you’ll get more than what you pay for with the C7 Corvette.