Ken
Gone but not forgotten
From Duluth.com:
Automotives: 6th generation Corvette proves good things come in small packages
John Gilbert
Budgeteer News
Last Updated: Thursday, December 30th, 2004 11:48:16 AM
This is the time of year when Upper Midwesterners think a lot about wind-chill factors and lake-effect snow, and when their thoughts drift to their cars, it generally centers on snow tires and tank-heaters. But it’s also getting close to International Car of the Year time, and this year will be unique because it will be the traditional United States “Big Three” going down to the finish in an icon against icon against icon struggle.
For 2005, the Chevrolet Corvette, the Ford Mustang and the Chrysler 300 won the preliminary nod as the three finalists. That, alone, is an honor. Having road-tested the Mustang and the 300C, the final entry on the icon list is the first model of the sixth-generation Corvette.
Chevrolet is making a bold change with the 2005 C6 Corvette, and it comes right when competition is the most ferocious in the Corvette’s 51-year history. With 400 horsepower and 400 foot-pounds of torque packed into a lighter, tighter frame, it appears safe to assume the new car will meet or exceed the expectations of Corvette loyalists everywhere.
The new car has even made a bid for international notice, with a lot of testing done at Nurburgring race track in Germany, and officials say they hope to make Corvettes more than a novelty among the sustained-high-speed regulars on the autobahns. That remains to be seen, but Chevrolet, and General Motors, would obviously settle for continued success as the American sports car.
In the Great White North, those who might buy Corvettes and not store them in winters care a lot more about how they handle 20-below starts, climb icy avenues and force all that power to perform delicately on Superior Street, more than about how fast it can go on the autobahn.
Over the last 50 years, the Corvette became a knee-jerk reaction for every red-blooded American seeking the status that could best be portrayed by a sports car. Driving a sports car bestows on the driver a wild and carefree outlook, making him, or her, the envy of all the sedan/station wagon/minivan/SUV drivers out there sharing the roadways. To say nothing of being the handiest cure for midlife crisis, if not the common cold. As the only real sports car made in the United States, patriotic Americans have bought 1.4 million Corvettes over the years.
The fifth generation Corvette, called the C5, grew in prominence and in size and power over its extended, eight-year lifespan. It countered lighter and more high-tech competitors with a simple solution —inexpensive power. It’s much less costly to enlarge the engine than to design and refine such entities as dual overhead camshafts, multiple valves and variable valve-timing, and other devices —all of which can extract amazingly high degrees of power out of comparatively small engines.
A suddenly computer-literate culture may more seriously consider alternative sports cars, such as the Porsche Carreras and Boxsters, BMW Z3 and Z4s, Audi TT, and Mercedes SLK from Germany, and the Mazda Miata, Mazda RX-8, and Honda S2000 from Japan. All of them achieve the exhilaration of high performance with lighter, more agile bodies, and with smaller but high-tech, high-revving engines.
That threw a strong challenge at the sixth generation Corvette, if it was to maintain its turf, and Chevrolet knew it. “The exterior, interior and engine are all new,” said chief engineer Dave Hill. “We did more than our customers asked for— we removed compromises. For us to have 30 percent market share is great, but it means that 70 percent are buying something else.”
While becoming smaller, lighter, stiffer, more agile and more of a true sports car in design and build, General Motors invoked heritage over high-tech in some cases. After promoting the low-rumble and inexpensive power of pushrod engines for five decades, for example, Chevrolet decided to stick with the pushrod engine design, claiming the car’s customers haven’t clamored for higher tech overhead cams. At the same time, Chevy made the small block bigger, growing from 5.7 to 6.0 liters, and more power than ever.
Corvette’s restyling is significant, even if some see it as more subtle. Subtlety has not always been typical of Corvettes, which had long since bulged beyond the sleekness of the 1963-67 Sting Rays — an era that gave design cues to the new car’s leaner styling. The new body is stretched tightly over a condensed length, five inches shorter than its predecessor. A shorter, stiffer and lighter chassis, bigger brakes, more suspension travel and a choice of three suspension designs all are packed underneath.
Despite a lot of similarities, the C6 has 85 percent new content compared to the C5. At first, Corvette purists whined about losing the hideaway headlights but the new look allows the first high-tech lights, with high-intensity xenon gas-discharge headlights, and foglights. Aimed through clear glass lenses, the new headlights increase illumination by 80 percent, over a 25 percent greater spread. The new foglights alone shine with 58 percent of the C5’s total illumination.
For attention to detail, consider that the leather bucket seat surfaces have fabric backing to prevent creaking. I never knew there might be those who find that annoying; one reason I like leather seats is the way they creak as they age, seeming to form-fit like a glove.
Higher contrast LED instruments include the Heads-Up display superimposed on the windshield, which can be altered to three different formats. An optional Bose audio system takes the standard subwoofer from eight-inch to ten-inch size, which helps the XM satellite radio come to life.
Voice recognition operates a DVD navigation system and audio controls. Keyless entry has a transmitter in the key fob so that as you get within one meter of the car, the doors unlock. Once inside you can activate the push-button start without using the key — as long as you have it on your person.
General Motors has again gone to great lengths to improve the smallblock pushrod V8 design, which is as old as the Corvette itself. At 6.0 liters, it dispenses 400 horsepower and 400 foot-pounds of torque. The engine features all-aluminum construction, larger solid-stem valves, a less restrictive induction system, lighter composite intake manifold, and strengthened crankshaft. Top speed is 186 miles per hour, and I’ve seen printed 0-60 times of under 4.5 seconds.
If the pushrod engine design remains, it is the only thing that’s not cutting-edge in the new Corvette, except for the unique and ridiculous, “skip-shift,” which forces the six-speed manual to go from first to fourth, rather than second, in normal acceleration to inflate fuel-economy figures. A four-speed automatic is also available.
The main attraction of the Corvette, as usual, is that it provides the performance of cars costing far more than its base price of $43,445, for a coupe with enlarged hardtop panels, more stowable under the trunklid. Adding side airbags, suspension and audio upgrades can boost the sticker to $53,000 quickly. That’s still reasonable, for a tightly coordinated, feature-filled new model of an old icon — an icon that is Car of the Year every year to its cult of followers.
John Gilbert writes weekly reviews on new cars and can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.
Automotives: 6th generation Corvette proves good things come in small packages
John Gilbert
Budgeteer News
Last Updated: Thursday, December 30th, 2004 11:48:16 AM
This is the time of year when Upper Midwesterners think a lot about wind-chill factors and lake-effect snow, and when their thoughts drift to their cars, it generally centers on snow tires and tank-heaters. But it’s also getting close to International Car of the Year time, and this year will be unique because it will be the traditional United States “Big Three” going down to the finish in an icon against icon against icon struggle.
For 2005, the Chevrolet Corvette, the Ford Mustang and the Chrysler 300 won the preliminary nod as the three finalists. That, alone, is an honor. Having road-tested the Mustang and the 300C, the final entry on the icon list is the first model of the sixth-generation Corvette.
Chevrolet is making a bold change with the 2005 C6 Corvette, and it comes right when competition is the most ferocious in the Corvette’s 51-year history. With 400 horsepower and 400 foot-pounds of torque packed into a lighter, tighter frame, it appears safe to assume the new car will meet or exceed the expectations of Corvette loyalists everywhere.
The new car has even made a bid for international notice, with a lot of testing done at Nurburgring race track in Germany, and officials say they hope to make Corvettes more than a novelty among the sustained-high-speed regulars on the autobahns. That remains to be seen, but Chevrolet, and General Motors, would obviously settle for continued success as the American sports car.
In the Great White North, those who might buy Corvettes and not store them in winters care a lot more about how they handle 20-below starts, climb icy avenues and force all that power to perform delicately on Superior Street, more than about how fast it can go on the autobahn.
Over the last 50 years, the Corvette became a knee-jerk reaction for every red-blooded American seeking the status that could best be portrayed by a sports car. Driving a sports car bestows on the driver a wild and carefree outlook, making him, or her, the envy of all the sedan/station wagon/minivan/SUV drivers out there sharing the roadways. To say nothing of being the handiest cure for midlife crisis, if not the common cold. As the only real sports car made in the United States, patriotic Americans have bought 1.4 million Corvettes over the years.
The fifth generation Corvette, called the C5, grew in prominence and in size and power over its extended, eight-year lifespan. It countered lighter and more high-tech competitors with a simple solution —inexpensive power. It’s much less costly to enlarge the engine than to design and refine such entities as dual overhead camshafts, multiple valves and variable valve-timing, and other devices —all of which can extract amazingly high degrees of power out of comparatively small engines.
A suddenly computer-literate culture may more seriously consider alternative sports cars, such as the Porsche Carreras and Boxsters, BMW Z3 and Z4s, Audi TT, and Mercedes SLK from Germany, and the Mazda Miata, Mazda RX-8, and Honda S2000 from Japan. All of them achieve the exhilaration of high performance with lighter, more agile bodies, and with smaller but high-tech, high-revving engines.
That threw a strong challenge at the sixth generation Corvette, if it was to maintain its turf, and Chevrolet knew it. “The exterior, interior and engine are all new,” said chief engineer Dave Hill. “We did more than our customers asked for— we removed compromises. For us to have 30 percent market share is great, but it means that 70 percent are buying something else.”
While becoming smaller, lighter, stiffer, more agile and more of a true sports car in design and build, General Motors invoked heritage over high-tech in some cases. After promoting the low-rumble and inexpensive power of pushrod engines for five decades, for example, Chevrolet decided to stick with the pushrod engine design, claiming the car’s customers haven’t clamored for higher tech overhead cams. At the same time, Chevy made the small block bigger, growing from 5.7 to 6.0 liters, and more power than ever.
Corvette’s restyling is significant, even if some see it as more subtle. Subtlety has not always been typical of Corvettes, which had long since bulged beyond the sleekness of the 1963-67 Sting Rays — an era that gave design cues to the new car’s leaner styling. The new body is stretched tightly over a condensed length, five inches shorter than its predecessor. A shorter, stiffer and lighter chassis, bigger brakes, more suspension travel and a choice of three suspension designs all are packed underneath.
Despite a lot of similarities, the C6 has 85 percent new content compared to the C5. At first, Corvette purists whined about losing the hideaway headlights but the new look allows the first high-tech lights, with high-intensity xenon gas-discharge headlights, and foglights. Aimed through clear glass lenses, the new headlights increase illumination by 80 percent, over a 25 percent greater spread. The new foglights alone shine with 58 percent of the C5’s total illumination.
For attention to detail, consider that the leather bucket seat surfaces have fabric backing to prevent creaking. I never knew there might be those who find that annoying; one reason I like leather seats is the way they creak as they age, seeming to form-fit like a glove.
Higher contrast LED instruments include the Heads-Up display superimposed on the windshield, which can be altered to three different formats. An optional Bose audio system takes the standard subwoofer from eight-inch to ten-inch size, which helps the XM satellite radio come to life.
Voice recognition operates a DVD navigation system and audio controls. Keyless entry has a transmitter in the key fob so that as you get within one meter of the car, the doors unlock. Once inside you can activate the push-button start without using the key — as long as you have it on your person.
General Motors has again gone to great lengths to improve the smallblock pushrod V8 design, which is as old as the Corvette itself. At 6.0 liters, it dispenses 400 horsepower and 400 foot-pounds of torque. The engine features all-aluminum construction, larger solid-stem valves, a less restrictive induction system, lighter composite intake manifold, and strengthened crankshaft. Top speed is 186 miles per hour, and I’ve seen printed 0-60 times of under 4.5 seconds.
If the pushrod engine design remains, it is the only thing that’s not cutting-edge in the new Corvette, except for the unique and ridiculous, “skip-shift,” which forces the six-speed manual to go from first to fourth, rather than second, in normal acceleration to inflate fuel-economy figures. A four-speed automatic is also available.
The main attraction of the Corvette, as usual, is that it provides the performance of cars costing far more than its base price of $43,445, for a coupe with enlarged hardtop panels, more stowable under the trunklid. Adding side airbags, suspension and audio upgrades can boost the sticker to $53,000 quickly. That’s still reasonable, for a tightly coordinated, feature-filled new model of an old icon — an icon that is Car of the Year every year to its cult of followers.
John Gilbert writes weekly reviews on new cars and can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.
