After a long long wait, the seventh generation Chevrolet Corvette has been finally unveiled. The Corvette was born way back in 1953 and its the third time in the history of this sports car brand, that the name Stingray has been used. The Corvette C7 takes a huge leap from its predecessor and sports an all new design language, which is more edgier. Prices are expected to be very similar to the outgoing model and the company will play the value card which it has always done with the Corvette. GM does not plan to launch the Corvette in India, mainly because of the lack of a right hand drive version.
General Motors has worked hard on the interiors and the latest generation of the Corvette doesn’t feel cheap inside, like the sixth generation model. A new 8-inch screen has been placed on the driver oriented dashboard which tilts towards the left. Interior quality has been improved with the use of aluminum, leather and carbon fiber. Seats are made of a light weight magnesium frame. The light weight panels are not limited to the interiors only and many body parts use carbon fiber and composite materials.
The hood of the Corvette C7 is made of carbon fiber, while the doors and fenders use composite. The under body panels use carbon-nano composites, while the frame is an all new aluminum unit. The weight has been shifted rearwards to get an optimum 50:50 weight distribution on America’s favorite sports car. Powering the Chevrolet Corvette C7 is a new 6.2-litre LT1 V8 engine which belts out 450 HP of power and 610 Nm of torque. This engine uses direct injection, continuous variable valve timing, active fuel management and advanced combustion system.
This 6.2-litre V8 motor enables the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette to do 0 to 100 km/hr in less than 4 seconds and GM claims the vehicle will generation more than 1G of cornering grip. Mated to this engine is a 6-speed automatic gearbox and a 7-speed Tremec manual transmission with Active Rev Matching. The 450 HP C7 is the entry level Corvette Stingray and GM will launch high-powered variants in due course of time. The all new Corvette also gets 5 position Drive Mode Selector which alters 12 vehicle attributes, thereby fitting the style of the driver. The company is also offering a Z51 performance package which enables the Corvette to become a track machine.
