- 2008 CHEVROLET CORVETTE CONVERTIBLE
- Type: Two-seat sports car
- Base Price: $81,610; as tested, $90,100
- Engine: 6.2-litre V-8
- Horsepower/Torque: 436 hp/428 lb-ft
- Transmission: Six-speed manual
- Drive: Rear-wheel-drive
- Fuel Economy (litres/100 km): 12.9 city/7.78 highway; premium recommended, but will run on regular
- Alternatives: Porsche 911 Cabriolet, Porsche Boxster S, Dodge Viper SRT10, Ferrari F430 Spyder
Every since its introduction, in 1953, the Corvette has been a cultural icon. It's America's sports car, and though it's had its ups and downs, is still as large as life and twice as fast.
There aren't many sports cars out there that can match it when it comes to heritage and pedigree. Porsche is one, of course, and so is Ferrari, but the former is a different vehicle in virtually every respect, and the latter, well, it's up in the stratosphere somewhere and available only to the fortunate few.
If the Porsche 911 and Ferrari are aimed at enthusiasts, the 'Vette is for Everyman. Although that seems to be changing.
The 2008 Chevrolet Corvette is a very quick car, and more entertaining to drive than ever. (Ted Laturnus for The Globe and Mail)
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The current generation, with a 430-horsepower, small-block V8 as standard equipment, is a very quick car, and more entertaining to drive than ever.
Offered as either a convertible or coupe, the new 'Vette is a pure sports car in every way. It only seats two, has lightning-quick handling, acceleration guaranteed to get you in trouble with the law, stop-on-a-dime brakes and a seductive body style that's impossible to ignore.
Of course, my tester, the convertible edition, had a "You're Busted" red paint job, and practically stopped traffic when I drove it around. It also had the optional Performance Exhaust package ($1,555), which simultaneously gives the car an additional six horsepower and one of the sweetest exhaust notes this side of a Formula One racer.
That said, I spent a fair bit of time away from traffic, because, with well over 400 hp at my disposal in a car that only weighs 1,451 kilograms, I wasn't in one place for very long.
Although it's not the fastest model coming out of the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Ky., the base model goes like stink, nonetheless, and will turn in 0 to 100 km/h times in the four-second range, time after time.
This is the most powerful standard equipment powertrain GM has offered with the 'Vette, giving the car intoxicating performance, and it'll run on regular gas. With plastic composite body panels, it's also one of the lightest Corvettes the company has put forward.
My car had the six-speed manual gearbox, which has a couple of eccentricities.
First up, if you shift from First at any speed below 25 km/h or 2,500 rpm, the shifter automatically bypasses Second and Third, and takes you into Fourth. This is a fuel economy/emissions measure, and the torque output of the V-8 is so prodigious, it can handle the low-rpm load with ease. Kind of off-putting at the beginning, but you quickly adjust. Secondly, the vehicle must be put into Reverse when it's parked, otherwise the battery will drain.
If this is too much for you, a six-speed automatic with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters is also available, but, c'mon, this is a 'Vette! —you have to get the stick shift. This is old-fashioned North American muscle/sports car shifting at its best — the throws are short, the mechanism heavy and the power transfer immediate and abundant.
Elsewhere, the convertible top has a glass rear window and takes about 20 seconds to deploy. This is accomplished through a rather inconspicuous button located on the lower left side of the dashboard. A substantial centre locking latch must be dealt with first, but the whole thing is done quickly and seamlessly.
The top itself folds up under a hard tonneau cover and the car looks absolutely fabulous with the top down — at least as far as I'm concerned.
Like so many cars these days, the Corvette has a push-button start, and there are two suspension settings: Touring and Sport. A rotary knob on the floor console gives you access to this and my car was equipped with GM's intriguing Magnetic Ride Control ($2,915 extra), with massive ventilated and drilled disc brakes fore and aft. Interestingly, the Corvette also has 19-inch wheels and tires in back and 18-inchers up front.
Other highlights include a heads-up display for vehicle and engine speed, tilt/telescoping steering, a tire-pressure monitoring system, heated leather seats and programmable power door locks.
This last item is kind of intriguing; outwardly, there are no door handles and you get into the car by pressing a discreet little button located in the door crease. It's coded to the key fob and no fob, no entry.
When GM first introduced this feature at the Detroit auto show, the engineer in charge of demonstrating it locked himself in the car and couldn't get out because the fob hadn't been programmed. How embarrassing.
I might as well mention now that, on my tester, the horn didn't work. That said, it was a demo with less than 10 km on it and had literally been taken off the showroom floor for me.
The most intriguing thing about the Corvette, as far as I'm concerned, is how GM has managed to successfully retain the car's heavy-duty North American heritage, while equipping it with some state-of-the-art engineering features.
A lot of people look at the 'Vette as something of a dinosaur, but it has impressive motorsport credentials and, even in base form, is still one of the quickest automobiles on the road.
