ANTIVINUM

Ok first let me say that I like the C6. Well I haven’t drove one but from what I have seen I like I guess. Now to the point. It seems like every time I read about the C6 they are stating how they tried to make it more appealing to the UK buyer. WTF. I mean How many Corvettes are sold in the good old USA and how many are sold in the UK. I have this months Corvette magazine and it states that part of the reason they made it shorter is for the UK buyer because they have smaller and more narrow roads. Sounds like their problem to me. The whole C6 article is about the UK buyer. I bought an AMERICAN sports car and I would like to buy another. If I wanted something from Europe I would buy Porsche or something. Who cares what they think about the Corvette. They sold 350 units in the UK in 04. I understand wanting to make it more appealing world wide but don’t forget about us (The US buyer). We make the majority of sales. I am not bashing the C6 just bashing the marketing. Why don’t you listen to the current buyers instead of people that will bash your product no matter how good you make it? Ok my rant is over but I would like to hear everyone’s take on the issue.

Fast98

Yes I also do not care about europe or japan I like the C5 because its so big and american looking

LTC Z06

What did they do to make the C6 more competitive (or livable) in Europe that you don't like? The main thing they did, that I know about, are that the outside dimensions are smaller, and they took the front euro plate into consideration.

2005ArcticWhite

GM and global marketing


Next Japan

z16kalel

"Body is 5.1 inches shorter than previous generation-now about the length of a Porsche 911- and one inch narrower to be more at home on international roads"

This is the exact quote from the catalog given to me while I was looking at the C6. I think the C6 is nice, but I really don't care about Europe and I think Chevrolet is pandering to the Euro market.

ANTIVINUM

It is not so much what they have done but what it seems they are trying to accomplish. I don’t want the C7 to be a UK Corvette. Corvette Magazine stated that the reason for the cross-drilled and slotted rotors was because of how much faster they drive in the UK. Now I am all for rotors but don’t do it for the UK. The US enthusiast has been buying aftermarket rotors for years and GM never thought about us. And they are always stating that they are trying to make the interior more on the foreign car scale and not use so much plastic. So if the foreign guys are not using plastic than what. The whole interior is not metal and wood. Really I am just trying to figure out were GM is going with the Corvette and who is influencing them. Like I said not bashing the C6 at all. Hopefully this time next year I will have a Daytona Sunset orange 6 speed.

Curtis A. Franz

Actually Dave Hill was quoted as saying that the cross drilled rotors are no better than the standard ones. I think the magazine is talking out of turn.

ANTIVINUM

One would think. But this what it said. “European cars are using cross-drilled rotors and specific European linings, “ Hill says. “With larger more massive rotors…these brakes will satisfy European drivers.” Maybe it sounds like these brakes are just on the UK corvettes.

Nel727

I don't give a fig about the EU market, but the C6 is a great machine for whatever reason and if broadening the market keeps Corvette on the road with all the difficulties GM is having, I say bully for them.

LTC Z06

They are, even Porsche engineers would like to have only slotted and not drilled rotors, it's pure marketing.

LTC Z06

The more they sell the less expensive they become, especially when the aluminum frame becomes standard.

ANTIVINUM

I guess I can see the reasoning in that.

need-for-speed

Personally, I don't give a rat's *** about the europeeons. But, I saw the Camaro go from a decent sized sports car to a portly pig. I was glad to see the C6 downsized.

I think what Dave Hill et.al. are doing is very clever. If a particular car is "perceived' (and let's face it - that's all that matters) as being more eurpean, that makes it more appealing to many domestic buyers who might otherwise pass it up - especially the youger crowd. And then there are those 40+ guys like me who will buy it because that is the car I yearned for growing up in the 60's and 70's. They lose nothing to guys like me who would buy it anyway. All gain with no loss. The C6 seems to appeal to more Americans who previously would only buy furren cars. I believe Dave Hill got the very response he sought.

chadwick

Words of wisdom.

StanNH

Any manufacturer that has any aspirations of marketing a car in Europe or Japan has to take that into consideration during the design phase of the car. Chrysler did that several years ago when they introduced the "new" 300 series. The external body dimensions were reduced to conform to Euro standards of length and width. This is nothing new, and certainly nothing alarming. It's simply good planning.

The C6 is a very successful design that meets all of its design criteria. It was an evolutionary improvement on the C5, a design which some criticized as being too big. I don't see anything wrong with looking at non-American design standards and don't see much point in complaining that the C6 isn't a truly "American" design. If the C6 isn't an American designed and built car, then no such creature exists.

The C6 is a fine car and if GM looked towards Europe for some of its inspiration....so what?

LTC Z06

I like the fact the the outside dimensions are smaller.

Tropical'67

The design changes were badly needed to compete in the International market.

That was the first thing that attracted me to the C6. The Corvette was too big for too long.

micro

I'm glad the new C6 is five inches shorter and one inch narrower than the C5. Just imagine how much more the C6 would have weighed if it were the same size as the C5.

shopdog

The C6 wasn't designed with the UK market in mind. If it were, it would be right hand drive. But it was designed with the idea that it has to compete against continental European cars like Porsche in nations where they drive on the correct side of the road.

In other words, making it less of a plastic pig not only helps international sales, but more importantly it helps sales in the US where the car has to compete against European and Japanese imports. GM did a spectacularly good job of that. Making the car shorter and narrower makes it more nimble to drive right here in the USA as well as in Europe. Giving it modern headlights makes it better to drive at night anywhere in the world. Giving it a nicer interior helps sales everywhere. Etc.

If the C6 has an European influence, it is because European carmakers have some good ideas, and Corvette had to respond to those ideas to remain competitive here as well as in international markets. They didn't tamper with the soul of the car. It still has a big American V8 under the hood. It still has enough room for portly Americans behind the wheel. It still has a distinctive American style. They just made it better.

joeking

I believe the Corvette was getting a little too big. That huge back end and rear window were making the car look like it needed to go on a diet. The Z-06 and FRC make the car look a little smaller but they have their drawbacks too as far as storage is concerned. I think the C-6 is a step in the right direction. The non-hideaway headlights are even starting to look neat and didnt like them at first.