Michael A

My neighbor bought a C6, and the interior is downright an embarrassment with the fake aluminum parts. At the LA car show under the glittering lights it didn't look bad, but get it out in broad daylight, and you can tell it's fake from 10 feet away. Please tell me Chevy isn't putting this garbage in a supposed uplevel car, the ZO6.

GM needs to copy Lexus. My dad has a Lexus with almost 100,000 miles, and the interior looks great without a squeek or rattle anywhere. It's as solid as a rock. I wish my C5 with only 40,000 miles was anywhere close. GM, give it up, and just copy whatever Lexus is doing!

Michael

Bill Dearborn

The problem is the Corvette is more of an upscale car than a Lexus. It has technology in it that much higher dollar value cars have in them and you get it for essentially a bargain basement price. Then you complain about the things that do not matter like the dash trim. If you want a car with a luxo interior then do not buy the Corvette. You are truly not a Corvette customer. I want a car that goes like hell, stops on a dime, corners like a race car and I cannot get that in any Lexus and if they decided to make one I wouldn't be able to afford it because it would be as high in price as the other Corvette competitors. By the way I have never heard any songs written about a Lexus so there can't be much passion there.
Bill

MechEng

Exactly what he said, you're comparing apples to oranges.

Michael A

The Lexus used in the example cost less than the Corvette.

The C5 looked a lot better without that crappy painted plastic trim.

You can buy a cheap Toyota for under $20 that doesn't have the squeaks, rattles, itches, and cheap trim a Corvette has. It's just sloppy engineering and design.

As long as there are people like you who overlook and accept this rattle trap engineering, then they'll keep building it. Fortunately, there are a few of us Corvette types who have higher standards who will raise a stink about it, with everyone benefiting. The C5 is an example of that.

Michael

C6 Enthusiast

LOL. You're gonna get hammered. This thread is gonna go to several pages, with many people frothing at the mouth that how dare you question GM's holy interior quality...

Good luck!!!

NSTG8R

then go buy another car.

i love my c5's interior regardless of its plastic, it works just fine for me. I enjoy performance in a car, not necessarily the interior.

if i had to choose between 50 extra hp and a pretty, real alum. dash .. guess which option i'm going for.

Jeo

Alright the squeaks and rattles would be one thing, (haveing only gotten to see a C6 either from a distance or not running I cant comment about them) you shouldnt have the bad fit and finish.

As for the interior which would you rather do:

Lexus:"Wow that car had a nice interior"

Corvette:"Wow that was the most exciting drive I've had in a long time!"

I would go with the second. -Jeo

Hans Grüber

This is an absurd comparison. It’s like jumping from a Lexus into the Corvette then saying:

“why does the Lexus have such a pathetic engine, why are the brakes so crappy, why does it have such an inferior chassis. This is just plain sloppy engineering and design. If the Chevy has it, I expect the Lexus to as well.”

Engineers make a target price and then build the vehicle according to that target and there must be compromises to achieve the target. It would be great if we all could have everything for nothing.

vette6799

This is the problem with GM and other American car manufacturers. For very little money, and the vette is not cheap, you could have an interior that did not look cheap.

I was sitting in a new Z06 in March in Florida. I had the same impression, that there was a sense of cheapness in the interior of the Z, this hokey plastic crap. You will likely live with this car for several years. Why not have both the performance and the interior.

GM's market share keeps dropping. This is one of the reasons why.

V Vette

Yo Bill: Cut the gent some slack.. He wants the Vette to be the best it could be and so do I. He is right, if we settle out for less we will never get better- Remember, Apple Computer was far superior-but they didnt change with the times..V

MYellow3

I don't think it takes a lot of money to build a tight interior. I own a C4 and a C5 but the interior of my wife's $24K Toyota Camery has both of them beat. I don't think its wrong to ask for just a little better than what GM is doing. Hell, they don't even have to put S. Steel and real leather. But just to make it look as good as some $35K Audi or Infinity. I don't think thats too much to ask for.

And yes, I will still buy another Corvette.........but I can still dream that one day GM will pay attention to minor interior details right?

ajindfw

Well, yes and no. Remember, Porsches have only had nice interiors for about the past 8 years. Before that, new gizmos in the 911 were operated by an ergonomically unfriendly unlabeled toggle switch somewhere in the cabin. Porsche learned alot when they hired Toyota to teach them modern production methods because Porsche was near bankruptcy.

Now, we could add about 1-3K to the price of the Corvette and improve some of the interior trim. However, at least half of the Corvette's following would prefer that 1-3K be spent on features that actually make the car perform better. Maybe a good idea and a good profit generator for GM would be to offer options such as a large leather package, carbon fiber/aluminum/wood package, but be prepared for the gearheads to counter that there should then be a NOS or turbo package . Premium automakers make a fortune off of people dressing up their cars.

No matter how much you dress up the interior, however, remember some important facts. Over time, just about any true sportscar (not a Prelude or SC430) will develop some squeaks and rattles. Squeaks and rattles are due to the fact that chassis and suspension designs that improve performance are stiffer, and with the multi-TON forces that a sportscar undergoes in spirited driving, these energies are transferred to non-compliant parts more than in a car that has more suspension travel and more body compliance. Over time, these materials fatigue in a non-harmful way, but in a way that allows component to component movement, which you and I hear as squeaks, groans and rattles. My Porsche Turbo S (a 2005) has some minor rattles (passenger seat vibration primarily), and my friends F355 rattles too. I consider these little things part of the price of admission to the sportscar world, and no, there ain't gonna be eleven cupholders, either!

vette6799

I can't accept what you say. First, it simply does not take a lot of money to make a tight interior, it takes good engineering. You are looking at a minimal amount of money to improve the car's interior. Most of the time I spend in my Z is not racing, it is normal driving that most of us do most of the time be it in a camry, lexus, mercedes, suv, truck. You get my drift.

ajindfw

No question they could make improvements. GM could make more attractive trim, better leather that doesn't mar so easily and reduce the squeaks and rattles that occur over time. I drove a new C6 and it was quiet, but the operative word is new. But, totally eliminating squeaks and rattles in a sportscar or work-grade truck is a very tall task. I'm not sayin' that it can't be better. It might be smart to do an overall improvement of the interior and offer further upgrades as options.

EggrollXpress61

If they did up the interior, all the whiners would just complain about the price again. You cant win.

vetteship

It's elementary my dear Watson...How about an upgraded interior packge as an OPTION (better feeling and longeer lasting leather, carbon fiber trim, real Aluminium trim, better looking and feeling steering wheel, different color leather stitching, etc...). People who can fork the money will order it and those who can't will not. Performance wise, nothing is changed. Who the heck is running that car company ?

LTC Z06

Like ajindfw said you are diving a car with a stiff suspension, how much MSRP and weight are you willing to add to make a bullet proof interior?

vette6799

I am not willing to add any weight at all nor do I think you would have to. It is an engineering problem to solve and it could be solved should GM choose to do so. That is the nature of progress and also a sad fact of life with these cars. My 03 Z is starting to get squeaky as time goes on.

cbgpe

My C5 with 52k miles has no rattles and squeeks.....
I like the interior it is comfortable ....
The only problem I had with the interior was the stitching in both seats bottoms came apart. Pass seat replaced under warrantee the drivers seat I paid for...the replacements are perfect.
The corvette while not PERFECT is worth every penny you pay for them.
I have a sales agreement for my next one a 2006 ZO6

LTC Z06

You would add weight. I had a class one day with Stef (the Porsche engineer friend) we talked about quality, materials, etc. Other than a few the materials and fasteners GM and Porsche use are basically the same. Porsche uses thicker leather and plastics, and uses more fasteners for a given length. This adds some weight, and a lot of time on the assembly line, and more human interaction. This adds to the price. Stef readily admits I got a lot of car for the money, and that is the point, super car performance at a Chevy price.

A different interior option could not be an option, they either design the car one way or not. They use thicker plastics or not. Vettes cost $30 to $50 thousand less than a Porsche, and they are worth it. If GM built the interior to Porsche standards it would cost substantially more, still less than a Porsche because GM doesn't add a premium over the base profit they need.

It's not a matter of engineering, GM knows how to do it, they choose not to.