Pics and comments about crystal red Z51
10-06-2013, 10:51 PM
#1
Scraping the splitter.
Thread Starter
Pics and comments about crystal red Z51
As a follow up to the thread Mike@Criswell started today, I took some nice pics of the car outside today after skies cleared this afternoon.
A few comments and impressions I'd like to impart about my new '14 Corvette Stingray Z51 (A6, MSRC, NPP, 2LT), now with 242 miles on it.
1. I found no exterior defects. Panel gaps are all even, the hatch sits flush, removed and reinstalled the roof and it sits evenly in the opening.
2. Paint on the car is very nice. There is a little more orange peel on the upper rear portions of the fenders near the A-pillar, but nothing I would consider bad.
3. The interior is nicely put together, seats are very comfortable and supportive for my 6'3" 230# self. In fact, I don't have the seat the entire way back and have ~2-3" of headroom and my knees are ~3-4" from the dash. That's for street driving. If I was going to track the car I'd bring things in a bit.
4. The "T"ouring setting on the Drive Mode Selector is awesome. I drove the car ~210 miles home, the first ~30-40 and last 35 or so on back roads, the rest on 95. The car is extremely comfortable in this setting with just an excellent ride. Much more comfortable than my GT-R's, even in "C" shock setting.
5. Very quiet cockpit at speed. For being RFT's, the Michelins are pretty quiet. I didn't think the tire drone was bad at all. Again, much quieter than either of my GT-R's (the Black Edition had Dunlop Sport Maxx GT600's, the Premium has the Cold Weather Package and Dunlop SP Sport 7010's).
6. No issues at all with visibility around the car and the backup camera works great with an excellent view. There was some discussion in the past about being able to see out of the quarter windows...I have to ask..."Why?".
7. Very pleased with the performance of the 6-speed automatic. I spent a great deal of time yesterday driving the car in manual mode, often in "S"port or "Tr"ack. Obviously, the shift strategy in "Tr" is more aggressive than it is in "S". "S" is more aggressive than "T"our. Pretty decently rev matched downshifts when coming to a stop in "Tr" mode and I was pleasantly surprised at the speed of shifts in "S" and even more so in "Tr". This isn't a DCT, but it certainly is far, far, far better than I believe most think.
8. In automatic shifting, I did not detect AFM intruding.
9. The exhaust note changes between "T", "S" and "Tr" are very cool. Having a few LOUD cars, I'm growing tired of the noise, and starting the car up in "Tr" is just about right, lol.
10. After four hours in the car between Maryland and New Jersey yesterday, the seats are great. Very comfortable, firm and the seat cooling/venting works great. My seats have the microfiber inserts and to assuage any concern, the venting works great with them.
11. The light grey stitching on the jet black 2LT interior looks awesome and really provides a nice detail to the interior.
12. Both screens are high definition, easy to use and within an hour I had acclimated to about 95% of what I need to know with respect to "Phone", "Navigation", etc.. It literally took seconds to pair to my S4. Still want to figure out how to customize a few of the Drive Selector Modes (for example, I'd like "Sport" exhaust setting in "T").
13. The carpeting, which was lambasted pre-production, looks great. IMO it is sooo much cleaner looking than cut pile. The loop looks clean, feels nice and has a much more upscale feel to it. There were also some pictures of pre-production cars that showed ragged, unfinished edges of carpet around the plastic wheel well lines in the cargo area. None of that is there in my production unit.
14. There have been comments about the plain black dash (non-FAY cars). Rest assured, it looks great in person. A picture below will represent that it actually appears to have some sort of sparkle in it, like a stripper was rubbing on it. The aluminum ring around the gauge cluster is a VERY nice touch.
15. General acceleration of the car is, I would say, very good. I've already ran the car hard through 3rd gear from a dig and it'll blow off the tires halfway through first then hook and go. Bear in mind, I track (road course) a 608 rwhp GT500 that has gone 11.3 at 127, have a 705 awhp (Mustang Dyno) GT-R, an 816 rwhp Cobra, a little 870 rwhp notchback and have had a few other relatively high hp cars, so I'm kind of jaded. I'll probably be posting some videos of my buddy busting up the C7 in his stock '13 GT500 in the next few weeks.
A few minor complaints...
1. With the driver's seat in position, I find it hard to grasp all three power controls, especially the rear control. This is a matter of the door panel and sill conspiring to make this a very tight fit.
2. The light grey stitching (that I like so much) extends in two lines from the top of the instrument cluster hood towards the base of the windshield. With the sun reflecting off the dash, it constantly gave me the quick impression that I had a dirt line (like from wipers) on the windshield. That same stitching also doesn't align quite as well as I 'think' it should on the console armrest and front portion of the driver's side door panel (pictures below).
3. From what GM stated pre-production, I expected to be able to easily close the rear hatch. It takes a shove once it catches. While this is not a major annoyance, I think GM could do better. I don't like slamming things to close them.
4. I don't like plastic shift paddles on the steering wheel. C'mon GM, give us a brushed aluminum (or magnesium, like the GT-R) set of paddles. The brushed aluminum can match the rest of the interior accents. I also don't like them attached to the wheel, and would prefer that they are fixed to the column, again, as in the GT-R.
5. The seat venting button should light up blue, the heater red. I believe they both light up red, just on the associated button on the console.
I haven't had a C6, but I've been in a number of them over the years, including spending 3-days in one at Bondurant before switching to the Formula Mazda. IMO, GM made a huge step up with this car. I'm glad I bought one.
Anyway, on to some pictures...
S.
A few comments and impressions I'd like to impart about my new '14 Corvette Stingray Z51 (A6, MSRC, NPP, 2LT), now with 242 miles on it.
1. I found no exterior defects. Panel gaps are all even, the hatch sits flush, removed and reinstalled the roof and it sits evenly in the opening.
2. Paint on the car is very nice. There is a little more orange peel on the upper rear portions of the fenders near the A-pillar, but nothing I would consider bad.
3. The interior is nicely put together, seats are very comfortable and supportive for my 6'3" 230# self. In fact, I don't have the seat the entire way back and have ~2-3" of headroom and my knees are ~3-4" from the dash. That's for street driving. If I was going to track the car I'd bring things in a bit.
4. The "T"ouring setting on the Drive Mode Selector is awesome. I drove the car ~210 miles home, the first ~30-40 and last 35 or so on back roads, the rest on 95. The car is extremely comfortable in this setting with just an excellent ride. Much more comfortable than my GT-R's, even in "C" shock setting.
5. Very quiet cockpit at speed. For being RFT's, the Michelins are pretty quiet. I didn't think the tire drone was bad at all. Again, much quieter than either of my GT-R's (the Black Edition had Dunlop Sport Maxx GT600's, the Premium has the Cold Weather Package and Dunlop SP Sport 7010's).
6. No issues at all with visibility around the car and the backup camera works great with an excellent view. There was some discussion in the past about being able to see out of the quarter windows...I have to ask..."Why?".
7. Very pleased with the performance of the 6-speed automatic. I spent a great deal of time yesterday driving the car in manual mode, often in "S"port or "Tr"ack. Obviously, the shift strategy in "Tr" is more aggressive than it is in "S". "S" is more aggressive than "T"our. Pretty decently rev matched downshifts when coming to a stop in "Tr" mode and I was pleasantly surprised at the speed of shifts in "S" and even more so in "Tr". This isn't a DCT, but it certainly is far, far, far better than I believe most think.
8. In automatic shifting, I did not detect AFM intruding.
9. The exhaust note changes between "T", "S" and "Tr" are very cool. Having a few LOUD cars, I'm growing tired of the noise, and starting the car up in "Tr" is just about right, lol.
10. After four hours in the car between Maryland and New Jersey yesterday, the seats are great. Very comfortable, firm and the seat cooling/venting works great. My seats have the microfiber inserts and to assuage any concern, the venting works great with them.
11. The light grey stitching on the jet black 2LT interior looks awesome and really provides a nice detail to the interior.
12. Both screens are high definition, easy to use and within an hour I had acclimated to about 95% of what I need to know with respect to "Phone", "Navigation", etc.. It literally took seconds to pair to my S4. Still want to figure out how to customize a few of the Drive Selector Modes (for example, I'd like "Sport" exhaust setting in "T").
13. The carpeting, which was lambasted pre-production, looks great. IMO it is sooo much cleaner looking than cut pile. The loop looks clean, feels nice and has a much more upscale feel to it. There were also some pictures of pre-production cars that showed ragged, unfinished edges of carpet around the plastic wheel well lines in the cargo area. None of that is there in my production unit.
14. There have been comments about the plain black dash (non-FAY cars). Rest assured, it looks great in person. A picture below will represent that it actually appears to have some sort of sparkle in it, like a stripper was rubbing on it. The aluminum ring around the gauge cluster is a VERY nice touch.
15. General acceleration of the car is, I would say, very good. I've already ran the car hard through 3rd gear from a dig and it'll blow off the tires halfway through first then hook and go. Bear in mind, I track (road course) a 608 rwhp GT500 that has gone 11.3 at 127, have a 705 awhp (Mustang Dyno) GT-R, an 816 rwhp Cobra, a little 870 rwhp notchback and have had a few other relatively high hp cars, so I'm kind of jaded. I'll probably be posting some videos of my buddy busting up the C7 in his stock '13 GT500 in the next few weeks.
A few minor complaints...
1. With the driver's seat in position, I find it hard to grasp all three power controls, especially the rear control. This is a matter of the door panel and sill conspiring to make this a very tight fit.
2. The light grey stitching (that I like so much) extends in two lines from the top of the instrument cluster hood towards the base of the windshield. With the sun reflecting off the dash, it constantly gave me the quick impression that I had a dirt line (like from wipers) on the windshield. That same stitching also doesn't align quite as well as I 'think' it should on the console armrest and front portion of the driver's side door panel (pictures below).
3. From what GM stated pre-production, I expected to be able to easily close the rear hatch. It takes a shove once it catches. While this is not a major annoyance, I think GM could do better. I don't like slamming things to close them.
4. I don't like plastic shift paddles on the steering wheel. C'mon GM, give us a brushed aluminum (or magnesium, like the GT-R) set of paddles. The brushed aluminum can match the rest of the interior accents. I also don't like them attached to the wheel, and would prefer that they are fixed to the column, again, as in the GT-R.
5. The seat venting button should light up blue, the heater red. I believe they both light up red, just on the associated button on the console.
I haven't had a C6, but I've been in a number of them over the years, including spending 3-days in one at Bondurant before switching to the Formula Mazda. IMO, GM made a huge step up with this car. I'm glad I bought one.
Anyway, on to some pictures...
S.
10-06-2013, 11:05 PM
#6
The Consigliere
Member Since: May 2006
Location: 2023 Z06 & 2010 ZR1
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Solid review - and nice pics.
Thanks.
Thanks.
10-06-2013, 11:46 PM
#7
Drifting
WOW! very nice!! Thanks for the great review! 
Great pics of the CRT, best I've seen. I really like the carbon flash mirrors and spoiler, almost makes me wish I had ordered mine like that! The yellow calipers look good with the black wheels, I went with red and chrome wheels.
Great pics of the CRT, best I've seen.
I really like the carbon flash mirrors and spoiler, almost makes me wish I had ordered mine like that! The yellow calipers look good with the black wheels, I went with red and chrome wheels.
10-07-2013, 12:18 AM
#11
Team Owner
Good job but I thought we both agreed on AW.
10-07-2013, 12:49 AM
#12
Safety Car
Member Since: Mar 2009
Location: Northeast MA & Mad Beach FL
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Many Thanks for the write up and Great Pictures
Love the CRT.
Wasn't sure if I wanted to go with the CRT again when my time comes to get a C7.
But seeing your pictures, I'm going to be hard pressed to change to another color
Love the CRT.
Wasn't sure if I wanted to go with the CRT again when my time comes to get a C7.
But seeing your pictures, I'm going to be hard pressed to change to another color
10-07-2013, 01:02 AM
#13
Safety Car
Got to be honest, the car looks really good in your pics. For a while I didn't think that color was looking that good on the C7. But the car looks really great in your pics. The black wheels and trim look good on the car as well.
Thanks for sharing the pics.
Thanks for sharing the pics.
10-07-2013, 03:04 AM
#15
Safety Car
Ugh. My accountant is going to strangle me if I keep reading these great reviews... Doing my best to be responsible, but it's quite difficult at this juncture.
10-07-2013, 03:18 AM
#16
Le Mans Master
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2020 C8 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
That color looks amazing!
Great write up too. Thanks!
Great write up too. Thanks!
10-07-2013, 06:12 AM
#19
Administrator
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C7 of the Year - Modified Finalist 2021
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Beautiful car and a very good review of it. Thanks for taking the time to offer up your thoughts.
