Atari_Prime

I went down to a local dealership today which had the C8 in their show room. There were about three traveling GM personnel available to answer questions. One of them in particular was very knowledgeable about the car. In total, there were probably 25 or 30 people at the dealership there to see the car but earlier in the day apparently they had a lot more. This particular dealership is also already sold out of their allocations. Most of the audience was of ‘a premium vintage’ and currently own a C7. The dealership also had a lot of new C7s for sale if interested.

They had one car. The Elkhart Lake Blue is actually pretty nice. The car was paired with the light grayish white interior. The interior is stunning. People who were worried about the console bar in the middle impeding the passenger, shouldn’t be. It is only about an inch high at the cupholder area. Headroom inside the car could be a problem for some. I am 6’1” and about 270 lbs. I didn’t have any trouble fitting in the car but I do not believe that with the roof on I would have a lot of headroom. In between the passenger and driver there is a speaker that I hadn’t really noticed in many pictures. It is very cool looking. Also, the glass between the driver and the engine is kind of awesome. You can look back over your shoulder and see the engine while driving.

Some have commented that the car looks big, it’s not. If anything it seems fairly short. Many comments have been made about the doorhandle and bumping other cars, those worries are unfounded. As you’ll see in the picture above the handle area curves straight down at the edge (no point) and is pretty much flush with the bottom of the door. So if you are hitting the car next to you with the top of the door, you’re hitting it with the bottom of the door as well.

The car was fitted with the GT2 seats. If you are heavier set I would recommend this seat as it seems to be the nicest of the three options and seems to have plenty of space. I do not recommend the competition seats for those with wider posteriors or bellies. The competition seat is very narrow. Also you should be aware that the competition seat is a combination of leather and what appears to be some kind of nylon in the middle. It’s not normal cloth.

The windshield is very far away and you kind of look out through a fairly narrow gap. The layout is very reminiscent of a Huracan. Overall, the interior seemed very high-quality. Not Porsche or BMW type quality but a few steps above your average GM product.

Based on the paint samples black and blade silver seem to really pop. The yellow does seem to have a hint of green to it. Most surprising was the orange, as the orange seems more brown than orange. I don’t think that is going to be a good color. Ceramic Matrix Gray seems kinda like a dirty white, not sure that color is going to work either. The trident wheel looks better in person but so does everything. In all honesty the car looks fantastic.

DJackman

I see u were at Connell Chevy today

wvanepps

Thanks for the great pics. Still undecided on the looks myself but your pictures do it justice. Trying to determine if it actually looks good or if it is just the new shiny thing now effect. When I first saw the C7 it made me want to go out and buy one right now. I am not getting that from the C8 but I may change my mind when I see it in real life. Also I am a huge fan of the Ceramic Matrix Grey. That would be the color I would get a C8 Z06 in.

jabingb

I'm from Wisconsin, I feel I should choose Elkhart Lake Blue w/ natural interior, fortunately it's not offered in Packer Green and Yellow.

Rockstar08

Atari Prime your first pic is hilarious as that’s me and my wife who happened to be there today also! Lol.. we drove down from Burbank to check it out and we just got home and this is the very first thread I opened...hilarious!!

I was going to post my pics and observations also but your pics are better since you have that handsome bald guy in the first pic anyway..lol.. So I will agree with most everything you said, the one thing that I was concerned with also was the new center stack and how high up it would be and how easy the passenger can reach when needed. I found it very easy to put your fingers on whatever button you may need it will just take some time to learn where everything is and after that I bet you will be able to adjust anything you want without even looking.

My next observation is the size of the car I also did not think the car was too big either, all the proportions work well together and yes the Elkhart Blue is absolutely a stunning color and most like the color we will order also! We were deciding between this blue and Torch red but wow this metallic blue is just a gorgeous paint color. I showed my wife several of the C7 red cars that were outside and while it’s nice and on a different car she too liked the metallic blue better then just flat red paint. One other thing that I wanted to see in person is the Carbon flash side blade. I really didn’t care for the contrast in the pictures and after seeing it in person I definitely don’t care to have the side blade black, we will be getting this painted body color just looks better to me.

Next, the rear window is bigger than I thought it would be, visibility is really good and yes you can see the awesome engine sitting back there very easily! I thought the interior was exceptionally well laid out and the materials used definitely much more upscale then anything previous. I loved how the new steering wheel looks and feels and the paddle shifters are well placed and feel perfect to the touch. Now neither my wife and I liked the light gray interior just seemed okay to us. My wife really loves the natural or two tone look. So we will either get that or the two toned black and red interior.

The wheels were really nice and the ones on the car looked really good also in the graphite color but I think my wife and I both like the open spoke Carbon flash wheels, they just look more exotic to me personally. A simple design that works really well. Lastly the only thing I would like to see in person is the high wing. I like the looks of both the Z51 wing but also the high wing just give the car more of a race car exotic look to me.

Overall I would say if you didn’t know this was made by Chevy and the new Corvette you would absolutely believe it was some new mid engine exotic from another country with a much higher price tag! They are going to sell a ton of these cars for sure and to me when you see them together it instantly dates the C7. Sorry guys just my opinion but the new C8 just looks and feels more then just a one generation step up from the C7, it feels more like 2 or 3 leaps ahead!

Jer_c8

Where is Canadas show wtf?

Michael A

You have to see it in real life. When you see the lines of the car in the flesh, and that big, beautiful V8 sitting under the glass, you'll be changing your mind real quick.

Atari_Prime

I forgot to mention a couple things. There was credible information at the event that there is a twin turbo coming in the future with 900+ hp.

Also, there aren't any yellow cars on the road at present, but that we should be seeing them soon.

This last bit is a somewhat troublesome but expected. Start/Stop tech. The car will have it. No surprise there. But the question is, will you be able to disable it. On short drives, yes. On longer drives, unknown, apparently they are still sorting that out. Many manufacturers are adding options to allow you to disable start/stop not only temporarily but permanently (even after you turn off the car) so that the next time you get in, it is still turned off. GM is trying to sort out what they want to do here. One option on the table is for GM to not allow you to disable it permanently and make it easy to map disable of start/stop to the Z button on the steering wheel. This would mean you get in, you tap the Z button with your thumb and it is disabled. I don't like that, but if they are going to force you to use it, that may be the easiest way to deal with it.

jefnvk

Agreed, it is much less obtrusive in real life than it appears in media.

Aren't their alternate/historic jerseys a navy color?

Yep, if it is defeatable it can only be marginally used in fuel mileage calculations, somewhat defeating the point of having it. My guess would be that in performance modes it is off, in normal driving it is on with a button.

That said, modern start/stop is very seamless. Some of the early systems were bad, but if I've got the HVAC and radio on, I don't even notice it shutting off in many of the cars I'm in on a daily basis.

gthal

There are 3 US dealers that, together, sell as many Corvettes as all of Canada

FN in MT

Great insights. Thanks for posting the info.

These reports are all so subjective. One poster is 6-5 and 300 and feels he FITS just fine. Another is much smaller and has issues. I think each of us who are larger need to actually sit in one to decide for ourselves if this car works for us or not.

One person raves on the outward view, another feels it's smaller than it could be.


(This isn't a rant on this post, just an observation)

justplainjim

The "Z" button would work for me.
Has anyone seen the car is white? Thoughts..

Atari_Prime

I have a Volvo XC90. It is supposed to have one of the better start/stop systems. That said, I haven't compared it to a lot of others. If driving like a granny, it is just fine. But there are three scenarios where it is troublesome for me. 1) When it activates, my AC fan speed slows down. On hot days (or cold days) this can be very annoying. 2) If at an intersection where I need to pull out into traffic quickly or I will miss my window, it simply is not quick enough. Between the time I let off the brake and step on the gas, it is still trying to start the car and put it in gear. It costs me as much as 1-2 seconds and that can mean a lot. 3) Occassionally when pulling up to a stop sign or intersection you touch the brake and the system activates but the traffic situation changes quickly and you find yourself in a moment where the system is still shutting down and then has to start back up. This is the worst as it can result in you flooring the car and it doing absolutely nothing for as much as 3-4 seconds. In LA traffic, that is an eternity. As a bonus, parking...good god it is annoying when parking. If you pull into a space and decide you need to inch forward, the system has already shut down now it wants you to hit the gas to start it back up just so you can inch forward, but you just want the engine to pull you forward. Wherever you stop the first time is essentially where you have to stay. The car may start and stop five times while you are trying to get just the right positioning in the space.

Kent1999

Saw that... He had headroom, but "fits" is an odd term to use when it certainly LOOKED like his leg/knee was simultaneously touching the dash, console AND steering wheel. Gotta be difficult to fit in ANY sports car at 6-5 and 3 bills!

ZO6 cracker

GM needs to remove that option. My wife and I hated in her Acura. Come to a stop and car shuts off. Not very safe.

z28lt1

I don't know who said whatever you have is "supposed to have one of the better" but if it acts the way you described, I can assure you it is not.

We have it one of our vehicles (German) and it does none of that and is not intrusive at all. One easy button to shut it off, but I never do because it works just about flawlessly. I've had a few rental cars of different brands that aren't quite as good but are generally "acceptable".

All I can say is f t the C8 has it, it will probably be "on" by default on the Corvette, otherwise there is no reason to have it. If it is not on by default, it doesn't count for the the EPA cycle, and if you aren't doing it for the EPA cycle, why would you put it in a Corvette? Easily switch off-able seems to make the most sense.

Atari_Prime

I dunno. I've driven a few BMWs and Porsches with the system, and I can't say they are any better. For casual driving it works ok. Maybe I am just overly senstive and want complete control of the car. In any event, for spirited driving, none of the systems I have seen are sufficient. There is no way to avoid a slight delay between the time you let off the brake and when the car starts up. Your foot will always be faster.

RapidC84B

Ceramic Matrix Grey and Sebring Orange are existing colors... they will look like they look on C7s. Same as most of the other colors. The only new colors are Accelerate Yellow, Rapid Blue, and Zeus Bronze.

RapidC84B

I would be very annoyed if I had to disable start/stop each drive cycle. Hopefully "my mode" and the Z button allows it to be off all the time.

ZO6 cracker

Maybe more will chime in about other cars. It annoying every time you start the car you need to disable it.