The car culture in America (spanning over 70 years and still going strong) has always been steeped in large machines with incredible amounts of power and none is more famous or iconic than the Chevrolet Corvette. The latest iteration of incredible machine, the 2014 Corvette Stingray (oh yes the name is back!) has been launched at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show and has already grabbed the headlines for being significantly different from its predecessors.
While the car has been redesigned on all sides, it retains the original shape that was first seen on the ‘Vettes that entered production in the late 1980’s. Up front, the Corvette C7 now gets a sleek front fascia which looks like combination of a Ferrari California and the 458 Italia. However, the large air intake feeding the 6.2-litre V8 engine gives the Corvette a character of its own.
It is quite obvious from the various creases and bumps all over that Chevrolet’s engineers have spent a large amount of time in the wind tunnel and on the track to perfect the aerodynamics. The sides are once again similar to previous models with the exception of a secondary window which has been necessitated due to the positioning of air intake above the rear-mounted heat exchanger.
The rear-end is where Chevrolet has really changed the 2014 Corvette. The quad lenses now get a revised design, there is a rear-spoiler, quad exhausts and the entire aerodynamic package has been lifted from the 2012 Corvette C6 race car.
It’s the same story on the inside too where the cabin has now become completely driver oriented and much more modern. The gauges are now fully-digital and characteristic massive steering has been replaced by a much smaller one. In addition to the usual luxuries, there is a fabric and aluminium combination all over with the optional extra of carbon fibre accents.
The 2014 Stingray gets an all new small block LT1 6.2-litre V8 engine which produces 450bhp and 610Nm of torque. This will accelerate the ‘lightened’ Corvette to a ‘faster than anyone can sneeze’ 0-100kmph time of under four seconds. It also promises to return 11.4 kmpl which is impressive considering the numbers the car is made of.
Chevy has said that the 2014 Corvette has undergone a massive weight loss programme via cutting down size of components and use of carbon fibre. However, the car has not lost too much weight due to the installation of various components to comply with safety and emission regulations. Being so big and handling so much power, the Stingray has been fitted with the usual set of racing car features like LSD, dry sump lubrication and ABS.
A completely new Corvette for a new generation of petrol heads, It will go on sale for a yet to be announced price in the third quarter of 2013.
