2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51 First Test
Refined Tuning: Sampling the gentrified and fully adjustable C7 Z51
Chevrolet Corvettes have always been adept track stars -- a ZR1 set the pace at our 2009 Best Driver's Car competition, and a Z06/Z07 laid down the quickest lap at that event in 2011. Maintaining a close relationship with a successful racing team assures that. But it's telling that each of those lap-time champions finished sixth in its running, thanks to comments like these: "My knuckles were a lot whiter at the wheel of the ZR1 than they were in the Audi" (racing pro Randy Pobst); "The ZR1 does not elicit relaxed smiles or slow sighs of ecstasy, only pants and palpitations" (editor-in-chief Edward Loh); and -- referencing the Z06/Z07's semi-slick Pilot Sport Cup tires -- "The ultra-gumballs help highlight just how inferior the seats are" (associate road test editor Carlos Lago).
Well, the time has come to see if indeed the 2014 C7 Corvette has put all that right -- to find out if the beast has been tamed, and if so, whether said taming has neutered the lovable aspects of the beastliest C6s. In short, can it still lay down hero numbers -- without soiling the hero's pants?
While three eager editors fidget, knees bouncing, the slides reveal a few new factoids such as the now SAE-certified engine output ratings: 455 hp at 5900 rpm and 460 lb-ft at 4700 rpm for the base engine; 460 hp/465 lb-ft (at the same revs) with the $1195 Dual-Mode Performance Exhaust. This system (RPO NPP) more or less bypasses the rear mufflers with a pair of exhaust butterflies. Juechter also discloses that, when operating as a 3.1-liter V-4, the LT1 produces 126 hp and 221 lb-ft at 3000 rpm—that's 10 times the power needed to maintain 50 mph, and it's sufficient to sustain 90 mph on flat ground. (I checked.)
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