The 2014 Corvette is not only a sportscar, it is an affordable fuel sipping muscle car. GM and Chevrolet are setting the stage of a new future for the Corvette that will intrigue you.
I spoke with James Bell, Chevrolet’s Head of Consumer Affairs about the new Corvette Stingray 2014. I was surprised to see how well the new 2014 Corvette is received by the general public and the media. What took me by surprise is that the 2014 Corvette is not only a supercar but also a fuel sipping one. It goes even further, GM has even greater plans for this car that will surprise you in many ways. My question still remains. Can both of these terms, super car and fuel efficiency coexist? GM and Chevrolet certainly hope to convince you of it, and so far, I have to say they are on the right track. As am electric car aficionado, I wonder why wouldn’t a muscle car use an electric motor?
The First Steps Corvette Takes Into the Future. Wouldn’t it be great to have a high performance car that gets great miles per gallon? You can spend $100,000 on a Tesla Model S, or the new upcoming Mercedes and Porsche plug-in hybrids (PHEV), but what if you still love iconic American muscle cars? Chevrolet is working on bringing you the best of both worlds, a gasoline frugal, high performance car, with its 2014 Corvette.
Corvette Economics. Starting at $52,000, the new Corvette is an eye catching affordable powerful car, about half as much as most entry level performance cars. Its $56,000 convertible version certainly puts it a hand reach of more people than most exotics. If buyers stayed away from the high performance market out of fuel price hike fears, the 2014 Stingray Corvette should relieve that fear. The 2014 Corvette boasts an average of 30 MPG average, 29 on highway, and 17 in town.
Looks, Shape and Feel. Can we add anything to the new design? My first impression was that of a beautiful new Italian car. To my surprise, I saw the Corvette logo on it. Before we can get our hands on the wheels of the new Stingray 2014 Corvette this summer, we can say the interior has been greatly refined compared to the C6. As you can judge from the pictures, Chevrolet has done an excellent job in that department. The instrument cluster looks good and has good ergonomics.
Technically Speaking. As far as under the hood, 455 to 460 HP, the latter with the performance exhaust, is enough to satisfy most people. A 7 speed active rev matching gear box or an 8 speed paddle shifter should make this car as nice to drive as it looks. For most people, fuel efficiency means compromises, something no high performance car lover wants to see. GM engineers worked hard on making the chassis as lightweight as possible. With the use of stronger materials, such as carbon fiber, high strength steel, and plastics, the improved aerodynamics help the 2014 Stingray Corvette shave off a few pounds with a great fuel mileage. The use of high strength adhesives allowed mating magnesium with aluminum on the chassis.
Besides this, it will do a 0-60 in under 4 seconds and a good weight balance with its rear transaxle. Obviously a sports car these days isn’t one without direct injection matched with a 11.5:1 compression ratio for increased torque and power, as we as variable valve timing combined with GM’s Active Fuel Management system.
Competition? Any car on the market has competition and for the new 2014 Stingray Corvette the target is the Porsche 911 and the new Acura NSX PHEV. It will match their performance, while offering great MPG for that clientele.
Will Future Corvettes Have Electric Motors? Don’t choke but that is the question burning in my mind. Will Corvettes ever have an electric motor, either as high-performance hybrids, plug-in hybrids or pure electric drive? We can’t say yes officially, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say it will in the future. Considering where the industry is heading, a Corvette assisted by an electric motor would help performance while taming fuel consumption. With GM’s experience with the electric drivetrain, its Voltec powering the Volt and the new Cadillac ELR, and the Spark EV, this technology could easily trickle down to a Corvette.
This makes the 2014 the first fuel efficient Corvette that heralds a brand new future. As far as the 1963 Stingray name returning, James assured me the motivation was to have a car reminiscent of the the 1974 Corvettes with no compromise and great technology under the hood. This car is worthy of that name and Chevrolet is again over delivering at a fair price.
[slideshow id=131]
