From Chevrolet:
A regular C8 Corvette will get you to Publix with 495 horsepower. A Z06 Corvette has 670 horsepower and, thus, about the same power-to-weight ratio as an IMSA GTD Pro race car. What is the use case for the ZR1X in a country that has 342 million people (Census; perhaps 350-360 million if we believe Yale) trying to use roads designed for a nation of 150 million?
The heaviest Ferrari 308 was 255 hp and only a little lighter than the 495 hp Corvette. Nobody said that was an underpowered sports car. What balance of engineering considerations resulted in a 4,000 lb. car having more horsepower than a 10,500 lb. Pilatus PC-12 11-seat aircraft?
Also, in a country where the average IQ falls every year who is going to service this complicated machine? It’s awesome to own what will no doubt be a collector’s item, but will anyone have the skills to fix it 20 or 30 years from now?
Here’s a Facebook post about a 30-day repair to find an electrical problem in a Corvette with the base engine supplemented by an electric motor:
This is an aviation level of maintenance hassle for an in-production car where everyone at the dealer and everyone at GM should have fresh knowledge of how the E-Ray is supposed to work.
I guess I have to admit being in awe of the engineers who built a machine with this much horsepower that can also be sold with a 5-year powertrain warranty and the offer of an extended warranty!
Amazing how cheap corvettes now seem compared to the daily driver $100,000 Teslas clogging Greenspun country. Still just a dream for lions who run 2500 miles/year & drive 1000 miles/year.
Two use cases seem to be exclusivity and speed at the track (?drag strip or illegal street drag racing?)
Also they could make a Faster and Furiouser movie.
You might as well have asked a question like: “Who really needs an A19 Pro chip, a 48MP telephoto lens, and all the other features of the iPhone 17?”
Personally, I don’t, and I hope most folks don’t either. I’m perfectly fine using my used S20. Anyone rushing to buy the iPhone 17 is likely doing so either because: a) they have money to burn, or b) they want to stay on trend. Same applies to the Corvette.
George: the iPhone N+1 should be better in every way than the iPhone N. I’m not sure that is true when power is added to a sports car that already has sufficient power. The extra power comes at the cost of higher weight, which takes away from the nimble handling. Maybe you could argue that the C8 Corvette is already a bit too heavy to be considered a “sports car” and the ZR1X version doesn’t even try (i.e., it is a “supercar” whatever that means).
No one needs it but the appeal is primal. As a younger man once wrote, “A driver of ordinary skill can spend five minutes reading the owner’s manual and then zoom off into the sunset. Compare that to the last desktop computer application that you tried to learn.”
That young man sounds exceptionally wise 🙂
> No one needs it but the appeal is primal
Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson famously explained the appeal of fast cars. Young men want them because they think it will attract women, but they mostly attract other young men. What attributes of cars do women find attractive? #1 reliable (won’t break and leave them stranded), #2 practical (has room for their purse in front, and shopping haul in rear).
1/4 mile in less than 9.0 seconds? The old NHRA drag racing rules required roll-bar for cars running less than 11.49 seconds, and full roll-cage for less than 9.99. Here’s hoping nobody ever crashes one on the dragstrip, because its likely not survivable at 150 mph w/o a cage.
The Z06 is already too fast for those rules! It runs the quarter mile in 10.5 seconds and 131 mph, according to https://www.caranddriver.com/chevrolet/corvette-z06 (though maybe the default roll protection is quite good?)
Corvette? Oh my, let me enlighten the heathens: when you get the dough you get a Lamborghini or a Ferrari. That is it. Lamborghini. Ferrari. Have some self respect folks, do not fall for InstaCheap!
Before anyone asks, I am a Toyota HiLux (the old mostly mechanical ones) man. It never breaks. It never stops. And I live in the Frozen North.
I do! But I don’t like the fact that it can be a hassle to maintain. The reason I like Subaru WRX compared to BMW 3 series is that it’s cheaper to maintain and doesn’t need much repairs on an average.
What’s a car that is around the same 100k but is not super expensive to maintain? Also don’t they build new roads in the States as the population increases?