[VIDEO] CorvetteBlogger.com’s 2010 Corvette Grand Sport Review

We took our borrowed 2010 Chevy Corvette Grand Sport convertible through three different counties in the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday and the drive left a huge impression on me. The folks on the Corvette Team will tell you that once you drive a new Corvette, you’ll be hooked and man am I hooked! This Grand Sport Convertible is a blast to drive, but believe me, we’re just getting started. Our “First Drive” review is after the jump.

Our drive started in Tampa and we drove across the bridge to St. Petersburg and then crossed the Sunshine Skyway bridge over to the Bradenton area south of Tampa Bay. There’s a cool little back road that I like to frequent in my 1966 Corvette that winds through some of old Florida marsh area that borders the bay.

The 2010 Corvette Grand Sport is effortless to drive. At first I found the seating position a little un-natural compared to my daily driver SUV or even my 1966 Corvette. You actually feel like you’re reclining backwards, but once behind the wheel it becomes very comfortable and you almost feel like your part of the car.

Our Corvette Grand Sport comes equipped with the 6-speed paddle shift automatic and for around-town driving, its very easy to drive. As for performance, from a dead stop, we floored the accelerator. There was barely a hint of wheel-spin before those huge rear tires hooked up and we rocketed to 100 mph in seconds. The transmission shifted smoothly through the power band and it felt like the car could just keep going.

As the Grand Sport features the Z06’s 6-piston 14″ brakes on the front and 13.4″ 4-piston brakes on the rear, stopping wasn’t an issue at all. Cruising at 75 mph, we braked hard and brought the Corvette to stop, again in seconds. So you can get out of trouble just as quickly as the 6.2 liter 436 horsepower and a heavy right foot can get you into trouble.

With a 4LT interior, the convertible Grand Sport is very comfortable. The heads up display quickly moves from novelty to becoming an important part of the driving experience. The NAV is easy to use and I love the XM stations. (Lithium being one of my favorite channels!) The Dark Titanium leather wrapped interior looks great with the regular stitching and with just 3500 miles on the car, still smells new! The power top is essential for Convertible owners and its one of the cars easiest features to use.

You’ll hear me say it often in the video, the Grand Sport offered that great widebody look of the Z06 as well as an increase in performance over the standard Coupe or Convertible. It’s easy to see why 50% of coupe/convertibles produced this year so far are Grand Sports. I’d like to say hats off to the Corvette Team for delivering a fantastic driving experience. Too bad the Corvette comes equipped with OnStar and remote vehicle shutoff. Otherwise, I would seriously consider blowing off Tuesday’s pickup date and extending this moment of nirvana for as long as possible.

Related:
In the CorvetteBlogger.com Garage: A 2010 Corvette Grand Sport Convertible
[VIDEO] Introduction and Reveal of the 2010 Corvette Grand Sport