Welcome to Quick Shifts! Quick Shifts is a content feature here at CorvetteBlogger featuring links to Corvette and automotive-related stories of interest. Join us this week as we explore Automobile’s 2020 All-Star list, take a C8 engineering deep-dive with Don Sherman, watch a C6 Z06 run the half-mile, explore auto-industry news, and go back in time to revisit C4 and C5 first drives.
FIRST GEAR:
Another week, another award for the 2020 Corvette. Automobile named the all-new Stingray to its annual All-Stars list. At this point, this was expected, but the review posted along with the accolade is one of the best ones yet. Thankfully, it puts to rest some of the negatives that keep popping up elsewhere. It starts off with this statement that makes us very happy, “It’s weird to say, but immediately after my first test drive in the new mid-engine, eighth-generation 2020 Chevrolet C8 Corvette, I was angry. Angry not because the car didn’t do what it should, but precisely because it did everything I asked of it, and did it beautifully—and I’d been led to believe it was a hot, understeering mess by the reviews I’d read elsewhere. How could they all have been so wildly off base?”
The Ferrari F8 Tributo was also named an All-Star along with two ends of the automotive spectrum; the Bentley Continental GT and Kia Telluride SX. The list of the best cars of the year continues with the new Shelby GT500, Mazda3 and Toyota Supra. The also all-new 992 generation Porsche 911 rounds out the list of winners.
Read the full list with links to each car’s review on Automobilemag.com or jump straight to the C8’s section by clicking here.
SECOND GEAR:
Don Sherman is back on this page again! His most recent C8 piece comes from sae.org, of all places. In it, he does another in-depth look at the engineering behind the new mid-engine architecture, featuring insight from real, life GM engineers. Give it a look if you are curious about how your new baby works or if you are just interested in the whole process of getting such an ambitious project from concept form to production-ready.
Brace yourself, you’ll learn if you click here.
THIRD GEAR:
At the end of last month, we shared a video of a 2019 ZR1 hitting 191 MPH in the standing mile. Road & Track shared a bit of a sequel this week that features a more mature cast. This video shows an early C6 Z06 hitting 150 in the half-mile. You shouldn’t need any excuse to want to listen to the glorious sounds made by the biggest production small-block in history, but Brian Silvestro’s buying advice on the page may open a few eyes to the great deal that the first super C6 has become.
Life starts at 7,000 RPM for this one!
FOURTH GEAR:
Hot Rod has a great look back at the time that Zora’s own experimental ’55 Corvette ended up getting listed on the cheap in their classifieds in 1965. Further adieu isn’t necessary for the entertaining read of the week!
See for yourself on HotRod.com.
FIFTH GEAR:
The 2020 Corvette Stingray has been reviewed by all the big players on the web including cars.com and now the automotive website is back with a new article that details seven of the features they like about the car, as well as a few things they don’t.
Check out the listacle at cars.com
SIXTH GEAR:
Sixth gear will take us around the rest of the industry, starting with GM’s premium brand, Cadillac who now has a way for you to get C8 GT2 seats and an honest to goodness manual transmission! We trusted MotorTrend’s Jonny Lieberman when he said the manual was returning to the CTS-V’s successor but this week The Drive scored some conclusive photos that back up Jonny’s top-of-the-line CT5 theory. Everyone is expecting a tuned LT4 to make an encore appearance here but until it is official, we will be holding out hope for the LT5 to find a more family-friendly home. No matter which supercharged 6.2 powers it, this car is going to be an animal. The post speculated that the CT5-V super sedan might bow at the New York International Auto Show in early April but NYIAS has since been rescheduled for August 2020 in an attempt to quell the potential spread of the coronavirus. Maybe we will get some kind of online reveal like we did last week when the corona-canceled Geneva Motor Show was supposed to take place?
Speaking of COVID-19 and its far-reaching effects, Road&Track has compiled a list of all upcoming automotive events that have been delayed or canceled due to the virus. The C8.R has been directly affected as IMSA postponed Sebring until November 11th while the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach has been canceled.
Ram is officially launching an F150 Raptor competitor that should leave the Eco-Boosted Ford in a cloud of desert sand. Reports are coming in that this off-road-ready Ram, dubbed the TRX (as in T-Rex) will receive Hellcat power turned up to full potency. The original concept from 2016 was detuned to 575. We can only hope that GM has something up their collective sleeve that can-do battle with the two dinosaur-themed trucks. There is a lot riding on Chevrolet and GMC’s response to this one. Last year marked the first time that the Silverado had fallen to third place in sales behind Ram trucks and their response here could mean the difference between falling further behind and building enough buzz to take back their perennial spot on the sales charts.
REVERSE:
Last week, we had a great time reminiscing about this point in the C6 and C7’s life cycle, when it was all aboard the hype-train! We decided to keep this Reverse series going with a look at the early days of the C4 and C5 generation Corvettes.
First drive reviews were much shorter in 1997 so we are giving you a double dose of C5. See what a revelation the C5 was in original and period-correct words from Car and Driver and MotorTrend. If you are still unsatisfied, we have a special treat to cheer you up! Click here to watch a C5 “Retro Review” from MotorWeek, circa 1997!
Man, that was a good time. Here is some more John Davis action, courtesy of Autoblog and Car and Driver’s take on the revolutionary ’84 Corvette from their March ’83 issue.
Join us next week where we see if we can continue this “Reverse” series with first drives from Corvette generations 1-3. Stay healthy out there, Corvette nation!
Previous Quick Shifts:
Base C8 Review, End of the Pushrod V8, C8 Compared to C7 ZR1, 7 Things, GM Goes Electric and More!
2020 Makes C&D Editor’s List, C8 Reviews and Gripes, Mid-Engine History, 10 Things, and RIP Impala
Top Gear Review, Best Holdens, Don Sherman’s C8 Chassis Analysis, Millennial Buyers, Corvette Trivia, and More!
-
I found it amusing to read Car & Driver’s review of the 1984 C4…and they were excited about the 1/4 mile time of 15.2 seconds My first Corvette was a 1957 dual-quad 270 HP, 4-speed, which I bought in 1960. In
1962, I started taking it out to the local drag strip, and I usually ran through the clocks at 100 to 102 MPH with a 13:90 to 14:00 ET. So, to me, the 1984 was not a fast car. However it was the come back from the dead for the Corvette, and the last of the C4’s were pretty quick cars for their time, and made up for those sad years for Corvette with the C3 from the mid 70’s through 1982 On another subject, I see you guys tried to run another Hot Rod magazine article with text, but video..just blurry screen shots (sigh)
Comments are closed.