Corvette (C7) 2014 Corvette Stingray Convertible Confirmed For Geneva

[HighestOfHigh]

In the words of Susan Docherty, president and managing director of Chevrolet and Cadillac Europe, “Corvette is the face of Chevrolet the world over.” It’s fitting, then, that the brand will debut the 2014 Corvette Stingray convertible on March 5, at Switzerland's Geneva Motor Show.

Docherty calls the Corvette “an icon that has long been recognized and admired even in countries where it’s never officially been offered,” and Chevrolet is quick to point out that 58-percent of those who “Like” the Corvette’s Facebook page live outside of the United States.

The brand promises that the Corvette Stingray convertible will offer up the same mix of technology, design and performance seen in the Corvette Stingray coupe introduced in Detroit last month. As Corvette’s chief engineer, Tadge Juechter, explains, “Every Corvette is designed at the outset as an open car. The new Stingray is no different...”

The very first production 2014 Corvette Stingray convertible will be auctioned off by Barrett-Jackson in April, with the proceeds going to support the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute.

Since the first production Corvette Stingray coupe sold for $1.05 million at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction in January, we’d expect to see a comparable price for the open-air version.

If you want to park the first 2014 Corvette Stingray convertible in you own garage, head on over to the Barrett-Jackson website and register to bid at the firm’s Palm Beach, Florida, auction, scheduled to take place from April 4-6.

- http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1082196_2014-corvette-stingray-convertible-confirmed-for-geneva

 

[Human]

Here it is Sayyaaf! Sand, wind and sun in the keffiyeh / hair

 

[martinbo]

Oh just shut up Corvette Stingray. You're not my friend.

 

[picsoubmw]

 

[Pedro Alexandre]

Official photos:

 

[Merc1]

Looks good.

M

 

[Pedro Alexandre]

Source: Autocar.co.uk

 

[Merc1]

New 911 GT3, F-Type, Corvette ragtop, and they said sports cars were going to die with SUVs.

M

 

[martinbo]

Maaan, who would've ever thought that I'd be charmed to death by a 'Vette. I could even do the cloth-top version. Damn you, Corvette. Damn you.

 

[Guibo]

Gallery from edmunds.

http://www.edmunds.com/car-pictures/2014-chevrolet-corvette-stingray-convertible-pictures.html

 

[Sunny]

First time I am liking the inside of a Vette. Nice indeed.

 

[Merc1]

And it looks like it is quality, finally.

M

 

[Guibo]

Pics from the New York Auto Show. Exterior color is Night Race Blue. Interior color called Brownstone. Looks almost like oiled, distressed leather in some of the pics, even though its not. (That might actually be a good look on some cars.)

 

[hoffmeister_fan]

I am not feeling those wheels, but I am definitely feeling that deep yet lusterous blue.

 

[martinbo]

Just sits and cries in a corner; the perennial Corvette lover like a jilted stalker with a 5 mile restraining order.

For the love of car lovers in Oz and SA - bring this motherf&cker out in RHD!

That deep blue, rich brown colour combo is just epic by the way.

 

[Human]

John Ross Ewing Jr. has a new car! I like it, not sold on the interior, switchgear++HVAC controls looks Korean. But as they say if the price is right...

 

[JHF]

2015 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible Eight-Speed Automatic
We'd say something witty here, but those chrome wheels have us distracted.

No sports car should have chrome wheels. The 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray convertible you see here does. It also has an automatic transmission, GM’s newin-house designed and -built eight-speed unit, which replaces last year’s six-cog piece carried over from the C6 Corvette. The new transmission has two things going for it: First, it has more speeds in an era where more is more, and second, ordering it doesn’t require those shiny rollers.

We already drove a gaggle of Corvettes equipped with the new eight-speed, dubbed 8L90, and came away impressed. Well, we were mostly impressed; the cheap-feeling plastic steering-wheel shift paddles threaten to drag down the experience. The shift lever doesn’t offer a manual-shift gate, so choosing your own gears requires use of these flimsy actuators. Chevy needs to upgrade the pieces yesterday, lest people dismiss the new eight-speed outright on its regrettable visual and tactile deficiencies.

Fortunately, everything else about the $1725 transmission is better executed. We recorded the same 3.7-second 0-to-60-mph time in this convertible as we did in a 2014 model with the six-speed automatic; by 80 mph, the newer Vette begins to pull away, and by 150 mph, it edges out a 0.7-second lead thanks at least partly to quicker shift times. The transmission’s logic and broad ratio spread elevate the self-shifting Corvette experience toward Porsche PDK dual-clutch-automatic levels of satisfaction. Weather, Eco, Tour (default), Sport, and Track modes offer drivers a spectrum of behaviors. In Track, the 460-hp V-8’s lightning-quick throttle response and the electrically boosted steering’s heightened alertness blend wonderfully with the transmission’s rev-matched downshifts and redline upshifts. Clear the red mist by switching to Tour or Eco, and the 8L90 works with a preponderance of civility.

The EPA says that while the 2015 Vette with the eight-speed nets the same 16-mpg rating in the city cycle as the 2014 model, the highway number rises by 1 mpg to 29. This test car’s participation in our brutal 10Best testing stifled fuel economy to a dismal 12 mpg, but we’re confident that with normal use, it could better the 18 mpg we recorded with the old transmission.

Transmission aside, the quintessential Corvette experience remains the same. We’d banish our test car’s Floridian retiree–grade interior and exterior color combo to the same purgatory Chevy sent the old automatic. The Laguna Blue paint isn’t bad, but the gray top is, and the slate-gray leathers and plastics manage to cheapen the look of the latest Stingray’s massively improved interior. It undermines the appeal of our test car’s $9450 3LT package with its attendant power seats with memory, navigation, sueded upper-cabin trim, leather-wrapped dash and door panels, heated and ventilated seats, a head-up display, and Chevy’s cool Performance Data Recorder. Our 8L90 muse also came with the $5000 high-performance Z51 package (performance brakes and suspension, dry-sump engine lubrication, 19-inch front and 20-inch rear tires, an electronic limited-slip differential, and differential and transmission coolers),which now includes the Vette’s available sports exhaust.

Toss in a $995 interior carbon-fiber dress-up package and the chrome-finished wheels ($1995), as well as necessary options such as the $2495 Competition seats (if you can fit in them), the $1795 Magnetic Ride Control adaptive suspension dampers, the $995 blue paint, and the $1725 automatic trans, and our Stingray’s sticker came to $84,840. That loaded price (bizarre color choices and all) still adds up to $16,435 less than what Porsche charges for a base 2015 911 Carrera cabriolet with the PDK dual-clutch automatic and zero options. The new 8L90 might not equal Porsche’s stellar PDK, but it lives up to the rest of the Corvette’s excellence in a way the old six-speed didn’t.

NOTE: The pricing information in this story has been updated because the original Monroney we were provided showed an option that wasn't actually on our early-build test car.


PECIFICATIONS
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door convertible

PRICE AS TESTED: $84,840 (base price: $61,720)

ENGINE TYPE: pushrod 16-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 376 cu in, 6162 cc
Power: 460 hp @ 6000 rpm
Torque: 465 lb-ft @ 4600 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 106.7 in
Length: 176.9 in
Width: 73.9 in Height: 48.6 in
Curb weight: 3506 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 3.7 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 8.3 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 14.5 sec
Zero to 150 mph: 21.5 sec
Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 3.9 sec
Top gear, 30-50 mph: 2.2 sec
Top gear, 50-70 mph: 2.5 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 12.0 sec @ 119 mph
Top speed (drag limited): 181 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 136 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 1.04 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway: 16/29 mpg
C/D observed: 12 mpg

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2015-chevrolet-corvette-convertible-8-speed-automatic-review

 

[Merc1]

Truly the only car I would consider from GM right now.

M

 

[ThroughandThrough]

I would never buy another GM product.

Every Corvette, Escalade, and Denali we've owned have been lemons**...we purchased them new from the dealership and did no after-market customizations.

We are through with GM.

**With the exception of the 1975 Stingray that my dad bought new in High School...wish he kept it.