Chevrolet Corvette as Everyday Driver

The 2020 Chevrolet Corvette is unquestionably a person of the coolest autos in our extensive-term fleet. But owing to COVID disrupting our usual vehicle signout system, I hadn’t driven it a great deal because we acquired it in mid-2020. My fortunes changed before this year when I approached vehicle czar Mike Schmidt with a request: Put me in a automobile that I could remain in for a though. Mike determined the Corvette as a suited prospect outdoors of the occasional video clip look, there was not a potent business need to have from our group.

And that is how I finished up shelling out 4 out of 7 months this calendar year in the extensive-phrase Corvette. Here’s how the Corvette held up as my day-to-day driver, from applying it as an airport shuttle, grocery getter and pregnant-spouse transportation.

Simple to use in most conditions

Backing up a bit — in the fascination of entire disclosure, Mike had also available the Shelby GT500. At 6-foot-4, I in shape in the Shelby a lot more easily, but its pinchy Recaro seats and cumbersome all around-city handling produced it less pleasing in my eyes. I was keen to offer with the Corvette’s tighter interior in trade for the remarkable driving experience.

My takeaway: However the cabin isn’t really spacious, the Corvette’s straightforward maneuverability, pleasurable experience, supportive seats and normally-there electric power built it an excellent companion for everyday duties.

The Corvette’s steering is splendidly direct and quick, with a superior quantity of resistance as you transfer from the heart posture. You never have to wrestle with the wheel to get it to flip, but you are usually knowledgeable of in which it (and hence the tires) are pointing. The steering motion goes a prolonged way in creating the car feel easy to push on a commute — neither darty nor ungainly.

I have not pushed a C8 Corvette with out the adaptive suspension, but I suspect it can be value the more expend. We ticked the box for the magnetorheological dampers when we specced our extensive-termer, and I can say without the need of a question that this is just one of the finest-using athletics autos on sale currently. The Corvette glides in excess of cracks in the highway that would make a jittery experience in other substantial-efficiency coupes. It truly is similarly composed at higher speeds when you could possibly strike a bump or enlargement joint on the freeway.

The seats are another superior stage. Even however we opted for the midrange GT2 buckets — sportier than the previously readily available conventional thrones but much less hardcore than the Competitors Activity seats — I uncovered them rather comfortable. They are remarkably adjustable and, even with currently being a far more aggressive option, effectively suited for most journeys. Score however a further acquire for the Corvette’s day-to-day usability.

At last, there’s the totally great 6.2-liter V8 just powering your head. Even when you are reduced in the powerband, you can truly feel the gobs of torque at your disposal if you give the throttle the most momentary of blips. Variety of like the Porsche 911, the Corvette has an accelerator pedal with some resistance baked into its bodily motion. The minor more effort and hard work necessary usually means that the drivers are mindful of the ask for for ability that they’re building. You are not likely to accidentally push the pedal and rocket ahead, in other words and phrases. It is really all incredibly purposeful. And the V8 has no difficulty speedily ramping up the miles per hour. The Corvette feels so speedy, it really is almost really hard to feel that this will finally be the base motor in a lineup complete of even spicier powertrains. 

The things that would not work

Even nevertheless the Corvette is rather useful by sports car or truck specifications, it is really however a mid-motor coupe. The cabin is on the smaller facet, and supplied my body’s foolish proportions, I have to make some sacrifices in get to in good shape. This suggests picking between scooching nearer to the wheel so my head just isn’t butting up in opposition to the roof, or transferring the seat back again and propping my head versus the roof’s metallic crossbar. I typically decide for considerably less legroom/much more headroom.

My spouse and I also discovered out that a expecting woman can comfortably get in and out of the passenger seat until eventually about midway as a result of the fifth month. Scrunching to attain the doorway manage right after you get in is a tiny tough but can be mitigated by the existence of a handy lover on the outside the house. Previous this stage, although, acquiring in and out of the low-slung Corvette gets to be as well a great deal of a stress. As soon as the kid’s property, the Corvette goes into the garage. You could possibly as very well get applied to it now.

Last but not least, storage options for larger things are restricted. I experienced to pack hefty for a new excursion, which meant breaking out a big suitcase. I am a poor planner and failed to consider to try inserting the suitcase into the vehicle ahead of I packed it. On the early morning of my flight, I realized the situation wouldn’t in shape in the Corvette’s passenger seat. I ended up swapping into my wife’s compact SUV as airport transportation. Yet another excursion a few weeks afterwards unveiled that even a regular-sized carry-on could not be stowed in the rear trunk. I could technically location it in, but the hatch wouldn’t shut. Into the passenger seat it went — comfortable, but doable.

Edmunds says

Aside from a handful of cargo and personal space issues, utilizing the Chevrolet Corvette as a daily driver is no dilemma. That is very incredible provided its performance abilities.