2020 Chevrolet Corvette Is More Than the Best Corvette Ever (2024)

High expectations are a bitch. Whether you're anticipating Adele's next album, Ron Howard's next movie, or Christian Yelich's next at-bat, it's only human to feel a little deflated if it doesn't turn out just the way you'd dreamed it would. And, so, the deflation potential is high with the new mid-engined 2020 Chevrolet Corvette.

From the moment that rumors surfaced that the engine in the next C8-generation Corvette might move behind the seats, the presumption that the car would be a breakthrough, a revelation, and a revolution has followed it like a moon shadow. Now it's here. And it does look more like a Ferrari than a Corvette, with the same cabin-forward proportions as every hyperfast, megadollar exotic on the market. And we've driven it extensively. So, has Chevrolet built a supercar for the masses—an American Ferrari—or simply a better Corvette? The answer is yes—but with an asterisk. It's complicated.

Immersive Exposure

We did our judging by spending a week in a C8 equipped with the $5000 track-capable Z51 Performance package and optional FE4 magnetorheological dampers (an additional $1895), the hottest version available at launch. We drove it on the road. We track-tested it to scrutinize its performance capabilities. And we timed laps at Grattan Raceway outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in both the C8 and a similarly equipped C7-gen Z51 Vette to see whether the mid-engine model's claimed handling advantage over its front-engine predecessor is real.

After all that poking and prodding, we have concluded that the new C8 is spectacular, amazing, and supremely capable. Maybe even revolutionary. And we've also come to the realization that, despite its long list of compelling attributes, it's still not quite everything we had hoped it would be. Like we said, it's complicated.

Whatever the world's expectations for the C8, Chevy had its own. Yes, the company wanted to appeal to younger buyers who once tacked posters of Lamborghini Countachs to their bedroom walls. But the Corvette, once again called the Stingray, was designed to occupy the same place in the market as before. Some 50 percent of Corvette buyers purchase the entry-level model, which is why a base C8 goes for just $59,995—hundreds of thousands less than the McLarens, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis it resembles. Nor did the Corvette team want to shock its loyal owners with a car so alien that they couldn't abide it. "First we designed a mid-engine car," a Corvette team insider told us. "Then we had to turn it into a Corvette." That's the framework within which to judge the new C8.

Hitting the Marks

Untangling our feelings about the C8 Stingray starts with examining its performance, which definitely lives up to expectations. With 60.6 percent of its mass over the rear tires—the C7 Stingray had a roughly 50/50 front-to-rear weight distribution—the C8 is ferocious off the line. Note that our heavily optioned test car weighed 3647 pounds, 195 more than a 2019 C7 Z51 we tested. With the dual-mode performance exhaust that's included in the Z51 package, the 6.2-liter LT2 V-8 in the C8's tail makes 495 horsepower (base cars without that exhaust make 490). That's up 35 ponies from the C7 Z51's engine, which keeps the pounds-per-horsepower ratios of the two cars virtually equal.

Aided by its quick-shifting eight-speed dual-clutch automatic—the only transmission available—and a well-calibrated launch-control system, the C8 rips off zero-to-60-mph runs in 2.8 seconds. That's 1.1 seconds quicker than the last C7 Z51 we tested with a manual transmission. The C8 even betters the zero-to-60-mph runs of the quickest 650-hp C7 Z06 and 755-hp C7 ZR1 that we've strapped our test gear to, both of which lose the struggle with grip in low gears. Yes, they are traveling faster than the new Vette by the end of the quarter-mile, which the C8 does in 11.2 seconds at 122 mph, but the point is made: The mid-engine configuration pays off from a standing start.

The C8 stopped from 70 mph in 149 feet and hung on to the skidpad at 1.03 g with quite a bit more understeer than we were expecting, considering our experiences on the road. Neither of those chassis metrics are improvements over the C7, which stopped in 139 feet and circled the skidpad at 1.06 g. Partial blame can be cast at the C8's weight gain. However, the full extent of the latest Corvette's handling superiority would play out during hot lapping at the racetrack.

A Disciplined Personality

While the C8's performance places it within the bounds of the supercar class, character matters as much as capability. It's here where your expectations will affect how you feel about the C8. Make no mistake, if you want to haul ass down a writhing piece of asphalt, this car will do it at astounding velocities, with a viselike grip on the pavement and the haughty assuredness of a car born to the task. There are six driving modes, and the FE4 damper package also includes the Performance Traction Management system for fine-tuning the car's stability control for track use. Switch into any of the more aggressive settings with the awkward-to-use dial on the center console, punch the push-button shifter into manual mode, and hang on. The faster you go, the better the C8 feels. The steering cuts like a race car's, and the cornering limits are virtually out of reach on the street—though steering feel and feedback aren't as communicative as those from a Porsche 911 or a McLaren 720S. Boiling out of corners on full throttle, the big V-8 thunders like a NASCAR engine, and the dual-clutch automatic delivers crisp shifts when you pull the paddles on the back of the steering wheel.

Most of the time, you won't be blazing twisty roads like a four-wheeled flamethrower; you'll be wanting a car that's a little more Zen. Bimodal, everyday usability has long been a Corvette trait, and the C8 continues that tradition. In Tour mode, it transmogrifies into a laid-back daily driver, with a ride smoother than many sports sedan's, steering lighter than a Malibu's, and an engine note that's barely a murmur. The transmission eases through its eight gears unnoticed, though it can be a bit lazy to downshift if you stab the throttle. Extensive acoustic insulation has made the C8 not only quieter by three decibels at 70 mph than the C7, but just plain quiet. This kind of dynamic bandwidth is almost unheard of in the mid-engine exotic realm.

There are three seat options in the C8: GT1, GT2 (included in the 3LT trim), and the more aggressive Competition Sport buckets. The GT2 chairs in our test car were soft in the right places yet wonderfully supportive for amped-up cornering. This is a car you can drive anytime, anywhere—including clear across the country—without it tiring you out. Plus, it has useful space in the front and rear cargo holds. So, go ahead, take it to the supermarket.

But normal driving also is where the C8 gets tripped up by elevated expectations. More than a few of us were hoping for more character, more drama, and more personality when we weren't hammering it. Ferraris and Lamborghinis snarl at you like caged tigers even when you're just moseying through downtown. The steering of Porsches and McLarens is more vivid than the Corvette's at low speeds. We sometimes wished the new Stingray felt a little louder and brasher, a bit more like the C7. Can a car that looks this angry actually be too refined? That's where the asterisk comes in.

Coping with Reality

We have few reservations about the new Stingray's interior, though. Our car, a well-equipped example with the $11,950 3LT package, boasted supple, tautly sewn leather on most of its interior surfaces, plus extras such as the $1500 carbon-fiber trim. You sit farther forward compared with the seating position in the C7, though the view over the deep instrument panel isn't as panoramic as it is in some other mid-engine cars. The wall-like cabin divider that houses the climate controls looks obtrusive but isn't. The odd squared-off steering wheel is, surprisingly, as easy to use as a circular one, and it provides a clear view of the programmable digital gauge cluster. The steering-column stalks are a bit of a reach, and the glare on the rear glass sometimes hides what's behind you. The electronic rearview mirror camera that's standard on 2LT and 3LT trims solves this problem, though; it provides an unobstructed view of anything behind you. Overall, this is by far the best Corvette interior ever.

The C8 also is the most impressive Corvette ever. Deleting all the fancy gear on our test car—it had all manner of extras that didn't make it drive better, including a $1495 front-end lift mechanism to clear steep driveways and $995 worth of carbon-fiber engine-compartment garnish—wouldn't change how we feel about it. But it would drop the price considerably. For a base car with the Z51 package and FE4 dampers, you're looking at only $66,890. This is nothing less than the democratization of the exotic car.

And consider this: The C8 Stingray is but the opening salvo in Chevy's supercar revolution. It's a known secret that several hotter C8s will soon follow, powered by high-revving, DOHC 32-valve flat-plane-crank V-8s starting at 600-plus horsepower and ranging up to a hybrid with nearly 1000 ponies. Those versions likely will deliver all the snarl anyone could want.

That's the future. This is now, and it's clear that the new C8 isn't just a better Corvette, but a supercar for the rest of us—imperfections be damned. You'll just have to readjust your expectations to suit.