[Year's_End]

Originally Posted by Kayani_1

Well I saw Chris Harris review usually he does a pretty good job but it left me wondering if the European media has some severe bias against the Vette. In Chris Harris video he found the C7 to be a huge improvement over C6. But that is given and nothing new. He claimed the C7 given to him was not the right kind it was one without the Z51 pkg so he will like to test the proper one. However, I got mixed signals from his review and it left me wanting more.

He was given a non-Z51 spec automatic. They couldn't have given him a more poorly-specced model than that. To quote Matt Farrah (works with Harris from Drive and also hosts The Smoking Tire):

One of the worst 3 cars - Corvette C7 Stingray (Non-Z51, Automatic):

Now, the C7 Corvette is a good car; unequivocally better than the C6 it replaces. And I told Chris Harris that before he came stateside to do a few car reviews, including the C7. But someone at GM screwed up, and sent over a non-Z51, non-magnetic ride, automatic transmission car for him to test. This is basically the car you’re going to start seeing at Hertz lots in the next six months, if not already, I drove it too, and holy hell, was it terrible. The automatic transmission is so hilariously awful for a $50,000+ sports car that even GM agrees; they are swapping it out for an 8-speed after just one year of production. The standard suspension is sloppy and sat way too high, the brakes seemed like they were pre-beat (this could just have been an abused car, but nevertheless), and it was all compounded by the fact that we were comparing the car to a Porsche 911 Carrera S, with the best automatic transmission money can buy: PDK. It wasn’t good. And it’s not that this C7 was a bad car; I’m sure you could drive it for years and, if you didn’t know any better, think it was fine, as long as you went nowhere near a curved road or a race track (So, Florida. I’m saying if you’re old and retired in Florida, it’s fine). But for me, it really showed the difference between what you get with the Z51 + Magnetic Ride cars and the base model, and the gap was about as wide as the Hudson River. People, hear me now. The C7 is a good car, but on all things holy, get a stick, get the Z51 package, and get Magnetic Ride. It’s the difference between a good car and a great one.

http://www.thesmokingtire.com/2013/t...ven-this-year/

Click the link for the full article of "Best and Worst Cars I've Driven in 2013". The C7 makes best and worst. The best was clearly optioned with MRC, a 7MT, and the Z51 package. Here's the excerpt:

Best Sports Car Over $60,000: Corvette C7 Stingray Z51

Just before Pebble Beach weekend in Monterey, I got two days with the C7 Corvette, a car that is being described as a game-changer, which isn’t exactly accurate. A more important description would be “the first Corvette designed after the bailout, so it better be good, because we’re smart enough not to put up with your crappy interiors any more.” In that respect, they absolutely delivered. For the first time, GM has presented us with a Corvette that I’d actually like to spend real time in, not just one that puts up high numbers on skidpads and slaloms. It’s fast, it sounds wonderful, it does wicked burnouts, and it looks great in person, much better so than in photographs. I can’t wait to see what they throw at us for the Z06/ZR1 versions. Just make sure to get a manual with Z51 and magnetic ride! (you’ll see why).