2020 Chevy Corvette Review

2020 Chevy Corvette – The American Sportscar Moonshot

But a Corvette is not exotic. A McLaren 720S has a sticker price of $284,745. The 2020 Corvette will come in under $60,000. The Corvette is designed to be a comfortable, albeit exciting, daily ride that can also go like a bat out of hell and stay planted to the pavement in a high G curve when requested. It lives in the everyday world of most Americans, not those that can plunk down a quarter of a million dollars for their ride.

So, in a way, the evolution of the 2020 design was a moonshot for Chevrolet. Find a way to significantly improve performance while maintaining reliability and service levels, and keeping it priced so that the existing Corvette market can afford it.

Check it out.

2020 Chevy Corvette Styling – Decidedly New but Still Familiar

It’s still called a Stingray and nose on it still looks like a stingray. The front fenders still come to a peak and there's a center spear across the nose. The tail swells out and then folds back in like Stingrays of the past. But a mid-engine placement requires a different profile and that’s where you see the futuristic styling. The hood, now that it hides a trunk and not an engine, slopes more sharply downward offering great visibility for the driver. And it provides a new, lower home for the headlights improving night driving.

The mid-engine design requires a different profile. The cabin is further forward than older Vettes, and because the engine breaths from the back of the car, there are huge air scoops located just aft of the doors. The tail looks a little overweight but in fact, it has all the right junk in all the right places. Keep in mind that rump is packed with twin radiators, twin gas tanks, and of course a 6.2L V8.

Inside, the first thing you will notice is the lack of a gearshift. There isn’t one and there isn’t going to be one so just get over it. As for the rest of the cabin, it truly owns up to the name cockpit. New tech features include an all-new infotainment system and a12-inch digital instrument cluster that adapts to six different drive modes. Another first in the 69-year history of Corvette, a heated steering wheel is now available. Overall, the cabin is built for driver comfort like no other mid-engine has been. There are three seating options designed to handle body parameters ranging from large to vastly enormous.

Here are two nerdy facts about the new design. Golf enthusiasts will be delighted that two sets of clubs will now fit in the new front-end trunk (frunk). Voyeurs will be delighted that they can catch a peek of the engine by looking through the rear hatch. It’s visible through a lightweight glass panel that’s designed to show off the engine and its new red valve covers.

The Go-Fast Factors

Muscle car enthusiasts will disagree but going very fast in a straight line isn’t all that special. Controlling that speed in hairpins, twisty roads, or maneuvering on a racetrack is and that’s what the Stingray does.

At the heart of its performance is a newly relocated 6.2L V8 that generates 495 hp and 470 lb-ft. It’s equipped with a dry-sump oiling system to ensure the oil gets to the right parts during high lateral stresses.

Harnessing and channeling that power is an all-new, dual-clutch eight-speed automatic transmission. A manual transmission is not offered however; there are two fat paddles on the steering column so you can pretend. The automatic transmission does a fine job of delivering the ride’s performance potential. It’s engineered with a lower first gear to take advantage of the extra traction the rear wheels gain from the engine move. Gear 2 through 6 keeps the engine boiling before passing off to 7 and 8 overdrive mode.

While the new 2020 Chevy Corvette is not going to growl like the 1967 Corvette 427 with its side-mounted exhaust, it does have active exhaust and the tone will change depending on the drive mode you select.

Overall, the 2020 Chevy Corvette is one hot machine that may be the start of a whole new Corvette experience. If you can score a test drive from your local dealer this fall, do it!