2009 Chevrolet Corvette Follow-Up Test and Video

Kicking GM while it's enduring the bitter sting of bankruptcy seems so sophomoric. And so do the massive powerslides we've been doing in the company's 2009 Chevrolet Corvette, so let's begin this review on a positive note by discussing one of the Vette's finer points: Acceleration.

First thing you need to know: At wide-open throttle, the LS3 under the Corvette's hood does subtlety like Jessica Simpson does brains. That is to say, not so well — which is awesome, actually. Nailing the gas in this, the tamest of Vettes, is akin to unleashing a thousand pushrod-wielding Hulk Hogans on the car's rear tires. There's a blast of torque followed by a double underhook suplex of forward force. It's as impressive as it is surprising. This is, after all, only a base Corvette. But it's got motor.

The LS3 is possibly the best bargain in the world when it comes to eight cylinders arranged in a vee, and it defines the modern Corvette. In our hands it blasts this 3,275-pound coupe to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds (4.0 seconds with 1 foot rollout like on a drag strip). But it doesn't stop there. The quarter-mile is incinerated in 12.3 seconds at 116 mph. The trip from 100 to 120 mph takes 4 seconds flat — only 0.3 second slower than the often-drooled-over and far costlier Nissan GT-R. And the fun continues, according to Chevrolet, until 190 mph.

Pushrod Power
Of course you know by now that the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette's overhead-valve, 6,162cc LS3 V8 is rated at 436 horsepower and 428 pound-feet of torque when it's fitted with the optional dual-mode exhaust system like this test car (without the dual-mode exhaust it's rated at 430 hp and 424 lb-ft of torque). The exhaust utilizes vacuum-actuated valves in the mufflers which open at about 3,000 rpm under high load to decrease backpressure. They also open at start-up to reveal a few seconds of the engine's potential before quieting things down. During low-speed operation, the valves help keep the V8's noise level down to a raw grumble.

The standard six-speed manual transmission is as solid as Danica Patrick's trapezius (look it up or just watch the video). If throwing gears is your thing, this device will make you happy every time you yank it between gates. (That is, aside from the infuriating 1-4 skip-shift feature.)

Although it's sometimes clunky around town, the Tremec TR6060 and the tough-as-hell linkage which actuate it are welcome partners when the mist turns red. We never missed a shift. A six-speed automatic with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters is optional.

The Other Numbers
But the Corvette has never been a pony car. It's always been a sports car with well-rounded performance, leaving the straight-line contests to the knuckle-draggers in the solid-axle camp. A careful look at its underpinnings reinforces this notion, as there are aluminum double-wishbone suspension arms at all four corners. With its front engine and rear-mounted transaxle, the weight distribution is 52 percent front/48 percent rear. The choice of Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires can't be dismissed when you're working with big 245/40ZR18 examples up front and massive 285/35ZR19 items out back.Clearly this machine is built to go around corners.

And this hardware gets the job done on the skid pad where the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette circles at 0.95g both when the stability control is in the Performance Driving mode and when it's completely disengaged. It would be a mistake to overlook the performance value of this sophisticated stability control, which GM has calibrated with far more precision than it has its balance sheets.

We left the electronics in Performance Driving mode for several passes through the slalom and were impressed to find that this technique produced our fastest run. So relaxed is the system that it never engaged during the quickest pass, which averaged to 67.9 mph. Best of all, when the Corvette does start to slide — and it will, don't worry — the system engages without punishing its driver. It's as subtle as if ALMS C6R driver Ron Fellows himself were nudging you back on line with a feather duster.

But wait, 67.9 mph? You'll note that this isn't even as fast as the solid-axle-equipped 2010 Mustang GT which manages 68.4 mph in the slalom. And this, friends, is hard to fathom. We put it down to a disheartening yaw response which we've experienced in other C6 Corvettes, namely the Z06. The Vette is simply unnerving in fast transitions or any corner that isn't perfectly smooth. And it shouldn't be.

Nor does it stop as short as it should. At 110 feet from 60 mph, it's outperformed by the less expensive, less sophisticated Mustang. And, again, it shouldn't be.

Homemade
Seven words on our test car's window sticker grabbed our attention: "Final assembly point: Bowling Green, KY, U.S.A." That's right, this Corvette (unlike the Camaro) is built in the U.S. Has been for 56 years. By Americans. So are its engine and transmission. It's also designed in Detroit and proven the world over.

We point this out for those who have conveniently forgotten that the home team might be down, but it's not out. It still offers a genuine go-fast player with a price that starts at less than $50,000. The 2009 Chevrolet Corvette's base price is $49,415 including the $850 destination fee.

Our tester rolled in with $14,545 in options that hardly justified the increase of this car's as-tested bottom line to $63,960. The biggest chunk of this comes from the $8,055 Premium Equipment group, which features niceties like leather upholstery on the doors and dash, premium audio system, head-up instrument display, side airbags and heated seats.

The navigation system adds $1,750, the Z51 performance package adds $1,695 and the dual-mode exhaust adds $1,195. That's a lot of "adding." If we were buying a Corvette, there would be far less of it.

Get Inside
We've carped about the Corvette's interior before and it's still impossible to ignore reality if you're going to drive one of these cars every day. Probably the biggest issue is the stink. And by stink we don't mean some little funk that you might notice occasionally. Nope. Every C6 Corvette we've driven has hit us with a reeking truckload of pungent plastic odor every time we climbed in. Whether this will diminish with time is impossible to determine, but it's not a flavor we'd want to contend with every day.

Then there's the steering wheel, which the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette shares with the Cobalt and Saturn Aura, plus the noodley-ass seatback adjusting lever which twists and squirms like it's going to break off every time you touch it. Most of the secondary controls for the HVAC and navigation system use small, fiddly buttons, too. Both designs could be improved, but hey, it's what GM has right now.

The seats are in more desperate need of upgrading than any other part of the car. Too soft, too wide and too unsupportive, they need to be replaced with proprietary Recaro items like Cadillac uses in the CTS-V.

But there is some good here. Like the fact that the Corvette's chassis (equipped with a targa top as standard equipment) doesn't seem to mind the obvious structural compromise. In fact, leave the top in place and you'll never know this isn't a fixed-roof car. Take it out and you've got genuine open-air motoring accompanied by a V8 score.

There's also a generous cargo area which most coupes in this category lack. Need to go grocery shopping? The Corvette will easily swallow a week's worth without a problem.

The Corvette Experience
So vast and widespread are the social stigmas that accompany the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette that we won't even bother to address them all here. Our friends suggested we try out gold chains or perhaps AARP membership. That is, they were talking smack until we left the jokesters in a foul miasma of blue tire smoke.

After a week of driving we found ourselves wondering how to feel about the Corvette. Its mix of a world-class powertrain with sometimes-good, sometimes-frightening handling is at odds with itself.

The variable-ratio steering offers excellent feedback in steady-state corners. So communicative is the feedback on the skid pad that we were able to sense the smallest change in the slip angles of the tires and keep the car balanced on the exact limit of grip with great confidence. In transitions, however, even the steering seems to get lost in the wandering yaw of the rest of the chassis.

But this thing is quick. And its abilities are high. And despite the fact that it will unnerve those who choose to explore its absolute limits, it's still an impressive machine. Drive the Corvette at 80 percent and you'll still leave damned near anything else on the road behind. It's powerful, it's got huge tires and it doesn't feel heavy.

The question we have to ask then is: Why? Why isn't a Corvette the driving machine we want it to be? Why is it better at tire-hazing burnouts than it is at truly engaging its driver when operating at its full potential? Why didn't someone on the development team isolate and eliminate this issue like they did on the ZR1?

We suspect there's a simple answer. It's probably because the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette costs less than half what the ZR1 costs. And any engineer will tell you the biggest challenge isn't solving the problem. Rather, it's solving the problem inside your given budget. And that, friends, is a tough row to hoe when you're in bankruptcy.

The manufacturer provided Edmunds this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.