c1pher

Chevrolet themselves have even said they benchmark the Corvette against the Carrera S. The C8 was actually spotted testing along with a GT2RS at some point.

Hurricane

And like previous generations, the Vette has identical performance stats (looking at the Car and Driver results for 0-60 and quarter mile) as the latest 911S and you could have recycled the article from any of the comparisons over the last 20 years - Vette has similar performance to the 911 S but inferior interior materials and fit and finish.

One thing that really jumps out to me, though, is wow, the Vette has really become heavy!

bkrantz

Whether or not a given model feels "soft", only a 911 feels like a 911.

Alc

“Bargain” = bumpers don’t align with the body and smells like glue on the inside. Sure the chassis and engine are great but that’s hardly everything about a well built sports car. I can’t imagine ever saying to myself “damn I really wish I bought the Vette instead of my 911” ...or Cayman, or Boxster. I’d be so pissed if I spent $70k on a vehicle that looked like crap because body panels weren’t aligned. I’d rather spend $140k on something that wasn’t thrown together and wasn’t susceptible to overheating right of the production line.

ClassJ

People still read car magazines? The words and opinions in all of those rags are just about as honest and relevant as a 3 dollar bill.

With this said. There are exceptions. But I don’t consider 000 a normal car magazine.

0luke1

You’ll feel real sporty sitting on a torn vinyl seat with daytime TV blaring away and the odor of burnt cheap coffee and old farts in the air as your gum cracking “service advisor” looks off into the ceiling as she tells you the perfectly GM under designed and cheaply made part is unavailable for at least six weeks - but you can rent a Kia ****box at the Econorental place five miles away...I’m sure you can get an uber to get there.

stout

Of everything written thus far, this resonates the most.

Coming from a 981 GT4 (the hardest core 981) to a 991.2 Carrera (theoretically the softest 911), I didn't find myself marveling at how the Carrera was radically more refined—or, for that matter, radically less sporting. Porsche has been the master of shared-platform differentiation since 1998; the 986/996, 987/997, and 981/991 are, effectively, the same unibody from front bumper to forward seatbacks—and the Boxster/Cayman's and 911's overall dimensions don't differ all that much. Their cockpits are nearly the same, and no one who gets out of one is going to find the other unfamiliar. Is the 991.2 Carrera more of a "GT" than the GT4? Sure, thanks to 7th gear, less noise, and greater compliance. Is the Carrera less of a "sports car"? In dynamic terms, I'm not so sure, as I find its handling to be more engaging and interesting. Only thing my GT4 did better was track days. On back roads, I prefer the "mere" Carrera—which hardly feels out of place on a back road.

The 992 follows the usual 911 evolutionary script, which may have finally reached a tipping point (same as it ever was…), but that prompts a question: Can the new Corvette be considered a "sports car"? A sports car, in the truest sense of the term, is a two-seat open car. The 911 has generally been raced in the GT category since new, and was even classified as a sedan, albeit briefly. The term "sports car" has become less and less defined with time—remember the 4DSC?—and now seems to cover everything from sports cars in the traditional sense to GTs, sporting coupes, supercars, and hypercars.

Mark Dreyer

I’ve owned one of most every generation of 911 starting from the 77 911S up through my recently sold 997 base Carrera. I haven’t driven any 911 newer than the 997. I can say that every single one I found to have addictive driving dynamics and I loved each of them (even the 996 LOL). I can’t imagine thinking the newer 911 variants aren’t true sports cars. However, I do feel like my current 981 cars (Spyder and Cayman S) are pretty much a sweet spot sports car in the Porsche line. Although the Spyder is a bit of a beast with the 3.8L, it isn’t as powerful as some of the newer 911’s and I find for the street, there comes a point of diminishing returns on hp. The 3.4L in my Cayman S is totally adequate for any street need, and even on the track in advanced run groups I can run down some pretty fast 911’s in this car. The mid engine chassis is so wonderful and confidence inspiring in someone like me who isn’t a professional level able to get the most out of the rear engine platform.

bsquare

Too busy driving 911s to care what C&D says.

Penn4S

The 911 has gotten bigger, more refined inside and is less focused on purists only BUT it has also gotten faster in a straight line, faster around the Ring, better overall front and rear balanced and can still kick the *** of cars with 50- 100 hp more around a track including the C8. So then what is a sports car.?