IXLR8

Maybe it is the angle the pic was taken at. If the stitching really is that uneven, no wonder I drive Porsches and BMW motorcycles.

I've read enough books on the American car industry. What can I say other than the first new and last American car I owned was a 1981...had it for 17 months. Nothing changes.

FType-R

Must've been a first-build car.


I drove a new 2020 911 that had a leaky tail light housing (water intrusion had shorted the bulb) and a misaligned fender to to the bumper cover on the driver's side.

It happens...

timlot

French Company Faurecia Makes the Interiors For Bugatti, Ferrari and Now the C8 Corvette

Quote:

While observing the C8 Corvette at the Monterey Historics at Laguna Seca, I found out that Faurecia is the Company that makes the Interior on the C8. A French company based in Paris, France with American Headquarters based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They are a very progressive company with designers that assisted Team Corvette in their very geomorphic inspired interior design. Evidently, a perfect fit of design mentality for the curvelinear layered dash and other interior panels. According to Head of Interior Design Tristen Murphy, they were the perfect partner for the C8.

https://www.corvetteblogger.com/2019...e-c8-corvette/

IXLR8

But like Walmart, they name a price and the company builds to a price point even if you find their interiors in upper end cars.

CaymanCarver

Problems with the dash/interior was a predicted result (see earlier posts to this thread).
Also saw early signs of these problems with the show cars that popped up at the dealers.
It's just sad that folks are paying for this "3LT Interior Upgrade".

Time will tell if the other predictions are going to manifest into reality.

I'm glad the car is out and I'm glad real people are actually driving it.
I'm still leery about the effect of AFM on the Tremec dual clutch transmission.
Time and miles will tell.

ipse dixit

Well, this certainly isn't good.

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/c...on-142637.html

From the article:

MotoJB

First build car or not, uneven stitching on the dash being released from the factory is pathetic. If this can get by QC, god only knows how many other things have.

I also saw a reviewer who's C8 was locking itself, with his keys in it.

sithot

You can tell the pioneers from the settlers. The pioneers have arrows in their backs.

I'd never buy a 1st Gen. anything out of Detroit. Memories of the Ford 150 Ecoboost V6, to name another "debutante", are still fresh.

PS: The Porsche 991.1 GT3RS also had a wonderful debut. 785 engines replaced for fire risk. Unfortunately there were a few that
really did burn up which gave empirical evidence of a problem.

Chester7

I've owned Porsches for 25 years. It seems some on this board are in a state of denial about the performance of the new Corvette. Latching onto early production problems to salve your ego will not change having your butt whopped at the track by a less expensive car.
I will not likely buy a Corvette but the glee over of a few poorly produced early Corvettes is quite telling.

Zoe

agree totally. I knew there could be problems with such a new design, but when the C8 was announced I couldn’t resist. Thankfully I have had no issues with mine, and it has exceeded my expectations, as did my Boxster when I first got it. The attitude by some on this site is really sad and pathetic.

IXLR8

Exactly why I have never owned a GM or Chrysler...and my one and only Ford was a mistake.

That is called their immobilizer or anti-theft feature.

Whoever came up with "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday", well if it did, I would have blown their theory out the window.

993Guy

This has always been the case. At least back to the C5 Z06. Corvettes offering more performance per dollar is old news. I will likely buy one, at some point. Have owned at least one of each generation since the C4. Happily driving my Cayman now. Look forward to driving the C8 when the rush subsides, and the large discounts appear.

Zoe

the difference now is that the interior is first rate, that one stitching car aside. In the only review I have seen by a major magazine, they compared the C8 with the 992, and the c8 came out on top overall. Pretty impressive, as those mags always fawn over the Porsche’s.https://www.motortrend.com/cars/chev...n-test-review/

and this was a pre production C8

enduro911

A few thoughts of mine:

- The GM engineering team continues to take the "low hanging fruit" approach to going quickly (simple, big displacement engine, mid-engine setup for optimum weight distribution). Doing so allows them to find find bigger gains at a price point which has always been a major Corvette selling point. FYI, this in my mind is a positive thing (simple solutions are often better).
- I never expect the Corvette to be a truly finished product in the way that I would expect Porsche to deliver a "No Substitute" car. Things like panel gaps, steering feel/pedal feel, paint quality, interior quality, perfect compliance over all road surfaces, and endless on-track durability aren't expected due to building the car to a price point.
- In the past, this means Porsche delivers a better final product, often with as much or more performance, despite doing more with less potential (previous generations had smaller engines, narrower track/wheelbase, etc.). However, the extra attention to detail and thus the ability to drive the car off the lot to the Ring and back home means more man-hours and a higher cost basis for better components, which means a higher entry point.
- These factors make the Corvette aftermarket and the DIY community a big piece of the Corvette ownership experience to do more than tootle around. You can have a Porsche killer on track, but you have to buy the car and spend additional time and money modifying it. In the end, you often will have as much or more performance than a comparable Porsche at the same price point, but with additional heartburn to get there.
- If Corvette loses the DIY aspect because only dealerships or professional shops will likely be qualified to work on them, that is a major negative departure for the brand.
- Similarly, if the stock components are not reliable or durable enough for track use, this could really be a double-edge sword as maintenance could become somewhat more difficult.
- I don't think the first MY difficulties are necessarily an arbiter of poor quality, but time will tell.
- Overall, I'm really excited that GM has decided to take a different approach to pushing their rivals. Generation-over-generation, they were upping the horsepower more than most other brands (especially Porsche who were very incremental in their increases in power). I think GM now have the a better baseline with which to work and it will be interesting to see their progress going forward.

PTSGT3

^^ Agree with a lot of the points above. I think you just have to be realistic about Corvettes. An 80k can shouldn't have flagrant issues, but if you expect it to have the fit and finish of a 150k GT3, you're kidding yourself. Go into the experience understanding that the quality won't be what you're used to coming from a Porsche, but you're getting a hell of a performance bargain for the price of a base Bpxster, and you'll be happy. If you can't understand this or still know the quality issues will bug you, go buy a more expensive German mid engine.

As for the stitching, paint QC issues, these are just first MY bugs. I'd never buy a modern first MY for any make, especially a model that was such a huge departure from the previous.