While I recognize the leaps they have made with the Vette, and what a performer and looker it is, I still have concerns about it being a Chevy from a quality standpoint. The worst car I ever owned was a Z28 IROC 5.7l. I swear in the 3 years of ownership I replaced every part under the hood, including engine and transmission rebuilds, and it did not have all that many miles. I have never bought another Chevy or US car since, but it's been almost 30 years and lots has changed.

 

I don't know why, but I love those IROCs. Never owned one, but man I just always looks when I see one. lol

Speaking of, my best bud who does DE's with me has/had a C7 Grand Sport. Car is super capable, and is a hoot to drive. Makes all the right noises and looks the part too. But the last track day, he melted some valve in his exhaust that engages when his car switches from V8 to V4 for economy mode. The fault cost him 1.5 days at VIR. Apparently that valve body is made from plastic and will continue to melt. There are no solutions other then to code it out and lose your warranty. Why do you need a 4 cylinder mode on a 465hp track special???

 

The same reason you switch from glorious naturally-aspirated flat six engines to smaller turbos engines.

 

It's been getting a lot better. Had a manual CTS-V wagon for 3 years and 0 issues - certainly no threat of gearbox failure or strut tower collapse

That being said love my GT4 a whole lot more...

 

That is what attracted me at the time. I had just moved to the US from Europe and always wanted a muscle car. But what a POS car those were. I'm sure mine was a lemon and extra bad. I got so frustrated with it after 3 years, that I traded it in for a Geo Metro to recoup financially. In retrospect, best thing I ever did, couple years later bought a condo in the Silicon Valley (1994), which was the bottom of the real estate market and another year later bought my first new car, a BMW 325is. Never looked back from there. In the end a lot of good came out of it, because if the IROC would not have frustrated me that much, I probably would have bought a Vette and missed the boat on the real estate boom.

I figured someone was going to bring that up ;-). Hard to argue quality with such oversights. But IMO there is still a big difference. Yes, Porsche had a massive oversight on a couple of items, but with a Chevy you will have many little and not so little things go wrong, and just the general fit and finish is no where near where German and Japaneses cars are, although they have made big progress.

The CTS V is nice. My bro in law has one and it is impressive in many ways. But in the end still doesn't measure up to a M5, Audi or Mercedes ....in quality. I would say resale as well, but lately they have not held it like they used to. Not sure why? Probably because they are being mass produced, which in many ways is why most enthusiasts aren't excited about these cars anymore. Once something is mass produced, it needs to please a larger crowd, and they start making compromises. That is why Porsche is succeeding in many ways, at least with the GT cars.

 

Good that you never got a rear end impact collision. I know someone who would have been burned alive after a rear impact to their car resulted in a fire from the ruptured gas tank. The impact jammed the doors shut, she had to crawl out the window. If she had been knocked out, not sure what would have happened. Engines in Pintos were bullet proof. Gas tanks were not rear shock mounting bolt proof.

 

Interesting problem. You sure it was an AFM valve that failed? They were a problem for 2014-16 Corvette Stingrays. They were removed in the exhausts of all ZO6’s and all 2017-present Corvettes once GM realized they were a problem. The Grand Sport was introduced as a 2017 model.

 

not sure what year it is, but it’s definitely a grand sport and the valve failed on day one of a two for at VIR. Pretty bummed out for my buddy. After the warranty repair he traded it in for a new Z06, which don’t have the problem.

 

Im bummed for your buddy too. He’ll like the ZO6 a lot.

 

You can resort to calling me names if it makes you feel better, people that know me know that I like all kinds of cars. (Hence the LOL at the end of my statement).

In other news,

Perhaps this move will finally convince Porsche to put the 911 engine where it belongs or at least make a street version of the RSR.

 

Not in this case, apparently. Typically it would be the paying customers, not the engineers, who would be made to deal with the wiring harness issues. +1 to GM for doing it right for once, if this anecdote is indeed true.

Frankly I'm more likely to avoid the last production years than the first. In the first year, ideally, they are watching like hawks to catch problems early and deal with them. By the time a given design ends production, it has been cost-reduced to the point of collapse. Everybody is fixated on the Next Big Thing, the workers and suppliers have grown complacent, and the product is about as interesting to its manufacturer as yesterday's newspaper.

Porsche needs competition badly. Both the haters and the ****** alike can agree on that point. I say more power to the Corvette guys...show us what you got.

 

My first sports car was a 1965 Corvette, and I've owned 911s for over 40 years and have had the pleasure of meeting many Porsche owners during that time frame. Just a guess but I'd say that about a third of the 911 owners also owned a Corvette. True sports car enthusiasts appreciate both brands, and the C8 looks very promising from what I've read.

 

Just hoping it looks real good. It will be fast. I just don't like the add on cheap look of all the inadequate vents, ugly rear end, gaudy quad pipes, and harsh lines of the C7. Thats my taste, I am sure others like it or don't care too much about appearance.

 

Time will tell. I seem to remember the most recent run of the Z06 had serious overheating problems in the first year, to the point where the cars would routinely go into limp home mode when driven hard on track.

 

It ends with a timer stopping on 07.18.19, the release date for the C8.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a2...onfirmed-2020/