BS: For the Dreamers (Auto Style)

Subject: BS: For the Dreamers (Auto Style)
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 28 Apr 13 - 06:35 PM

New Corvette Details Released

Chevy Corvette jumps in price (plus $8K for leather interior)

Paul Eisenstein / via The Detroit Bureau

The Chevy Stingray may be a looker, but it's significantly pricier than its year-older model.

Anyone who put off buying a Corvette to wait for the new model is going to have to dig a little deeper in their pockets to get behind the wheel of the new model. The 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray starts at $51,995, including $995 for delivery -- $1,400 more than the current version. The Stingray convertible starts at $56,995.

Then again, there had been some concern that Chevy might go significantly higher when the all-new 2-seater hits market late this summer to reflect the major upgrades. Among other things, the base version of the 2014 Stingray will match the power and performance of the mid-range 2013 Corvette Z06.

"The (2014) Corvette Stingray delivers a combination of performance, design and technology that very few manufacturers can match, and none can even come close for $52,000," said Chris Perry, vice president, Chevrolet marketing.

C7 owners will also get a little more for their money, however, especially when it comes to horsepower. The new model, which derives its power from a 6.2-liter LT1 V-8 engine, produces 450 horsepower. Buyers can also choose between a seven-speed manual transmission with rev-matching or a six-speed automatic with paddle shifters.

To ensure drivers are getting the most bang for their horsepower buck, Chevy pared nearly 100 pounds off the new model through the use of a carbon fiber hood and removable roof panel for the coupe as well as an all-aluminum frame, which also improved the car's stiffness by 57 percent.

The new model is not without creature comforts, standard features including the Chevy MyLink eight-inch touch-screen infotainment system complete with a Bose nine-speaker stereo system, Sirius satellite radio and Bluetooth connectivity.

While the base model is very affordable considering the performance one gets, if you're looking to make it a little more comfortable, the price goes up. Options such as $8,005 leather interior package, $2,495 sport seats, $1,995 carbon-fiber roof panel and $595 for brake calipers that are painted red can push the price of the C7 to more than $70,000.

In fact, a C7 optioned like the one it had on display at the Stingray's world debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January would sell for $73,360, according to Chevy officials. That loaded model included navigation, color heads-up display, and heated and cooled Napa leather seats.

The debut model featured the Z51 performance package, which includes a transmission cooling system, magnetic ride control active handling system with 19-inch front and 20-inch rear wheels: for $2,800. The new model will begin production this summer at the Bowling Green, Ky., facility and reach dealers in September.

[There's a picture at the link, but it looks pretty much like some previously "leaked."]

Being not particularly a muscle car addict, I'll decline to drool, although I suppose a slobber or two might be okay if I happen to have an especially good mug in good company with appropriate interests.

John

Subject: RE: BS: For the Dreamers (Auto Style)
From: Bobert
Date: 28 Apr 13 - 06:41 PM

I'm a Ford guy but...

...this Vette is okay in my book...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: For the Dreamers (Auto Style)
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 28 Apr 13 - 07:23 PM

There was a time when "muscle" was the fashionable thing, but at my age (and what's left of my condition) a 5x8' clear bed and a TommyLift tailgate to haul the scooters is more our style.

There might be more say about "memories of 'Vettes from the past than enthusiasm and dreams about the next one, but it is sort of a "tradition" for some of us.

Personally I can get more excited the hopped up "sport version" Corvair from more decades back than I care to calculate, but that's 'cause of the chick that drove one.

Like the country song says,

"Hotter than a two dollar pistol, she was the fastest thing alive ..."

(But even then she was too young for me - - - dammit.)

John

Subject: RE: BS: For the Dreamers (Auto Style)
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 28 Apr 13 - 07:49 PM

The Vette is no more than this Ford.

Subject: RE: BS: For the Dreamers (Auto Style)
From: Bobert
Date: 28 Apr 13 - 08:11 PM

All these new generation muscle cars are hotter than anything we had back then...

I mean, the Mustang GT will run at just less than 200 mph on an oval track right off the showroom floor... Nothing back in the 60's would do that... Some might hit 200 on the salt flats but doing it on a straight line and an oval are two different things...

As for Vettes???

I know I talked about this before but back in '64 I spent a couple months dusting them at mid-Atlantic drag strips with an AC Cobra... Now that was a bad little roadster... Never lost to a Vette... Ate 'um all...

But, hey, the '63 split window Vette is still on my top 5 "Wow Cars" of all time...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: For the Dreamers (Auto Style)
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 29 Apr 13 - 07:36 AM

Jeez...that Ford is plug ugly!

Subject: RE: BS: For the Dreamers (Auto Style)
From: GUEST,leeenia
Date: 29 Apr 13 - 05:22 PM

I just wish I had a car that could assure me that it really, truly is safe to change lanes.

Yesterday I was driving on a city street when I needed to get out of my lane to avoid a parked car. People could see for a couple blocks behind that our lane needed to get over. I signaled, I looked over my shoulder, I moved, and a cab driver behind me leaned on his horn and had to evade me.

I felt bad, but I also know what when a driver finds time to lean on the horn, then nothing really dangerous has happened. But I still wish I had known the cab was too close.

Last week I had to brake violently to keep from being sideswiped by a different cab. The last thing I had time to think about was blowing my horn. I wish that that cab had also had a system to warn that it was going out of its lane.

Subject: RE: BS: For the Dreamers (Auto Style)
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 30 Apr 13 - 05:05 AM

Several of the newer models don't have a "shift lever" and it's all automatic or with pushbuttons. It appears to be more common on the electrics and hybrids, but it's also available on some normal cars too.

A few have "peripheral radar" that will warn you if someone's coming up beside you, and at least a few have a "backup protector" that will lock the brakce to keep you from hitting something going backward.

Lot of them give you a complete list of all the "extra safety" devices are included, but quite often don't tell you much about what each one is actually supposed to do for you, so it gets really tough to tell how much stuff you're going to have to fix regularly get.

John

Subject: RE: BS: For the Dreamers (Auto Style)
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 30 Apr 13 - 12:24 PM

Don't know if they're available as retro-fits for your car, Leeenia, but my car has driver's door mirrors that have a "split view", i.e. a double-angled mirror that shows both behind the car and close up down the side of the car so that I know if there's another car alongside in the blind spot.

Subject: RE: BS: For the Dreamers (Auto Style)
From: catspaw49
Date: 30 Apr 13 - 01:20 PM

Young and single, I owned 7 Vettes. Do I want a new one? Not really. But there are at least 2 of mine I'd like to have back!


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: For the Dreamers (Auto Style)
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 30 Apr 13 - 05:07 PM

A recent posting of a "spy camera sneak look" at the coming 2015 Mustang has appeared, with babble and blather about what they think it looks like under the tarps, but it showed so little, with nothing confirmed, that it didn't seem worth a link.

Some of the specs that the writers halucinated might be included looked interesting (just to know about, not to buy) but what they claim to "know" still seems to be mostly guesswork.

A "sneak look" of the kind has sometimes indicated that more "pre-releases" might appear soon, before the scheduled official unveiling, so anyone who cares might want to watch for "news."

It does look like there may have been a change in direction, that they say is to make the Mustang "more directly competitive with the Corvette."

I'm whelmed by the news. ... ... I guess (?).

John

Subject: RE: BS: For the Dreamers (Auto Style)
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 30 Apr 13 - 05:18 PM

And what is the fuel consumption of this car? Or are you all completely unconcerned about the effects on the planet of high-performance automobiles? Why in the name of sanity would anyone want a SIX litre engine in their car? Shouldn't you rather be considering smaller, slower and more eco-friendly choices? Or are you still at the Toys for Boys stage of life? Come on, grow up and wise up!

Subject: RE: BS: For the Dreamers (Auto Style)
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 30 Apr 13 - 08:04 PM

From the article cited in the opening post:

Buyers can also choose between a seven-speed manual transmission with rev-matching or a six-speed automatic with paddle shifters.

Not to split hairs, but if it has paddle shifters it's probably an "automated" transmission, not an "automatic". Automatic transmissions have torque converters. Automated transmissions have clutches, but no clutch peddles. The clutch disengagement is what's automated.