2005 Chevrolet Corvette

The C6 has been the topic of so much speculation for so long, that seeing, touching, sitting in, everything but actually driving one, seems almost anticlimactic.

GM's embargo on releasing photographs, facts, and figures was January 1st at 12:01 a.m. EST. The official media unveilings were on January 4th and 5th during media days at the North American International Auto Show at the Cobo Center in Detroit. And the general public got to see the car firsthand at the Detroit show just a few days later. I was one of the fortunate few that Chevrolet invited to a Market Plan and Media Briefing on December 18th, which included the abovementioned "seeing, touching, sitting in..." Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed.

What follows will be in large my personal impressions based upon seeing-but not driving-the '05 Corvette (it's likely that an official media test-drive event of some sort won't happen until at least late March). However, if the C6 lives up to its claimed power-output figures and lives up to the statements of its creators, it will be a very impressive performer. And I have no reason to expect that it won't live up to the hype, based on how well the various iterations of the C5-most especially the Z06-have equaled and quite often exceeded the manufacturer's performance figures. Because of the timing of the C6's debut at the NAIAS and the widespread dissemination of photographs and information on the Internet, much of what follows may be old news. We are getting this to you as quickly as we can considering both the 3-4 month lead times we work with and the blanket of secrecy that Chevrolet kept over the project for all but a select few (including the big guys like Road & Track, Car & Driver, Motor Trend, and Automobile, plus Corvette Quarterly-which is published by one of GM's advertising agencies, Campbell-Ewald, and is in effect a factory mouthpiece), who got early, preferential access to the C6.

More Evolutionary Than RevolutionaryWhen it was introduced in very early 1997, the C5 came as close to fulfilling that hackneyed claim "all new" as any car possibly could. Other than the basic architecture of a front-mounted pushrod V-8 sending the power to drive the rear wheels, seating for two, four-wheel independent suspension and four wheel disc brakes, and, of course, the requirement that it go fast and possess excellent handling, there was essentially no carryover of design or components from C4 to C5. The '05 C6, by contrast, is a highly derivative and highly refined evolution of the C5 platform.

Although roughly 80 percent of the car (by component count) is new or not carried over from the C5, almost the entire car has been developed from its already superb predecessor. The C6 is shorter and narrower, but it rides on a longer wheelbase. It has upgraded components and equipment, yet weighs virtually the same as a comparable C5. And, it has gained 50 horsepower and 25 (six-speed) to 40 (automatic) lb-ft of torque from a 305cc increase in displacement-thanks to being bored out from 3.90 inches to 4.00 inches (the stroke remains the same). The chart on page 54 compares the C5 coupe, using data from the corrected 2001 Corvette Press Kit and Chevrolet's Preliminary Specifications for the C6 coupe. All dimensions are in inches or pounds unless otherwise specified. Brake dimensions are rotor diameter by thickness.

The basic suspension configuration of the C6 is the same as all C5s. Ditto for the drivetrain layout. Overall, what the C6 presents is a new Corvette that is a little taller with a slightly reduced overall length, is less wide (it looks less fat at the hips than the C5), and has significantly shorter front and rear overhangs-all perched on a longer wheelbase. The effect is that the tires are pushed out further towards the corners, which gives the C6 a tauter, more muscular and aggressive appearance.