BAWC Forums

I drove a GT3 on Porsche's track at their HQ in Atlanta.

Amazing car and tons of fun.

[quote=""mjannusch""]Hey, if they want a ragtop convertible that doesn't have the bumps behind the seat (which you aren't going to see when driving anyways) - the C7 is still an awesome car. They can buy one of those. If they don't already have one - then nobody should care what they think because they probably aren't a buyer in the first place.

No manual... I dunno, I don't miss it. The 8-speed auto is great, and the DCT will be even better. This whole car was about letting go of the past and taking a chance to make something great. Why would they stick with an old-sk00l manual transmission? What's the advantage now?[/quote]

Exactly, go buy a rag top, manual C7 if you want a FR vehicle that has Corvette on the side. If you want something that is a budget MR car, get a C8.

[quote=""Jeff V.""]There's a phrase that goes "Nobody hates Star Wars as much as Star Wars fans".

I think you could easily apply that to the Corvette crowd too

I don't dislike it, but I'm also so happy with my C7 that I don't feel any need to replace it. Especially at ~$70k. I also want to make sure GM works the bugs out first. Everything on this car is brand new.[/quote]

I heard this phrase just the other day for the first time and it is so true. Your C7 is awesome, and you're right, you don't need to replace it. Unless of course you want to go MR one day

[quote=""Jeff V.""]That's the exciting part about it. It really is a budget exotic. There's a lot of people on the forum who think this is gonna make some kind of dent in the high end of the market. I think they're just doing it to puff themselves up. I don't think Porsche, McLaren, etc will even notice. What I think it will do is really expand the market for this kind of car downward.

Hopefully GM gets it right from a performance and reliability standpoint.[/quote]

[quote=""mjannusch""]I think you've got it right.

Anyone who was in the market for a true exotic isn't going to change their minds over the Corvette. I don't think anyone is going to say "Well, I was going to get a Ferrari 488 - but that Corvette is so damn sexy." That kind of person is still going to get the Ferrari.

Porsche, however - they might have a few things to worry about. The C8 is very competitive against their 718 line for price/performance/features, and 911s it will probably be very competitive right up against the GT3 ($143,000+). Do people consider Porsche "exotic"? Not so sure...

They'll probably pull some market share from Porsche, Audi, BMW, Lexus, etc. - but probably not much of anything from McLaren, Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc.[/quote]

I agree, I don't think the Stingray will encroach on the high end exotics, but could definitely display some Porsche buyers.

Now, when the C8 Z06/ZR1 etc. come out, I could see those definitely pulling some Ferrari, Lambo, and McLaren owners. If you have a MR car that has all the performance, looks good, will likely cost half of what a 488/670S/Huracan/Aventador does, and can be serviced in damn near any town in the USA, I think you could see some folks move to Chevy. Granted the folks that have shit tons of money will buy both a C8 ZR1 and a 488.

A big part of exotic ownership is the experience and exclusivity. You'll just never have that at a place who's bread and butter is SUVs and oil changes for soccer moms.

Porsche is in that weird gray area between the upper end of attainable and the lower end of exotica. I could see the Cayman and low end 911s feeling a pinch.

The R8 was already on the bubble and slated for cancellation, so it might not be coming back. Same with the NSX. I have no idea what's going on at Lotus these days, so who knows how they'll react.

[quote=""Jeff V.""]A big part of exotic ownership is the experience and exclusivity. You'll just never have that at a place who's bread and butter is SUVs and oil changes for soccer moms.[/quote]

True. Most exotic owners don't necessarily buy for the performance in the first place.

I guess the C8 will be for those of us with Champagne tastes and Beer budgets

My dad used to say 'champagne wishes and caviar dreams on a beer and pizza budget'

Part of the problem is also the dealership experience. Quite a bit different from Chevy to McLaren.. Hell even from Caddy to BMW (my car to Beth's).

I'd have to say the Chevy dealers around me treat us pretty well. We bought 2 cars from Polar Chev, which is a good dealer - but about a 30 minute drive away. We service our vehicles at Merit Chev, which is right by my wife's job so it is easy to use their shuttle to get her to work and not have to wait - they are also a big Corvette dealer in town and their service has been perfect. Then the local Luther Hudson Chev is where we bought our Camaro SS and they've been servicing that and the Avalanche.

Can't say I've had a bad experience at any of them, so maybe they've been working towards higher customer satisfaction long enough that it is starting to stick.

Though I can't comment on what it is like for a dealer experience walking into a Ferrari dealer. I was in Vegas with my friend and we went into one of the used exotic places and they were friendly but I wouldn't say it was any different than any other dealer who wants to sell you a car.

New, better quality LT7 leaks. Coming from a disgruntled former employee. I saved the pictures if they get taken down.

That will be a Ferrari 488 killer (or whatever he next gen 488 is called). Especially if it’s sub 150k

That muffler is intense. And still square exhaust tips

[quote=""Mike""]Fun Fact: 911 GT3s are slow as fuck. Literally they get walked (comically) by C6 Corvettes on the street.[/quote]
Speaking of fun facts, I just saw a Youtube video of a big dude sitting in a C8 and no problem. They had a blue Z51 at some dealership in SoCal. He's 6' 5" and 300 lbs and had a couple inches of headroom with the roof still on, and legs with a bit of room to the dash pads.

I don't recall exactly how tall you are, but seems like if you are under 6' 8" you probably have a good shot at it.

The LT7 thread got deleted from the forum. The Imgur link is still working though.

Nice screenshot work. Jeff.

[quote=""alienviking""]Part of the problem is also the dealership experience. Quite a bit different from Chevy to McLaren.. Hell even from Caddy to BMW (my car to Beth's).[/quote]
you're not wrong. there's a new Lexus dealer that I went to a couple of years ago that was by far the nicest dealership I've ever been to.

among several nice features they had a nice free coffee bar where they employed a special needs guy. here's a pic of the place instead of going on about how "fancy" the place felt. service was top notch as well.


[quote=""Mike""]Fun Fact: 911 GT3s are slow as fuck. Literally they get walked (comically) by C6 Corvettes on the street. It's not about speed with those cars (as pointed out earlier). I literally have friends buying them just to tool around the city, they don't give a fuck about being walked by some kid in a $20,000 car because people still stop and stare at their GT3. That said, those same cars never see the road course and it is sad. They are status symbols more than anything to that crowd. The track rats that buy a GT3 though have less miles, but they are hard miles. It's literally a street legal circuit car after you put some good rubber on it.[/quote]
I drove a new GT3 on the Porsche test track at their HQ here in Atlanta and all I can say is that thing is bad ass. SOoooooo much fun to drive.

[quote=""aaronatstate""]That will be a Ferrari 488 killer (or whatever he next gen 488 is called). Especially if it’s sub 150k

That muffler is intense. And still square exhaust tips [/quote]
if only there was something one could do to change that....