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This one’s for commenter LarryP2 whining about how we gave positive coverage to the Alfa 4C while apparently criticizing the C7 Corvette’s power output. As far as I can recall, nobody took issue with the LT1, just the godawful styling. Eat your heart out, Larry. Now I’m off to browse the classifieds for a nice C6 Z06.
61 Comments on “First Crashed Corvette C7 Pictures...”
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First!
You’re 14 years too late, because 1999 called and Slashdot wants their meme back… :-)
I think some thing similar every time Clarkson does his “Loser” schtick.
It’s a good thing that rock wall is there,it could have got real ugly.
But surely we can all agree that the Alfa, at the very least, has a brazillian-bikini waxed flying vagina?
Still don’t like the tail lights.
Tail lights, A-pillar and black vents need to be redone on first refresh. Though as I expected, the black vents look a lot better on a less contrasting color
And the tacked-on spoiler
I don’t mind a black A-pillar so long as the whole canopy is black. That’s an easy paint job for the C6, but the C7 doesn’t have separate body panels for the C-pillars.
I don’t like that they’re shared with the Malibu.
Yeah, Toyota wants those taillights back on their Camry.
Still, a sad sight. At least it’s not a GT-R !
Any bets on which automotive journalist is responsible for this? My bet/hope/speculation is Jalopnik!
Just when you think that bloggers are kinda, sorta, crossing the line to becoming journalists there’s that little thing that brings you back to your senses.
“damn nature, you scary”
Hmmmmmmmmmmm Lutz is slipping in his skills.
Hey Dan, at least he didn’t pose next to it!
Only because it wasn’t upsidedown …….
Are those Michigan plates? 041M328? You may be onto something PD. FUGM anyway.
Does this mean the test drive is over?
‘Tis but a scratch. It’ll buff right out.
Nothing a good rubout with a Mothers clay bar wouldn’t fix.Well,maybe a bit of duct tape here and there….
” Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he’s got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.
Well is he going to shit, or is he going to kill us?
I hope the passenger did not have her toes on the dash…
I was just about to have lunch yesterday when I scrolled down the main page to see those lovely severed digits.
Suffice it to say, I took the author’s advice and did not click on the jump.
I was stupid and hit the jump. Regretted it about 5 seconds later.
If you like, I could post the link to Boy’s Life magazine. ;)
I guess they didn’t fix that twitchy, snap happy handling thing
Still looks hot IMO.
Its a wedding present.
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue
Something new, something borrowed, something blue, something smashed.
This Corvette styling just reflects our current dat and age in the world of vehicle styling. Smooth functional organic shapes don’t seem to be the current fashion. disjointed complex clutter is. As such I would say the Corvette fits right in.
It would not surprise me if a few years down the road the taillights revert to more a more traditional iteration.
And lastly, hey Chevy! Don’t you think you could’ve found some more places to put some creases and folds in the overall design?
Well said, ttacgreg. Generally, a mid-cycle refreshing worsens rather than improves a given model’s styling. The C7 may prove to be one of the exceptions to that rule of thumb.
That’s not a crash, that’s just a Redneck Parking Space.
I thought we had a C7 crash over the weekend off Mount Hamilton Road near San Jose, CA, but photos eventually clarified enough to a C6.
Been on that road a couple times, most recently in 2006 in a rental Impala on a business trip to the Bay Area! All the way to Lick Observatory and back. You don’t take any chances!
The first time? 1972, when in the service, with a buddy in my 1964 Impala – at night…
Leaf-springs in a 200mph+ supercar, great idea GM.
Why?
When someone refers to Corvette leaf springs in the plural, it’s a sure sign they have no idea what they are talking about. It has one single transverse leaf.
Dave: Thanks for the random trivia, that wasn’t exactly my point when I made my previous comment.
I know enough to know that the Corvette could use a better suspension system.
Ryoku75: What, better than an aluminum double wishbone?
It’s just a funky spring for an otherwise normal double wishbone, not “suspended on leaf springs” like a cheap offroad truck… There are some photos out there, you can see the two wishbones and vertical member clearly. Unless someone lied about what the photos are of – I haven’t gone under one myself.
Ryuoku75: No, you don’t have the slightest idea what are you talking about.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvette_leaf_spring
Calm down guys, I’m pretty sure he’s just trolling.
Model-T also had such a spring on the front suspension.
I find it funny how mocking the tailights is perfectly tolerable, but mocking its poor suspension system gets me labeled as a troll.
Fine then, go ahead and lecture me on every detail on the Corvettes suspension right down to the last bolt. But be warned, I probably won’t read it.
I am not mocking you.
Again – it is a double wishbone suspension. The spring is a leaf spring, but the actual suspension members and geometry are fairly standard for performance cars. And have been as far back as I can find documented, in Corvette history.
See for example: http://speed-tech.zorly.com/pictures/C7-base-Vette/large/2014-Chevrolet-Corvette-Stingray-rear-suspension-drive-axle.jpg
You aren’t the first person I’ve seen confused by the leaf spring into thinking the suspension was “suspension by leaf springs” – like pickup trucks say – and not a double wishbone. That’s not something to mock. It’s a wrong impression, but it’s not something to mock.
If you object to some characteristics of its double wishbone suspension, that’s another thing, and please feel free to communicate that…
I guess we don’t have enough visual or automotive design specialists here who want to argue the reasons behind certain styling elements, and why some personal styling preferences may be misguided. But we probably do have a lot of mechanical engineers. If you’re going to criticize something on a technical basis, you’re going to have to provide more information or you’ll appear to be trolling. What are the disadvantages of the Corvette leaf spring when compared to coil springs?
Well just let me re-phrase my point then, the Corvette needs a suspension that can transfer the cars weight around with more stability. If you look on youtube you’ll find many many C6 Vettes that inexplicably loose traction in the back during cornering or even when traveling straight ahead.
Of course, this could just be crummy tires or a bad limited-slip system.
In the end it all comes down to poor drivers more than anything.
I don’t know if Ryoku75 is on to something, but the Corvette does have a some kind of issue with snap oversteer. It may have nothing to do with the rear leaf spring, but clearly, the Corvette should be much faster at the track, for its specs sheet. Then annoying Boss 302s are giving base and Grand Sport Corvettes hell at the track. Something doesn’t add up.
There’s no evidence that the rear spring, or even the suspension in general, is to blame for a bunch of inexperienced drivers on YouTube crashing their Corvettes. I’ve driven Z51 C6 Corvettes on track and a C6 Z06 on the street, and they did nothing to scare me or any of my friends who have done the same. The Z06 was capable of breaking the OE tires loose in second gear at any speed if you were blunt with the throttle. Anything that powerful isn’t going to be forgiving of inappropriate driver inputs.
The Corvette seems to do fine at the track, despite the terrible runflat tires.
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/lightning-lap-2012-feature-sortable-times-complete-lightning-lap-times-2006-to-2012-page-8
The Z06 put in an excellent lap time after they gave it some decent tires.
Base to Grand Sports are still Corvettes and should be respected as such. In the hands of pros, it doesn’t seem to be a problem, but still they should be faster, much much faster than Z28/ZL1 Camaros and Boss 302s. Seriously though, something’s missing from the equation.
Corvettes have immense torque, I’m willing that combined with an automatic transmission could easily throw off an inexperienced driver should they floor it and the transmission shift, you’re on the money there RPN.
I do know that at some tracks Vettes are good thanks to their power (Nurg Burger ring), but I question how nimble such a wide car like are they could be on a shorter track.
Now that I think about it, I’ve heard that the rear suspension bushings can get a bit sloppy over time on Vettes, which would tend to make the car very stable under power (toe-in) and unstable when you let off or brake (toe-out). Relatively high miles of hard usage for a sports car would contribute to such wear. Not sure how common this is, but it’s a potential problem for any RWD vehicle with an independent suspension.
I had plenty of respect for the power of the Corvettes I drove so I admit I didn’t do anything crazy. I was doing most of my braking in a straight line and I always gently squeezed the throttle, just like Ross Bentley told me. Maybe I’d have discovered some less-forgiving behaviors if I had been a throttle masher. They were all manual transmissions, so I never had to experience any unwelcome downshifts either. Looking through Car and Driver’s Lightning Lap descriptions, it does appear the Corvette may be a little more difficult to control than it should be. It seems like the tire selection might be a big factor. My Z06-owning buddy replaced the OE Goodyears with some Michelin Pilots and found the car to be much more forgiving. Car and Driver seems to have noticed the same in their Lightning Laps. Here’s a collection of their comments on the handling:
2012 ZR1:
But we never got totally comfortable in this sometimes darty, skittery car. There was always this little voice telling us we should have bought that life-insurance policy. And that momentary doubt causes your foot to involuntarily lift off the gas. We’re not sure we can pinpoint the cause of our uneasiness. Maybe the street-tuned suspension is too soft. Maybe the bushings are too compliant. Or let’s blame the improved but still under-supportive seats . . .
2009 ZR1:
It requires finesse to manage the traction circle in this car. And the steering is a little bit vague. Against that, the ZR1 has Ohmigod! brakes, stellar thrust, and a relatively faithful chassis, helped along by its Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires that are much more progressive than the Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercars on lesser Corvettes . . .
2011 Z06 (Z07 Package):
At VIR, the Michelins certainly grant the Z06 more fluid handling than the Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar EMT tires that are standard Z06 issue. They relinquish grip more progressively, but the snarling 7.0-liter V-8 still has more than enough torque to pitch the car sideways. We were also impressed by the car’s relatively neutral midcorner behavior and its brakes, which could stop a runaway locomotive . . .
2007 Z06:
But this time around, the revised rear shocks made the Z06 a lot easier to drive at the limit: It still oversteers under power or while lifting off the gas suddenly, but the slides are far more progressive and controllable than before . . .
2006 Z06:
The Corvette Z06, in contrast, was brutal and tricky to drive at the limit. With the stability- and traction-control systems off, it loved sideways action, whether the driver lifted at the entrance to a corner or was flooring it out the exit. The Z06 had serious brakes, talkative steering, and the most compelling engine note, but driving it fast was spooky, if oversteer makes you nervous . . .
2010 Grand Sport:
And like all Corvettes, the steering lacks finesse, the seats suck, and a driver had better be comfortable with high-speed oversteer. Like the Z06, the Grand Sport breaks away with a breathtaking quickness, which we put down to the characteristics of the Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires . . .
2007 Base:
As we’ve learned, Corvettes are lap dogs when it comes to obeying commands from the helm, and they have wonderful fade-free brakes and benefit from a smooth 400-hp V-8. But they initially feel spooky, partly because the steering is a bit numb . . .
Corvettes scare me:
youtube.com/watch?v=0chPBctxcyE
I don’t care what Robert Cumberford at Automobile says, I think it is a patchwork of cliches that doesn’t work at all.
+1
This is all part of their testing regimen as many new Vette owners do these exact same thing. After coming to a rest the driver realizes he needs an excuse before calling the tow truck. Hmm animal ran out in front or a large object such as a rock he heroically avoided on the road but could not prevent the crash. In fact without his excellent skillset the crash would have been much, much worse. So let’s do the rock thing as I did animal last time. Now to find a rock to put on the road that caused this incident.
After seeing the picture, I thought: That didn’t take long, did it?
Reminds me when I saw my first wrecked Chevy Vega less than two weeks after they arrived in the local Chevy dealer’s showroom a long time ago.
Sad, sad sight.
Pictures like these make me laugh. There’s always a wanker driving a car he doesn’t own, with more power than he can handle. Or a celebrity.
From GM:
“We can confirm that during routine testing, a Stingray was involved in a one-car accident. During evaluation, due to driver error, the inside tire caught the edge of the pavement during a tight corner, leading to the accident. Thankfully, no one was hurt, the car received only minor damage, and no citations were issued.”
This is Joe Flacco’s Super Bowl MVP car.