[Redc7]

So just got back from Carlisle and saw my first C7, actually several C7's. They had every color there except black. They said they just kind of forgot.

In any case the following is my opinion of course on the car. But just so everyone one knows right off the bat I loved it!!

So first let me talk about what I was told by GM and heard about production while there.

Production had started at least a month ago. However production for "customer" cars has just started and are rolling down the assembly line very slow right now. They want these cars perfect! They said they have taking quality to a whole new level on these C7's that is one of the major reasons production has been slow to start up. They had some issues with rear quarters not quite lining up right and the rear side port holes as I call them had some leaking, etc. My guess is moving to full speed production will still be some weeks away. And even though your car might be built today doesn't mean it will ship right away.

Now I said production had already started about a month ago. I heard numbers of around 500 C7's were built, around 220 or so are what you see being driven today by GM to further test and show to make sure there are no issues, they said when they get done with these cars they will have a combined total of around 1 million miles. These are not prototype cars these are customer ready cars that will be auction off to Chevy dealers as used cars after they are done with them. I heard maybe in another 4 months. So don't be surprise if some used C7's start showing up at your dealer the end of the year.

So that leaves around another 250 or so new C7's not registered yet or driven sitting in BG. These cars will be giving to certain dealers to sell, these are brand new C7's. My guess is a trailer that's full of customer cars may have 1 or 2 of these on board as well. So again don't be surprised if your dealer suddenly has a new C7 sitting in the showroom for sale later this year.

 

[Redc7]

Ok moving on to the cars themselves. I was very excited to have a chance to finally see them up close and personal. I was there Thursday late afternoon so many of the C7's were not there yet. They had a crystal red in the GM tent to look at. I'll get into colors later but now let's talk about the design of the car. My opinion these guys hit a home run. It still has the overall look of a Corvette but they have taken it up to a new level. Up until today I would have never used the word exotic to describe a Corvette but today I have to. This car has an exotic look now especially when it comes to the rear. Sorry those of you that think the rear end looks like a Camaro is blind, I owned a 2010 Camaro so I know. I think the rear is the best feature of this car. This is where most of the exotic look comes from. When you are coming up the highway and see this car off in the distance you will noticed that there is something special up ahead, not sure what just yet but the term exotic car will come to mind. Not just the taillights but it's the square rear glass and sharp edges. You won't mistake this car for some Toyota. You are going to have people speeding up just to see what this thing is ahead of the them. So for those of you that will be driving one soon get use to people coming up on you quick.

The rest of the cars shape is done extremely well in keeping with the Corvette style there is nothing I would change. Which brings me to color again. You know that with some colors it can really make a car look good or very bad. Some cars just don't look good in red like Mercedes. Mercedes look good in Black and Silver so they look rich where a red Corvette always looks good because it makes it look sporty. Well every color on this new C7 looked good, some of course looked better but I kept looking at each of the colors and kept saying that doesn't look bad. Then I realize it's because of the design of this car. It's design makes almost any color look good. From White to Red, Green to Blue. I went down there thinking I'm going to see a color and go "that's it"! However it wasn't that simple and I'm still not 100% sure yet, damn GM.

So how about interior, again they hit it out of the park in my book. When I sat in those seats I was in heaven. These have to be the best seats I've ever sat in. One note, the power seat controls on the side are exactly the same as in my Cadillac ATS, same place, same type, same function. The steering wheel is a perfect size the console just wraps around you and the height for me was great. Cup holders in a good location but I will say the center console is disappointing in depth only maybe 2 or so inches. It would be hard to get glasses in a hard case in there and close the door. You do have 2 USB ports, a media card slot and RCA jack as well as power inside the console.

In the back hatch area you have a lot of room not as deep as say a C4 Corvette but still plenty of room. Someone said his C6 doors were hard to close he was really impressed with how easy the C7 door closes.

On the engine sorry but kind of ugly plain jane everything is pretty much black. Nothing like the old C4 LT5 engine. This engine and bay area needs some after market parts to pretty it up.

Last note for now, I love all the black intakes and rear black done on the car. The black is very gloss like not flat. Again some may not like it but I see after market body color covers coming for those who don't. Also the color makes a big difference on how much they do or don't stick out.

 

[jsvette]

Thanks for posting your observations. Well done.

 

[MikeWag]

Great post. Thanks

 

[Sinner]

Thank you so much for the post.

 

[Georgio51]

Many thanks. Great trip report. You saw the crystal red up close and personal. Is that your color? Did you like it? What color seats and how did they look? Thanks again.

 

[Redc7]

So lets move on to colors. By the next day they had all the colors there except black. Now understand colors are like ice cream not everyone like strawberry. So my review is around what I saw and liked.

So for crystal red I thought this would be one of my top choices however I felt it was a little too dark for me not red enough. I really liked my red jewel camaro but crystal didnt do it for me. Again however it looked good on the C7.

My next color was cyber gray. Again looked good but didnt have the wow factor it's a great color if you want a more settle color.

Also thought about the night race blue however just too dark for me almost black it needs sun to see its color but again being dark hides the black highlights of intakes, rear etc.

Next was Laguna blue, I had a 66 corvette and 69 camaro this color. Very nice color this color will get noticed on the road.

I wasn't going to consider torch red but when I saw it, wow! It's really a corvette color. Past torch reds seem more orange but this seemed very red. I asked GM if they changed the color but they said no it was the same torch red. With the black intakes, rear, black carbon fiber room, etc this car pops! It also had the chrome wheels.

I'll say this all the colors just seemed brighter for some reason.

I saw the white not bad really maybe with a red interior.

I saw the blade silver again very nice. It had the red interior and dual stripes very racy looking in this color.

I saw the lime rock green again wow not a green person but this color was really nice. Never really like the other gen greens but this one was not bad at all I liked it.

The last color was yellow, again never considered yellow but they had this yellow C7 under the race tent and when I saw it my jaw dropped. It was hot, it had the black carbon roof, the black mirrors, the black spoiler along with the black intakes and rear it kept the yellow from being too much. Last it had the black wheels which I never thought I would like and yellow painted calipers. I would add the black hood decal behind the intake. My wife liked this one as well.

So for me I'm leaning towards either the torch red or yellow with the back mirrors, black spoiler and carbon roof and hood decal with chrome wheels on the red or black wheels on the yellow. These 2 colors pop along with the Laguna blue.

I will post some pictures by tomorrow.

 

[Redc7]

Ok so for interior colors, so you have the black not much to say here looks great. The red interior is bright! Wow this will get noticed but will also depend which option you get, 1lt, 2lt or 3lt for how much red you have. With torch red it will look great which will be my choice if I go with torch red over yellow. Also red interior in the silver looked good and i think in cyber gray and white not so much with crystal red or blue. Didn't really see the gray interior and don't think I would like it had it in my bright red ZR-1. Then the 2 browns brownstone and kalahari again not a brown person it was ok and maybe with the green it would be unique.

They had the kalahari in suede I will say this for suede I wouldn't spend the money to get it as its like having a cloth interior and would be afraid of staining it seems it would have more upkeep. But again that's me and might look better with 2lt vs 3lt.

I'll post some pictures of the interiors as well.

 

[Redc7]

Few other random thoughts. The brake calipers are huge! Painted red or yellow they really stand out.

Wheels I liked all the wheel styles it just comes down to taste and if you want to spend the money on chrome.

For roof option I really liked having the black carbon fiber it carries down to the dark color rear window very well and breaks up the color of the car if choosing something bright like yellow, red or blue.

I don't like the double stripe package more for camaro but it did look good on the silver car which made it look more like a race car.

From a few times they started the cars it sounded good maybe a little quiet for some owners.

There is no gas cap to remove it has a spring loaded plug so you just have to push it in with the fuel nozzle.

 

[jsvette]

Few other random thoughts. The brake calipers are huge! Painted red or yellow they really stand out.

Wheels I liked all the wheel styles it just comes down to taste and if you want to spend the money on chrome.

For roof option I really liked having the black carbon fiber it carries down to the dark color rear window very well and breaks up the color of the car if choosing something bright like yellow, red or blue.

I don't like the double stripe package more for camaro but it did look good on the silver car which made it look more like a race car.

From a few times they started the cars it sounded good maybe a little quiet for some owners.

There is no gas cap to remove it has a spring loaded plug so you just have to push it in with the fuel nozzle.

The transparent top looks very similar to the visible carbon fiber (except the transparent does not have the body colored edge stripes) and similarly carrys the black down to the dark color rear window based on what I saw at Laguna Seca. The ones I heard running (with the performance exhaust) sounded great.

 

[Redc7]

The transparent top looks very similar to the visible carbon fiber (except the transparent does not have the body colored edge stripes) and similarly carrys the black down to the dark color rear window based on what I saw at Laguna Seca. The ones I heard running (with the performance exhaust) sounded great.

Correct I forgot that the body color stripe is missing. Which just gave me a thought for the yellow car to maybe use the transparent roof which I think would look good and break up the yellow like the carbon.

On the exhaust I meant at idle they might be a little quiet for some. When stomping on the gas they sounded great!

 

[Redc7]

Here are a few more random photos.

 

[Redc7]

Some more random photos, you can see C7 bra.

 

[Sinner]

I have been thinking of getting the white but I'm not so sure. Picking a color is unusually difficult, lol.

 

[cbboarder]

Red, thanks for all your insight and pics! I'm curious, which roof was on the white C7? I originally tried to order the carbon fiber however it's not available with 1LT. If the transparent hood looks black I might need to add to keep the black and white theme.

Thanks again.

Greg

 

[MikeWag]

Great pictures. I still like my pick of the Night Race Blue. Although I do agree it is dark unless the sun is on it.

 

[Redc7]

I have been thinking of getting the white but I'm not so sure. Picking a color is unusually difficult, lol.

It sure is! But I guess that is a good thing.

 

[Redc7]

Red, thanks for all your insight and pics! I'm curious, which roof was on the white C7? I originally tried to order the carbon fiber however it's not available with 1LT. If the transparent hood looks black I might need to add to keep the black and white theme.

Thanks again.

Greg

I have a pic here of the roof with the White one looks like it was the glass roof. It is very dark so I think it would look great with the white.

 

[Redc7]

Great pictures. I still like my pick of the Night Race Blue. Although I do agree it is dark unless the sun is on it.

It is a very nice color but very hard to photo.

 

[john722010]

Dave,
Great write up and pictures. Wish I had been there with you. If mine gets in before the snow flies I will give you a call and hook up for lunch. Could be your first drive of the C7.
Talk later
John722010