R&T's " Performance COTY"

corvetteblogger said:

The C7 faced some pretty tough competition in Road & Track’s first Performance Car of the Year contest.

But as is becoming the custom, the seventh generation sports car from Chevrolet pulled away from the pack that included cars like the Ferrari F12, Competition Pack BMW M6, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series, two Jaguar models, Nissan GT-R, and Ford Fiesta.

In the end, the Stingray made it all the way to the final cut of three that also included the Mercedes and the Ford.

“The C7 may not have the flash of the Black Series, and it might not be as affordable as the Fiesta, but down a difficult road or around an open track, it has virtually all of the former’s pace with the accessible brilliance of the latter,” writer Jack Baruth concludes.

“You can use full throttle, you can use the brakes. You can use the C7, but you won’t use it up,” he continues. “It’s the most capability that any manufacturer has ever delivered for this money, it’s rewarding to drive for everyone from novice to seasoned racer, and it is, definitely and deservedly, the Road & Track Performance Car of the Year.”

Baruth says virtually all of the test drivers agree that the C7 isn’t just a Corvette these days.

“Since the early days of the Cross-Fire C4, 30 years ago, the plastic Chevy’s been a racetrack wonder and a twisty-road chore,” he writes. “It’s been a numbers car, beloved of the stopwatch but frequently consigned to the garage when it’s time to focus on enjoyment.”

But the new Stingray is “something else,” he concludes. “The seats, finally, are good enough for long trips. The roof is easy to remove and store. It’s become a brilliant everyday car.”

As the magazine says, the new C7 is now “the complete package. There are no longer any excuses.”

And that’s why the Stingray won its latest award.

As Larry Webster, editor-in-chief of Road & Track, says: “We selected the Corvette because it represents an incredible achievement: Not only is it wickedly fast, it’s now also a delight to drive on the challenging, twisty roads that used to be the car’s nemesis. Plus, it’s a real bargain and looks fantastic.”

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