There’s a whole lot to like about the C8 Corvette. Just a couple of the highlights include the brand-new mid-engine platform, the 490-horse naturally aspirated 6.2L LT2 V8, and a starting price just under $60,000. Sounds like a winning combo to us. Alas, nothing is perfect, even the new mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette. As such, YouTuber Chevy Dude is listing off the top five things he dislikes about his new C8 in the following video.
Clocking in at 14 minutes and 27 seconds, the video gives a pretty thorough rundown on Chevy Dude’s critiques of the new Vette, starting with a look at the sports car’s forward-facing cameras. This feature is pretty important for anyone who plans on driving their C8 regularly, as the vehicle’s wide, low stance makes it vulnerable to things like curbs. However, the C8 doesn’t include distance line indicators to help the driver determine how close they are to a possible hazard.
Chevy Dude also notices a discrepancy between the speed displayed on the C8 Corvette’s speedometer and head-up display, as compared to the Performance Data Recorder, which can vary by several mph. The host also doesn’t like the delay in the head-up display when switching between display types.
Chevy Dude’s third gripe is with the C8 Corvette’s sideview mirrors, which, according to the host, make a whistling noise when cruising with the windows down. Chevy Dude says the noise is particularly noticeable at around 45 mph.
The YouTuber’s penultimate dislike is with the backup sensor, which can be a bit finicky in registering potential hazards. To demonstrate his point, Chevy Dude’s wife stands behind the C8 Corvette as it reverses, and the host nearly hits her in the knees.
We’ll save Chevy Dude’s final C8 Corvette critique for those who watch the video, but we will mention that it has something to do with the C8 key fob.
What are your biggest dislikes with the C8 Corvette, dear reader? Let us know in the comments, and make sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more mid-engine Corvette news, Corvette C8 news, Corvette news, Chevrolet news, and 24/7 GM news coverage.
Comments
I picked up my Black-on-Blue C8 at Bowling Green April 8th. I am not as knowledgeable of all the features as you. This video is an excellent overview of C8 weaknesses. The Tesla comparison was eye opening. One of my irritations is the auto-movement of the mirrors when selecting Reverse. The mirrors scroll down revealing the rear tires and almost the edge of the rear fender. Duh, I want to see whats behind me before impact. The default mirror position will not allow you to see what is approaching from the rear. Maybe I can re-program this default position. Thumbs up on the video.
It is something that can be changed. It’s a feature that is common in not just GM vehicles, but with several other brands as well. As with any feature, some are going to love it, some are going to hate it, and others will think “meh.” This is why it can be turned off.
Doesn’t it have in the settings to keep the mirrors from scrolling down. It had it in my 2015 Impala and it has it in my 2019 Santa Fe,
I can pick one two or neither mirror scrolling in y GMC.
Read the owners manual as it will teach you things you will miss otherwise. Today’s cars just have so many things and you have to look for the features.
LOL! Who reads anymore these days? For too many, unfortunately, if it isn’t on TV or a YT Video, fuggedabuodit!. With cars so complicated now, maybe the manufacturers should give new car buyers an hour’s worth of training about all the bells and whistles, or, at least, a Blu-ray disc with such information, before they can drive off the dealer’s lot.
To be honest they spent more time setting up the phone and how to use it vs selling me my last three vehicles.
Blueray they are going the way of the CD and 8 track,
Great video. I’m sure some people will have something negative to say about it. He does make some good points.
I nominate Dudes wife for the “Bravest Woman in the World” to stand there and let Dude back up to her.
It’s pretty much impossible to anticipate every possible result of action or design of a particular item. And no vehicle is ever going to be 100% ideal to 100% of the buyers. As Chevy Dude says, these issues are minor in scope. And, truth be told. they may not bother other buyers. I’m sure the Corvette engineers watch most, if not all of the various Corvette fan YouTube channels, and are likely jotting down notes about owners comments, good or bad.
Chevy Dude seems to think the locking system is flawed because it occurs with the key fob left inside the car, but, it likely GM understands the desirability of any Corvette, and if it were not designed to auto-lock, there likely would be many more thefts, especially if the key fob was left out in plain sight . I believe being temporarily locked out of one’s car is the way lesser of two “evils,” than having the car stolen. And having and using the Corvette app, which can optionally lock and unlock the car, on one’s smartphone should be a no-brainer for every Vette owner. And as some other commenter has said, there is always a call to OnStar. to reopen the car.
In any event, most of the major engineering is done for the C8, for the next several years, so the engineers can address these minor issues in short order. But, as human nature is, even if these problems are “solved,” it’s likely later owners will find some fault with the 2022 models, too.
I tend to agree with you on some of the refinement ideas that you flesh out in your fine comments. At first, I was thinking about locking one’s keys in the car. Then I decided that one should hold the key in a pocket, purse, leash or any other secure planning method not to lock the key in your C8. Likewise, a woman should have her cell phone in her purse or pocket; a man should keep the cell in his pocket. Even if one checks each time for the auto charge location after exiting the car, it would be a very good idea to have the cell phone with you. Coming back from mall parking, theoretically, one could press the panic button for a brief period of time to locate the car by sound. (Corvette Museum presentation video tip). AF
Since most modern cars now come standard with key “fobs,” rather than actual keys. a wise person would likely keep the fob in their pants pocket or purse and not have to worry about leaving it in the car. And for the past 25 years or so, most vehicles have come with power door locks and a locking/unlocking fob, even if the car uses actual keys to start the vehicle. Having used that sort of fob for so many years, it’s second nature to me to grab for the for fob, lock the car, listen for the horn beep, and then place it in my pocket.
And, these days, most folks live with having a smartphone at hand, for, God forbid, missing a text, tweet, Instagram, KIK or an actual live voice call. So, although it’s possible, it’s not likely someone would knowingly leave there phone in the car. So, the Corvette app would save the day.
The issue of the lag time between the head’s-up display and the readout of the actual dash display is, or should be a very minor issue to correct. It’s one of those things that, likely, never occurred to Corvette engineers, and is likely to not be noticed and/or bother at least 95% of Corvette owners, even if they were using both the HUD and the selected dash display. I’m sure some Corvette wizard will find a solution.
The auto-stop feature is probably the most concerning, although the on-dash display showed the remaining distance before collision. Perhaps the warning tone should not be able to be shut off entirely, but should be able to be adjustable to at least a moderate volume level to be recognized by the driver.
I agree that this video is helpful for any C8 owner. Comments discuss that every feature can’t be perfect. However a video like this should be invaluable for Chevrolet Corvette to iron out most of the kinks, quirks and negative features of the car before 2021. Some of the fixes are simply calibration; Big time delays are something more than calibration. Pathways through the ECU should be checked for a lack of immediacy and independence when the buttons are pushed. The whistling mirror situation is a matter of tuning and could be retrofitted, when it is figured out, if this is found on at least 35 percent of the cars as a problem. The lack of correctness on the line warnings is correct. My Porsche has a tone warning that beeps faster and faster until it becomes a solid sound indicating that I’m going to hit something to the rear of my location. Sound sensors work in conjunction with cameras to keep the car and pedestrians and objects all safe during the reversse procedure. I think his points are excellent and well-taken if the car is to become world class?!
You know if you look at any model you can find flaws. Also what is an issue to one person is not noticed by the other.
If these are the worst he could fine then it is a pretty good car.
Anyone remember how the Z51 in 1984 would loosen you filling due to the wrong choice of shocks?
Earlier comment on the flaws of the HUD has good points and well mentioned. The other item commented upon by Chevy Dude had to do with the speedometer, HUD and the readout of the on board camera speed readout all being different. I am guessing that it might get prohibitively expensive and time consuming for GM to go through a “calibration process” to ensure that all of these are matched. Perhaps they should be, but probably not on the build line. Rather, at the first full oil change or maintenance such calibration could be done or at least attempted. (I mean, even the Highway Patrol has to have their speed guns calibrated from time to time, if they don’t want some of their tickets thrown out of court.) In an automotive article, on a similar topic, it was mentioned that auto manufacturers with the exception of perhaps VW, make sure that their speedos read low, as they don’t want their new car owners to get a ticket for having the the speedo read too slow (low). Better to err on the side of caution & have the readout provide info that’s a llittle high. Besides their expense, tickets can be a pain. I did get one, a ticket in the Rose Parade city many years ago, when an intersection camera showed my car had stopped over the limit line during a traffic signal light change. Traffic school was the result. Like any ticket, it was a p. i. t. a.
Folks: It’s called: [INTERNET: BUILD/PRICE]! Build it the way [YOU] want! if the dealer don’t match your interest 2 the intricate features; why lay down the bread!? If you don’t click the (i) in the description; you’ll be @ a loss when time to submit order!
LOL@ Corvette weenies. I wish my dick was small enough to own a vette
There was a process and a story. The vette isn’t perfect. But this is a magnificent step by an American company to show the world that our automotive legacy and innovation does not take a back seat to the cars of any other country. As so many on you-tube have mentioned, this is more than a generational car and a tremendous amount of time went into Research and Development for this Corvette. The expectation and predictions were laid down by those in the Automotive world who do that for a living. Secrecy was kept as long as possible. Long time loyalists put in their orders very early and if you believe some reports, more than two years before cars were being built on the line. Others found out a little at a time, depending upon how active they were in the automotive world and then some of them gradually put in their orders. I was one of those who became interested but was late to the party. I attempted to accomplish three things at once: Not pay over book; get an order in for a 2020, C8 at a dealer that Chevrolet would accept for a Corvette that I optioned the way I wanted it to be. I tried and managed to get an order in for a convertible, optioned the way I want it. Eventually I got a code telling me that I’d reached 1100 on the waiting list. All of this was a process from November to around April 9. I was (an still am) a newbie in the Corvette world. I was learning what I could. Despite people denying the reality, I discovered to my satisfaction that C8 production for the 2020 C8 Convertible was done for the year. While Convertibles might come off the line, they would do so under the 2021 model year. (It was a fact that enough Convertibles were built, with apparently a certain number sold to the public to count for 2020, although I don’t know that to be true for sure and if it is true, I certainly don’t know the numbers of 2020 Convertibles built. Thus, instead of drawing a hard an fast line in the sand, I reevaluated my options/goals. For me that turned out to be acheiving C8 ownership in an option package that I could tolerate. Within a day of changes my goals I determined that there were a bunch of C8’s on Chevrolet dealer lots across the nation that did not belong to customers waiting to pick them up. They were instead dealer allocation. No information has reached me, it is important to note as to whom it was who optioned the specifications the way they arrived onto the delaer lots. I’m a newbie and don’t as yet have access to that particular information. That meant one thing: move as quickly as I could to see if there were any examples I could tolerate, paying out a substantial amount of money for a car optioned by someone else, but admittedly, not me. If I were to see a car I could tolerate (too much info to relate just what tolerate means, but I had my own standards) and then be able to go through all the things I would have to do to get that car, before someone else bought it. I decided that I’d move immediately, but safely and deliberately during this pandemic. The steps were a bit tedious and boring, but once I saw a C8 equipped the way I wanted it, in a color combination that I sort of liked (not even my 4th choice, but the jet black interior meant that I could change any exterior color I wanted to, once the car was mine, I moved ahead and succeeded in purchasing a car. I’d been saving for years in a fund in case, “anything came up,” pretty much anything, not just a rainy day.
Everyone is different and everyone has their own notions of how to buy a car. Any car. In this case, how to buy a first year mid-engine Corvette, rearranged my priorities. Based upon those priorities, I decided to buy the car, because the base and optional equipment that I want on the car, was in fact on a car and it was on a car at the 2nd closest dealership to my house, I like to buy cars where I can get them serviced during the warranty period, even though such is not required by anyone. The other odd Ducks in the option department on the car were all situations I could remedy easily, over time, should I decide that I didn’t like them, mostly about carbon fiber and colors. One can now wrap a car or anything on a car to change its color while leaving the factory colors underneath untouched. My initial efforts over months had failed to get me a 2020 Corvette. My efforts over a three day span yielded to me my goal of 2020 C8 ownership. There will be plenty of people out there who will disagree with me on how I did it. I didn’t need this car and I moved ahead in the midst of a crisis to attempt to achieve this particular goal. Around me, I observed people doing the same thing in the dealership as well as in other dealerships near by. I also saw cars move on the internet. I did all of the above while wearing masks in public along with disposable gloves and using hand sanitizer. For me, this pretty much covers the subject of what I did. If things changed and Bowling Green turns out another 20,000 Corvettes for the 2020 model year, then that is what happens. But that won’t change my opinion about the choices I made on April 12, 13, 14 with a decision to make the effort to attempt to buy this car. That’s done and its time to live with it.
Innovation in this country always seems to be fashion at the expense of function
Totally. In 1970 I bought one of those under dash 8-track tape cartridge machines for music. The auto makers were still putting them in and offering them as options when cassette had taken over; same with cassette when CD’s had taken over. I still have a cd player in my 2001 Bullitt and in my 2012 Carrera 991. Then it was and maybe still is the i-everythings to store almost unlimited songs on those drives. Then and at the same time it was USB everything, changing with the size and shape of the plug. Look at the current offerings for the C8. Every car maker is offering Apple Car Play and Android connectivity. They still put navigation in the car when everyone is using their more updated phone, instead.