What Would You Like To See Changed On The C8 Corvette?
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First arriving for the 2020 model year, the eighth-generation C8 Corvette was a watershed moment for the nameplate, introducing, among other things, a brand-new mid-engine layout. In the years since, GM has introduced a few relatively small changes to the C8, as well as a few special edition models and the new go-faster C8 Z06. However, we want to know – what would you like to see changed on the C8 Corvette?
Earlier this month, visualizer images of the upcoming 2024 C8 Corvette E-Ray leaked onto the web, giving us an early look at what the hybrid model would offer in terms of exterior styling and interior design. Although the E-Ray will indeed offer new paint colors and interior colorways, the exterior widebody design is closely related to that of C8 Corvette Z06, while the interior is quite familiar as well. As such, the leak would seem to confirm that the C8 Corvette will not receive a mid-cycle refresh prior to the introduction of the 2025 model year.
The question, then is this – when it does finally get a refresh, what should the updated C8 Corvette bring to the table? Perhaps updates to the exterior design? What about the interior? Would better seats be a good change? More safety features?
If it’s more performance that you’re after, Chevy would certainly appear to have that covered. After all, the C8 Corvette Z06 already throws down with 670 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque thanks to the naturally aspirated 5.5L V8 LT6 gasoline engine, besting the C8 Corvette Stingray’s 490-horsepower naturally aspirated 6.2L V8 LT2 gasoline engine by a considerable margin. Then there’s the E-Ray, which is expected to dole out 600 all-wheel drive horsepower, or the C8 Corvette ZR1, which will throw forced induction into the mix for about 850 horsepower, or the C8 Corvette Zora, which is expected to take the hybrid powertrain up to 1,000 horsepower.
Nevertheless, some folks are always wanting more. So then, let us know what changes you want to see for the C8 Corvette, whatever they may be, by posting in the comments, and remember to subscribe to GM Authority for more mid-engine Corvette news, Corvette C8 news, Chevy news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
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LESS Money, Cost to own one!!! I’ve had both C-3 C-4 But got a new Camaro Vert. for half the price. More fun and nobody steals them.
Put grab bar on passenger side
Make the front lift available on all models
Manual transmission and lower price.
Technically it has a manual transmission, tell us which year and model you own now of the C8, We can give you advice on how to operate the manual transmission. I never need or want a clutch pedal ever again.
Technically or not, it still doesn’t have a third pedal . In my 78 years of life, a manual has a manually operated clutch. An automatic that you index into “gears” is just not the same. I have that feature on my newer Malibu and it is not the same.
Lower prices and a manual transmission.A Corvette needs to driven by the driver inputs to a clutch and shifter.Nothing beats a 3 pedal sports car,period!!This is why I love my c4 6 speed convertible.
Bill
1. Center exhaust outlets as the Z06
2. Elimante the center stack switches
3. Side air intakes to big
4. More H.P for the stingray
Lower price and nicer metallic colors examples. Forrest Green or Blue Green Metallic
The pastel solid colors make it look cheap
To all of you looking for a lower price – buy a Camaro ZL1! I don’t see potential Ferrari or Lambo buyers asking for a lower price so why do we? It is an amazing car at an amazing price already. If you want a car with amazing performance at a lower price point Chevrolet has the Camaro range and they have an extra set of seats in the rear.
It is an amazing car and amazing price if you could just get one and get one at MSRP!! Available to the average person with a good job? Wasn’t that the initial reveal?
I bought mine last week at MSRP. Good dealers do that.
A manual transmission is a theft deterrent . My son has an STI; he got attacked by two people to try to steal his car. They did not steal the car because they could not drive a stick shift.
About the standard stick shift:
That is hilariously true! I love it!!
Get rid of the busy tail light design and put in simple straight lenses across the rear. One could be for brake lights and another for sequential turn signals. Exhausts were good for the C7 and should be an option for the C8.
Last 2 times I took car for tire rotation the shop had to find person who could drive it. Even mechanics now a day can’t drive manuals.
Buy a Camaro
Change that ugly boomerang side air intake and make it one piece and get rid of the black.
Order it in body color
Variable ride height front and back.
Lower the price, change the front grille and redo the center console.
Put a really good stereo in. You seem to think number of speakers is better. No, four good ones and ample RMS power is the key.
it has subwoofers in the doors, and I admit, I had trouble getting the sound right at first, but after changing some settings , I was able to get the right sound, Bass, Balance, Volume. I would not change a thing, but at first, I was disappointed.
Curious, what are your settings?
And more than one USB. My 2018 Silverado has at least 5.
“my ability to own one.” 😕
What I would like too see is just make the dam thing available and stop all the nonsense and BS. Oh and a manual transmission.
Seats Need More Shoulder Room
The seat back is too narrow and hits me in the middle of my shoulder blades. This is with the seat back adjusted as wide as it will go. This adjustment adds very little extra room. Chevy please make the seat back wider so I can buy a new C8!!!
Seat bottom bolsters are too tight as well.
Our Corvette Club has several owners who placed orders at dealers and got cars delivered, at MSRP. I waited one year. Lately, it is about 4 months. But I met one guy who just kept calling dealers, he did not understand, placing an order. He just kept hunting.
i bought a c8 in 2020; best Vette and best car i have ever owned and that includes Mercedes; five other Vettes; Toyota . I have no complaints and feel very fortunate. I don’t need a track car of a hybrid
I am replying to this post cause i cant generate my own….I traded in my C6 to buy a C8. (It barely covered the cost of the hubcaps). I got a 2022 z51 HTC. and I paid 3K over list. WORTH EVERY PENNY!!! Other than the flag logo, there is NOTHING reminiscent of the front engine models. I love the car. But there are a few things I’d change…the first thing is the side row of buttons – it looks cool, but is unnecessary, as all the functions can be done from the nav screen. And its busy to look at when you’re actually driving. The other thing is the ability to put the top UP with the fob. Currently you can put the top down…but if you’re parked outside and it starts to rain, it would be nice to be able to use the fob to put up the top instead of having to run to the car, get in, turn it on, and then put up the top. The last thing is the TURN SIGNAL….it is really loud. LOL. (I may be able to fix that volume, need to look it up).
YES, the top up on the fob!
You can’t put the top up with the fob? Only lower it?
That doesn’t make any sense.
Mods4cars now has a fob upgrade to raise and lower the top…
Make the engine and transmission accessible while still in the car.
I would love to see the C8 coupe offered with rear split window. I saw this on a post and it looks really good.
Certainly would be a nod to the past. There are already numerous complaints about visibility out the back, this would be an additional impediment for those of us who find the rear camera mirror distracting. I’ve seen sticker kits to add this feature for those who like the look and wouldn’t mind the loss of visibility.
It’s a steal at the price. I’ve had 1 C4 & 2-C5s and the C8 is nothing like them, not in the sale league. A Z06 is higher than I hoped but still a steal at the price.
Yes but the problem is you can’t get one so it could be free but if you can’t get it what’s the sense?
Just lower the console wall.
The passenger seat is like an Indy car tub with no wheel or gauges.
I agree! Get rid of the wall!, and how about changing that ugly back end?
I don’t know if this is possible but a way to still see the engine in convertible format.
Agree….that’s the main reason I got a coupe. Seeing the motor is awesome!
Manual transmission.
Center exhaust outlet as the Z06.
It has a manual transmission, on par with Porsche, Ferrari, and every modern car. Time to move into the present, leave the past behind.
Aleady! Thank you! Come on people! You want manuals? They’re all 100% now! You can’t get an automatic! What do you want, a rock crusher?
What people who were born after people who grew up with manual transmissions (gas and clutch) don’t understand, is that shifting gears with a stick in the center provides a driving pleasure that can’t be extracted or replaced by tapping on a + or – with both hands on the wheel. In and out of curves, up and down inclines and declines, down shifting as you break your speed, conditioning each hand and both feet to do a dance–to work in harmony is appealing to many. Why? Why is why Porsche still employs a manual. Americans. Perhaps the Germans are more aware, that for some Americans the past, if it provides joy and excitement, is not the past.
That’s the young speaking of paddle shifting as exciting. Old skool folk know better and have experienced better.
its more the other way around – I am old and happy that the manual has gone the way of the dodo bird. And the bottom line is that the Europeans have all pitched their manuals in to the dustbin because cars with mucho torque do not need a manual. Only gasoline-sipping and diesel-sipping under 2.0 litre engines need manuals which is why they are still popular principally in Italy, Spain and France and nowhere else.
Buy a motorcycle. It engages all your limbs, all your senses.
Lower Cost is one issue.
The C8 needs a chrome wheel option.
Get rid of the stacked switches on the passenger side of the console.
Better fit and finish
Ok why is it that only certain American ‘drivers’ continue to want manual transmissions when all the European manufacturers have dropped them from their ranges? We don’t even live in a country with a topography that needs manual transmissions. You can understand the need/desire for a manual in Switzerland, Austria, the Amalfi coast road, the Costa Brava etc etc but in Kansas? And no, manual transmissions are gone for good and rightly so….. they are tedious and a pain to drive outside of some very limited circumstances that really are not that diffused.
This conversation about manuals reminds me of the same conversation we all had a few years back during the transition from the C5 to the C6 where the old timers complained about missing the pop up headlights. Dont hear that complaint anymore – maybe because those old timers arent around anymore – the same will happen with this manual transmission complaint – the people that equate manual transmission with the best years of their lives will eventually pass from the scene and the complaint will move on to analog dashboards vs fully digital dashboards – as in remember when the dials where proper dials…….
I absolutely love my ’22 Z51 torch red coupe. 2 very ticky tack changes: Make the frunk a motorized close like the trunk (I always get finger/hand prints when i close it) and make the rear glass lift so I can clean it more easily.
Get rid of the Great Wall that is full of buttons and unsafe to use while driving.
rear/tail lights.
YES! This!
Would love, at least, to have the Z06/07 version have clear taillights like the C7’s.
Back half of the car is a visual disaster. Front half of the C8 looks great. See Ferrari 458, 488, Tributo, 812, McLaren 720S, Ford GT, etc. for inspiration and improvement. Talk to Chip Foose. Whatever. Almost anything GM Design would do should improve the aesthetics of the rear of the car.
Our C8 was tboned in August of 2022. We can drive the car although replacement exterior body parts are nonexistent. And red mist paint is not available for touchup.
Couldn’t agree more! Awesome car until you see the rear end styling.
Funny, I’m the total opposite. I love the back half & think the front half looks soooo dated! I like the front end of the Camaro’s better!
Remove the wall of HVAC buttons. Also, there’s something about the “hood” (frunk-lid) that isn’t quite right. Perhaps too many creases?
Send the design team to study at Ferrari and McClaren. Then rid the C8 of its’s ugly rear quarters and butt.
Center exhaust pipes similar to new z06 along with clear engine cover on the HTC
Simply ramp up production I believe the original plan was to build about 40,000 Vehicles a year that would balance the market out keep the car affordable and GM’s profit up win win company I had planned on buying a C8 to compliment my C6 Z06 but now I think buying another Corvette I may buy a used ZR1 or another brand I think many of us have got disgusted with the price gouging I know I have I told them not on my pocket when they were trying to make $40,000 total out of me on a deal
Could not agree more!!!
Ferrari and McClaren are good choices…I’d add Lotus to the list based on their latest models. Either send them to study there or just hire from there. Instead, they took inspiration form the designer of the last Honda Civic Si.
Porsche knows how to not screw up a design while modernizing.
It’s painful to even say, but Kia/Hyundai are doing a much better design job lately…
The general consensus is that the rear is ugly and yes I kind of agree that the rear is too complicated and could be much smoother looking. But then it also means that we should follow Ferrari and get rid of the spoilers – which furthermore outside of track days have no use in US driving conditions. 20 years ago Ferrari made the conscious and correct decision to eliminate all spoilers and in fact if you look at their cars that notwithstanding can reach speeds of 340-350 kph do not have spoilers. Lets face it – spoilers are tacky and ruin the look of any car. So lets get rid of spoilers on Corvettes.
I agree frank, this is the ugliest Corvette to date…GM is trying so hard to make the Vette look like a European sports car, it’s pathetic!…the C2 is the best looking Corvette EVER!! Quit trying to copy those cars overseas and wasting all that R&D $$$ on a car that was once an American treasure!…and the talk of making it a supersonic golf cart???…please, go back to what got you a stud sports car…AND make it more affordable!!
I agree KT, and how about just making the dam thing and for MSRP. Make the Stingray readily available before you starting hyping other variants. This whole C8 rollout is getting to be more of a joke by the day!
Sorry, can’t agree with you negative sayers.
Those of us who own C8’s I believe are very
happy with them.
GM did a great job on these.
Hi KT It is not that GM is trying to make the Corvette look like a European sports car – it is simply that when you lay down the specifications for what we want the car to accomplish then it become a mid-engined sports car that other manufacturers have been building for many decades. It is like asking why do all weight lifters have the same body shape and why do all swimmers have an entirely different body shape? Because it is the sport that dictates the design. It is exactly the same with sports cars. High speeds on European highways and fast running on Alpine switchbacks dictate a certain design language. Even though we do not, sadly, have these road conditions in the US, we have thousands of eager car buyers who want the cars that can handle these demanding road conditions even if all we do is go to ‘cars & coffee’ events. So GM correctly decided that this high margin high prestige market was where it wants to play. Furthermore it gives them the opportunity to finally be able to sell Corvettes in decent numbers around the world in RHD and LHD markets. Why should Porsche get all the fun and recognition? And remember that it was Corvette’s original engineer and creator, Zora Arkus-Duntov, who desperately wanted GM to build a mid-engined sports car. So I would not call it pathetic KT, I would call belated genius!
Stuff a 632 and tub the rear.
The tires are already nearly 14inch wide, how much wider do you want?
Once again the width is dictated by the engineering demands imposed by speed, acceleration and braking. So at 345 mm wide in the rear they appear to be appropriate. Perhaps the Zora’s will be even wider but the width is driven, no pun intended, by the requirements not by the visual desires of the poseurs.
Make the seats more comfortable like the Camaro. Also, make the gas pedal softer (not so stiff) just like the Camaro for quicker acceleration. The great wall of buttons are great, so please don’t change them.
All the Corvettes need higher top speeds – always above 300 kph and up to 340 kph for the Z06 and the future Zora. Of course not relevant in the US except for bragging rights but very relevant in Europe where we can use these top speeds. It is a bit ridiculous and embarrassing that a 2019 Cadillac CTS-V has a higher top speed (320 kph) than any C8 Corvette variant.
The Z06 already has a top speed of 314kph, which is 20kph more than the standard Stingray. There are already YouTube videos showing the Z06 to be quicker than the European competition. Quick and fast are two separate things. Sustained fast, top speed driving isn’t a thing in the United States unless you are out in the desert in the middle of the night [and don’t get caught]. Being quick is what matters in the United States, and the Z06 easily matches the Europeans in quickness at a price they could never match.
Exactly – as someone who drives these cars in Europe I exactly know the difference between ‘quick’ and ‘top speed’. In Europe quick is important but top speed is essential. A Z06 still trails my 2019 CTS-V and that is the main reason I am waiting for the Zora to come out in European spec. I would be embarrassed to be passed on a German highway by a Bentley GT going 325 kph – never mind a Lamborghini or Ferrari. And yes we engage in sustained top speed in Germany where we will drain the teeny weeny gasoline tank in 90 or so minutes. Acceleration is important but all the metrics that decide automotive prestige around the world start with top speed.
Tell us you don’t actually drive on the autobahn without actually telling us. Sitting there boasting like it is an empty top speed fest there. The only place in all of Europe you hit the top speed is the Autobahn, not Europe, only Germany.
Acceleration is more important to most and 95% of the world, not top speed. That speaks a bunch of the kind of person you are if you are offended that a $400k autobahn monster passes you 10kph more and you were a half mile ahead on the race to 300kph.
99.98% of the people in this world don’t live where they can legally hit the top speed and 99.95% never will attempt it legally or illegally. Not to mention even living near the autobahn the chance of you finding a traffic free spot to run a few miles WOT to hit is a are getting slimmer and slimmer.
So go ahead and talk like that is all you do and be offended when a 700hp coupe creeps past you and someone down votes your post, most people can’t help but laugh your posts.
Carry on, pip pip, cheerio!
No you are right. I live in Italy which is one country away from Germany (I have to take the Brenner Pass in Italy up through a sliver of Austria until I get into Germany around the area where Stever McQueen filmed the GREAT ESCAPE). As I get my V-series Cadillacs repaired, tuned and updated by Kramm in Berlin I take any excuse that I can to drive to and through Germany. The best highway for top speed driving is the 3-laner between Berlin and Leipzig and there are ample opportunities to drive at or near the top speeds of Corvette and V-series Cadillacs. I do not even own a car at my apartment in Miami – I walk or rent because driving one of these cars in the US makes no sense as Enzo Ferrari famously said about Americans and his brand – he never understood why they bought them since they could never properly drive them. But since Americans seem to be buying all kinds of very expensive sports cars without being able to properly use them then must be buying them to pose in them and therefore bragging rights about the top speed is part of the appeal – or am I missing something here? So you go ahead and pose and I will go ahead and drive and we call it a day. Arrivederci.
and if you still have a hard time believing me Commonsense look up my monniker on Cadillac Forums and you will see photos of all 6 of my Cadillacs in various European settings. A presto
It seems I have bruised some egos on this posting – sorry guys.
Geez, I guess every country has its clowns.
its more the other way around – I am old and happy that the manual has gone the way of the dodo bird. And the bottom line is that the Europeans have all pitched their manuals in to the dustbin because cars with mucho torque do not need a manual. Only gasoline-sipping and diesel-sipping under 2.0 litre engines need manuals which is why they are still popular principally in Italy, Spain and France and nowhere else.
Absolutely we Americans are very clownish – look at the way we drive! WHen we are not clowns behind the wheel we are going off the road. Its a shame John but glad you agree.
1. Have the ability to view the rear camera(s) on the video display while driving forward.
2. Configurable launch control.
2. E-Ray based on leaked visualizer:
a. More wheel options, including bright silver painted carbon fiber wheels
b. Ability to select colors for the convertible top, nacelles, wishbone, etc. that are different from the body color (essentially the same body color/accent options as offered for the Z06).
I figured out how to use the back up camera when driving forward. And found it distracting, but it does work.
Check out the forums. Basically, you select the camera when in drive either while stopped, maybe while driving.
As for Launch control, I found it in the 2023 owners manual, and was disappointed that it appears customizalbe launch is only in the Z06.
In the StingRay it is a set RPM.
I can’t wait to find this for my 2021.
Yes, thank you for the reply regarding the back-up camera, but the camera on my 2020 convertible turns off at around 8 mph. I would like to use it in some instances as the rear-view mirror due to its wide-angle view, particularly when merging onto roads that are not perfectly parallel to the merging lane. Additionally, the rear-view mirror/display is a little awkward for me due to my bifocal glasses, whereas the large infotainment display is much easier for me to view.
Yet again, we are all showing our age with these comments. Thoopsdad can’t see properly and wants a video on his large infotainment display – that will never distract him! Others somehow are obsessed with the difficulty in reaching their mobile phones while they are charging. If you cannot reach around with your left arm to pull the phone out of the charging slot between the seats maybe you should not be driving a sports car – Buick SUV has your name on it. We are supposed to be driving – not fixating on fiddling with our cellphones!!! And that is why the car comes with CarPlay so you don’t have to touch your phone and if it is really such an issue charge the phone before climbing into the car. Really guys – you can understand why GM will largely ignore your criticisms – we are dying off and they need to focus on much younger drivers with the money to spend. And they look at what this cohort is driving and so have to make a sports car that meets that target market. Young drivers, I gather, love the center stack and even though I am 61 I love it too. Desirable cars need quirks and this is a classic design quirk. If this is too hard for some of you then as mentioned Buick or Toyota or Lexus will make something much more comfortable.
Hi HoopsDad The Z06 and Stingray offer the option of selecting the same color for the blacked out cladding that is on the main body of the car. So if you ordered a red car you can order (for a price) red instead of black for the nacelles. We certainly do not want to offer customers the ability to select a color that is different than the main color because many buyers don’t have good taste and would start to order color combos that would damage the brand image – like a white car with orange nacelles/wishbone. That is why GM already restricts certain color combinations for the interior and exterior. The only color, rightly, that is offered in the interior that can be paired with any exterior color is black. And that makes sense.
Hi HoopsDad
1. I do hope you realize that watching your rear camera on the main screen while driving is a real safety no-no even in a country with anarchic driving conditions?
2. I agree with you on the E-Ray
3. I agree with you on the wheel options expansion inc a silver painted carbon wheel option – black wheels look small on brightly colored cars
4. As mentioned previously this option works only to put on the same color as the body color. Otherwise buyers would start to choose all kinds of crazy combinations and that would cheapen the brand immediately.
Add an option for the convertible roof to be see thru
Lock button on HVAC column. Wind screen on front radiator.
Here’s a unique idea, make it look like a Corvette! Instead of a Ferrari.
Personally I think it has plenty of Corvette styling queues. We’ve been teased with mid-engined ‘vette concept cars since I can remember in the early sixties. The more rounded lines of the XP-880/Astro II are more to my aesthetic taste but is even less “Corvette like” than the production version. I saw the production announcement in late 2019, was so excited and ordered one. I was able to pick up my ’21 at Bowling Green.
It is not perfect, but it is the best car I’ve ever driven.
Hi Bob What an original comment! Let’s make it look, instead, like a McLaren! Oh it already does. So maybe the issue is elsewhere. Maybe if you understand why Ferraris, McLarens and other mid-engined sports cars look similar has to do with the chassis dynamics of these cars in Europe – Europe and principally Germany, France, Italy and the UK are the arbiters of world-class automotive design because their roads and culture have led their engineers and designers to design their cars to conform to this topgraphy. We don’t have this topography in the US and so the first 6-7 generations of Corvettes conformed to our topography. However when GM finally realised that Zora Arkus-Duntov, the European-born chief engineer of the Corvette program was actually correct when he insisted on a mid-engine design, 70 years late, we have finally gotten the C8. GM also realised that if rich young Americans were buying all these mid-engined sports cars and paying top dollar to do so GM had to follow inevitably in the steps of the Europeans. It did this with the V-series Cadillacs and it is doing this with the Corvette sub-brand which is becoming a brand of its own. What can I say other than, ‘better late than never’. So as I have said a few times in the column if you want those chassis dynamics and the lower price that accompanies it then by a Camaro ZL1.
Install wind screens in front of the front radiators.
Less weight for the c8 zr1 3400 pounds 👍👍
How about a manual transmission?
1, eliminate the color override fee – if I want the adr red you can tell me its not recommend without screwing me for $600 or come up with an interior color closer to red mist metallic 2, offer chrome wheels and unpainted aluminum wheels 3. do a valid clamp down on dealers charging $100K over list instead of an imaginary naughty naughty 4. Redesign mounts for the spoilers so they can be installed or interchanged without tearing the back end of the car apart 5. provide filler tubes so oil and and transmission fluids can be added without tearing the car apart 6. Corvette Concierge is a joke esp the Canadian version – either improve the service or fire the bastards and give theuy pay to Shane at the NCM – he does all their work anyway
Checking and filling the oil is basic. There is a traditional dipstick and oil filler cap right on top. In the convertible, there is a simple cover over them that takes 5 seconds to remove. The transmission, however, is a whole other story.
1. Remove that hideous HVAC cabin separator. Simplify.
2. Redesign that rear end – too much going on.
More HP for the Stingray, at least 550hp and some more torque, somewhere in the neighborhood 450-500!!!
Jim B
Eliminate the nacelle on roadsters with the top down to make it look like a roadster. Rear far too busy for my taste. I have had a coupe and a roadster.Iam not crazy about how either look but after owning 22 Corvettes, it really is a hell of a car!
You censored me??
What happened to your 1st amendment? was it amended???