When Matt Farah from The Smoking Tire drove a pre-production prototype of the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray last year for Road & Track’s Performance Car of the Year, he was left very impressed. However, the car was not perfect and in this latest video, the seasoned reviewer aims to see if the production car is better.
According to Farah, the pre-production model he drove last year had some issues with the new eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. More specifically, he says, the Vette’s gearbox wasn’t all that good at mild-throttle upshifts and mild-braking downshifts, and was much better at upshifting at full throttle and downshifting during full threshold braking.
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In the months since Farah drove that last Corvette, Chevrolet’s engineers set about tweaking the transmission. The result? It seems to be much improved at mild-throttle upshifts while also delivering excellent downshifts during mild-braking.
Not everything is perfect about the production car, however. Farah notes that the C8 has poor panel gaps, both inside and out. He says this is particularly apparent around the dashboard area while also pointing out inconsistencies in the panel gaps around the angular front trunk.
Those issues aside, there’s no doubt that the C8 Corvette is a serious performer. Farah says it is one of the best-riding cars he has driven, behind only the Rolls-Royce Ghost and McLaren 720S. He is also a big fan of the 6.2-liter naturally-aspirated V8 engine that’s good for 495 hp.
