When Chevrolet lifted the sheet off the 2014 Corvette Stingray
at the Detroit auto show earlier this year, there was a feeling of
inevitability. When, exactly, would its topless counterpart make a
similarly saucy entrance? It wasn’t long before renderings of a droptop C7
surfaced on the web, and the bow-tie brand had little choice but to
confirm the model’s planned debut for Geneva. And what better venue than
in the shadow of the Alps to debut an American sports car with a
folding ragtop?
That top can be operated at speeds of up to 30 mph, and not only that,
but the key fob can be used to raise or lower the top remotely—or to
scare the bejeezus out of unsuspecting gawkers.
In the case of most sports cars that have
coupe and convertible versions, the latter model is beefed up, braced,
and reinforced to allow for the lack of a lid. But the specs of both
Stingray versions basically overlay each other, even their height and
50/50 weight distribution. Ed Welburn, GM’s global design chief and
outspoken Stingray fan, points out, “The convertible has been a part of
the heart and soul of Corvette since the very beginning in 1953. With
the all-new Corvette Stingray, we designed and developed the coupe and
convertible simultaneously. As a result, the Corvette Stingray offers an
open-top driving experience with no compromise in performance,
technology, or design.”
And so the aluminum frame of the Stingray is common to both coupe and
convertible, and is 57-percent stiffer and 99-pounds lighter than the
steel frame it replaces. This commonality is not a great surprise given
the fact the coupe has a removable roof panel. The only changes made to
create the droptop were done to allow for stowing the top when folded
and repositioning the mounts for the safety belts. The interiors of the
two models basically are identical in layout and appointments. Aft of
the convertible’s seats are a black tonneau cover and access panels; as
before, the “waterfall” between the seats is finished in body color. The
ragtop now consists of three layers matched to sound-absorbing padding,
and houses a glass rear window, replacing a noisier five-layer top
fitted to previous-generation Corvette convertibles.
The coupe-convertible commonality also applies to the drivetrain and the new aluminum, direct-injected 6.2-liter LT1 V-8
and its (still estimated) 450 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque. With
output thundering through the Tremec seven-speed manual with rev-matched
downshifts, or the six-speed paddle-shifted automatic, we are told to
expect a sub-four-second 0-to-60 time. Top speed undoubtedly will be
toupee-lifting with the top down. The ragtop also gets the five-position
drive-mode selector and will potentially stick in corners, according to
Chevy, with 1.0 g of grip. If that’s not enough, there’s always the Z51
Performance package with its dry sump lubrication, added cooling,
electronic limited-slip differential, and aero tweaks.
Production of the 2014 Stingray in both coupe and convertible form will
begin in the second and third quarters of 2013, with both cars hitting
dealer lots before the end of the year. Chevrolet specifically mentions
that its cars will be available with left-hand drive for Europe, the
Middle East, Japan, Russia, and the United Kingdom. This specificity
likely is meant to at least calm rumors there will be a right-hand-drive
version, started after Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter was quoted by Auto Express
as saying that “in the long term it’s [right-hand drive] something we
definitely want,” if the Stingray is to be a global car. With the Vette
being revealed in Geneva, the Stingray convertible is about as global as
American sports cars get.
Courtesy of Car and Driver
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