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I had the opportunity to rent a Black/Black 09 Corvette Convertible for the weekend in Newport/Orange County for the weekend. Wow, what a blast.
I don't know how many people have gotten the opportunity to drive one of these for extended periods of time, but I was impressed.
Driver Feel - 5/10 - not much road feel or communication to the driver. But you can tell that's exactly what it was meant to feel like. Interesting enough, on a side note, my wifes dislikes driving our 07 ML350, why? Cause she says it's "rough" - well its not when your in the passenger's seat, but because our little mercedes communicates the roads to the driver so well, she much prefers her IS350 cause it's "cush". Well - the corvette is definately a "cush" ride with little to no driver communication - but again that's what it was intended to be IMO. It was meant to be driven and enjoyed with the top down and no worries.
Power - 8/10 - Torque and HP was plentiful. It was always fun - even for the Auto. I knew I just had to squeeze the throttle at any point to get more power - at any RPM. It was just waiting to break loose, but unless I was angled it would hold the power. Needless to say I drove around quite a bit with the Traction Control OFF. Stop lights and take off's were real fun.
Interior/Exterior - 6/10 - Well this example of a Corvette was a poor one - it had 19k miles on it and was BEAT THE HELL UP. The Interior had nicks, and exterior was pitiful with so many scratches I had to make the guy note how many scratches and swirls were on the paint. The convertible top was easy and simple to use - almost too easy, and didn't feel like it fit in the boot too well. I felt like i had to lower it a couple times before it "fit", but that's the way it was - there was no problems. The seats were comfy and actually fairly supportive. The Heads Up display was cool. The stereo was nice with great sound. And the interior was rattle free for a 19k mile example - not too bad.
Overall - 8/10 - I never thought I would be a corvette guy - but this convertible corvette - while horribly maintained and a poor example - really got me interested in owning a corvette in general. It was just a overall fun and exhilerating ride at all times. I most most impressed when we came to a stop light on the Pacific Coast Hwy and lined up against a Porsche Cayenne Turbo and BMW 335 - Easy Take - Blew their doors off. Not so surprised with the 335, but the Cayenne I didn't know how it was going to turn out. Killed. From there I gained alot of respect from that little Corvette!
Great weekend, and one I will never forget.
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I don't know how many people have gotten the opportunity to drive one of these for extended periods of time, but I was impressed.
Driver Feel - 5/10 - not much road feel or communication to the driver. But you can tell that's exactly what it was meant to feel like. Interesting enough, on a side note, my wifes dislikes driving our 07 ML350, why? Cause she says it's "rough" - well its not when your in the passenger's seat, but because our little mercedes communicates the roads to the driver so well, she much prefers her IS350 cause it's "cush". Well - the corvette is definately a "cush" ride with little to no driver communication - but again that's what it was intended to be IMO. It was meant to be driven and enjoyed with the top down and no worries.
Power - 8/10 - Torque and HP was plentiful. It was always fun - even for the Auto. I knew I just had to squeeze the throttle at any point to get more power - at any RPM. It was just waiting to break loose, but unless I was angled it would hold the power. Needless to say I drove around quite a bit with the Traction Control OFF. Stop lights and take off's were real fun.
Interior/Exterior - 6/10 - Well this example of a Corvette was a poor one - it had 19k miles on it and was BEAT THE HELL UP. The Interior had nicks, and exterior was pitiful with so many scratches I had to make the guy note how many scratches and swirls were on the paint. The convertible top was easy and simple to use - almost too easy, and didn't feel like it fit in the boot too well. I felt like i had to lower it a couple times before it "fit", but that's the way it was - there was no problems. The seats were comfy and actually fairly supportive. The Heads Up display was cool. The stereo was nice with great sound. And the interior was rattle free for a 19k mile example - not too bad.
Overall - 8/10 - I never thought I would be a corvette guy - but this convertible corvette - while horribly maintained and a poor example - really got me interested in owning a corvette in general. It was just a overall fun and exhilerating ride at all times. I most most impressed when we came to a stop light on the Pacific Coast Hwy and lined up against a Porsche Cayenne Turbo and BMW 335 - Easy Take - Blew their doors off. Not so surprised with the 335, but the Cayenne I didn't know how it was going to turn out. Killed. From there I gained alot of respect from that little Corvette!
Great weekend, and one I will never forget.
Based on my review I guess it should have been 7/10, but I moved it up a bit cause of the power and fun factor. And the fact that the example I drove was poorly taken care of. It shoud have been a higher score. I really think that if you drove in a Corvette Convertible along the coast of California, despite all it's faults, you would still walk away a happy customer.
