Corvette C8 Stingray, dissected

It is only in the last decade and a half or so, that American sports car entered the market with a similar passion and drive that matched the contemporary European and Japanese sports cars as true performers. The new Corvette C8 received mixed reactions; it is certainly a contentious topic and has been presented with an abundance of opinions.

Let's address the elephant in the room. It no longer follows a front-engine rear wheel drive layout. In fact, it is the very first mid-engine Corvette. It has the LT2 V8 making a mighty 488 HP and a Tremec sourced 8 speed Dual Clutch gearbox. There is a redesigned central tunnel that makes for a light, but stiff chassis. The mid engined layout means that it can  go from 0-100km/h in under 3 seconds. Even a decade ago, that was supercar territory. In modern context, that's Ferrari beating performance at less than a third of the price. It now features a dry sump lubrication system as standard and boasts thrice the amount of radiators as my Corolla (my Corolla has one, in case you can't math).

For the negatives, first, there's no likelihood of a manual becoming available.Second, the classic proportions of a beautiful sports car has always been a long hood and a short deck. This one extends further from the rear wheels towards the back than it does at the front end. And don't even get me started on the vents. Purists disagree that it's not a "true" Corvette because of how different it is from the entire lineage. Ask the Shift team, they'll give you explanations that range from riced out McLaren GTs to a very confused love child of an F430, a Camaro and a blender.