track attack

Chevrolet hits it out of the park with the 2017 Corvette Grand Sport

All the suspension and aero goodies from the Z06 with none of the overheating.

Jonathan M. Gitlin – Jul 24, 2016 11:00 am | 96

Credit: Jonathan Gitlin

ATLANTA—Well folks, they’ve done it. With the 2017 Corvette Grand Sport, Chevrolet may well have built the best Corvette ever. That was our take-home message after a day spent driving the car at Atlanta Motorsports Park and on the sinuous nearby mountain roads. The concept behind the car is simple but effective: carry over all the suspension and aerodynamic goodies from the range-topping Z06 without the overheating problems that have beset that model’s supercharged 650hp (484kW) engine. Oh, and it’s a lot cheaper than the Z06 too—just $66,445 for the coupe.

First, a little history: the Grand Sport name was first attached to the Corvette way back in 1962. The father of the Corvette, Zora Arkus-Duntov, wanted to take the car racing. The plan was to make 125 Grand Sports to race at Le Mans, Sebring, and elsewhere, competing for glory against thoroughbred European machines like Jaguar’s Low Drag E-Type and Ferrari’s legendary 250 GTO. Sadly, corporate edicts at the time forbade GM from creating a factory racing program, and Arkus-Duntov’s plan was rumbled by management. Instead of the planned 125 cars, only five were built in the end.

The Grand Sport moniker showed up again a couple of decades later, this time as a limited edition run-out model for the C4 Corvette (just 1000 were built). The second Grand Sport was distinguishable from lesser ‘Vettes by its deep Admiral blue paint. Adorned with a white stripe and a pair of red hash marks on the front fenders, it also featured bulging rear arches and a 330hp (246kW) LT4 V8. After skipping a generation to the C6 Corvette, the next Grand Sport was actually the best-selling variant of that particular car. Released in 2010—and finally available as a convertible as well as a coupe—more than 28,000 were sold. But that was then, and this is now, and you probably want to know about the new car.

The newest Grand Sport sits in the middle of the Corvette range, between the base Stingray and the supercharged Z06. The latter car was designed with the track in mind. Wider than the regular Stingray, it got extra cooling vents, a wider front- and rear-track for better road holding, and plenty of aerodynamic improvements. It also got a significant power upgrade, ditching the naturally aspirated 6.2L LT1 pushrod V8 for a supercharged LT4, good for 650hp (484kW) and 650lb-ft (881Nm).

After experiencing both Stingray and Z06, we felt that the latter only made sense for owners who planned on plenty of track work. But there was a problem. As most of us know, the internal combustion engine is still not that efficient—even the best motors convert less than half of the energy they consume as gasoline into work, losing the rest to heat and sound. And in the case of the LT4, too much heat—Z06 owners found they were only able to complete a few laps around the track before the temperature gauge put paid to all the fun.

Chevrolet evidently recognized as much. Not only is the newest Grand Sport powered by the same dry-sumped 460hp (343kW), 465lb-ft (630Nm) LT1 engine, but production of the Z06 has been suspended for the time being while work is underway on a redesigned supercharger cover and additional cooling measures.

Design-wise, the Grand Sport copies almost all of the Z06’s wider and more aerodynamic body. There are the same flared wheel arches, and the Z07 additions are also available as an option (although without the massive front splitter and tall end caps for the rear spoilers). But it keeps the Stingray’s low hood, since there’s no supercharger hump to accommodate. It gets some unique bits as well—notably Grand Sport-specific fender inserts and alloy wheels (first seen on the 2010 car).

The brakes and suspension are also carried over from the Z06, including the optional and extremely capable carbon ceramic brakes. Magnetorheological dampers are standard, and the car has unique springs and stabilizer bars. Between the rear wheels is Corvette’s clever electronic limited slip differential—despite the name, this is a mechanical diff and not a brake-based system as found on cars like McLaren’s 650S. Buyers choose either a seven-speed manual transmission with rev-matching on downshifts or an eight-speed automatic. Like other modern Corvettes, all of these bits talk to each other and change behavior with the twist of a dial on the center console.

Have a long and boring highway cruise? Set the dial to Eco mode and the suspension and steering soften up, exhaust valves make things quieter, and cylinder deactivation makes 29mpg possible. Rain? Set it to Weather and the throttle is remapped, traction control adopts a new attitude, and torrential downpours (or even snow, as we experienced in April) are no problem. At the other extreme is Track, which results in a linear throttle map, firmer suspension, direct steering, and so on. Track actually has settings that alter the differential and traction control to account for weather or a desire for greater slip angles before the electronics rein everything in.

Tweaks to the interior bits include the brushed aluminum passenger grab handle and a Grand Sport badge on the dash. If you choose the limited Collector’s Edition you get unique Tension Blue leather and suede, complete with embossed Grand Sport race cars on the headrests. These cars also get their own specific vehicle identification number sequence.

So, what’s it like to drive?

Chevrolet laid out a number of cars equipped with the Z07 package for us to test on the turns and elevation changes of Atlanta Motorsports Park, and on track the cars were extremely competent. Carbon-ceramic brakes filled the wheels, which were shod with Michelin’s Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires—overkill for public roads but most welcome when there’s no danger of oncoming traffic. Braking was superb—Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter told us that at 25mph the car can actually come to a stop within the length of the car. Even at speeds of over 130mph (210km/h) the brakes performed admirably.

The grip was also plentiful until later in the day. By mid-afternoon, ambient temperatures at the Atlanta Motorsport Park were in the 90s (mid-30s C for those of you on metric). In fact, we were able to record peak lateral G forces of 1.4Gs in some corners. All Grand Sports come equipped with Corvette’s Performance Data Recorder system, a feature you’ll be able to read more about in the near future here at Ars. Harlan Charles, Corvette’s Product Manager, was more than happy to compare our performance on track to that of Oliver Gavin, five-time Le Mans winner and one of Corvette Racing’s professional drivers. Let me tell you, it was a humbling experience to find out that Gavin was recording more than 2Gs in some corners and setting lap times that were 14 seconds faster than your pitiful scribe!

After talking to some of my fellow journalists at the track, it became clear that the fastest Corvette around the course was the red one (yes, red ones go faster). It was the sole track car equipped with the automatic gearbox. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to lap that one, but I didn’t feel like I’d missed out. The cars I sampled on track were a joy to drive. In Track mode with Performance Traction Control set to Sport 1 or Sport 2, the ‘Vettes had good feedback through the wheel and none of the terror I’d encountered when testing a Stingray in below-freezing temperatures at Mid Ohio earlier this year. (That’s when I found out that, when the ambient temperature is about 20F (-6.7C), summer tires may as well be made from Bakelite.)

I did get to spend a few hours with both manual and automatic cars on the street though. These were specced with regular steel Brembo brakes (14-inch/355mm rotors up front with six-piston calipers, 13.4-inch/340mm four-pot calipers at the rear) and Pilot Super Sport tires. I had a mix of convertibles and coupes on offer. For the open road, we picked the seven-speed manual. The automatic eight-speed may be faster on track, where the gearbox’s brain becomes more focused and shift times speed up, but when paddle-shifting manually on the road in Sport mode, the eight-speed isn’t as snappy as the PDK double clutch gearbox in a Porsche 911 Carrera S or the ultra-rapid changes you get with Ferrari’s California T.

At the risk of being nit-picky, I’d also prefer a little more drama from the exhaust, which seemed less willing to bark, snarl, and crack in the automatic car than the manual. However, Corvette wants to make its cars acceptable to a wide range of owners, many of whom are probably less childish than I.

Fuel economy wasn’t utterly terrible on the road either. The drive from our hotel to the track and back was about 45 mainly highway miles, which returned about 24 mpg when keeping up with the flow of traffic. Spirited driving on the 58-mile loop from the track to Talking Rock and back again resulted in a little under 13mpg. Not great, but marginally better than other gasoline-powered sports cars we’ve tested. Pricing is also competitive. The coupe Grand Sport starts at $66,445, with an extra $4,000 needed if you want a convertible (the coupe actually has a removable roof as well). That’s $10,000 more than the base Stingray, but only $5,000 more than the Z51 Coupe, which until now was our pick of the range. And it’s $14,000 less than the equivalent Z06 model.

You get plenty of toys with the Grand Sport as well. There’s 4G LTE, Android Auto and CarPlay are present and correct, and the optional cooled seats are a boon on hot summer days—something other sports car makers would do well to copy. Should you buy one? The answer we think is a resounding yes, if you’re in the market for a capable sports car that can do double duty touring the country or pounding out laps at the track. It’s cheaper than European rivals like the 911 Carrera S or Ferrari California T but no less capable, and in our opinion is the best Corvette model yet.

Jonathan M. Gitlin Automotive Editor

Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC.

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