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Originally Posted by N54Yankee
Crappy chassis? That's over the top. I beg to differ with your opinion. Just going back to the C5 and C6 its pretty easy to see that Corvette is more then a match for the same generation of M3's. One just need to look at track times of factory Corvettes over the years to see that they're serious top contenders across the board in handling and also straight line performance.
https://fastestlaps.com/comparisons/lvzugdlrmfal
Maybe Corvette will lose the leaf when BMW dumps the common family car macpherson struts and joins the upper end sports car party with a true wishbone suspension.
The transverse leaf has served very well for a long time, ingenious design that saves weight and allows lowering the car among other benefits. Again the cars handling performance points out that it works quite well.
We'll have to wait a see about the mid engine C7 but I'm confident it will surprise a lot of folks. When the C6 Z06 and the ZR1 came out they smoked many German and Italian top tier sports cars around the Ring and other tracks. Chevy knows how to build great performing Corvettes, just need some time to work out the kinks. Obviously more bugs with this whole new direction for the maker but I think they'll get it right.
Current C6 and 135 owner here who has extensive seat time in both brands voicing my opinion. |
I never said the Corvette was slow on the contrary it was always fast. I was just saying the Corvette has always been hp power first then chassis which means they are fast but a bit of a handful.
I once test drove a C6 Corvette and to be honest, it felt like a boat. GM significantly beefed up the C7 chassis to improve the handling and the feel, but I haven't gotten chance to test drive a C7 so I am not sure how good it is. As I said, I really like the current C7 and Cadillac ATS/VTS and Camaro. I've test drove the Cadillac and I was very impressed.
As for your criticism of BMW using struts up front, well struts have its own advantage in term of lower unsprung weight but ultimately I agree that upper-lower control will prevail in handling especially at high speed. The original Cayman has struts in all four corners! and given its modest performing envelope, I actually think struts might be better. All of Porsche 911 have struts up front because their front ends don't have a lot of weight.
The transverse leaf springs allow Corvette to save weight and lower the overall height but I think it hurts the Corvette handling. I really hope they go with the conventional springs and shocks for the mid engine.