After ripping around in the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 supercar and enjoying every tire-shredding moment, we were worried that the Corvette Grand Sport Coupe, its lesser sibling, would be a letdown. We were very wrong.
Chevrolet has made sure its Corvette Grand Sport deliberately lacks the supercharger and bad-boy displacement of its big brothers, but its masterfully-tuned 6.2-liter V8 is nothing to laugh at, boasting 430 horsepower and 424 pound-feet of torque.
Power is more than abundant, and the soundtrack sent chills down our hardened spines (for best results, remove the silencing exhaust flapper fuse - it takes about three minutes).
Thanks to a close-ratio six-speed manual transmission (a 6AT is optional) and a limited-slip differential, this two-door will blast to 60 mph in about four seconds flat. Top speed, about 190 mph, is fast enough to lift a loaded commercial jetliner off the ground.
Our coupe, a 4LT model, arrived decked out in Arctic White paint with 60th Anniversary Design and 60th Anniversary Stripe packages. Some may consider the celebratory packages a bit gaudy, but it garnered more than a few compliments from passer-bys.
The Corvette's cabin might be getting woefully dated, but our car's diamond-blue leather upholstery helped this C6's cabin look about as good as we've ever seen it.
Taming a big American V8 isn't easy, but Chevrolet has done an excellent job. Upgraded with GM's Active Handling, unique body components and a higher, wider rear spoiler, our car also featured the Z52 Performance Package (bundled with a track-ready dry-sump oil system, differential cooler, sticky Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires and larger cross-drilled brakes).
While the Grand Sport starts at $56,000, our as-tested price, including the must-have Magnetic Selective Ride Control (magnetorheological shocks) and some other options, was about $70,340.
Despite being down a couple of hundred horsepower, we found the Grand Sport Coupe slightly more enjoyable than the ZR1 on public roads - its power is simply more useable. We could more easily put our foot to the floor coming out of the corners without worrying about kissing a guardrail or an immobile tree. The steering is razor-sharp, and the brakes and suspension were easily up to everything we could throw at them.
For maximum pleasure, enjoy the 2013 Corvette Grand Sport Coupe sans roof panel and with all the windows down. We did, often.
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/26/2013-chevrolet-corvette-grand-sport-coupe/
