2019 Corvette Grand Sport Review | From a Stingray Owner...

What's up guys, welcome back to the cost and technology of cars. In today's video, we'll be

review

ing a

2019

Corvette Grand Sport. I feel like today's video is long overdue considering I've been doing Corvette content for a while, but I haven't done it yet. I didn't make a video specifically about the Grand Sport and I've never driven one, so I'm really excited for today's

review

and I think it's going to be a great time, but before we start I want to give a huge special thank you to my friends at Bradshaw. Chevrolet in Greer, South Carolina for connecting me with this car to review it.

In fact I have been taking my personal Corvette Stingray here to get it serviced for a while now, it has always been a great experience so I highly recommend them to any of you who are in the market for a new vehicle or need a new dealership to receive service if you are in the area. I have all of their contact information in the description below, as well as a link to this specific Corvette if you'd like more details on it. After the video is over, but with that being said, let's go ahead and dive into this review, so to go ahead and get started, we're going to do a quick comparison of the Corvette Grand Sport c7 to my Corvette Stingray c7 as well as these. c70 sixes that I reviewed in the past for those of you who are new to the channel, as I mentioned above this is my 2016 Corvette Stingray.

I have had the car for a little over a year and have really enjoyed it. I've made a ton of different videos about this car, as well as a lot more review videos about different cars like this one, so definitely check out the review playlists posted on the channel if you enjoy this video and consider liking and sharing it. Please tell any friends who might find the video useful and it really helps the channel a lot and I would definitely appreciate it now. Back to the

2019

Corvette Grand Sport. I want to focus on the Grand Sport in general and not just the 2019 model year considering that no significant changes were made for this year, as well as the fact that at the time of this recording, it actually There could be great 2017 model eighteen and nineteen

sport

s cars at your local dealership due to the very short production of the 2018 model year in the early introduction of the 2019 model year for the launch of the zr1, so it is a unique moment right now in the market where all three could be in local dealerships.

Fortunately, there are no significant differences between them, but when we look at the Grand Sport, compared to my Stingray, you can see some immediate changes and I want to talk about something about the exterior and what really makes the differences in appearance here will obviously be the more bodywork. wide, with wider tires at the front and At the rear you have larger brake rotors, you get some additional Aero parts like the front splitter, side rockers and rear spoiler, as well as additional cooling ducts to match the fuel lines. the zo6 body, a much better front grill.

Match with the zo6 now, many of these will not only increase the appearance of the car and look better, but are also very functional. You know again, a lot of these parts that I mentioned that are shared with the zo6 are for cooling or aerodynamics, you have bigger tires for better traction, you have bigger brakes or greater stopping power, so they not only contribute to the appearance of the car and make it look better than, say, a base model Stingray or even a z51

stingray

, but they are actually very functional too, so the cost you are paying to get an upgraded look will also add some benefits of performance if you are tracking the car.

Now let's talk a little bit about performance and at first we'll focus on the straight line especially on paper these two cars share the lt1 which is a 6.2 liter naturally aspirated v8 depending on how the

stingray

option is it may have 455 horsepower or 460 with performance. exhaust where the Grand Sport will come standard with the performance exhaust and will have 460 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque, but these cars are very similar on paper in terms of their power, they have the same transmission options , so in theory you will have the same kind of straight line performance as the Grand Sport, it has a slight advantage simply because of the wider tires at the rear, you can definitely feel when driving it that it feels a little more composed, a little more attached. to the road and definitely more confidence inspiring for any survey when you look at the numbers released by GM on these two cars for ideal scenarios and what they were tested in, they are actually only a tenth of a second different with a slight advantage for the Grand.

Sport, but after driving it I feel like the Grand Sport would actually have a bit more of an edge in real world scenarios simply because of how much more composed it is and the extra traction you get with those wider rear tires and this doesn't even have the optional zo7 package that comes with even stickier tires, so with those I feel like the car would definitely be a little more consistent with launches than a stingray, which would give the driver not necessarily a faster car, but simply more consistent and further. Now, obviously, predictable straight-line performance is not the main concern or focus with the Corvette Grand Sport, which will be more geared toward track capability, so with this car we obviously talked a little bit about wider tires, better brakes, added aerodynamics, better cooling of this car. it's definitely more refined for track use and especially when you compare it to a stripe you have a lot more options here that will allow the car to be much more capable even when you compare it to a z51 stripe if you were to equip a stingray with the z51 package and the magnetic ride control suspension, all the features included in those packages and options come standard on the Grand Sport, it's only about three

grand

or so short of the starting MSRP on a Grand Sport, so at that point you've got I have to ask you if I'm equipping it with these track-focused options, should I probably go ahead and upgrade it and get the wider tires, get upgraded brakes, get improved cooling, get better aerodynamics, you know all the extra features that come on the Grand Sport? versus a z51 and a stingray equipped with magnetic ride control, obviously, that's just food for thought, everyone's different, everyone's scenario is different, you know again.

I mentioned at the beginning of the video how there are '17, '18, and '19 Corvettes floating around. Very well, I could come across well equipped zo sixes that are much less than a great

sport

due to the way they are available, the model year and the incentives involved, so I know there is a lot of uncertainty and a bit of a gray area there . with buying a new Corvette right now but all things being consistent a big sports car is going to be significantly less than a zo6 when you look at apples to apples and obviously you're getting great performance on the track now you're not going to get the same 650 horsepower you get in a zo6 which is what I wanted to talk about when I mentioned the other zo6 I reviewed so I reviewed a completely stock manual zo6 as well as a modified zo6 automatic and I can definitely tell you that those two cars They had a lot more power than the Grand Sport, but from the way I used them in the review and even from the way I daily drive my current Corvette Stingray, it certainly wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.

It wasn't so much that I was bored or disappointed with the Grand Sport; It definitely has a lot of power and just to give you an example, all the potential to see seven Grand Sport when the car was initially announced, it was actually mentioned that at the GM presentation. At the Milford Proving Ground, the c7 Grand Sport was less than a second off the lap time of the c6 zr1, which is really impressive considering the fact that the c6 zr1 was offered until 2013 with a starting MSRP of over $100,000 and almost 200 more horsepower. than the c7 Grand Sport and was a very strong contender in terms of being equipped to perform really well on a track, which shows what kind of innovation they were able to achieve with a much less expensive and much less powerful car.

Being able to use the aerodynamic chassis and suspension tuning, as well as the tire and brake setup, to push this car to the limits of what it's capable of with that level of power and definitely at this price is very impressive as well. that now that we've talked. About some of the Grand Sport's performance capabilities as well as pricing information, I want to shift gears a bit and discuss some of the

owner

ship costs involved with the Grand Sport, which is something I enjoy discussing in my reviews because it's a nice An important factor, especially if you are younger and preparing to buy your first sports car, not many people realize some of the costs related to

owner

ship that can make a big difference to your overall budget, so let's take a look. a look at the tires for I know I've mentioned the Grand Sport's tires so many times throughout this review and the impact they have on the car's performance and capabilities, but unfortunately, although the Grand Sport is a great value and falls in the Kind of a mid-level, these tires don't fall into a mid-level.

These are the most expensive tires on any car I've reviewed, even more expensive than the ACO sixes equipped with the zo7 performance package. These are the same tires you would find on a zo6, but because they are, I guess, a little more versatile tread pattern, Michelin charges a little more for these, not much, but over $1700 for a set of completely new tires on a Grand Sport if you were to continue You're probably leaning a lot towards the car, obviously, you're leaning towards the Michelin Pilot Cup tires, two tires that are still very, very expensive, but they're a little bit less technically, as you can see in the graph I've prepared here showing all the different cars I've tested.

I have checked and what a full set of tires costs, but in case you are interested to know, a Grand Sport will cost you more to replace all four tires than a Dodge Demon more than a zo6 with the zo7 performance package much more than a Mustang gt350, so again, these are extremely expensive tires, but they are worth it because Michelin equips many different sports cars and supercars. They have some of the best tires in the industry so I'm not saying they aren't worth it. It's something you should keep in mind before doing too many burnouts or even taking the car off the track.

I need to understand how much it will cost to put a new game on there. Also, I don't have the number, but I do have the brake pads. They will be the same as the zero sixes, so they could also be expensive, especially with heavy use on the track or driving the car quite hard, and often the next thing we'll talk about is insurance premiums, which is a pretty important question that arises. Whenever you are looking at the price and buying a sports car for me, obviously, this is my quote that I received. I enjoy sharing this, but I want to make sure everyone understands that yours could be completely different depending on your circumstances.

I just converted. 26 years. I have no at-fault accidents or speeding tickets on my record, so for me and my quote in the area where I live it was six hundred and sixty dollars for six months of premium for insurance policies, and that's pretty average. coverage I choose to get a high deductible, but everything else I would say is pretty standard across the board, the coverage doesn't skimp or do an extremely excessive amount of coverage, so again be sure to remember that yours could be completely different, but that it's good. point of reference if you're wondering what a young man's insurance might look like on a car like this and it's actually about the same as what I pay for my Corvette Stingray so I thought it was pretty interesting even though the car What's more It's worth continuing, let's talk a little about the fuel economy of the car, obviously this is not a big concern, but for me the big sports car still falls into a category that some of the potential buyers are very likely to drive into. daily, so fuel economy may be a concern and it's also nice to see this car avoid the gas guzzler tax with 15 City and 25 Highway or a combined fuel economy of 89 gallons will definitely be low, but personally I guarantee my Stingray with the LT1 and is able to get better fuel economy than this for me, that doesn't do it justice.

I think the car is definitely capable of doing better than that. I don't know about that Grand Sport considering it has a little more tread. The drag with those wider tires and more aerodynamic parts will create a little more drag on the car,so that may be accurate for the Grand Sport, but I think with the Stingray it's definitely a little better anyway, so those are just a few. There are a few costs involved with owning a car like this that will make a big difference. in your budget, so to conclude this review guys and give you a quick summary overall.

I am very impressed with the Grand Sport. I think it's a phenomenal value. I think it offers a lot of performance and versatility for buyers, whether they're looking for something that will look cool on weekends at car shows for cruising or want to take it out to the track and experience a little more performance from the car. either way. I don't think it will disappoint. The only complaints I have about the car aren't even really complaints, but just sort of constructive criticism. I feel that for the great sports cars of the future generation it would be good.

I see a slight increase in horsepower to help solidify that middle ground that the car is supposed to represent, so in this example instead of it being 460 and then the jump to the zo6 being 650, maybe between 500 and 550 would be nice , the other thing that caught my attention is something I mentioned in the past in my review of the zo6 and it's just that it's a little harder for me to see as a daily driver. I've mentioned this throughout the video, but the tires are much wider. The very sticky compound on these things picks up rocks like crazy.

I can see where that would get a little old as a daily driver if you had a really good paint protection film installed or something, maybe you could joke about it, but it's definitely an uneasy feeling when you hear all the rocks coming, my car does the same thing, but not as close, since the tires are not as wide, the wider stance creates some new obstacles for city driving than if you were Play daily driving car you'll want to be aware of and obviously, You couldn't lean more towards a stripe if it's something you're going to drive regularly, but again, it's not really something that can be negotiated. switches for me in the Grand Sport.

I would still seriously consider upgrading to one if I didn't have my sights set on the c8 right now, but anyway guys, I hope you enjoyed my review of the 2019 Corvette Grand Sport, definitely let me know. Let me know below in the comments if you have any other questions about the car, anything else you would like to know. I'll do my best to answer it for you, but I really appreciate you seeing it, remember to hit the like button. If you enjoyed this video, thank you so much for watching guys, we'll talk to you next time you have a big day.