Taking the 2020 Corvette Stingray on the Track for the First Time | MotorWeek First Drive

motorWeek is made possible by Thai Rak calm and rockauto.com. We've finally had some serious

time

in the

2020

Corvette along the shores of Lake Mead and around the curves of Spring Mountain Raceway in Nevada, let's just say this right up front, this isn't your daddy's Corvette and that's a good thing, It still has the familiar Corvette swagger, but now it's less of a heavyweight boxer and more of a light on its wheels, MMA fighter, the naturally aspirated 6.2-liter pushrod v8 sits right behind your head and sends 495 horsepower to the rear wheels through a new 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission from zero to 60 is accelerated in just under three seconds.

The cabin is well equipped with excellent fit and materials, but a little cramped for larger

drive

rs and very lonely for the passenger whose role is apparently to shut up, hold on and not touch anything. The shape is impressive from the

first

glance and the fighter jet's stance can easily be mistaken for a Ferrari or Clarin. Quiet and smooth on the highway, tight and precise on the back roads with enough V8. He frowns when you kick him, this latest bet is a joy to

drive

anywhere. What is immediately evident when you drive the car is that by moving it rearward, it changes the entire dynamic of how the car handles rear weight. end gets more bite the center of gravity at the driver's hip lets you feel the car turn around Previous Corvette owners may find the handling unfamiliar at

first

with a natural tendency toward understeer, but there's plenty of power available to turn the rear end along with responsive steering grippy brakes and finally finesse fourth generation magnetic ride control is available with the z51 handling package and makes a big difference in how quickly the car reacts.

In short, a

track

star is born. It's not a supercar yet, but it's a bargain for a performance car. in production now and soon on sale for just under $60k and we'll have more first impressions soon at motor week.