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We are going to get in on the Cyber Monday Deals by offering a special price on our autographed copies of Corvette Special Editions – the best-selling coffee table book dedicated to special and limited editions!

For the next two days, you can save $10 per copy at CorvetteSpecialEditions.com when you use the promo code CM2019 during checkout.

Continue reading CYBER MONDAY: Save $10 on Our Corvette Special Editions Coffee Table Book at Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle.

Sales decreased 4 percent to 8,903 units during the first nine months of 2019.

If you can believe a story posted last week by MotorTrend, the mid-engine Corvette’s starting price below $60,000 really is too good to be true.

MotorTrend has previously reported that the C8 Corvette will see a price increase for the 2021 model year. Now the magazine says a senior GM source tells them that increase would have to be around $20,000 to cover the actual cost of the car, a hike we know won’t be happening to keep customers from revolting.

Continue reading MotorTrend Claims Chevrolet Will Lose Money on Every Sub-$80K C8 Corvette Stingray Sold at Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle.

Though the name might be somewhat of a misnomer.

Bookings are open now.

The Corvette has long been the bad boy of the racetrack, the Bart Simpson of supercars. Rude, loud, cheap, unpredictable, and hard to handle; but fast and fun in its own brash way. Now, the Corvette has finally grown up. The C8 Corvette is more sophisticated, capable, and mature. And recently, we were honored with an exclusive 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Z51 track test at VIRginia International Raceway, driving the 911-beater in street and track alignment settings.

To our pleasant surprise, Chevy also supplied a 2019 C7 Grand Sport, which I consider to be the best-handling of all the C7 variations. At this test, Chevy required that a passenger ride along, and that victim was in fact Corvette lead development engineer Mike Petrucci.

If you’re a follower of MotorTrend, you have heard my complaints about the way the C7 drives at the limit. Or more accurately, the way it drives over the limit of grip so suddenly. The car has the dubious distinction of being one of the only test cars in which I leave the stability control on, albeit in the minimal setting, as insurance against an embarrassing and possibly dangerous spin on my hot laps as a result of its sudden snap power oversteer.

And I spoke my mind. “There’s that monkey-motion in the back, Mike, that’s always been there, and the more power you bolt into this chassis, the worse it gets.” The C7 has always tickled my Spidey sense, especially on power application. Now that the front-engine C7 Corvette is gone, the engineers allow that the transverse leaf springs do some tricky things to the spring rate at the wheels, and further, even have an anti-roll component. I find this all easy to believe, because the car would dance a jig back there. Also, it felt rather soft on track, absorbing quick impacts like the curbing, but with too little low shock-speed control at high road speeds.

2020 Corvette Impressions on Street Alignment Settings

My first laps in the new mid-engine C8 Corvette were on the street alignment. Thrilled, we strap into the upgraded interior, and though the squircle steering wheel is a bit odd, I almost never noticed it. I just let Mike push the buttons for his recommended choice of the many possible modes, asking only that he turn off all autonomy (stability controls); I want to do the driving, thank you. Basically what this meant was Race mode.

Everything you could possibly want to know about the C8 Corvette and its predecessors is at motortrend.com/corvette.

My first impression was joyous. The monkey-motion was gone at last—hooyah! Second was the deliciously instant steering response. It was quick and stable as I carved into a corner, and revealed snappy trailing-throttle oversteer when I released the brake. Both are clearly influences of the mid-engine low polar moment. The next thing I noticed was the C8’s ground-gripping traction as I accelerated off a slow corner, like VIR’s Oak Tree. Wow! It rockets ahead and remains well balanced, even though it feels like it may wheelie!

I found a consistent gradual side-slip in third and fourth gears, exiting faster sweepers. The C8 has more power oversteer at 80 mph than it does at 40. Unusual. The braking was strong and stable with moderate nose dive. There was some isolation, if not the degree of e-pedal numbness I feared, and the brakes were cooled with some really nice Z51 brake ducts. Last, there was no more float, better suspension damping, but not harsh.

2020 Corvette Impressions on Track Alignment Settings

Next, we switched to the track alignment. Chevy showed us the specs, and it simply comes down to much more negative camber, front and rear. The engineers are proud of the increased range of adjustment. And eight degrees of caster, street or track, which is a lot. The advantages of caster are that it creates camber gain when the wheels are turned, which is especially good for tight turns, and a strong self-centering force, for stability and good on-center feel. High caster will also cross-weight a chassis, because the outside wheel swings in an arc upward as the inside wheel swings down. The former and latter of these will typically work to reduce understeer. The effect of the added camber was much-improved grip everywhere, reducing yet not eliminating traits of midcorner understeer and drop-throttle oversteer, and raising speeds with better manners. The basic traits of midcorner understeer and trailing throttle oversteer were still there, just not as much.

Times were 2 to 3 seconds faster with less fall-off and better grip on a long run. Tying this all together was an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission that worked quite well at full chat, completing the performance of a much improved product wearing the Corvette nameplate. Far more than deserving of the title, this fresh offering is a 21st century new chapter, with more room to improve. One step back with the engine is a giant leap forward for the Stingray.

More on the C8 Corvette:

• Track Test: Will the Chevrolet Corvette Z51 in Track Alignment Erase Understeer?
• Corvette vs. 911 HERE
• Corvette First Test HERE
• Why the Corvette is the 2020 MotorTrend Car of the Year
• SO. MUCH. MORE.

The post EXCLUSIVE: C7 vs. C8 Corvette on the Track! Pro Racer Randy Pobst Drives Both appeared first on MotorTrend.

Each week, Criswell Chevrolet’s Mike Furman delivers new Corvette Stingrays, Grand Sports, Z06s and ZR1s to his customers who come from all parts of the country to work with the nation’s top individual Corvette seller.

As it’s Thanksgiving, we here at CorvetteBlogger are very thankful to feature Mike Furman’s new Corvette deliveries each and every week.

Continue reading Corvette Delivery Dispatch with National Corvette Seller Mike Furman for Dec. 1st at Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle.

Photo Credit: ZIP Corvette

Even though yesterday was officially Black Friday, our Corvette sponsors are celebrating all weekend long with some great deals for the Corvette enthusiast in your life, even if that person is you! Check out these great sales from our friends at ACS Composite, Corvette America, Corvette Central, Mid America Motorworks, Spring Mountain, Zip Corvette Parts and Bloomington Gold!

Continue reading Check Out These Hot Black Friday Deals Still Going On from Our Corvette Sponsors at Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle.

Could this have an impact on Walkinshaw's long-lasting relationship with General Motors?

GM share values rebound after 2 consecutive weeks of decline.

Would you rather a pickup truck for christmas, or a puppy?

Hopefully the big guy up North gets the message!

You can browse more of our Corvette comics here!

Source:
JerryKing.com

Related:
Saturday Morning Corvette Comic: It’s That Time of Year When Grown Men Cry
Saturday Morning Corvette Comic: How To Get the Yardwork Done in Record Time
Saturday Morning Corvette Comic: Corvettes on the Brain
Saturday Morning Corvette Comic: Of Course I Love You More Than My Corvette

 

Continue reading Saturday Morning Corvette Comic: Wishing for a New Corvette at Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle.

We don’t know how many hand-raisers there are for the 2021 Mustang Mach-E, Ford’s new electric SUV, or how many have placed a $500 deposit. Ford won’t tell us.

We do know there were about 9,000 interested would-be buyers on November 18, the night it made its global debut at a high-energy event at the Jet Center in Hawthorne, California. For the event, Ford brought in the Detroit Youth Choir that placed second on America’s Got Talent. Also on hand: actor Idris Elba. His father worked at the Ford Dagenham assembly plant in the U.K. for most of his life and Elba worked at the plant for two years. The Mach-E will start arriving in late 2020, and Ford will only make 50,000 units globally in the first model year.

Contrast that with Tesla, which, two days later in a neighboring building in Hawthorne, had the world premiere of the Cybertruck, an electric pickup that is otherworldly in design. Tesla immediately started accepting orders with $100 deposits. Three days later, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was tweeting that he had 200,000 orders for the Cybertruck. The truck is still a minimum of 2-3 years out, depending on the model, and Musk’s timelines are notoriously inaccurate. The $100 deposit is fully refundable, and website glitches resulted in people accidentally ordering a whole fleet of trucks.

Even if the figures are off, and the truck never makes it to production, the buzz around the Tesla Cybertruck was louder by many multiples of decibels.

The contrast is fun, and Tesla and Ford have amplified their differences in a Twitter dual stemming from a Tesla video of the Cybertruck pulling a Ford F-150 pickup in a tug of war.

All of this is a long preamble to some aspects of the Mustang Mach-E—which is a real vehicle and will go into production next year as promised—that you might have missed in last week’s mayhem.

The rear-drive Mach-E has a large motor between the rear axles. Adding a small motor to the front gives it all-wheel-drive capability, and the badging becomes Mach-E 4. Ford claims the base Mach-E with AWD will be faster from 0-60 mph than a Porsche Macan base model. Replacing the small motor up front with one as big as the one in the back creates the performance Mach-E GT. “I’ve driven it. It’s like a rocket ship,” said Executive Chairman Bill Ford, from a building across from Musk’s SpaceX.

There are two battery levels. The flat battery pack of the mid-range will get close to 230 miles of range. Adding a second tier of batteries to the back of the pack (under the rear seats) for the extended range boosts that to about 300 miles of range, and the badging adds an “x.” The figures are estimates; the vehicle has not yet received its EPA certification.

Balance

All versions of the Mach-E are well-balanced. Some are dead on with a 50-50 weight distribution. Depending on if there is a second motor up front, and which size that is, some models are 48-52 or 49-51. Dave Pericak, who left Ford Performance to work on the Mach-E, said it took a lot of work, but their handling meets the bar and they deserve to be called Mustangs. Ron Heiser, chief program engineer, said the weight distribution makes the crossover nicely planted, and it is the best handling utility vehicle in the Ford showroom. “No doubt about it.”

Hands-free highway driving

The hardware is in place for hands-free highway driving in mapped areas, similar to GM’s SuperCruise system that takes over the steering wheel and pedals on the highway, as long as the car can verify that the driver is still paying attention. Ford is still validating its system which will allows hands-free driving as long as the eye-monitoring system verifies that the driver is paying attention and can take over if needed to ensure safety. The system will be capable of making lane changes, as well. The feature won’t be available at launch but will be offered in the first model year.

Material choices

Bill Ford is eco-conscious and a known greenie who still loves performance. So it is no surprise that the Mach-E has standard animal-free upholstery. It feels like leather, but it is not. There are no cloth seats either. But the stereo’s sound bar and speakers are covered in a unique automotive grade cloth instead of the usual choices of plastic or metal.

Phone as key

Ford is not the first to use the phone as a key but it is going further than most to wean drivers off of their key fobs. Yes, there is a backup key fob but it has limited functionality to discourage its use and prompt owners to rely on their smartphone to unlock, warm, and start the car. Don’t worry if your phone dies. Heiser points to the keypad on the side of the car—Ford has offered keypads for years but few people actually use it. But on the Mach-E, the keypad is a backup to get in, by entering a code, if a phone can’t be used. A second, longer code must be entered once inside to confirm identity and start the car. There is a valet mode as well, where the valet gets a temporary code.

Over-the-air updates

After launch, the team will continue to work on the ability to provide over-the-air updates to keep systems current. It won’t go as far as Tesla where you can wake up to software updates and get a sense you have a whole new car. But your phone could be programmed so that as you approach the car, it not only lights up and illuminates a Mustang welcome mat on the ground, but is set to physically open the door so you don’t even need to touch the handle. Ford is also working to be able to boost range over the air in the future as it continues to work to improve efficiency and performance, and tinkers with the calibration of acceleration versus range.

Purse holder

The layout of the console was driven by research in Dearborn, U.K., Germany, and China. One idea was to just have a low, open bin. “We thought we’d hit the holy grail for purse storage,” said Heiser. But most women said they would not put an expensive purse close to the floor; they would rather just toss it on the passenger seat. So the design idea was dropped. The car instead has room for a purse or small bag beneath the central armrest.

Roof design

The design of the roof gives the vehicle a fastback look while ensuring enough headroom for tall rear passengers. Essentially, the design disguises the true height. Heiser says a lot of body engineering went into the roof system and his 6-foot, 3-inch frame fits with a fist and a half of unused headroom. His boss, at 6-foot, 7-inches also had to fit. “The two of us used to scare the heck out of everybody,” Heiser said.

The post Tale of Two Electric Unveils: Tesla Cybertruck and Ford Mustang Mach-E appeared first on MotorTrend.

Looking hot out in the desert sun.

We first took delivery of our 2019 Honda Insight back in January 2019, and despite some long road trips, a trip to the test track, and using it as a surf mobile, we have had almost an entirely trouble-free experience. Somewhere around the 11,000-mile mark on the odometer, the left-hand gauge in the instrument cluster started to ping us with alerts that we were soon due for service. Close to the 12,000-mile mark, that message changed to “past due.”

So we Googled the nearest Honda dealership, which happened to be Scott Robinson Honda in Torrance, California, and used its online booking tool to make an appointment. Very simple. On the service appointment page, you can see what services will be done and how much it should cost. For those wary of getting upsold at the dealership, this is a nice feature, as everything is relatively clearly articulated in plain English, and there appear to be coupons (though not for our particular service.)

We took the first appointment on offer and arrived just after 7:30 a.m., to a clean, buzzing dealership that looked ready to take in a lot of incoming vehicles. Our mileage when we dropped it off: 12,879, or 958 miles past due for the A-1 service, as the gauge helpfully told us. Intake was quick and efficient if a bit impersonal. The service writer took down our Insight’s VIN, checked the odometer, and confirmed our mileage without even looking at us. “OK, the A-1 service should take an hour to 90 minutes. Will you be waiting, or can we drop you off somewhere?” she asked, handing us back some paperwork, eyes glued to her computer. It was only when we told her that we wanted an intermittent dash creak investigated that she looked up, seemingly surprised. We handed the paperwork back, and she took down notes as to the creak’s location (passenger side dashboard, above the glove box) and conditions (when driving over bumpy roads or when the motor-generator kicks on).

“We’re going to need it until 5 p.m. If it’s sooner, we’ll call you,” she said. Like many dealerships, Scott Robinson Honda runs a free customer shuttle, but because our drop-off location was just outside its coverage zone, the dealership offered us a free Lyft ride. It was a new pilot program, the receptionist explained, and soon after we gave her our mobile number, the app on our phone signaled that a ride was on the way.

Honda’s A-1 service is usually the first on the maintenance schedule. A-1 is shorthand: “A” means oil change, and “1” means they’ll check the condition and pressure of the tires and rotate them as needed. Sounds about right for the Insight’s first 12,000 miles.

At approximately 3 p.m., we got the call from the dealership that the car was ready to be picked up. We took another Lyft (not covered by the dealership) and arrived just before closing. Checkout was nearly as quick as drop-off. A different service writer handed over the keys and gave a brief overview of what was done. The A-1 service was performed with no complications or surprises. As for the dash squeak, apparently the mechanics couldn’t quite replicate it, but they did notice that the tires weren’t properly inflated, which they believed to be the problem. Cost for the job, $89.99 (as advertised) with no additional charge for checking the creaky dash. Total cost at checkout: $96.05.

Our Insight had not been washed by the service team, but the interior looked and smelled as if it had received a bit of a wipe-down. We noted that the mileage had not budged, so there was certainly no joyriding—but it also didn’t seem that the technicians drove it much when attempting to diagnose the dash squeak. Could they have driven it under a mile and decided that was enough? Nyeh, maybe. Suspicious of such a quick and easy fix, we drove the car home with the radio off, and over any rough patch of pavement we could find. Not a squeak or a creak from the dash, so maybe it was just underfilled tires. We’ll let you know in our next update.

Read more about our 2019 Honda Insight EX long-termer:

• Arrival: Third Gen’s A Charm?
• Update 1: The 1,100-Mile Road Trip
• 5 Quick Insights on the 2019 Honda Insight
• Update 2: How Prius Performance Compares to Our Hybrid Honda
• Five Insights After Seven Months and 7,000 Miles
• The Safest Hybrid on the Road?

The post 2019 Honda Insight: Oil Change, Tire Rotation, and a Free Lyft Home appeared first on MotorTrend.

The Chevrolet Menlo EV’s indicators should be much more effective.

A battlefield weapon and a rescue vehicle all in one.

Hummer's history is brief, albeit interesting.

He stepped down from his position earlier this month, but has now officially cut ties with the organization.

Photo Credit: jota_automotive / Instagram

Well, if you have to be pulled over for speeding in your new C8 Corvette, it might as well be by another C8, huh?

Keep things in the family, right?

This C8 Corvette, all done up in police department livery, would definitely be up for the task but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how heavy your foot is) it isn’t for real yet.

Continue reading Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do When This C8 Corvette Police Car Comes For You at Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle.