I have. Taken from the AlpHaLuxe.com article that I wrote a counterpoint for:
https://www.alphaluxe.com/2020/04/a...rvette-stingray-new-mid-engine-v8-sports-car/
Counterpoint by Billy Johnson
As a car enthusiast, I was excited to see the Corvette switch to a mid-engine platform since the C7 already had the best drivetrain layout for a front engine car; with the entire engine behind the front wheel centerline and a rear mounted transaxle. To improve on that and open the performance envelope further, going mid-engine was the key.
From behind the wheel, the forward visibility was better than I thought it would be. The fender arches frame the road and convey a very exotic and ‘racey’ feeling to the driver. The rear quarter panels don’t look good from the side mirrors and you can’t see anything out of the back, but the rear-view mirror can display the view from the rear mounted camera making that issue irrelevant.
In the post-Jim Mero world at GM, the C8’s suspension and electronic differential tuning has a lot of room for improvement. It’s too harsh over bumps in track mode, yet does not have enough damping to control body movements in roll or heave, making the car feel floaty when pushed. Rear grip is excellent for putting power down but there’s too much safe understeer, especially when trail-braking. The car is not as ‘flickable’ as the C7 and takes some provoking to get it to rotate.
Tremec now has another DCT that rivals Porsche’s PDK (the other is the GT500) which is miles better than the 8 and 10 speed automatics in previous Vettes. While the transmission is fantastic, the sound and volume of the LT2 is mediocre, except on downshifts. Exhausts will be a common upgrade in these cars.
The C8 has a lot of potential. While a little rough around the edges, there is room for improvement in future models and for the aftermarket industry to address. I wouldn’t be surprised to see many of these at HPDE (High Performance Driver Education) events around the country.
Additionally:
It's great to see the C8 go mid-engine. The only real sub-$100K mid-engine competitor is the Cayman S. It's not as refined (it's hard to beat Porsche there) as the Cayman, but the DCT transmission is almost as good, it has a much better SLA suspension front and rear (unlike the Cayman's struts), and the 495 HP V8 isn't very charismatic, but it has way more power and torque than the Cayman.
I don't really like the Ferrari Enzo-styled B-pillar, and the rear fenders seem a bit awkward. But looks are subjective and the car is growing on me. The build materials are nice inside, and I really like the rear-view camera in the center rear view mirror that solves the rear view issue in supercars.
I hear the car is a completely different animal with the 'track alignment' that calls for -3* of front camber. That's pretty extreme for a street car and I suspect there's just no camber gain in the front suspension geometry.
I'm sure now that GM has had more time to work on the suspension programming, they will improve the lack of precision and 'floppiness' while making the ride less harsh. I'd like to see them dial out some of the static steady-state understeer and tune the E-diff a little better to stabilize the car, the way they do on the ZL1 1LE, ZR1, Z06, SS, etc... Hopefully this will be a flashable update, but if not, they may improve the suspension in the MY2022.
Overall, a low-optioned C8 is a great way to get into a mid-engine car, even if it is slower than a 2019+ GT350 on track
