At the same time, the C6 does not purport to be near as practical as your average family sedan. For example, Chevrolet warns that the Corvette can't go through your local car wash-it sits too low and the tires are too wide. The company also says not to be alarmed when the front air dam scrapes on the slightest of bumps (they're not kidding). And of course, the car will only seat two humans-though we've found an 80-pound Labrador can enjoy the cargo area very much.
"We," you say? That's right, you're looking at GMHTP's new Monterey Red Metallic 2006 Corvette project car! We decided the time was right to pick up a Vette of our own and find out for ourselves just what all the fuss is about-and to push the limits of the C6 platform's true performance capabilities.
Specially ordered from Great American Chevrolet in Hackensack, N.J., our grand total sticker price came out to $46,535 (including the obligatory $800 destination charge). Only two option boxes were checked, and both were cosmetic in nature: wheels and paint. High-end items like OnStar, auto-dimming mirrors, and redundant audio controls were foregone in the interest of price tag savings. In fact, our vehicle doesn't even have the one thing nearly every Vette off the assembly line seems to: the $1,695 Z51 performance package. It's certainly possible to spec a Corvette coupe to the hilt if you please (memory seats, power wheel tilt/telescope, "head-up" display, magnetic selective ride control, and so on); though you'll be riding in the lap of luxury, you'll also be looking at upwards of 58 grand. We'll take our base model-which is still relatively well-equipped-and keep the wallet a little fatter.
Even without the Z51's sticker rubber and lower gear ratios, our bone-stock C6 blasted a 12.53 at 113.5 mph baseline at our local venue (Englishtown, N.J.). That's with a 1.99 60-ft and no powershifting, so this sucker is really putting some power to the ground-346 rwhp and 341 rwtq to be exact, as tested on East Coast Supercharging's Dynojet 248. | 
The three-spoke steering wheel is new for 2006 and carries into 2007, as do more advanced air bags. With the attention to detail and superb fit and finish evident in the Corvette interior, it's clear that GM wants the driver to know he's at the helm of one of the highest-quality sports cars on the road. We would have sprung for the Cashmere interior color but that would have required a step up to the $1,495.00 2LT package-and we can do without its luggage shade and adjustable lumbar seats (the base model's are pretty darn supportive). | 
You can see we've elected to shift our own tranny by choosing the world-class six-speed manual. (The new-for-2006 six-speed paddle shift was a temptation, but it's still basically an automatic, and we were worried any first-year teething problems might rear their ugly heads during the extreme testing we'll be doing with this car.) Had we waited for the 2007 model, we would have been able to enjoy a larger glove box, available two-tone seats, and an improved key fob. No big loss in our minds. |