Inside The Awesome New LS1 V-8
A superb arrangement of analog white-on-black instruments greets the driver, replete with a fantasy-evoking 200-mph speedo, a 7000-rpm tach, and fuel, oil pressure, coolant temp, and voltage gauges all riding in a dioramalike setting that makes them appear to be on different planes. Turn on the key and everything ramps up to full redline tilt in a diagnostic check, while the night visage delivers a better light show than the aurora borealis. Directly beneath the gauges is a digital display for scanning readouts of 12 functions (typical fuel-economy and trip-computer stuff plus a real-time tire-pressure monitoring system for all four tires). After you've read the directions a few times, you probably can get the system to change the messages to Spanish, French, or German, and even defeat the daytime running lights. Dual-zone climate control is offered for the first time in a Corvette, as is a high-output 252-watt Delco/Bose sound system with a 12-disc CD changer.
The cockpit design is definitely driver-oriented, but without a fervent hormone-raging boy-racer look that would cheapen the effect. Benefiting from one of the best alchemy recipes of form-follows-function and generously ladled-in comfort, the C5's interior is far superior to that of any other Corvette.
The C4's pain-in-the-butt, tools-and-temper-required, heavy lift-off roof panel has been banished to the hell-fired damnation it deserved and has been replaced by a lighter, magnesium-framed roof panel that quickly affixes or releases via three latches and can be whisked out of the cargo area by anyone with more upper body strength than a garden slug.
Don't look for a spare tire; there isn't one. Goodyear's Extended Mobility tires are standard and capable of allowing up to 200 miles of highway driving without air. Positive experiences with the optional run-flat tires on the C4 convinced Corvette's engineers that they could do away with the heavy spare tire and jack, and instead use that area for cargo space-a typical example of how the designers worked to make virtually everything better in the '97 Corvette.
From stem to stern, if something was too hard, too cramped, too noisy, too shaky, too cheesy, or too obnoxious on the C4, chances are excellent that it's been fixed on the C5.
Looks are one thing and comfort's another. But how does this beast drive? Twist the ignition key, and the LS1 fires to life with a distinctive tenor: exhaust tuning like that of a Z28 with a tad more bite. On Road Atlanta's twisty, hilly road course, we blithefully turn off the traction control, rev 'er to 3000 rpm, and drop the clutch like a deranged 17-year-old. The big Goodyears erupt into smoke as the first C5 allowed for journalist use rampages out of the pits and onto the racing surface. (Driving more like a sane person later on showed that the LS1/six-speed combination exhibits a slight torque deficit under 2000 rpm; however, the automatic-equipped cars, due to the torque converter's characteristics, are not so affected.)
The Borg-Warner T56 gearbox provides quick and accurate shifts despite being remote controlled by shift rails, and overall feels more precise than the previous car's ZF six-speed. The LS1's power is ready and willing, and by 4500 rpm takes on a dual-intake type of power increase. We accelerate through a fast right-hand turn followed by a brief pull uphill as we pass 90 mph, then up and over, graze the brakes, and settle into an off-camber downhill corner at 75-plus. No push. No twitchiness. No feeling of impending doom. Let's kick 'er up a notch.
Hunkered down into the seat as the cornering loads build, we maraud through the hilly ess-turns with astounding balance, grip, and control. Road Atlanta doesn't have the straightaways to fully explore the car's 172-mph top speed, but we do kiss 135 mph a couple of times on the back stretch.