From the Moon landings to Meta, from IBM to the iPhone, technology over the past 60 years has been all about American pre-eminence. Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk – a roll-call of titans. In robotics, artificial intelligence, communications and space travel, Europe has mostly lagged behind.
So it has been a source of succour for us Europeans that we have led the way in at least one high-profile industry since 1966. Ever since the launch of the Lamborghini Miura, the Brits, Italians and Germans have dominated the world of supercars. While we drive Ferraris, Porsches and Aston Martins, America has to make do with the pick-up truck and the yellow cab. Exactly why the US lags behind like this is a mystery – like the question of America’s awful chocolate and why it tastes of sweetened candle wax. Anyway, whatever the reason, when it comes to supercars, we win.
But now, even this limited hegemony is being threatened. There’s a new contender in town, one that’s not so easily dismissed – a 635bhp V8 hybrid that looks like a stealth fighter and launches like a cruise missile.
[See also: Introducing Spear’s Magazine: Issue 98]
Related
The Chevrolet Corvette has long been America’s symbol of automotive performance, but with its voluptuous, lean-back styling and primitive, front-engined handling, it was never a supercar. First launched in 1953, the Corvette – especially in its 1970s Stingray guise – was like a half-cousin to the classic muscle car, pointy and powerful but otherwise crude.
In the mid-2010s, when the European supercar manufacturers were making strides in carbon fibre and active suspension, the Corvette still had a steel frame and – believe it or not – leaf-sprung rear suspension, as used by horse-carts in the 17th century. Inside, they were awful too – there are plastic lunch boxes with less plasticky interiors than a 1990s Corvette.
Everything changed with the eighth generation, the C8, in 2020. For the first time, Chevrolet repositioned its Corvette Stingray with a mid-engine layout, fundamentally altering its handling, balance and looks. Suddenly it lost that languid cruiser stance and adopted a more purposeful, wedge-shaped attitude to rival the European exotics. True, the engine was still the Chevy ‘small block’, a 6.2-litre pushrod V8 that essentially dates back to 1955, but at least it was now in the right place, behind the driver.
As part of Chevrolet’s push into new markets, the new Corvette was also made available with right-hand drive for the first time in 2021; and now the latest iteration takes things even further. The new E-Ray (as the slightly clumsy name suggests) adds hybrid electrification to the V8 and all-wheel drive. Remember, the Corvette is more than just a car, it’s a cultural icon in America – so a mid-engined, electrified, 4×4, right-hand drive Corvette is like Wendy’s changing its burger recipe after 42 years.
Content from our partners
This radical rethink puts the new E-Ray firmly in European supercar territory in its specification, performance and jaw-dropping kerbside theatre. Resembling a B-2 stealth bomber with its low, wide stance and angular contours, the E-Ray is a startling sight on British roads, especially when specced like our test car, finished in battleship ‘Sea Wolf’ grey and rolling on optional black carbon wheels.
[See also: The best classic car lawyers]
Beneath the skin, the E-Ray’s technical layout is broadly similar to the Lamborghini Revuelto: a big engine driving the back wheels, a small 1.9kWh battery located in the centre tunnel and a 160bhp electric motor on the front axle, giving the car all-wheel drive. Yes, the Lambo is more sophisticated, with multiple motors and a thoroughbred V12, but look at the results: the Revuelto does 0-62mph in 2.5 seconds, the Corvette in 2.7 seconds; and while the Lamborghini costs £450,000, the E-Ray, laughably, is just £153,000. This is modern supercar performance for a third of the price.
Of course, you don’t get Lamborghini levels of luxury inside, but the Corvette’s cabin is also a huge leap forward compared to previous generations. Cheap plastics are now replaced with soft leathers and carbon trim and the seating position is low and supportive. There’s still a touch of American boldness, in the odd, squared-off steering wheel and the cabin’s tall centre console that separates the driver from the passenger, creating a fighter-jet cockpit ambience.
Press the start button and the 6.2-litre V8 comes alive with a deep, mechanical whirr. You can choose Stealth Mode and pull away silently if you wish, using electric drive only, but the EV range is a pitiful five miles – this small-battery hybrid system is definitely designed for performance, not saving the planet.
So instead I start in Tour Mode, and the E-Ray surfs along beautifully, dipping easily into the V8’s 475bhp. At more than 1,900kg this is a heavy car, despite those optional carbon wheels and the standard-fit carbon brakes, but the E-Ray feels composed and comfortable in Tour Mode, its mass controlled by clever, magnetically adjustable dampers. The old cart springs are long gone.
Switch up to Sport or Track Modes, however, and a different character emerges. Track mode instantly sharpens and hardens the car, as the suspension, steering and powertrain stiffen. Now, when you begin to press deeper into the accelerator, you quickly sense the huge power and speed available.
[See also: CEO of ultra high-tech car company Lukas Czinger on 3D printing, AI and Enlightenment]
Like any supercar of this potency, it’s both awe-inspiring and slightly terrifying – and the Corvette certainly doesn’t shy away from drama. Foot pinned to the floor, the thunder of the old-school V8 is suddenly overlaid with a sci-fi-style warp-speed shriek, a synthetic electric sound that’s piped into the cabin to let you know the front axle is fully engaged. With all four wheels working on your speed and trajectory, and with the cabin filled with this extraordinary noise, the E-Ray now has a real brutality about it, and unleashing the combined 635bhp is firmly in the premier league of supercar experiences. Overtaking on rural roads is effortless, as the electric torque fills in when the V8 is at lows revs, giving you a linear, neck-straining catapult down the road.
For a car of its size and power, it feels surprisingly nimble too. It doesn’t quite have the finesse of a Lamborghini or McLaren, and the steering feel is lacking in nuance and texture, but the E-Ray is nevertheless predictable and staggeringly fast, especially on a wet road.
So perhaps the new electrified Corvette can’t quite hit the heights of the best European supercars, but it boasts two major strengths. First, that price – there are BMW saloons that cost more than the E-Ray. And then the everyday usability, with its easy, cruising character (in Tour Mode at least) and the reassurance of that all-wheel drive.
In so many ways, then, it’s still unmistakably American – it’s like a big, brawny GT, wrapped in a jagged wedge, a car you could easily live with, if you don’t mind being the centre of attention. Corvette’s DNA has never been about subtlety.
But the E-Ray combines that American spirit with a raft of impressive technologies and a blistering pace that even cultured Europeans have to admire. The country that conquered the Moon and brought us Silicon Valley has finally worked out how to master a corner.
This article first appeared in Spear’s Magazine Issue 98. Click here to subscribe
