The Case Against the “BMW Supra” and the Bargain That is the C7
It’s been two years in the making from BMW and Toyota to create the joint venture successor to the Z4 and Toyota’s own legend, the Supra.
It’s going to use Carbon Fiber body panels, cutting edge construction, a 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder, performance hybrid technology, and cost way more than a Stingray Corvette.
With so much technology going into all performance cars, including the Stingray, why does the Corvette come out to be the bargain performance car every time?
It really makes you think about how much you pay for the performance the base Stingray gives you at just under $55,000. You get 455-horsepower, 460-lb-ft-torque, and a zero to sixty time of just 3.8-seconds. Think about that.
At nearly $100,000, the Nissan GT-R produces 542-horsepower, 463-lb-ft-torque, and launches the 3827-pound car to sixty in 2.7-seconds in “R-Mode”.
When you look at the price difference, the performance difference really becomes marginal. Even when you add tariffs, conversions, and taxes, the Corvette Stingray is still a bargain and nowhere close to $100,000.
So, what is it? What makes the Corvette so inexpensive and yet able to turn numbers of cars twice and even three times as much?
You can no longer really say that it is bottom of the basement interior, unsophisticated engine (well, save for the use of OHV) or even build quality as all of those have improved with the C7. So, why do you think GM gets right that others don’t?