Is There a Case For Buying A C7 Over A C8?
Youtuber Savagegeese takes us one of his signature detailed reviews of the C7 Corvette and pitches a case for buying a C7 instead of a C8.
Automotive YouTuber Savagegeese, real name Mark Sanevski, releases very high detail reviews and overviews of cars. While that alone would be enough reason for us to watch him talk about a C7 Grand Sport, we took even more interest in the underlying tone of this recent review. Is it a wise decision to hold off on buying a C8 and pick up a C7 instead?
Right off the bat, Sanevski reminds us all the C7 is certainly no laughing matter on the racetrack. While the C8 is casting a looming shadow above its older brother in the C7, we simply can’t forget the remarkable feat of engineering that is this 2019 Corvette Grand Sport with a seven-speed manual transmission.
“It has this really smooth power delivery that wants to keep going and going. Everything is smooth on this car,” says Sanevski.
Go back a couple of decades, and nobody would have dared to compare the handling of a Corvette to a Miata. However, Sanevski does precisely that in this video, likening the smooth and nimble handling of the C7 to that of the exceptional handling Japanese roadster. While some Corvette owners may cringe at the comparison, the Miata is often renowned as one of the best handling cars ever to be built.
The detriment to the C7, according to Sanevski, is its usage as a fun-spirited road use car. GM is aware that many Corvettes sold will never see a race track, so some of the track optimizations take a back seat to the creature comforts of daily driving. Thus, Sanevski concludes there isn’t a remarkable middle ground between normal daily driving and track driving. He maintains that you have to be driving it near its limit to fully grasp what makes the C7 so great.
No Page Left Unturned
When we say that Savagegeese produces high detail reviews, we mean it. There is not a single point forgotten in their videos, and this video is certainly no different.
First, the video covers the fact that while the C7 construction may look similar to that of the C5 and C6, it is entirely proprietary. While GM uses the years of production and engineering of the previous platforms, the C7 is its own chassis entirely. Though there is still plenty of old school, the modern tech at hand is what makes it so remarkable.
“I would have never guessed this had leaf springs in terms of suspension. This is a stock car,” says Sanevski.
In essence, they cover that GM maintained the leaf spring suspension setup for cost efficiency. Not running a true Coilover solution allows for lower production costs and more cargo room in the rear. While this design is indeed old school, there is still no denying how well GM has honed it in. Using modern tech like electronic power steering and allowing for camber and caster adjustments from the factory makes the C7 a fully dialable track weapon.
Is a C7 a Wiser Purchase than a C8 As of Now?
The C7 Corvette has cooling issues all the way up to its final production year of 2019. That being said, it came with a handful more problems than it ended with. As is brought up in the video, early C7 Corvettes suffered catastrophic engine failures of the LT1 engines on press cars. Additionally, Sanevski cites the occasionally faulty active fuel management system, which has caused failures to lifters and camshafts in C7 models.
This, though, is precisely his point for arguing in favor of a C7 over a C8. GM has six years of development backing the C7 platform that allowed time to make adjustments and corrections to issues that came up. The C8, however, is such a new platform that there is a chance new owners of first-year models will be facing some turmoil.
“That’s part of the big draw. Reliability, cost to own, and the classic shape and style, and you have a manual transmission. That’s why you would buy this, and that’s something I’m going to tell you the C8 is not going to have for a couple of years until they sort out all the little weird things that they need to do with a modern, mid-engine sports car,” says Sanevski.
Overall, he makes a good point. While we adore the C8 Corvette, it makes sense to hesitate, given the detriments the C7 had at launch. The C8, being such a brave new world of a platform for GM, could result in major unforeseen issues. On the other end of the argument, though, are you going to let what may or may not happen sway your decision? It’s a tough call, but either way, you’re getting a spectacular sports car.
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