2010 Chevy Corvette - Test Drive

As we've noted before, this latest GS is not an all-new model but rather a canny mash-up of existing parts, some of which were appropriated from the uplevel Z06. The key ingredients include the track-ready suspension and cooling hardware from the old Z51 Performance Package (which the GS effectively replaces), a set of Z06-spec brakes with silver calipers, and a fiberglass facsimile of the Z06's largely carbon-fiber body treatment. Curiously, the dual front-fender hash marks, considered by many (including us) to be central to the Grand Sport mystique, do not come standard but are instead bundled with two-tone seats and logo headrests as part of the $1,195 Grand Sport Heritage Package. At least the package includes stripes for both sides of the car, as opposed to the portside-only treatment employed on the original GS racers and the '96 production model.

Fortunately, a lack of forward thrust has never been a problem for the LS3 Vette, as evidenced by the 12.3-second quarter-mile dash (at 115 mph) our automatic GS convertible recorded at Bradenton Motorsports Park. Even more impressive, this feat of dragstrip heroism was accomplished by simply dropping the gear selector into Sport mode, tromping the throttle, and allowing the car to upshift itself just shy of the 6,600-rpm redline. Never before has it been this easy to extract max speed from such a ferociously quick automobile.

The six-speed auto's paddle-shift feature remains an amusing diversion on the street, but its slow-witted responses and lack of a computer-override mode only underscore the need for a sequential or clutchless-manual option. Our Jetstream Blue test car also suffered from late-opening butterflies in the NPP exhaust system, resulting in a whisper-quiet engine note under heavy acceleration followed by a brief flatulent blat as the flapper valves swung open just before the upshift. This so annoyed one writer from another magazine that he resorted to yanking the fuse for the system (helpfully labeled "Exhaust Mod" on the fuse block) to lock the valves in permanent party mode.

These minor gripes aside, the Grand Sport is, like all current Corvettes, hugely entertaining to drive, with immense power reserves, seemingly limitless grip, and a tolerably compliant ride. Ours was also an attention magnet nonpareil, eliciting even more admiring glances and prompting more gas-station interlocutions than the preproduction Z06 we hosted back in late 2005. Not that we spent much time at the pump: The GS 'vert averaged a respectable 23 mpg over the course of its stay, no small feat given the, ahem, "enthusiastic" driving habits of our staff.