New toy acquired! Grand Sport pr0n.

[ashmostro]

So in the completely irrational pursuit of more car joy like so many of us are afflicted with here, I have been searching for something that feels more visceral and fun, regardless of what speed I'm going and whether I'm on the track or the street.

I absolutely love my M3; it's fast, handles ridiculously good for what's effectively a midsize sedan, and the DCT is just flawless now that I've flashed it to GTS spec... BUT its fun quotient is tied to the speedo and it is rather heavy for track work (although I tend to embarrass a lot of lighter more capable cars in my class given how planted my F80 is and how I've set her up).

That all said, I've been itching for literally years to get back into a more purpose-oriented manual transmission car. I thought I wanted a Cayman GTS, really badly. Then the four banger came out and everyone raved about its performance. And I drove it, several times, and never came away irrationally wanting to buy it. That's my bar for luxury goods - my HEART should want it, not my head. That's for other stuff like soap and eggs.

I'd driven a Z51 stingray when I was shopping for my next car three years ago and almost pulled the trigger on it, but at the time could only justify one car and landed on the F80 for its broad capabilities, including being a luxurious people hauler. I also passed on the Stingray because I much preferred the widebody of the Z06 but didn't want the LT4 which is great on the street but too much and literally too hot on the track.

Times and life have changed and I decided I wanted to reward myself for working my ass off (14 hour days and 6.5 day weeks are common for me). Went back to the dealerships and started driving cars. And I also realized I wanted a manual tranny. Initially, this knocked the Corvette out of the running as I hated the idea of a narrow-gate 7MT but I began talking to C7 drivers at trackdays and asking them about skipped shifts, etc and they all said you get used to the gates in a day of driving.

When the Grand Sport came out a couple years ago, I remember being totally intrigued. This was the Corvette I'd been dreaming about, but I had just gotten my F80. So I forgot about it for a while.

Fast forward a month ago and I started thinking about it again, after driving and not liking the 718 Cayman GTS at all. I remembered the positive comments about the 7MT on the Grand Sport from DE'ers and went out on a Saturday to drive one, back to back against the much more common 8AT. Spoiler: the 8AT is only good if you leave it alone. And even then it doesn't have an aggressive enough "sport" mode that holds gears longer intelligently like our DCT cars do in D3 mode.

So I found a manual car to drive - it happened to be used, and I fell in love with the 7MT immediately. Thus began my search for the perfect GS for me. In all the searching, calling, and haggling I did on a *national* search, I ended up finding the perfect car for me right near my home after asking for a price match and winning it.

So here she is, a couple days old only. She's a limited edition 2018 Carbon 65 Grand Sport without the Z07 package (so iron brakes rather than CCB). It's called that as it commemorates the 65th anniversary of the Corvette, and it's got carbon EVERYTHING. Inside it has a carbon steering wheel and dash. Outside, the hood insert is exposed carbon, the roof is exposed carbon, and every aero bit from ground effects to intake ducts are exposed carbon. I plan to remove the gaudy decals and have her completely wrapped in PPF head to toe. But this is how she sits right now, fresh off the showroom floor. And lordy lordy she is a peach.

The exterior pics are of my actual car, but the interior shot isn't. I just haven't taken a good interior shot yet.

By direct comparison to my F80, the GS is more mentally engaging, has more grip, lighter steering in Track than the F80 does in Comfort (I don't really like that fact), and the rev-matching downshifts are perfect. The F80 by comparison and oddly feels more raw with my suspension and brake mods, the throttle is WAY more sensitive, and the steering has more feel. I still smile when I use the paddles in full anger and find a stretch of road where the sweet S55 can do its thing. I still love it, and I still think it's the best inline 6 I've ever driven. I'm a lucky guy to have both right now!

[hova00]

Nice! Your GS looks amazing and very unique in that spec.

[IM2C]

A terrible mistake!

OMG, why in the world would you take picture of your awesome new car with garbage containers in the background???

JK, enjoy!

P.S. Those orange reflectors must go. I'm sure you know that.

[ashmostro]

Thanks! I am glad I didn't get the used Z07 GS that I was almost about to buy bc it was 12k less. It was black and just didn't thrill me. This spec does and with toys like these, that's important.

[maniz]

Beautiful. Enjoy!

[5thgear]

Nice!
I came off of a C7 Z06 and just bought a new M4. All fun cars.

[m3rxn]

congrats car looks sweet!

[Aaaaaaaaa]

Jealous of that separate auto rev match button.

[drgmt]

Gorgeous !

[nicknaz]

Congrats OP

Amazing combo of cars

Any feedback on why you passed on the z07 pack? My understanding is that combo of suspension, cup2 and aero is what enabled the car to put down the "hero" laps times in all the reviews.

[F80Moe]

Thats an absolute stunner

Congrats and great choice on the tranny

[ashmostro]

Originally Posted by nicknaz

Congrats OP

Amazing combo of cars

Any feedback on why you passed on the z07 pack? My understanding is that combo of suspension, cup2 and aero is what enabled the car to put down the "hero" laps times in all the reviews.

Thanks, first of all!

Yeah, that’s a fantastic question about the Z07 package. I’ll admit it was one of the harder decisions in this purchase and I went back and forth on it a lot. I was shopping this model against a used GS in the wrong color, but that had the Z07 and cost less. In the end I chose this because the color combo was spot on and I wouldn’t have to spend any $$ on visual mods, which I hate doing from a value perspective. Additionally, there were practical reasons I didn’t go with Z07 despite the other deal:

- The Z07 comes with CCBs and suspension mods, plus aero. The Carbon 65 already comes with most of the aero, but would gain the suspension and brakes

- The CCBs are a huge value on the street, where they last forever and improve handling by being much lighter than stock irons. On a track though, they are known to evaporate fast, like within 11 DE’s they can require replacement at a pretty significant cost. Iron rotors last longer and are cheaper to replace.

- Taking it a step further, if I take the $8k entry price for the CCBs and get a full front and rear Essex AP Racing BBK, it will outperform anything on the market including the CCBs, and be far cheaper to upkeep over years to come. That’s my plan for year two of ownership.

- But what about those stiffer suspension mods? If I get fast enough that the non-Z07 suspension becomes the limiting factor for me, I’d be upgrading to DSC’s controller and perhaps tractive’s adaptive shocks.

- And the final practical reason is the Carbon 65 is rare to begin with, but out of ten or so that I found nationwide, only one came with CCBs (not even Z07 - just the brakes).

And the final, most important reason of all is... I’m no hero! . I will be very pleased with myself if I’m able to find the limits of this car anytime soon. I think that will be a while still.

[swanson]

Congrats. Looks great.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by ashmostro

Thanks, first of all!

Yeah, that’s a fantastic question about the Z07 package. I’ll admit it was one of the harder decisions in this purchase and I went back and forth on it a lot. I was shopping this model against a used GS in the wrong color, but that had the Z07 and cost less. In the end I chose this because the color combo was spot on and I wouldn’t have to spend any $$ on visual mods, which I hate doing from a value perspective. Additionally, there were practical reasons I didn’t go with Z07 despite the other deal:

- The Z07 comes with CCBs and suspension mods, plus aero. The Carbon 65 already comes with most of the aero, but would gain the suspension and brakes

- The CCBs are a huge value on the street, where they last forever and improve handling by being much lighter than stock irons. On a track though, they are known to evaporate fast, like within 11 DE’s they can require replacement at a pretty significant cost. Iron rotors last longer and are cheaper to replace.

- Taking it a step further, if I take the $8k entry price for the CCBs and get a full front and rear Essex AP Racing BBK, it will outperform anything on the market including the CCBs, and be far cheaper to upkeep over years to come. That’s my plan for year two of ownership.

- But what about those stiffer suspension mods? If I get fast enough that the non-Z07 suspension becomes the limiting factor for me, I’d be upgrading to DSC’s controller and perhaps tractive’s adaptive shocks.

- And the final practical reason is the Carbon 65 is rare to begin with, but out of ten or so that I found nationwide, only one came with CCBs (not even Z07 - just the brakes).

And the final, most important reason of all is... I’m no hero! . I will be very pleased with myself if I’m able to find the limits of this car anytime soon. I think that will be a while still.

Thanks for the detailed analysis. Really appreciate it as the GS and z06 are on my mind as a future car.

Agreed that's a hugely capable car as is.

Do you know if the z07 pack comes with additional heat exchanges or ducting to assist with socal summer track day heat?

[ashmostro]

No problem!

No, the heat exchangers are tied to the car model and transmission not the Z07 pack. You do get more aggressive aero but I think that's just for downforce not cooling.

[jc05e46m3]

Originally Posted by ashmostro

Thanks, first of all!

Yeah, that's a fantastic question about the Z07 package. I'll admit it was one of the harder decisions in this purchase and I went back and forth on it a lot. I was shopping this model against a used GS in the wrong color, but that had the Z07 and cost less. In the end I chose this because the color combo was spot on and I wouldn't have to spend any $$ on visual mods, which I hate doing from a value perspective. Additionally, there were practical reasons I didn't go with Z07 despite the other deal:

- The Z07 comes with CCBs and suspension mods, plus aero. The Carbon 65 already comes with most of the aero, but would gain the suspension and brakes

- The CCBs are a huge value on the street, where they last forever and improve handling by being much lighter than stock irons. On a track though, they are known to evaporate fast, like within 11 DE's they can require replacement at a pretty significant cost. Iron rotors last longer and are cheaper to replace.

- Taking it a step further, if I take the $8k entry price for the CCBs and get a full front and rear Essex AP Racing BBK, it will outperform anything on the market including the CCBs, and be far cheaper to upkeep over years to come. That's my plan for year two of ownership.

- But what about those stiffer suspension mods? If I get fast enough that the non-Z07 suspension becomes the limiting factor for me, I'd be upgrading to DSC's controller and perhaps tractive's adaptive shocks.

- And the final practical reason is the Carbon 65 is rare to begin with, but out of ten or so that I found nationwide, only one came with CCBs (not even Z07 - just the brakes).

And the final, most important reason of all is... I'm no hero! . I will be very pleased with myself if I'm able to find the limits of this car anytime soon. I think that will be a while still.

Well spoken.

[ShelJW]

Congrats!

What a great sight to see when you walk outside in the morning!

Enjoy it!

[ashmostro]

Thanks! I still can't believe it's mine.

[F80Dreamer]

Wow that car looks stunning...great spec!!

[fusionchicken]

Damn what a well-written post, congratulations OP and enjoy that GS in good health

[FriskyDingo]

Stunning car. Congrats, and enjoy.

[48Laws]

I like it!