Corvette, an All-American sports car

Let's dream for a while!

Imagine a sunny, warm day in the June. The wind is blowing softly to your face. You are sitting in a car parked alongside the beach boulevard. A moment ago you hit a button which lowered the top and surrounded you with the fresh, pleasant smell of the sea. You hit the button in dash, which starts the engine.

The silence is broken with the rumble of an eight-cylinder engine. The horses are waiting to be unleashed. It is the time to move the stick and hit the pedal down. You can feel the incredible power under the hood, as you look at the numbers projected to the windshield. They show the speed, which has reached more than one hundred kilometers per hour in a little bit more than four seconds.

Moments later you approach the mountain range. You cruise along the winding roads, that climb high up to the mountains. The car loves to be driven quickly to the steep curves ahead. The feeling and the grip to the road is incredible. This is the ultimate road trip you will never forget.

And now, back to the real life.

I have always wanted to drive with something more special than a normal 4-door sedan. Being an American car freak, there was an obvious choice - the icon of American sports cars: Corvette. This one is used as a daily cruiser, at least when the weather permits. Convertible version seemed to be a better choice than the targa-top version of Corvette. I had experienced the hassle with the removable targa-top with my old 1977 Corvette C3 and decided to go with the convertible one. By the way, they advertise that it is possible to fit two golf bags in the trunk even when the top is down. In fact, we tried it, and yes, that's true :)

The new six-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters became available just when I was ordering the car. The car which I tried before had a four-speed transmission, and I think that the new six-speed one is a lot better. The transmission has three different modes: "standard" automatic transmission, "sport" mode with quicker shifts, higher shiftpoints (all the way up to the redline until upshift) and a manual mode where you can shift with the paddles on the steering wheel.

The heads-up display (HUD) works perfectly and it has several different modes for street and track use. In track mode it shows (along the speed and rpms of course) lateral G's, oil temps/pressures and so on. In street mode it shows the navigation instructions, radio station information etc. The navigation system is very good and proved itself when we cruised through Germany, Luxemburg and in France. In fact it saved us many times from being lost in the middle of nowhere ;)

The ultimate thrill of that road trip was, of course, the Nürburgring track. 21 kilometers of sharp turns, hills and sudden drops, and of course some straight segments, it is a perfect test for any car. Having very little of experience in track-driving before, the 'ring was something very unique. There is no doubt that the new Corvette is a perfect car for track driving. And there is also one more thing, which became very clear to me: I'll be back.

For me, there is only a one way to feel the thrill of speed: Corvette, with the top down, sun shining and a V8 rumbling.