The Auto Channel-Sports Car International Magazine

One For The Rest Of Us

Chevorlet has dressed the 'Vette in yet another outfit. Welcome the serious, let's go racing, low buck, no frills Corvette hardtop.

Regular SCI readers will know that after the debut of the fifth-generation Corvette known as the C5, we had some reservations about some areas of the car, and we said so. But time passes, the industry and the magazine have both moved on, and now we have the opportunity for another look at the C5 Corvette with its 1999 clothes on.

As all Corvettisti know, these cars tend to mature at a very slow, deliberate pace over the course of deade or so before they are recreated. The last one endured for 13 years, and it looks like the Corvette team, under major domo Dave Hill, will be on about the same pace as they were with the C4. They came out of the box with the C5 hatchback T-top in 1997, then added the convertible in 1998, and for '99 they have a much more serious model – the hardtop.

But before we get into specifics about the hardtop model, let us detail some of the changes that will be put in place for the other 1999 Corvettes, starting production in July, 1998, and on sale at Chevrolet dealerships in September.

There are several new options and option packages available for 1999, and the most important and interesting of these is the Active Handling System or AHS, first offered as a late- '98 option (see SCI, Feb/Mar '98). AHS combines the functions of a yaw rate sensor, a lateral accelerometer, a steering angle sensor, a master cylinder pressure sensor, and a differential pressure switch, all of which work together with the ABS brakes and the traction control system to apply individual brakes whenever the yaw rate of the car exceeds the steering angle of the wheel. This tells the computer to activate individual brakes until the yaw rate matches the steering angle. In less technical terms it automatically keeps the rear end behind the front end under almost all driving conditions on almost all surfaces.

This yaw-control system is similar in function and layout to those already offered on Mercedes-Benz and BMW models, and includes a maximum-brake force feature that measures the force and rate of attack on the brake pedal to supply full braking power in an emergency, similar to the Mercedes-Benz Brake Assist feature. But AHS also offers three modes of operation: On, off, and competition, which turns off the traction control systems but keeps theactive handling and ABS, for racing, autocross and rally events.

Another new feature brought over to the Corvette from the Pontiac side of the house is an optional head-up display like those used in jet fighters. This is the next generation of HUD from General Motors, and it features speedometer, tachometer, upshift light, coolant temperature, oil pressure, fuel level, and turn signal repeaters projected onto the windshield, where earlier systems projected only the digital speedometer. The further sophistication of the Corvette system adds a "check gauges" warning light and cancel switch for information not displayed, and allows the driver to page through the display: speedometer only; speedometer and one other gauge of the driver's choice; speedometer, tachometer and gauge; speed and tachometer only; or tachometer only. The display is fitted with a height adjuster for tall and short drivers as well as a dimmer switch and a filter for clear viewing in all kinds of ambient light.

Another optional feature that will appeal to drivers on either side of the ergonomic norm scale is a power telescoping steering column feature that combines with the preexisting manual tilt feature to help tailor the steering wheel position to individual sizes and tastes.

And now to the best news: The arrival of the Corvette hardtop, the first fixed-roof Corvette since the last of the legendary Sting Ray Coupes in 1967. Market research told the Corvette team some time ago that the market would not settle for a two-car lineup, just the removable-top glass-hatch coupe and the convertible. The same research said there was a body of buyers out there that wanted a racing-style, no-frills, in-your-face Corvette with a completely closed body that would be useful for various kinds of racing and high-performance work. And, the research said, they were not willing to pay a premium for such a car. Rather, they wanted a rock-bottom price to go along with all the racy bits.

Well, far be it from brand manager Dick Almond and Corvette boss Dave Hill to disappoint the racier customers out there. They created the '99 Corvette hardtop just for them (meaning us). It comes with a large trunk for hauling tools, the same 345 horsepower, 350 foot-pound 5.7-liter V8 as the rest of the family mated only to a 6-speed manual transmission, the Z51 competition suspension system, with its stiffer spring rates, large-diameter stabilizer bars, heavy duty, oversized shock absorbers, and a limited-slip rear axle with a 3.42:1 ratio.

None of the new options we just told you about, the AHS, telescoping column, twilight sentinel, and HUD unit, is available on the stripped-for-action hardtop, and neither are the F45 real-time damping suspension, automatic transmission, memory package, power seats, or sport bucket seats. We thought we should tell you what's not available, because without some of these items available on the hardtop, you may want to choose the coupe or convertible. The hardtop is for serious, spartan players only, 15 feet of fantastic plastic.

You do get a Delco AM/FM cassette system, power windows, a set of manual bucket seats (power driver seat optional), and all the other things that make the Corvette a Corvette. You also get a hardtop coupe body that is a full 12 percent stiffer than either the pop-top coupe or the convertible, and about 90 pounds lighter than the pop-top, both of which contribute to a much more direct feel and even crisper handling than the first two C5 Corvettes offered.

Dave Hill stressed that this is about as far as the Corvette group was willing to go in producing a stripper version for competition and serious street work. He said that under no circumstances will the hardtop be offered with old-style options like radio delete or air conditioning delete, saying that, if the racer wants a car without this stuff, he's going to have to raise that plastic hood and delete them himself. He stressed that, with three models, two transmissions, three suspensions and a load of options already coming out of a single plant, there is already enough manufacturing complexity at Bowling Green without going into delete options.

We only had a day to thrash the new Corvette hardtop, and we were away from home base, down in Indianapolis, when we did, so we found some good farm roads out west of town by Indianapolis Raceway Park, an old haunt of ours. We did our best to put the meter on ten tenths, but ultimately we were thwarted by a series of magnificent thunderstorms. While it was dry, for the first several hours, we figured out very quickly basedon its feel that this would be the Corvette we would buy, given the choice. We don't like sunroofs, T-tops or lift-offs in the first place. Never have, never will. Sooner or later, they will leak water and air, and when you cut holes in the roof, you weaken the structure of the car, every time. The hardtop is made for guys like us.

Aside from those important structural considerations and our personal dislike of open-top coupes, the hardtop felt cozier inside, and more purposeful than its predecessors. The trunk that comes with the hardtop is quite useful in size and shape (although not as big overall as the 24.8 cubic feet available in the hatchback, the hardtop trunk offers more security for valuables, and a great deal more room than the convertible trunk). As to the missing 92 pounds of weight, well, that's awfully hard to detect in a car with a listed curb weight of 3153 pounds (the coupe is listed as 3245 and the convertible at 3246), but we're glad it's gone anyway.

We've driven the new Corvette family with every kind of suspension that's offered, base, F45 adjustable-damping, and Z51, and we can honestly say we prefer the Z51 setup that comes with the hardtop, especially when driving on good road surfaces, away from the Beirut-like potholed streets and roads in Detroit. The base suspension is fine for just driving around on the boulevard, soft and smooth, and the F45 real-time damping setup is too harsh in the stiff setting. As Goldilocks said, this one's just right.

The Z51 package, coupled with the already massive Goodyear EMT tires and 17/18-inch wheel combination, is a really well thought out combination of rates and control. Stiff, yes, but not to the point of chiropractic visits, and it gives the car flat behavior without sideways drift at everything up to and including insane rates of speed on public roads. The giant Goodyear tires are remarkably smooth and quiet on most road surfaces, which is nice, because nothing intrudes on the sound of the big V8 engine, the single most important purchase motivator for Corvette owners.

With the short bubble top, there's no difference in ergonomics between the hardtop and either of the other two cars. There's just as much room in the front compartment, the instruments are still as terrifically easy to read as ever they were, the seats keep you where you're sat, and the view out is good in all directions because the mirrors are well placed and large, and the backlight is generously sized and easier to see through than either the big angled glass of the coupe or the convertible's glass rear window.

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