Frustrating wait for new Chevrolet Corvette owners

Local enthusiasts are sweating on the arrival of this American motoring icon later this year, but there’s a surprise in store for local buyers.

Chevrolet will artificially limit the power of the new Corvette when it reaches Australia because owners can’t be trusted to read its manual.

Most new cars have a recommended run-in procedure asking owners to handle cars carefully for the first few hundred kilometres, gently bedding in fresh engine components before accessing peak performance.

General Motors isn’t convinced Corvette customers have the self-control to do so, or that they won’t read the manual at all.

The 2020 Corvette Stingray reaches local dealerships later this year.

Speaking to the Detroit Free Press, General Motors engineer Mike Kociba says “people were really rolling the dice when they opened up the engine too soon 10 or 20 years ago”, so Chevrolet temporarily restricts the car’s performance.

New Corvette customers are limited to a fraction of its 365kW/630Nm outputs until the car has completed more than 500 miles, or 804 kilometres, of low-power running.

The Corvette Stingray has power to challenge European supercars.

That wait could frustrate new owners of one of the most-anticipated cars this year.

As the first Corvette to be built in right-hand-drive and sold officially in local showrooms, the Corvette is the spiritual successor to Holden’s V8-powered heroes and the foundation of General Motors’ rebirth in Australia.

The new Corvette is rumoured to cost less than $200,000 on local turf.

Set to arrive in late this year, the “C8” Corvette will touch down more than two years after its American debut, and six years after General Motors executives promised Australians would continue to have access to V8-powered muscle cars.

The eighth-generation Chevrolet Corvette is packed with technology.

The new machine has a mid-mounted engine and dual-clutch transmission similar to European supercars such as Ferrari’s F8 Tributo.

Local specifications, prices and an exact arrival date have not been confirmed by GMSV, the car’s local importer.

Originally published as Frustrating wait for new Chevrolet Corvette owners