Corvette C8’s Trunk Space Doesn’t Size Up to the C7
The most significant change Chevrolet made with the Chevy C8 Corvette was moving the engine from in front of the passenger seat to behind it. This new mid-engine design has been considered a revolutionary game-changer and has received a lot of hype. While the power and performance are what you would expect from Corvette, other aspects of the C8 are not great. Corvette has had difficulty meeting production demands, and critics have noted that the C8 tends to understeer, and the brake-by-wire system does not provide as much feedback as other performance-based cars. Additionally, trunk space is limited due to the new engine location and does not measure up to previous generations, like the C7.
The Chevy Corvette C8
The Chevy Corvette C8 packs a 6.2-liter V8 engine that puts out 490 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque. If you choose the Z51 package with the dual-mode performance exhaust, you get 495 hp. The Z51 package also adds more aggressive brakes and summer tires. Only one transmission is available, an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic, which is also a first for Corvette. As far as speed, the C8s 0-60 mph time is an impressive 2.8 seconds, and the top speed is reported to be 184 mph. Of course, typical of a supercar, the EPA fuel economy ratings are not great, with 15 city mpg and 27 highway mpg.
Inside, it is as tricked out as you would expect. It has a 12-inch reconfigurable gauge display, as well as an 8-inch touchscreen for Chevrolet’s Infotainment Plus 3 system, which includes Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and a 4G mobile hotspot. The C8 has two trunk areas, one behind the engine and one in front of the passenger seat. The latter primarily stores the roof when it is removed but can also store other cargo. According to Chevrolet, the rear trunk can fit two sets of golf clubs.
The Chevy Corvette C7
The Chevy Corvette C7, which debuted in 2013, also has a 6.2-liter V8 engine, but unlike the C8, there are also two supercharged options in addition to the base engine. The base engine puts out 455 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque, with a 0-60 mph time of 3.8 seconds. The two supercharged engine options include the Z06, which puts out 650 hp and 650 lb-ft torque, and the ZR1, which puts out a whopping 755 hp and 715 lb-ft torque. A seven-speed manual transmission is standard, but you can also choose an eight-speed automatic. The EPA fuel economy ratings are about the same as the C8 but slightly lower at 15 city mpg and 25 highway mpg.
Big difference in trunk space
According to GM Authority, one of the things they didn’t like about the C8 was the reduced trunk space compared to the C7. Even with two trunks, the amount of usable space in the C8 is less than in the C7. The C8 has 12.6 cubic feet of cargo space, compared to the C7, which has 15 cubic feet. In tests that GM Authority did, they fit two carry-on bags, an enormous sports bag stuffed with hockey gear, and two hockey sticks, without the hockey sticks intruding into the passenger seats. For the C8, they were only able to fit the two carry-on bags.
So, the Corvette C8 has cargo space for a quick weekend trip but has lost the hatchback-like versatility the Corvette C7 has. Even though the C8 only lost about two cubic feet of cargo space, the separation of the trunks to accommodate the rear engine divided the usable cargo space into two separate spaces, losing the functionality offered by one large trunk. Of course, you probably are not buying a Corvette to take a cross-country road trip.
