Supra vs C8 Corvette

[justbake]

I keep hearing that, but many of the things that changed don't seem to have anything to do with the new mid-engine layout.

Also, for the record, although the Corvette has always kind of been perceived as a pensioner's car, I've actually liked the way it looked since I was a kid. I was really sad to see them move even further away from the round tail lights and go full Camaro in this iteration of the car. A lot of people who I've talked to about the car have praised it by saying things like "You almost can't even tell that it's a Corvette!" or "It almost looks like an exotic!" I guess that's a good thing to some, but to me it felt like it had lost a lot of its quintessential "Corvetteness" in an effort to fit in with the cool kids.

To be fair, round lights wouldn't look right with all the C8's aggressive angles.

Sponsored

 

[s219]

I keep hearing that, but many of the things that changed don't seem to have anything to do with the new mid-engine layout.

The cab-forward layout is the biggest factor driven by mid-engine, and from there the styling can't help but resemble mid engine Ferrari, NSX, etc. There is only so much that can vary if you want the majority of the powertrain to be in front of the rear axle. It's one of those basic packaging realities that you can see by sorting traditional vehicle configurations into various bins using scaling and similarity. Everybody puts their own styling cues on top of the vehicle configuration, but abstracted they all fall into certain bins based on engine and drive layout. Only truly novel configurations defy that type of sorting.

Corvette could have gone with a more rounded look to be unique (old school actually) but that would be a departure from their own corporate design themes that were established with other models and the C7. So when I look at the C8 it seems like an obvious design job that is the result of taking their previous/existing themes and moving them to a mid engine layout. Resemblance to other brands and models is a combination of the packaging realities of the configuration and styling trends.

 

[Supra Dupra]

To be fair, round lights wouldn't look right with all the C8's aggressive angles.

There are ways that they could've made it work. For example, see the image I've included of a way it could've been done with the C7.

The cab-forward layout is the biggest factor driven by mid-engine, and from there the styling can't help but resemble mid engine Ferrari, NSX, etc. There is only so much that can vary if you want the majority of the powertrain to be in front of the rear axle. It's one of those basic packaging realities that you can see by sorting traditional vehicle configurations into various bins using scaling and similarity. Everybody puts their own styling cues on top of the vehicle configuration, but abstracted they all fall into certain bins based on engine and drive layout. Only truly novel configurations defy that type of sorting.

Corvette could have gone with a more rounded look to be unique (old school actually) but that would be a departure from their own corporate design themes that were established with other models and the C7. So when I look at the C8 it seems like an obvious design job that is the result of taking their previous/existing themes and moving them to a mid engine layout. Resemblance to other brands and models is a combination of the packaging realities of the configuration and styling trends.

To a degree that is true, but some liberties were taken with the new design that moved it even further away from the historical Corvette design. In any event, it's all subjective. Just as people hate the MKV for using BMW parts or not looking more like the FT-1, I'm not as big of a fan of the C8 because (to me) it looks like a 458+Camaro mashup. I don't think the MKV is a perfect or superior car or anything like that - I just personally like it more. If someone likes the C8 more, great - different people can like different cars for different reasons. ;-)

 

[Mk5nut]

Supra, because tax rates for big engines are horrible in where i live. They both will probably come, but one will probably exceed 100k$, the other won't get affected

 

[tedan628]

must say that c8 looks dope tho in black..not a fan in bright color of c8

 

[Toyotawild]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.autoblog.com/amp/2019/08/28/chevy-corvette-c8-quarter-mile-0-to-60/

 

[Toyotawild]

Some more info. 11.3 in the 1/4 would be impressive. The braking distance 115ft and lateral g's .97 don't impress.

 

[DesmoSD]

If this is the C8 Z06 with a flat-plane-crank twin turbo V8, sign me up.

 

[IceAge]

I think there should be a poll to have both since I sure will that’s for sure. But just two different vehicles which I feel you can’t compare the American Muscle versus the art of performance pleasure and quality.

 

[dvq]

I finally ended up seeing the Supra in person and then the C8 in person. Immediately got my deposit back for the Supra and placed a $5K deposit on the C8 @msrp. The Supra simply lacks the presence of the C8. It just isn’t there for me looks wise.

 

[Supra Dupra]

It’s always interesting how different peoples’ tastes can be. I already had the Supra at the time, but after seeing the C8 in person in a parking lot a while ago it affirmed to me that I made the right decision (for me) because the C8 simply had too much “presence” (in the sense that there’s just so much going on on that car and it looks too “busy”). Either way, glad that you’re going to be getting one of these cars because the better that both do sales wise the longer that entry-level sports cars in general will hopefully continue to be produced.

 

[DesmoSD]

It’s always interesting how different peoples’ tastes can be. I already had the Supra at the time, but after seeing the C8 in person in a parking lot a while ago it affirmed to me that I made the right decision (for me) because the C8 simply had too much “presence” (in the sense that there’s just so much going on on that car and it looks too “busy”). Either way, glad that you’re going to be getting one of these cars because the better that both do sales wise the longer that entry-level sports cars in general will hopefully continue to be produced.

When I saw the Supra, red LE at the dealership, there wasn't anything new as it looked the same in the pics and video reviews. The whole, "pics don't do justice" didn't have any meaning because I analyzed most of the exterior. The Supra did look smaller then I anticipated but wasn't too surprised since it was a 2 seater, the previous Z4 coupes and 370Z's.

I really need to see the C8 but it's not anywhere in SoCal. What part of the car looks busy to you?

 

[Supra Dupra]

It’s hard to describe but the front of it just has so many lines and creases and there’s a lot going on. The back had looked okay in pictures (I hadn’t been a fan of the styling since I first saw it as it looked Camaro-ish) but after seeing it in person the back end (especially the spoiler) almost looked cheap in real life. I didn’t really get to see the interior (as it was in a parking lot and not a show room and I didn’t want to look like a burglar / weirdo peeking into someone’s vehicle) so I can really only speak to the outside of the vehicle; from pictures the interior looks really nice, although after seeing the back end of the car I’m afraid that lower trims of it would suffer the same cheap look on the interior if they’re not real leather and are plastic or something else instead.

 

[dvq]

It’s always interesting how different peoples’ tastes can be. I already had the Supra at the time, but after seeing the C8 in person in a parking lot a while ago it affirmed to me that I made the right decision (for me) because the C8 simply had too much “presence” (in the sense that there’s just so much going on on that car and it looks too “busy”). Either way, glad that you’re going to be getting one of these cars because the better that both do sales wise the longer that entry-level sports cars in general will hopefully continue to be produced.

I like what the Supra offers in terms of performance, just not looks. Like you, I'm just glad we have a choice.

The one thing I will add is the dealer attitude towards the Supra vs the C8 -- even in the Bay Area -- two high volume dealers are are committed to MSRP while nobody within 200 miles of the Bay Area has anything less than a 7K markup on a premium 3.0 -- the markup situation was really off-putting. That isn't particularly Toyota's fault but more of the dealers here.

 

[dvq]

I really need to see the C8 but it's not anywhere in SoCal.

You missed your chance unfortunately, all the socal showings were in July and August and there were a ton of them. The only ones left are NorCal. You'll likely have to wait until your dealers have one for a minute.

Sponsored