Matt Farah Reviews ‘Corvette Forum’ Member’s C8

This Arctic White Z51 2LT C8 with Mag Ride was also the subject of an AlphaLuxe review and photoshoot, and the images are stunning.

When Matt Farah last drove the mid-engine 2020 Corvette on track, he was very impressed with its overall handling and performance. But he also spoke to GM engineers about the C8’s ability to drive comfortably at slow speeds. Specifically, he wasn’t a huge fan of the DCT’s shifting tune. GM assured Farah the pre-production C8 wasn’t on its final trans tune, so Farah decided to wait and drive an actual production C8 before making an official conclusion.

Enter Corvette Forum member KOTYKB, who owns an Arctic White Z51 2LT with Mag Ride that Farah describes as “panda’d out.” It’s not the exact same trim level as Farah’s previous review, but Farah thinks its close enough. He also describes the C8 as one of the “best-riding cars of all time,” sharing the podium with the Rolls Royce Phantom and McLaren 720.

So, how does the C8 perform away from the limit? Did GM, in Farah’s opinion, solve the DCT firmware issues? “They have really smoothed out the gear shifts in the dual-clutch transmission,” he says. In fact, several times over the video’s runtime, Farah can’t help but describe the C8’s smooth shifts. “The upshift, that is very smooth. That’s way smoothed out.”

But not everything has improved versus Farah’s pre-production C8 experience. In particular, he says, “the panel gaps are not good” and recommends GM work on their tolerances and quality control. Interestingly enough, KOYTKB, referred to in the video as Brian K by Farah, is also a Porsche guy who works in the tech sector in the field of quality control, so he too is aware of the issue. Hopefully, GM will step up their game.

Photoshoot & Review

In addition to being the star of Farah’s latest Smoking Tire video, KOTYKB also lent his car to the crew over at AlphaLuxe for a review and photoshoot. Make sure to check out that full review, which I found interesting because the publication took a bit of a point-counterpoint approach, with the first writer gushing over the C8’s successes and its growing fan club —

Returning to LA after begrudgingly departing the Malibu canyons, I took the car for a few laps around Santa Monica and Venice, down crowded streets like Abbott Kinney- voted the “hippest street in America”, and chock-full of shoppers on foot, doing their part to keep the capitalist dream alive.  Never in my days of automotive journalism, despite piloting such eye-catching cars as an 812 Superfast, F40, Bugatti EB110, and a Carrera GT, have I experienced a car that turned quite so many heads, and drew dumbfounded stares from endless onlookers.

And a second writer offering up a few areas where GM could improve the new Corvette —

In the post-Jim Mero world at GM, the C8’s suspension and electronic differential tuning has a lot of room for improvement.  It’s too harsh over bumps in track mode, yet does not have enough damping to control body movements in roll or heave, making the car feel floaty when pushed.  Rear grip is excellent for putting power down but there’s too much safe understeer, especially when trail-braking.  The car is not as ‘flickable’ as the C7 and takes some provoking to get it to rotate.

Still, despite the engaging C8 review, the photograph is even more impressive. Credited to Jester Jungco and Xinzhu Li, click HERE to see all of their masterful work because they photograph the C8 beautifully. (Panel gaps, you say? Who can see panel gaps while carving canyons?)

And make sure to join in the discussion about Farah and AlphaLuxe’s work HERE in the forums.

.