2011 Corvette GS
by Jim Prueter January 2011

2011 Corvette GS: Incredibly Fast – Amazingly Practical

The Chevrolet Corvette is a genuine American icon, an institution, and a pretty good car. 

Over the years, the popularity of the Corvette has risen and fallen like the Bay of Fundy tides thanks to lack of performance in the 70s and 80s, pitiful build quality in the 90s, and enough unyielding scorn over the cheesy interiors right up to present day.

Still, “Vette” enthusiasts throughout the generations have always been forgiving, defensive, and right up there with Harley owners when it comes to brand loyalty. Drive a foreign-built sports car like Porsche, BMW, or Jaguar? Not a chance.

But recently, Corvette sales have fallen on hard times thanks to a recessionary economy, 10 percent unemployment, record-level home foreclosures, and gasoline prices north of $3 per gallon. Factory cash rebate incentives are the norm.

Yet, when it comes to testing cars, few, if any, create a greater sense of anticipation for this journalist than being scheduled for a week behind the wheel of a new Corvette. There is always room on my calendar to plug a Vette into the rotation, a vehicle that never disappoints.

This week our tester is the awesome Corvette Grand Sport convertible, a Corvette that fills the space between the pricier, higher-performing Z06 and the base Vette.

To know exactly what comprises a Grand Sport, it’s worth a minute to mention that a Grand Sport Corvette is really a reintroduction of a moniker that first arrived on the scene back in 1963, and again as a limited edition in 1996, along with a telltale front fender treatment. 

The first Grand Sport was the brainchild of Corvette Chief Engineer Zora Arkus Duntov, who was determined to put an end to the humiliating losses Chevrolet had suffered for Sebring and Le Mans at the hands of Carol Shelby and his Ford Cobras. 

Duntov envisioned the Grand Sport to be the ultimate Corvette, a tremendously powerful, lightweight factory racer with 550 horsepower designed to blow the doors off the racing Cobras, Ferraris, and Ford GTs.

After the prototypes had proven their mettle — and metal — 125 production street beasts were to be unleashed. But it never happened.

When they learned of Duntov’s secret program, the Chevrolet boardroom put a stop to the car's construction — but they couldn't stop the five Grand Sports already built. And neither could the competition. From 1963 to 1967, the cars tore up the racetracks. And even after that, they continued to see duty and put up an excellent showing at races around the country and even overseas.

Interestingly, all five of the original Grand Sport Corvettes still exist to this day in the hands of a few very serious Corvette collectors.

Chevrolet reintroduced a limited edition of 1,000 Grand Sports in 1996 as a tribute to the five lightweight racecars. These 1996 editions were nothing more than name. All were painted an exclusive Admiral Blue Metallic, with a white racing stripe, and red hash marks on the front left fender. Black aluminum wheels, rear fender flares, and perforated leather seats completed the package with no performance or suspension changes over the base Corvette.

For the 2010 model year, Chevrolet again brought back the Grand Sport and continues it for 2011. So what exactly comprises the “new” Grand Sport?

To begin, designers and engineers took a standard base Corvette and refitted it with wider fenders front and rear. They added a functional splitter up front and a spoiler adorns the rear. The package also includes a set of unique five-spoke alloy wheels, 18 inches up front, 19 inches in back. Front wheels are 1 inch wider and rear wheels are 2 inches wider on the base model. Shocks, springs, and stabilizer bars have been modified for a stiffer, better-handling suspension, and the Grand Sport uses the same brakes included on the Z06. 

Consistent with previous Grand Sport models, stylists added “gilled” fender vents. But that’s just the aesthetics. While the Grand Sport model uses the same 430-horsepower, 6.3-liter V8 engine, it’s also available with an optional six-speed automatic transmission, unavailable in the higher performance Z06.

Chevrolet says that up to 70 percent of Corvette buyers opt for the automatic equipped cars, making the Grand Sport a more compelling choice. 

However, there are compelling reasons to go with the six-speed manual transmission, which comes with additional Z06 performance upgrades, such as a dry sump oil system and a differential cooler. These enhancements require the engine in the stick-shift Grand Sport (like the bigger engines in the Z06 and ZR1) to be built by hand. Also standard with the stick is a "launch control" feature that uses the car's electronic systems to help keep the tires from spinning and the rear end from fishtailing during rapid acceleration.

The Grand Sport starts at $54,790 with a hardtop and $58,600 with a convertible top. That's more than the regular Corvette, which starts at $48,950 or $53,600 with a convertible top. But it's 20 grand less than 505-horsepower Z06, which only comes as a fixed hardtop with a manual shifter and starts at $74,305. It's also half the price of a super-fast 638-horsepower Corvette ZR1, which starts at $111,100.

Our test Grand Sport was a well-equipped convertible that included the optional premium package Bose system, power telescoping steering wheel, heated seats, a six-way power passenger seat, Bluetooth interface, and a power convertible top. The Grand Sport package costs about $6,000 more than the base price. The optional Grand Sport heritage package ($1,195) features two-tone leather seats with embroidered logo seat headrests and silver fender stripes on a Jetstream blue metallic finish ($850 extra).

Other options on our test car included navigation ($1,795), the six-speed paddle shift automatic transmission ($1,250), and dual-mode performance exhausts ($1,195), which give an additional six horsepower and a terrific throaty growl that alone is worth the extra cost.

By the numbers, our Grand Sport is incredibly fast — zero to 60 mph in 4 seconds, covering the standing quarter mile in a mere 12.5 seconds. The top speed exceeds 200 mph on the salt flats of Utah. That’s an incredible amount of power for the money, untouched by anything else in this price range.

Our test drive included a trip from Phoenix to Las Vegas and back. While we were never tempted to turn highway 93 into a dry lake bed, it’s sufficient to say passing power was never a white-knuckled experience.

For 2011, the Grand Sport is offered in the same colors available as the base Corvette. Hash marks on the front fenders are optional and available in a choice of four colors. Magnetic Ride Control is now available and includes Goodyear F1 Supercar Gen 2 tires with the manual transmission. Models with the navigation system add a USB port and input jack to the audio system. Contrasting-color headlamp housings are newly available in gray, black, or silver.

Standard safety gear includes front- and side-impact airbags, traction and stability control, antilock brakes, and a theft deterrent system. It has not been crash tested as of this writing.

While I don’t share the same unwavering loyalty as Corvette enthusiasts, I am no less impressed with the car. It is so addictive to drive and, as mentioned earlier, nothing on four wheels comes close for the price.