CHEV CORVETTE ORDER BOOKS OPEN

General Motors Specialty Vehicles announced on 9 June that orders for the new Chevrolet C8 Corvette have opened for Australia and New Zealand, ahead of the first deliveries of the factory right-hand drive coupe and convertible before the end of 2021.

With the order books open, pricing for the full range to be offered in Australia and New Zealand through General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) dealers has also been revealed, including the special ‘Carbon Edition’.

In GMSV’s initial release on the Corvette back in March, a price for the Carbon Edition had not been listed, but this now been revealed. The coupe-only Carbon Edition is priced at $189,990 (+ ORCs), making it the most expensive Corvette variant available in a local lineup that’ll start at $144,990 (+ ORCs).

The Carbon Edition will also be the most exclusive, with only one to be allocated per GMSV dealer – that’s a total of just 55 (TBC) for Australia and 7 for New Zealand.

What sets the Carbon Edition apart from the 3LT Corvette coupe it’s based on is a carbon fibre trim package for the interior and engine bay, as well as a carbon fibre roof. Trident wheels with machined faces and ‘colour-coded’ brake calipers are part of this package, too, along with a numbered Carbon Edition build plaque and “welcome pack” for each purchaser.

Although the proliferation of carbon fibre suggests it’ll be a little lighter, the Carbon Edition offers no performance advantages over the other Corvette grades, as it’s powered by the same naturally-aspirated 6.2-litre V8, producing a listed 369kW and 637Nm, driving the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission and producing a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time under 3.0 seconds.

For now, there is no manual transmission option for the C8 Corvette, nor upgrades like a supercharger or turbo, but these may be offered in the future as Z06 and ZR1 variants. There’s even rumours of a fully-electric drivetrain in the future.

There is, however, a Z51 Performance Pack that’ll be standard on all Australian- and New Zealand-delivered C8 Corvette coupes and convertibles, including the Carbon Edition.

As previously reported, the Z51 Performance Pack includes a heavy-duty cooling system and dual-mode performance exhaust, electronic LSD, performance rear axle ratio, larger Brembo brakes, performance suspension with Magnetic Ride Control, a front splitter and rear spoiler.

Front Lift, another standard feature on locally-delivered Corvettes, uses the adaptive suspension to raise the front end of the vehicle by almost 5cm at low speeds to clear speed bumps, driveway entries and other minor obstacles.

While unchanged in most respects from C8 Corvettes that have already been released in North America as 2021 vehicles, all Australian and NZ-delivered Corvettes will be plated as 2022 models.