2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray First Drive: You Say You Want A Revolution…

Las Vegas, NV - The word “revolutionary” and its derivatives should not be used lightly, though it does get tossed around quite regularly – the “revolutionary” hair growth product on late-nite TV, for example. “The Revolution” wrestling group? Please. The “Dance Dance Revolution” arcade game? Fun, but not revolutionary.

Revolutions should change things, make you think, upend existing norms - see The Industrial Revolution. They should change the way we think about the keystones we’d always taken for granted.

Like the idea an American sports car should always have the engine mounted up front, with the motive force coming from the back. So when the makers of one of the world’s most popular sports cars kick that assumption straight to the curb, people tend to stand up and take notice. Enter the mid-engined, 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, and it is revolutionary.

Of course, the idea of a mid-engined ‘Vette has been bandied about for quite some time - after all, a mid-engine layout that delivers 50-50 weight distribution front-to-back is a good way to ensure you get the most out of your chassis. It’s why most major racing disciplines use mid-engined cars, and it’s why pretty much every supercar/ hypercar that comes out these days gets that alignment. It just works. It just never happened with the Corvette, though. Until now.

Maybe that’s because the Corvette has always kind of been a bit of a blue-collar sportster. While the lightweight body and powerful V8 motors have helped it be successful both on the road and track, it still had that workaday feel about it. The interiors were long a little rough around the edges and while the last few generations have borrowed infotainment tech from the rest of the Chevrolet lineup, it never seemed the proper fit for the Corvette.

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