This is great. This debate shows up on the corvette forums regularly. A LOT of the guys over there like to call it a muscle car because they only appreciate the straight line speed, ignoring that the car has other strengths. Over here on the Rx8 club forums you guys actually get it.

 

^ Post links!

Mawnee I take it you're a current Z06 owner/former RX-8 owner?

 

Typical.

 

Ok so Rx8club has one too.

The only thing muscle about a corvette is the fact that is has excess power that will put an unskilled driver in his place. In the hands of a skilled driver the car is one of the best handling cars in the world. It has the track times and racing wins to prove it.

 

I drive an 01 SVT Cobra, this is in reference to the post about whether the cobra is a muscle car or sports car.
It really depends on what youve done to the car, mine has a fully built suspension, welded subframe, caster camber plates, coilovers, rollbar, strut tower bar, etc... and it handles better than most "sports cars" that I've driven, however there are some cobras with solid axles, 4.0l whipple blowers and 900rwhp, those are muscle cars, it really depends on what you've done to the car
This carries over to the vette, stock I'd say its more of a sports car, but they can be whatever you want

 

Sounds like a nice car!

You make a fantastic point! The car can change a lot depending on which way the owner goes with mods.

Another thing to keep in mind. If your experience with a certain car is based on a ride in an older car, it may be decieving. A 40-20 year old vette obviously wont have nearly the handling of a modern sports car.

 

I can't speak for the feel of them, but you must have missed pretty much every real world test by skilled drivers with those cars. Maybe it feels like the way you described. Clearly, they are more than capable, in terms of handling, in the right hands. If you've driven one and had issues with getting it to handle well, then that was a driver error. Maybe you weren't used to the feeling of the car or something, but real world data shows that they are fast around the track, well beyond what can simply be attributed to the level of power.

 

Anybody that thinks Corvettes aren't sports cars has clearly never been to a NASA event. The bloody things are all over the place and dominate most formats they are legal for. The line between muscle car and sports car gets pretty blurry too when you start talking about cars like the Mustang Boss 302 club racer. It's supposedly a brilliant sports car, despite being built on a chassis most people consider a dedicated straight line racer. Who even knows how you classify a homolugated 4-door sedan like the Evo or STi... sports car? Jumped up econo-box? Japanese muscle car? Labels are meaningless, just how the car performs in it's target venue. The guy up above with a Z28 doing autox for example... I used to own a '94 Z28, so I cannot imagine the suspension mods it would take to get that chassis to handle as mine had the handling qualities of a drunken barn. If you are able to mod the car to perform the way you want though, who cares what people classify it as... more power to you.

 

When was the last time you drove a Corvette? I haven't heard anyone complain about its handling abilities. Interior....now that's a different story. I don't see what's so bad about the interior but that's the common complaint about them.

 

Why are you still debating this?

Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high-performance automobiles.[1] The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines muscle cars as "any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving."[2] Usually, a large V8 engine is fitted in a 2-door, rear wheel drive, family-style mid-size or full-size car designed for four or more passengers. Sold at an affordable price, muscle cars are intended for mainly street use and occasional drag racing.[3][4][5][6] They are distinct from two-seat sports cars and expensive 2+2 GTs intended for high-speed touring and road racing.