Depends on what you want in a car.
A corvette handles like an old fiat 500 and they're not much of a cornering car as Max Papis himself stated several times (after crashing testing 'vettes @90km\h on wet roads.

The rx8 is not that fast on straights but keeps high speeds while turning.
Pick the testing video of the corvette zr and the classic rx8 one and you will see what i mean. The difference is in the straights while turning speeds are pretty similar (at times the rx8 being faster).

 

Depends on what you want in a car.
A corvette handles like an old fiat 500 and they're not much of a cornering car


Ouch, this is from someone who has not driven one.

 

I have, but i drove several other cars without leafsprings and they handle in a very different way.
Moreover, a mastodontic engine is not needed for that power. Big engine = more weight!
Good weight is usually the one on the back of a car, every kg off the nose is an advantage but apparently american car makers don't understand that

 

Handles like a Fiat and and not good at cornering ...............................Okay ......

 

Wow. OP hasn't posted in this POS thread in over a week and yet people are still responding with inane takes. OP never even said WHICH Vette he's looking at.

Hopefully when we're done here some people can tell me if I should get a Bugatti, a Viper ACR, a Yugo, or the R3. I'm torn.

 

ACR

 

chill! A little anger management might be in order. I agree, I owned an 8 but both are excellent vehicles which make the OP's decision a tough one. Oh yeah, I guess the torsion bar suspension in my Porsche is just as out of place as the transverse leaf springs are in the Vette. Also, with the same 50/50 weight distribution only weighing a couple hundred pounds more having that nice aluminum small block giving me 30mpg on the road is bad too? I can appreciate the value of both.

 

get the Yugo, it would fit you. Just answering your inane take. Save your click next time and don't respond. Remember it is a forum

 

i didn't mean to sound rude or whatever but you know, here in europe we have a bit of a different car culture.
I don't own the new 'vette but i tried on the track with some other supercars since there is where i spend most of my time.
I have another car as well as the rx8 and it was built here in Italy with a mid engine, that's why some kind of comparison seems weird to me: the 'vette is a gt2 and doesn't share the same track class as the rx8, yet the rx8 with half of the power etc handles way better (in my opinion, that's for sure!). The only problem being the lack of power.
Another point where you've mistaken me is the Fiat comparison. Old fiat 500 used to have leafsprings and that's it, i didn't mean they handle the same way!
We're on the same path with the small block. I love small yet powerful engines the most.
Something i can say about your porsche is the position of the engine, i don't actually know how to translate it but we call it "a sbalzo", places behind the rear axle.
Every carrera i drove (993, 996,997) was brilliant and i loved the way you actually had to slam it into the turns, hoping to get out of them straight!
But that's a big OT and i don't want to get into it since the OP really needs to choose between two very different cars!

 

Well i don't own a corvette exactly my father owns a chevy SSR turbo cause hes a truck fanatic so he had to get the sport truck which uses a corvette engine. I've driven it quite a bit and i say if your comparing the rx8 to a corvette its all about preference. I recently got an rx8 and i would definitely take it over the corvette. Cheaper 4 seater and will probably take less time to maintain than a vette.

 

so somehow here you have driven a base 08 vette?

if not your posts are a bunch of blah blah blah.. btw, what is your fixation with leaf springs??

beers

 

i did drive both the '07 c6 and z06 on the track but never on the road
My fixation with leaf springs is due to the fact that you don't always have perfect roads and they don't behave well on irregulare surfaces for what i know and have felt under my ****
But again we are into the preferences. I would definitely stick to the rx8 over the corvette for the way it handles on the road and tracks where i drive (Italy, so very windy roads), if i were to be driving all day long on long highways etc i would probably buy another car.

 

People people.

We are all missing the point here. Corvettes are ugly, and I wouldn't be caught dead driving one. So who gives a **** about power and handling :D

 

All the old guys around here have Vettes. After they have their Harley tumble, they sell the hog and buy a white belt, white shoes and a Vette.

Automatic tranny of course - I've never seen one with a standard.....

Hey you kids!! Get off my grass!!


S

 

and you know i have driven the 08 base... and i might buy a new car.. just for the gas mileage!!!!

it does not suck!!!!

beers

 

if the gas mileage is a matter of choice then go for the one that drinks less.
But for the use i do of my car a c06 would definitely be a downgrade.
Well, the rx8 (considering the small mods i have as well as the stock cars) is pretty fast and fun to drive on the track if you like grip driving.
The corvette reminds me of my old ferrari. Very fun to drive indeed but i pain in your back when it comes to going fast. You know you're going fast even if you know how you enter every turn without knowing how to get out of it.
I don't like losing grip on every exit and then rely everything to the power and tq i've got. I'd rather enter fast and exit fast.
But that's only my preference and if i'm answering with this long and boring stuff is just to help this guy choose the car that he will enjoy more.

 

so you really did not read the first post in this thread..

you have not driven a 08 base or a 08 at all. so commenting on a past version is kinda missing the point for a op that is not around..

beers

 

Touchè, but i didn't think there were differences between the '07 and the '08 'vettes especially because chevrolette sells daewoo cars here and you need to import the corvettes, without having assistance after it. The z06 also costs around 100.000€ here, a bit too much =)

 

well,

that shows you dont know much about what you are talking about.. and the 07 and 08 are not that different..

but maybe do a google search. stop talking out of your ***!

deawoow, wtf.

silly idea. maybe you put your location in you user cp.. then maybe it would be simple to figure you out.

beers

 

Well, according to my point of view, if the '07 and 08 models don't differ much my opinion is pretty valid. Anyway this argument is pretty sterile since we're discussing about opinions. I personally love cornering cars as stated before and i don't know how you like to drive so it comes to nothing when taking conclusions.

As for my location i don't think it is polite to doubt where i come from. btw feel free to pm me with your ideas if you want, i don't feel like this is the place to continue this off topic i created.

 

my guess is you are in italy. but why is that so hard?

and the 07 and 08 do differ. but where you are and what you claim fogs that..

so lets get back to the handles like a fiat... should we judge the fiat by the last one that was in the usa? cuzz that answer is going to suck for you!!!

btw, i like to drive to and from work.

or on a track.. one more than the other..

beers

 

Oh my god, I better shoot myself now. I'm trying to figure out where I fit in. I have a Gixxr 1100 and my Harley, My Vette is a manual (so is my Jetta GLI) with that terrible z51 suspension since my back is still ok. The only white shoes I have are New Balance running shoes. being on the north side of 50 and am quite competitive with the younger guys when autocrossing. Except when it is raining then the Subaru's hand me my a$$. Maybe I need to try the belt. HAPPY FRIDAY

 

This makes more sense
Import prices and the value exchange make the corvette as expensive as other good european cars, killing the price convenience you have.
The rx8 itself is sold for 37000€ (we only have the full optional 231cv one) and this might help to understand my point of view.
Fiat cars are just daily drivers, some of them claim to have good engines but so claims VW on the golf gti.
But if you consider the leaf springs a good suspension is up to you, i personally belive that the they might work on a perfectly plain surface.
The fiat handling was due to the fact that both the 'vette and the fiat 500 share the leaf springs. that's it. Maybe i didn't express me that well and i excuse myself for that but english is not my mother language.
Is it better if i say that they share the same suspension method\design?

We also have different ages, not that it matters on the track or while driving but needs in life tend to change with time and so do our opinions!

 

Nice comparison.. At least find a car with the same price range, then we'll talk.. But nowadays, I see too many Corvettes driving around.. Most of them are chicks for some reason.. Well, at least the ones here in Miami.. Yes, off-topic.

 

I'm tired of the vette bashing. Anyone who says it does not handle as well as the 8 does not know enough about vettes. They consistantly beat porsches around the track (car and driver lapped VIR in a base z51 faster than the 997 turbo, and it was a pre-08 model vetted.). I love the 8, but at least acknowledge that the c6 is one of the best performing track cars you can buy, period.