When the tourists are done for the day, the Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray comes out to play. It’s a hybrid like no other.
Too much performance is offered by the Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray to be deployed during daylight hours. It’s too attention-grabbing to utilise it around town, too.
As holidaymakers drag their feet on returning home late into January, it’s even tricky taking a car as powerful, as explosive – the quickest Corvette to date – out onto country roads.
It’s an experience that’s better savoured until you’re far away from the hustle and busy of a city, and in the thick of night – when all other road users have gone to bed.
The Great Ocean Road is held as one of Victoria’s best stretches of bitumen, snaking 240km long as a manmade monument to Australia’s efforts in the First World War.
It begins in earnest just after Anglesea, the roadway sticking tight to the ocean that lies multiple storeys below and cutting inland only when the terrain proved too difficult to build upon.
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Today, it’s a go-to route for caravaners, cyclists, international tourists, and school holidaymakers – making the otherwise racetrack-like stretch of road almost impossible to drive in any sort of spirited fashion.
However, the traffic dies off after sunset, and that’s when the Great Ocean Road is best driven in a supercar like the Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray.
Though our example may be white, there’s something sinister about its presence that makes the C8 Corvette better suited to darkness than daylight.
The sleek profile cuts sharply through the air, the glow-in-the-dark engine bay is pure whimsical delight, and the eye-catching yellow accents stick out like a sore thumb in the black of night.
The Corvette E-Ray is no ordinary machine. The ‘E’ in its name might lead you to believe it’s an electric vehicle, but its mid-mounted engine is merely helped along with a 1.9kWh battery and front-mount electric motor – much like the arrangement you’d find in a Toyota Prius.
Although, where the Prius utilises its electrification to save fuel, this Corvette uses its electric motor to provide more power. A reduction in fuel consumption is a happy coincidence.
It’s faster even than the track-oriented Corvette Z06, sprinting from zero to 100km/h in a scant 2.5 seconds. What’s better, the Corvette E-Ray’s 6.2-litre V8 engine sounds as maniacal as you’d expect from the nameplate. There is no loss of noise or character despite the addition of electrification.
A neat benefit of the electric front-mount motor is the ability to start the car and drive-away under electric power silenty using the ‘Stealth’ mode. It doesn’t last for long – it’s only good for a couple kilometres or until you switch on the air-conditioning; however it provides just enough silence to pull away from your driveway without waking the neighbours in the early hours.
I put this feature to good use as I broke away from my house bound for Lorne as the sun began to set.
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The plan was to stretch the impending sunset as long as possible by travelling westwards, before succumbing to the nightfall and enjoying all the Corvette has to offer along the Great Ocean Road, without the worry of running into traffic along the iconic stretch of tarmac.
It’s relatively boring driving along the Princes Highway towards Winchelsea anyway, which gives me good time to come to terms with the Corvette E-Ray’s interior.
At $275,000 plus on-road costs, you’d hope for some real goodies included inside the cabin. Thankfully, the iconic American manufacturer has improved the experience compared to Corvettes of old.
The twin carbon-backed Competition bucket seats look incredible in their presentation, and have neat aspects such as heating and ventilation, though they lacked comfort for the arduous drive on the freeway.
Uncomfortable seats aside, it’s clear that Chevrolet placed a lot of emphasis on the interior and how it feels. Everything is covered in rich, soft leather that has a fantastic smell, while the suede-effect headlining with integrated contrast stitching is a highlight.
There are real carbon-fibre elements used inside the interior – none of this fake stuff – to liven up the space and it genuinely feels supercar-level special. The level of finish might not come to the same standard as a Ferrari or a McLaren, but there is no doubt that this feels built to a very high standard.
It’s only some of the most inconsequential aspects (such as the shroud around the air-conditioning controls) where the quality falters a bit.
I love the fact that you can simply pull over and pop off the roof for an authentic targa-top experience, though despite being mid-February it was too brisk to attempt as such on this occasion.
As Photographer Ted and I rocketed along the freeway we were pleased that GM’s lauded magnetic damping control in its Touring setting was providing a decent level of comfort and compliance to deal with the pockmarked and potholed freeways west of Melbourne.
The E-Ray did a fair job of staying composed over poorly maintained stretches of bitumen, but there is room to improve the system up to the high-quality expectations provided by of its European rivals.
There are four driving modes to cycle through and change the parameters of the throttle response, adaptive dampers, steering inputs, and even exhaust noise. Plus, there are individual and Z modes that are custom-defined based on driver preference.
That said, the level of performance offered in any one of the modes is eye-widening. Lean into the throttle from standstill, or at speed, and the lightning-quick eight-speed dual-clutch zips down ratios to provide a wallop in your back as the full weight of its 488kW/806Nm outputs are put down to the ground.
Remember those scenes from The Fast and the Furious where the windscreen went blurry when one of the racers used nitrous oxide? That’s what it feels like to go wide open throttle in the Corvette E-Ray.
Shove provided by the additional electric front motor does a lot to help the Corvette move off the line quickly, but there are just some instances where the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tyres come unstuck from a standstill.
Any hesitance that this hybrid-powered Corvette is any less loud or boisterous than its non-hybrid-assisted alternatives is unfounded – this E-Ray is exceptionally loud and characterful.
It’s an instrument that I’m only too happy to play as we descended into Winchelsea and I click the steering wheel paddles to exact rapid (loud) downshifts.
By this point there was still plenty of daylight to play with, so Photographer Ted and I made a beeline to a deserted country road for some happy snaps before jumping back into the car bound for the tight and twisty stretches of road beyond Deans Marsh.
The Corvette E-Ray isn’t a lightweight thing – it’s 1825kg (kerb) whereas its hybrid rival (Ferrari 296 GTB, McLaren Artura) sit around the 1500-1600kg mark – but this kind of terrain is undoubtedly the car’s preferred playground.
As the trees close in on the hard shoulders and begin to form a canopy overhead, the Corvette E-Ray relishes the opportunity to turn a corner in anger and dips the nose almost instinctively into a sharp bend.
Mid-corner bumps do little to upset the Corvette’s resolute body control and the feel from the steering is fantastic in hand.
I made multiple passes up and down the same stretch of road for the photo op and could have done the same thing all evening – the Corvette E-Ray is that fun to drive.
When you’re driving in this manner, the fact that the 6.2-litre engine is assisted by a 119kW/169Nm electric boost is imperceptible.
Keep in mind that this is a hybrid unlike those you’ll find in a run-of-the-mill SUV. Instead, the electric component acts as an attenuator to the petrol engine and the resulting acceleration at full song is savage.
The run down into Lorne is over before we know it as we pull over at the beach just in time to catch sunset.
It’s here that I can appreciate the cool details found on the exterior – the neon-yellow brake calipers aren’t quite to my taste, but the light-up engine bay is pure delight.
Elsewhere, carbon-fibre splitters tie in nicely to the white bodywork and I don’t even mind the body-coloured grilles on the rear bumper, that allow the 6.2-litre V8 to vent heat.
It’s arguably the Corvette’s ‘a-ha’ moment; the point at which the iconic nameplate leapt from muscle car to bonafide supercar status. It certainly looks as such in the metal.
Late in the summer season and during a weeknight, the level of hustle and bustle about Lorne is subdued. It’s why we struggled to find a place open for a bite to eat.
Even so, we’re back in the car before too long and bound back up the coast, this time taking the scenic route along the Great Ocean Road.
To my delight, there was next to no one on the road – the legendary stretch was almost as dead as if it were a closed road. Perfect.
Corner-carving Corvettes might not have been front of mind for the road’s first World War veteran builders a century ago, but there is little doubt that the Great Ocean Road is now one best stretches of tarmac for drivers in the country.
The way the road can go from tight and technical to open and flowing – and then back again – in the space of a few kilometres is the type of variety you see rarely elsewhere.
Of course, the gorgeous views of the open ocean to the south are a highlight. However, we weren’t stopping by to appreciate the serenity on our drive – not only was it near-pitch black, but there was some serious driving to do.
Switch the Corvette from Tour to Track and the car seemingly shimmies with excitement, eager to hit the next bend. The noise inside the cabin also perked up to a dull roar that hit a crescendo as the Corvette came into its power band.
This is a seriously quick car. I’m reminded of the Nissan GT-R (R35) and its rapid point-to-point abilities – the Corvette E-Ray is at least as focused and as sharp.
There is amazing confidence in the way the all-wheel-drive system tackles power delivery through a corner, and even for the tight segments of switchback road, the Corvette E-Ray is unperturbed by changes in road surface or dampness.
Dial everything back down again and the E-Ray’s character settles in an instant. It picks much higher gears, the steering is lighter, and the acceleration is graduated.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a comfortable car to drive daily, but the boring in-land route (beyond Anglesea) back to town was over before I knew it. Small wins such as the 14-speaker Bose sound system, front lift system, and ventilated seats ensure it’s as easy to live with as a supercar can be.
However, as I pulled into my street with the clock nearing midnight, I did wish that the silent Stealth mode could have been activated on the go.
It’s only able to be utilised from start up, not when you’re nearing home once again. For that, sorry neighbours.
The post Chasing sunset in the Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray: Great Ocean Road night run appeared first on Drive.