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Convertible 2020 Corvette Enters Production, Costs $7,500 More Than Coupe

Delayed time and again over just as many issues, the C8's second body style has finally started rolling off the assembly line according to Corvette Blogger. The sports car from Kentucky, however, is a tad more expensive with the retractable hardtop.
C8 Corvette Convertible 16 photos
Photo: Chevrolet
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To be more precise, we’re dealing with a starting price of $67,495 versus $59,995 for the coupe. Imagine all the options you could get for that difference, including the Z51 performance pack that will be hiked to $5,995 for the 2021 Corvette.

On the other hand, the $7,500 upcharge gets you more than different roof and deck designs. The convertible utilizes no fewer than 6 electric motors to retract the two-piece top in 16 seconds at speeds of up to 30 mph (50 kph), boasting encoders for precise control. The switch from hydraulic to electric motors is also meant to increase reliability, something that General Motors is mostly lacking nowadays.

The sheet-molded composite top is stored in a compartment made from lightweight components and augmented with head shields, a different compartment from the cargo area. A divider window can be power adjusted with the top up or down, optimized to reduce air recirculation as well as wind noise. But most importantly, Team Corvette worked its magic on the aerodynamic front to deliver “identical drag between the coupe and convertible with the top up.” Pretty impressive, isn’t it?

Customers can expect a body-colored roof as standard, but Carbon Flash is also available. The gloss-black finish can be carried over to the nacelles, which are the defining design feature of the convertible over the removable-top coupe version.

Downsides? Well, there are a few that need to be mentioned. Engineers may have tweaked the chassis – springs and dampers included – but the additional weight makes the retractable hardtop slower and not as sharp as the coupe. 102 pounds heavier, to be more precise, working out at 46 kilograms in the metric system.

The open-air model can hit 60 mph in just around 3 seconds, carry on to more than 190 miles per hour, and cover the quarter-mile in less than 12 seconds. Not bad for a Stingray, not bad at all!
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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