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A performance car bargain that’s surprisingly practical and easy to live with.

If one car can claim to be America’s sports car, it’s the Chevy Corvette. Now in its seventh generation – and soon to be moving into a whole new era of mid-engined eighth-generation design – it still offers the same breathtaking value and performance that it always has.

Starting at just $56k, even the base car has 455bhp and can top 180mph. But that’s just where things start for Corvette. Add a couple thousand more bucks and you can get the Z51 performance package and/or a convertible roof. The latter doesn’t make a huge amount of sense in cost or weight terms as all Corvettes have removable roof panels as standard.

The Grand Sport is the sweet spot in the range as it features the wider wheels and bodywork and bigger brakes from the supercharged 650bhp Z06 above it, just with the normally aspirated, dry-sump motor. The Z06 was the range topper for the past couple of years. But now the furious $122k LT5-engined 755bhp ZR1 (pictured) has burst into view as the premier Corvette. There couldn’t be a better swansong for the existing generation as it pushes the entire package to its very limits – and beyond.

Driving

What is it like on the road?

Driving a Corvette is always a pleasure, in all weathers. The Chevy engineers have dialed in the chassis to be neutral, the seat and controls position you perfectly to see and feel everything easily, out the windows, on the head up display or on the instruments.

So you can push the car with confidence within just a few miles of getting behind the wheel. Its longish wheelbase improves the ride – especially on the active shocks – and makes turn in feel slightly slow. But that can be compensated for by using the finely weighted throttle. And that’s all in the base model. Push further up the model range and the driving experience goes from good to vivid to interstellar. The sheer acceleration of the ZR1 out of corners and on straights is right up there – and beyond – the very best that Europe has to offer.

Brakes are equally eye-popping, slowing the car even faster than it can accelerate. Auto rev-matched manual and automatic gearboxes are available across the range, with the manual being the most fun but the auto ultimately the fastest way to beat the clock.

On the inside

Layout, finish and space

You know you are in a mass-produced sports car but it all works so well, you don’t care. Bringing big company expertise and purchasing to a sports car like the Corvette allows it to be covered in the latest tech, from hotspots, to CarPlay, to an available performance data recorder which can record any road trip or track session, including your commentary.

The way the seats distribute weight, you can sit in them for hours before any discomfort sets in. The material quality of the interior is good not great, until you get to the higher end models. But there are so many option packages, you can option your way into a more luxurious environment quite easily.

Owning

Running costs and reliability

Here’s where you wouldn’t think the Corvette would not score well, but it does. For all of its aggressive sports car looks, it is a paragon of reliable and flexible performance. The rear luggage area is huge, the car can do 30mpg on long runs thanks to cylinder deactivation and it’s a comfortable car to cruise or commute in. So you really can use it for a lot more than just going for a drive on your favorite roads.

A performance car bargain that’s surprisingly practical and easy to live with

There’s a reason Americans buy more than 20,000 Corvettes every year – it is a performance car bargain. But it’s also much more than that. Away from the stopwatch and checkered flag, it is also a surprisingly practical and easy to live with car that could easily be used and enjoyed as a daily driver.