2017 Corvette
The original Corvette Grand Sports stalked racetracks in the 1960s, but the name went dormant until it was revived in 1996 for the final year of the C4-generation Corvette. With a 30-hp bump over stock and the wider wheels and tires of the mighty ZR-1-and the bulging fenders to match-that Grand Sport also sported a pair of fender hash stripes like those on the original race car, and it established the blueprint for production Grand Sport models going forward. For 2010, Chevrolet created another Grand Sport around the sixth-generation Corvette using the suspension and wider rolling stock from the Z06. And now the seventh-generation Corvette gains a Grand Sport option this summer for the 2017 model year.
Indeed, the 2017 Corvette Grand Sport adopts the strategy of borrowing suspension components and wider wheels and tires from a burlier variant and mixing them with the standard V-8 engine option. Just as the C6 Grand Sport got fat fenders, wider wheels and tires, and a sportier suspension tune designed to offer Corvette Z06-levels of handling in a more affordable package, so, too, does the C7 variant.
Wider is Better
Chevrolet bolts to the '17 Grand Sport the current Z06's cooling systems, wider rear fenders, and a look-alike grille. The 19-inch front and 20-inch rear wheels wear Z06-fitment 285/30 and 335/25 Michelin Pilot Super Sport rubber. The regular Corvette's optional Magnetic Ride Control adjustable dampers come standard, as do specially tuned anti-roll bars and front and rear transverse composite leaf springs. The GS's brakes are in-betweeners, with 14-inch front rotors and 13.4-inch rears being larger than the Corvette Stingray's (even those on the optional Z51 performance package) but smaller than those on the Z06. Brembo six-piston calipers squeeze the front rotors, while four-piston units clamp the rears. Finally, the Stingray Z51's electronically controlled rear differential is standard.
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Source: Alexander Stoklosa, Car & Driver