Sometimes you just need to leave the kids with their grandparents or a babysitter for a day and get out of the house. When you leave home, will you be feeling like the talk of the town or be left in the dust? We drove the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray last week and found out:

Exterior:

Seams and creases mimic lines of a stylized ray and manage to still be reminiscent of previous ‘rays. The car’s low-slung, wide aggressive stance screams power while its aerodynamic curves, air intakes and quad exhaust are all about performance. A carbon fiber, targa-style top comes standard on the coupe and adds to the allure of this classic American sports car.

Handling:

The new Stingray is all sports car, and it drives like one. Put the pedal down and you get instant thrust pushing you down the road. Point the car in a direction and it goes where you point it.

The wheel communicated road feel without jarring or causing an uncomfortable ride.

The optional 8-speed automatic transmission provided smooth seamless acceleration. Its dual clutch setup means there’s no sacrificing performance—it’s actually faster 0-60 than the manual, even using launch control—and the manual mode with wheel-mounted paddle shifters means you never have to sacrifice control.

With the turn of a console-mounted dial the Stingray switches between five driver modes (Weather, Eco, Tour, Sport, and Track) which electronically calibrate 12 performance variables to customize your ride. We spent most of our time in Sport and Tour mode, and would have been comfortable driving the pock marked urban streets we were on for a lot longer than did.

Seating/Storage:

The Stingray is a two-seater coupe. The seats are designed to keep you in place, which they do even with rapid acceleration. Side and seat bolsters are firm enough to hold you still on the twists and turns of the road, but soft enough to not cause you to feel trapped.

An all day road trip would likely get uncomfortable after a while and require some stretch breaks, but a few hours in the seat would be manageable.

Storage was about what you expect from this type vehicle- almost nonexistent. With the roof intact, there may have been enough room for a couple of small day bags or an overnight bag. With the targa panel stowed under the hatch you can squeeze in a purse or a laptop bag.

Infotainment:

The Stingray comes standard with Chevrolet’s MyLink system which is controlled by a retractable 8-inch touchscreen as well as steering wheel, voice, and hand gesture recognition control options. Navigation, audio, and third party music streaming services can be accessed through the touchscreen.

The LED instrument cluster and driver information screens are customizable and are available with one of the best heads-up displays (HUD) we have experienced. The HUD is equally customizable allowing for speedometer, tachometer, and even performance information befitting a track day. The LED screens and HUD are also bright enough we had no trouble reading or navigating with the roof open in bright sunshine.

The Stingray also comes standard with GM’s 4G LTE connection through OnStar making your car a hotspot.

The Drive:

The Stingray was a beauty to drive. There was the power and speed aspect that were certainly addictive, but the word that kept coming to mind was smooth. We drove a course through some narrow city streets the public works folks have apparently forgotten about. The ride was still smooth enough to not elicit complaints, even from the passenger seat where the joy of the drive rarely conceals such issues like it does in the left hand seat. Tour mode dampened rough surfaces enough to make the Stingray a worthy daily driver, but was communicative enough to not make you feel as if you were wallowing along in Grandma’s car.

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top image courtesy of Chevrolet