2025 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible Review

First launched in 1953, the Chevrolet Corvette has long been the definition of an all-American sports car. Now in its eight generation, the Corvette has never been officially sold in Australia despite our love for V8s but with this new ‘C8’ model, General Motors decided to factory build it in right-hand drive form. This plus its new mid-engined layout has made it more expensive than ever before, so does the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray still make sense as a way of accessing supercar performance for a budget price? Let’s find out.

The Corvette has seen many rivals in its 70+ year history, but these days, high-end sports cars are becoming rarer thanks to the rise of SUVs and EVs. Cars like the Jaguar F-Type are no longer built, and even the Corvette’s smaller Camaro sibling recently bit the dust. Despite the sports car market lessening, GM pushed the C8 through with a new layout, so has it been worth it?

How much does the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette cost to buy?

The 2025 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is priced from $182,000 plus on-road costs for the ‘entry-level’ 2LT coupe, while opting for a convertible with a power folding hard top adds $17,500 to the price. We tested a 3LT Convertible, which sits atop the Stingray lineup and is priced at $214,500 plus on-road costs or roughly $235,000 drive away depending on location. Sitting above the Stingray in the Corvette lineup is the hybrid Corvette E-Ray and the range-topping (for now) Z06.

Corvette Stingray 3LT standard equipment:

• 19-inch front and 20-inch rear alloy wheels
• Dusk-sensing automatic LED exterior lighting
• Remote keyless entry with push button start
• Heated and electric-folding mirrors with memory
• Leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Bucket seats with 8-way electric adjustment and memory for both driver and passenger
• Power lumbar and bolster adjustment
• Suede and leather upholstery
• 12.0-inch digital driver’s display
• 8.0-inch touchscreen
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring
• AM/FM/DAB+ digital radio
• Bluetooth calling and audio streaming
• Dual-zone automatic climate control
• Heated and ventilated seats
• Heated steering wheel
• 14-speaker Bose sound system
• Front lift system
• Launch control

Corvette Stingray standard safety equipment:

• Four airbags
• Forward collision alert
• Low speed auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection
• Lane departure warning
• Lane keep assist
• Auto high beam
• Driver fatigue alert
• Cruise control
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Front and rear cameras
• Alarm

The 2025 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray does not have an ANCAP or a Euro NCAP rating as of yet.

2025 Chevrolet Corvette Stringay colour range:

• Black Metallic
• Riptide Blue (solid)
• Torch Red (solid – fitted to our test car)
• Arctic White
• Hysteria Purple
• Sea Wolf Grey: $2,405
• Sebring Orange: $2,405
• Competition Yellow: $2,405
• Red Mist: $2,405

The closest rival to the Corvette in our opinion is the Porsche 911 Carrera convertible, which is priced from $302,700 plus on-road costs, while a Mercedes-AMG SL63 costs $380,000 +ORC. Both cars need to be optioned – the 911 in particular – to reach the Corvette’s equipment levels, adding significantly to the cost. Because of that and the price advantage before options, the Corvette – although not exactly cheap – presents pretty good value for money. We wish you could option it with adaptive cruise control, however.

How powerful is the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette?

Now using a mid-engined layout for the first time in its history, the Corvette Stingray features a 6.2-litre V8 engine making 369kW of power (at 6,450rpm) and 637Nm of torque (at 5,150rpm) versus 290kW/450Nm for the 911 and 430kW/800Nm for the SL63. Its claimed 0-100km/h sprint time is just 3.4 seconds and it hits a top speed of 310km/h, which is pretty serious performance and even faster than rivals (4.3 for the 911 and 3.6 for the SL63). It’s one of the only new V8 engines available in Australia.

The only available transmission for the Stingray is an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic, which behaves in a typically dopey dual-clutch manner setting off, but is otherwise lightning fast.

The paddle shifters used to shift manually are made from metal and are a joy to use, unlike the gear selector, which is cumbersome to use – especially when doing a three-point turn.

The claimed combined fuel consumption for the Stingray is 13.5L/100km, with CO2 emissions of 293g/km. The Corvette uses minimum 95RON premium unleaded and the fuel tank is 70-litres. The Corvette can driven relatively economically thanks to its cylinder deactivation tech, so on some drives we recorded under 10L/100km but driven in a typically enthusiastic Corvette way pushed our week average up to 15.3L/100km.

What is the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette like to drive?

Based on GM’s ‘Y2XX’ platform, the first mid-engined Corvette Stingray offers up precision and sophistication not seen from this company before – not 911 precise, but definitely involving enough to give the SL63 a run for its money. But like every Corvette before it, the Stingray is insanely liveable every day – it’s comfortable, compliant and really easy to drive. Its cross country ability is fantastic – even in the harder driving modes, it’s not very affected by even larger bumps, it just keeps on thumping.

The Stingray includes multiple driving modes: weather, tour, sport and track as pre-set from factory, while MyMode and Z-Mode are customisable to driver’s tastes. Tour mode is best for every day driving as the adaptive dampers soften nicely to account for our rubbish roads, with sport and track firming everything up for harder driving.

But regardless of the driving mode chosen, the Corvette Stingray is quite sharp – certainly much sharper than you’d expect for a Corvette – and its steering offers great feedback once you get used to the unusual shape of the steering wheel. The stability control is – as you’d expect for GM – well tuned. When activated, it lets you have some slip – which is easy to do – but then reigns it the power before it gets scary.

But as awesome as the handling is, in our opinion, the highlight of the Corvette Stingray is its engine. It sounds wonderful and intoxicating and you really just leave it in sport mode to hear it even further. It’s also very fast – the claimed 0-100km/h is just 3.4 seconds but it feels faster than that. Even at moderate throttle, the Stingray is capable of noticeably pushing you into the seat. While the Corvette has moved to a new mid-engined layout, the engine is refreshingly old school and for that, we love it even more.

How practical is the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette?

As you’d expect for a supercar, the cabin of the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is very driver focused, with a divisive – literally – centre console bridge that gives off an exotic vibe inside. It’s bold and initially a bit intimidating, but you quickly learn its features and after that point, it’s quite easy to use. An immediate example of that is the climate control panel that runs along the centre spine, which initially looks difficult to use but it’s actually fairly intuitive to use and key functions like the auto button are easy to find.

Quality inside the Corvette is better than you’d expect for the brand too, though its – admittedly much more expensive – rivals do feel nicer inside. However, there are plenty of good quality materials inside the Corvette with lovely Nappa leather trim on the seats, leather trimmings on the dashboard and liberal use of suede materials throughout. If there’s anything that lets the side down, it’s the parts sourced from other Chevrolet models like the plasticky window buttons, and the useable but plain touchscreen – plus fit and finish could be improved.

Using the same software as other Chevy models like the Silverado, the 8.0-inch touchscreen features wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and digital radio, though Australian models aren’t available with features like and inbuilt eSIM, live services and satellite navigation – all of which are available in North America. Although plain to look at, the system is breathtakingly easy to use. The Bose sound system is quite bassy but is otherwise pretty good.

Seat comfort in the 3LT we tested was excellent, with seemingly endless ways of adjustment, though rear visibility – especially with the roof up – is pretty terrible. Oh well, it’s a supercar and the mirrors are large and the blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert are quite useful.

As for practicality, the Corvette’s reputation as the practical supercar has suffered slightly with the C8 as its new mid-engined layout has removed the previously large boot of the C7. Instead, there is a reasonable 357-litres of total boot space – but that is now split between the rear (which was designed for a set of golf clubs) and front, which is large enough for a small carry on bag or a few grocery bags. Both the 911 and SL63 are more practical – the Mercedes even has a small rear seat.

What warranty covers the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette?

GM Special Vehicles Australia covers local products with a three-year/100,000km warranty with three years of roadside assistance. The Corvette’s service intervals are once-yearly or every 12,000km, whichever comes first. GMSV does not quote service pricing.

In comparison, Porsche’s warranty just shades GMSV’s at the same three years but to an unlimited distance and roadside assistance for the same period, while Mercedes’ is a five-year/unlimited km coverage with five years of roadside assistance. Porsche also doesn’t quote service pricing, but SL63 buyers can choose a five-year/100,000km service pack for $9,015.

Should I buy a 2025 Chevrolet Corvette?

Overall, if you have the coin and are after such a car, the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is a great purchase. It’s very fast and fun like you’d expect a Corvette to be, but it’s also sophisticated and can be somewhat precise to drive just like you wouldn’t expect. Add in a strong value proposition and an intoxicating noise and really, there isn’t much wrong with the Corvette Stingray.

Of course, though it can be reasonably efficient, the V8’s fuel consumption can be a bit scary and the new mid-engined layout means that it’s not as practical as it used to be. The previous Corvette also looked better to our eyes, and the build quality isn’t up to the standards of admittedly more expensive rivals. But overall, the C8 Corvette Stingray is a car that you just don’t want to stop driving and as supercars go, it’s excellent value for money.