And another car, 2017 Mazda MX5 Miata RF mocks Corvette C7 Stingray and C7 Z06 dinosaurs

+Tadge Juechter likes to brag about not just about the evolutionary nature of the newest generation of +General Motors but has the audacity to claim he spurred an outright Corvette development REVOLUTION.

The reality, not the sales pitch and Juechter's bullshit pep talks, however is what determines the fate of any car, making it or breaking it.

As this blog pointed out in the past, there is not a single element of automotive technology included in the new generation of Corvette that is technology advanced or revolutionary.  Instead, the newest generation of Corvette is a sad example of corporate warehouse scavenging, attempting to make already developed technologies (no matter how problematic or unsuitable they may be) fit in the design of the car that supposedly offers a credible alternative not just to Porsche cars but outright exotics as well.

Thus, the newest generation of Corvette recycles the failed AFM technology, the same one that continues to make lives miserable for hundreds thousands of GM pick up trucks and SUVs.  The same corporate mentality forces Corvette buyers to delude themselves into superiority of their corporate 6 or 8-speed overheating and leaking slush boxes instead over DTC transmissions found frequently on alleged inferior offerings from Porsche or BMW.

When Corvette team comes up with original idea (and those thankfully are very few), it ends up in a major cluster fuck for the naive buyers who choose to rely on Juechter's bullshit instead of conducting even a simplest reality check.  The case in point here of course is the truly stupid 7-speed manual tranmission with THREE OVERDRIVE GEARS, the same one that failed to be accepted by the designers and engineers responsible for the upcoming Camaro ZL1.

However, the newest Corvette generation is not just a collection of recycled parts and technologies, it is also an outright dinosaur, stuck with the leaf springs and pushrod engine.  If this was not bad enough, there is also the completely obsolete removable roof panel, a truly puzzling offering the average age of the buyers and their lack of agility and fitness.  The removable roof panel, a staple of Corvette since 1970's and as a single piece design since 1984 is even more puzzling due to the fact that the car can be purchased as a drop top convertible.

The removable top is a true Achilles' heel for Corvette for many reasons, responsible for a serious compromise in roll over protection and chassis rigidity, along with extra weight.  Unlike with the previous generation, a fixed roof version is no longer available.  In addition to the performance aspects, the removable roof panel and the noises and creaks generated by the ancient latching system and ever present flexing can be right down annoying and the roof panel can be easily dropped while removing it or when senile owner forgets to latch the panel, can literally fly off the car.

Of course, due to the lack of true innovation and outright cheapness, the removable roof panel idiocy is there to stay, making the newest Corvette look even more like a generation of dinosaurs.

Although the rest of the automotive world already walked away from removable roof panels  to retractable hard tops or powered roof panels (Porsche 911 Targa),  Corvette continues with the same old shit,  occasionally surprising other drivers on the road with flying roof panels.   The typical bullshit explanation coming from GM why this idiotic system is still there always revolves around CONVENIENCE?, weight savings and supposedly COST SAVINGS passed on the buyers.

The fact that the weight savings and convenience claims are outright bullshit is pretty obvious.  How about those cost savings though?  After all, the newest Corvette pricing starts in the middle 50's and goes up to about $120 grand.  Considering the pushrod engine and lack of DTC, how is this exactly a bargain?

Until now, the lowest priced hard top sports car was Mazda Miata with retractable hard top for about $31k and the only car with power operated removable roof panel, Porsche 911 Targa, with the price tag of about $90k.

However, there is a new offering coming to US: 2017 .Miata RF.  The design feature that sets the Miata RF from all other cars is that it offers a powered removable roof panel, similar to Porsche 911 Targa, offering the buyer option to retract the roof panel without getting out of the car or worrying about remembering about latching the panel in place.

The price tag for Miata RF is about $31 k, according to Mazda.

Thus, while buyers of the new Miata can retract the roof panel, the owners of the Corvettes costing twice, thrice or even four times more still can't...