Comfort & Convenience Though performance is the 2005 Chevrolet Corvette’s reason for being, comfort and convenience are also important. On today’s urban street grids, drivers looking for fun often must slog through plenty of gridlock to reach the back roads on which the Corvette shines.

Though performance is the 2005 Chevrolet Corvette’s reason for being, comfort and convenience are also critical to success. On today’s urban street grids, drivers looking for fun often must slog through plenty of gridlock to reach the back roads on which the Corvette shines, and nobody wants to be uncomfortable while sitting in traffic. Sadly, however, it seems as though more attention was paid to this kind of driver than the enthusiast – at least inside the cabin.

For instance, the Corvette’s seats are wonderfully soft yet supportive, with multiple power adjustments which allows them to be tailored to a variety of body types for perfect bolstering. And the steering wheel tilts and telescopes to ensure a proper driving position. Yet designers chose hard plastic for the lower door panel trim. Hello? The Corvette is meant for hard charging, which naturally means that the driver will brace legs on the door panel and the center console.

In the new Corvette, the pod containing the power window controls is placed right where a left knee will brace for hard corners, resulting in pain with each fast right-hander. Likewise, the center console and transmission tunnel are encased in hard plastic, which creaks and flexes under the pressure of a braced right leg. We cannot imagine that this trim is going to age well, and should serve as a constant source of interior squeaks over time.

Entry and exit, for the less limber, is not easy, especially on hills or in close quarters such as a packed parking lot. Sticky vinyl seat bolsters grab at your clothing, making the situation worse. But given that the Corvette is a sports car, this should surprise nobody. Neither should the excessively high liftover height into the trunk be unexpected. Loading requires that cargo be lifted waist high on a tall person, and passed across a nine-inch swath of painted bodywork into the trunk, placing strain on your back. Pack light. Plus, the lid requires a significant slam to lock. But there are two trunk lights, twin under-floor storage compartments, and a handy cargo net to help make the best of things.

Further discomfort comes when the top is down on a cool day. Even with the side windows raised, the cabin is drafty. Super-hot seat warmer settings help, but the dual-zone automatic climate control system seems unable to pump enough warm air through the center vents to ward off the chill. Bring a turtleneck sweater for drives with elevation changes or sunset cruises.

One way Chevrolet has tried to make the Corvette more comforting is by including Keyless Access as standard equipment, which allows the driver to unlock and start the car without removing the key fob from a pocket or purse. Trouble is, men are the Corvette’s primary buyers, and they already have enough stuff in their pockets. Men wind up carrying the key fob in their hands, and then toss it into the cupholder after getting into the Corvette, taking up some of the valuable storage space inside the car. Why isn’t there some kind of dedicated slot for the fob, like in the Infiniti M luxury sedan?

During our daylong California cruise, we slid the cupholder lid closed to keep the fob from flinging itself about the cabin during aggressive driving, and wound up forgetting it was in there while making a pit-stop at a Circle K convenience store. Anyone could have helped themselves to the car while we were inside. Give us a regular key, please. It stores nicely in the ignition slot, and we don’t forget to take it with us when visiting the little boy’s room. And be sure to include keyholes on both doors and the trunk lid so that when the remote’s battery dies we can still open things up.