2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray Z51 vs. 2014 Nissan GT-R Track Edition

Chevy Corvette vs. Nissan GT-R. It's an argument as old as Gran Turismo.

The bench racing equivalent of wondering who'd win, Sugar Ray Leonard or Mike Tyson, there are a million reasons to hate this comparison: The 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray is punching way above its 460-horsepower weight class. The 545-hp 2014 Nissan GT-R Track Edition, at $116,995, is almost $50,000 more expensive than the Chevy. The C7 Corvette is rear drive. The GT-R is all-wheel drive. The 'Vette has a manual gearbox, while the Nissan shifts itself. The Nissan is a pee-wee football team heavier than the carbon-fiber-intensive 'Vette.

And though all of these things are true, none of them matter.

Both the 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray and the 2014 Nissan GT-R Track Edition are designed to go stupid fast and push the boundaries of technology, performance and style. They're the flagships of their respective brands and engender the type of loyalty only dictators can truly appreciate.

The hearts and minds of America are at stake. This one matters.

The New Deal
When the Nissan GT-R clawed its way into the U.S. market in 2009, it was an instant hit. With 473 hp, all-wheel drive, a high-quality interior and an electronics package designed by Polyphony, the brains behind the Gran Turismo video game series, the car's $70,000 starting price was too good to be true. In 2009, the GT-R wasn't mentioned in the same paragraph as the base Corvette: Its hands were full with the Porsche 911 Turbo and the big-daddy Corvette ZR1.

Fast-forward five model years and the 2014 Nissan GT-R now dumps 545 hp and 463 pound-feet of torque out of the same 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V6, through the same six-speed dual-clutch automated manual and into all four wheels. And after some success against more expensive hardware, Nissan went ahead and jacked up the price.

A base 2014 GT-R stickers at $99,590 while this top-trim Track Edition starts at $116,710. For your extra $17,120, Nissan takes the midlevel Black Edition, throws the rear seats into the trash for lightness, stiffens the suspension, and adds brake cooling ducts and some of the strangest seats we've ever seen. Take note that this "track focused" package doesn't add any power or cooling capacity.

Over the years Nissan has tweaked the ride and handling of the GT-R something serious. The big 255/40ZRF20 front tires don't follow every rut in the road, Comfort mode borders on actual comfort and, at low speeds, the transmission doesn't act like a first-time driver anymore. Sure, it still sounds like a broken slot machine, but at full throttle all is forgotten.

In fact, our brain's synapses were never intended to process this kind of acceleration. From a standstill, 60 mph arrives in 3.2 seconds (2.9 with 1 foot of rollout as on a drag strip). Hold the pedal down for 11.3 seconds and this 3,885-pound "track" GT-R clears the quarter-mile at 120.5 mph. Whoa.

The New Normal
Entire encyclopedias have already been written about the C7, which isn't yet on showroom floors. But if you've forgotten, here are the basics.

The 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray is the new normal for Corvette performance. Though this $69,375 Corvette has the Z51 package (electronic limited slip, dry-sump lubrication, lower gear ratios in 1st to 3rd and additional cooling ducts), its 6.2-liter LT1 V8 is the base engine. The one your grandpa will get. The one your hairdresser will get. The one that, equipped with the dual-mode exhaust, pumps out 460 horses and 465 lb-ft of torque.

Work the controls right and the 3,443-pound C7 springs to 60 in 4.3 seconds (4.1 with rollout) and clears the quarter-mile in 12.4 seconds at 113.7 mph. Even with a 400-pound advantage it can't overcome an 85-horse deficit and the GT-R's seamless shifts.

Corvettes always put down good numbers in a straight line, but the real kicker here is how well the Chevy can get that power to the ground. Our tester came equipped with Chevy's brilliant Magnetic Selective Ride Control with Performance Traction Management. You think the GT-R is a technology powerhouse? Chevy's system is the TI-83 to Nissan's wristwatch calculator. With PTM in Race mode, you can peg the throttle at the apex of any turn and simply mind the steering. PTM applies only enough power to make the 'Vette fast rather than sideways.

The more comfortable you get with the 'Vette, the more permissive you can make the system until it's just you, the road, a big V8, three pedals and four modest contact patches.

Our only real complaint with the base 'Vette's powertrain is the engine's mannerisms. Drop throttle from any engine speed and there's zero engine braking. The revs just hang, both in gear and between gears. It's disconcerting and, like the weak throttle tip-in, an obvious sacrifice to help emissions. We just hope bigger, badder Corvettes of the future don't follow suit.

Daily Driver Duties
Though not necessarily their primary goal, when you start to look at these studs through the lens of a daily user, the Nissan takes a healthy advantage.

By virtue of its slightly sloped traditional three-box-design, the Nissan offers a far superior driving position. Taller drivers in the C7 had to decide between visibility or an upright seating position. Blame the 'Vette's high seat and a startlingly fat windshield header, which blocks large portions of the sight lines. Reclining was the only option for taller drivers.

The Nissan also has an edge in the storage/utility department. It's got a small trunk, but it's big enough for some luggage or a bag of golf clubs, and the deleted rear seats hold groceries just fine. The Stingray, as all recent Corvettes, has a huge, shallow cargo area. Sure, it'll hold two golf bags, but tap the brakes and they slide directly into the driver seat. Groceries? Forget it. Just dump them on the floor and get it over with. There are inconvenient and ineffective nets and straps for those who want to go all 50 Shades of Grey on their haul from the farmers market.

Still a Corvette
Finally, though the 2014 Chevy Corvette is leaps and bounds ahead of the C6, its interior simply isn't as nice as the GT-R's.

Starting the Nissan GT-R is an event. The bright red button is made of heavyweight plastic and the embossed lettering feels substantial beneath your finger. The needles sweep in response to the push and the V6 breathes to life.

Starting the C7 is like turning on a microwave you've never used before. First, you need to find the button. It's hidden behind the steering wheel. Good thing, too, because it's a lame, flat-plastic, not-quite-square thing with all the attention to detail of a shotgun blast. Press it and the LT1 burbles to life, the only confirmation that you did it correctly. A few seconds after the engine awakens, the digital tachometer follows suit.

This screen, with its digital tachometer, redundant digital speedometer (there's an analog gauge to the left) and gear indicator, is more fashion than function. And though various digital tachometers are available, all are too slow to keep up with engine speed in lower gears and the graphics are pure kitsch. Contrast this with Nissan's approach to information delivery: dials with needles. It's the only way the Nissan is simpler than the 'Vette. And it matters.

2nd Place: 2014 Nissan GT-R Track Edition
Straight-line speed and horsepower numbers are fun talking points over peanuts and pints, but aren't the moral of the story here.

The Nissan GT-R has been wrongly accused of being too much like a video game. Because its power delivery is instantaneous and effortless. Because this brand of all-wheel drive solves many problems. Because people love to hate it. But if the GT-R is like a video game, it's not like Gran Turismo. Rather, it's like Call of Duty played in a ramshackle cabin on the outskirts of Kabul. From the kick-in-the pants shifts and the gasping, raucous intake to the NASA-grade g-forces to the subtle vibrations that come through the steering wheel, the GT-R experience is real.

Chuck the GT-R into a corner, any corner, and it sticks through the bend and rockets out the other side. But it never surprises and never actually excites. It's frightening in the same way as commercial air travel. It's the conscious thought of the speed you're traveling and the consequences thereof that raises hairs, not the direct knowledge that you're in control of something special.

With a best lap of 1:25.2 and a top track speed of 110.7 mph, the GT-R is off the Corvette's pace. Blame the desert heat on this summer day all you want, but when push comes to shove, the GT-R gets hot, dials back power and can't keep up with the less powerful, less costly Corvette.

On a cold day, the track results might have been different and that's nobody's fault but Nissan. Excuses can be proffered before the C7 driver. If you can catch him.

1st Place: 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray Z51
We expected this one to be close. It wasn't.

Though it smoked the Corvette in acceleration and in the slalom and offers a better interior, it didn't matter if we were at the track, in a canyon or just driving home; the GT-R simply isn't as exciting as the 'Vette.

The Stingray's steering is outstanding: quick and hyper-pointy with solid feel and precision. This isn't "Corvette good" or "electric steering good," it's no-qualifier exemplary. Backing up that crystalline steering is the aforementioned Magnetic Selective Ride Control and the Stingray's multiple drive modes. Select Touring mode and the C7 rides with all the confidence and composure of a Cadillac. Flick the knob over to Track and it's a tail-happy terrier without a millimeter of slack. You won't find that flexibility in the GT-R.

After a full day of lapping the 1.6-mile Streets of Willow racetrack, our test driver warned, "Though PTM will make you lazy as a driver, it hardly diminishes the reward of driving hard." And reward it does. With PTM set to Race, our man clicked off a 1:24.6-second lap with a peak speed of 112.5 mph: almost 2 mph faster than the GT-R.

But the same PTM that makes us lazy on a racetrack makes us bold in the canyons.

And there's the difference: Even with the safety net of PTM, you always feel responsible for the actions of the C7 in a way you don't with the GT-R. Oversteer? Your fault. Understeer? Your fault. A perfectly clipped apex followed by an astonishing corner exit speed? Yep, your fault.

A New Benchmark
When the Nissan GT-R first showed up on the scene, it occupied a unique position. Nothing offered similar performance, technology, refinement and badassery at the GT-R's price. Not even close.

That domain now belongs to the Stingray. Nothing offers this much refinement, power, performance, tech and driver involvement at this price.

The 2014 Nissan GT-R doesn't lose this one because it's not $47,020 better than the Corvette. It loses because it's not better than the Corvette, period.

The manufacturers provided Edmunds these vehicles for the purposes of evaluation.