Citroen C5 Aircross vs Chevrolet Corvette

What's the difference?

So, what did my family think about the Citroen C5 Aircross Sport?

I love how it looks and its updated safety list. It’s fairly spacious inside and has a great boot space but it’s lacking a lot of family-orientated practicality in the back seat. The lack of individual storage and amenities is noticeable when you have a kid or two but even as an adult, not having a cupholder for your coffee/drink on a trip feels odd.

The multimedia system and reversing camera need to be improved, too. Overall, it will suit a small family which is out of the baby stage but can’t yet justify upgrading to a larger SUV. It gets a 6.5/10 from my family. 

The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is truly a supercar offering outstanding dynamics for a lot less money being asked by European rivals - just make sure it's not your only car for those times when you're in a hurry.

The facelifted model sees a sportier front with the grille redesigned to highlight the double chevron badge.

The bonnet curves around the badge, as do the two long LED strip lights that connect the headlights. The bonnet also sports new divots that give it a gruffer edge.

The wide profile at the rear and new three-pronged tail-lights create some interest.

The black plastic moulding that runs along the base of the car could look unfashionable on a lighter colour but on our blue paintwork, it looks good. As does the contrasting black roof!

The interior trims are finished in a combination of synthetic and Nappa leather but boast a two-tone colour which might not land with everyone. Particularly given the navy portions seem to be glittery in certain lights.

Sitting at 1859mm wide, 1695mm high and just 4500mm long, the overall exterior design is sporty but cute. It should appeal to those who want a nice-but-not-loud-looking car and something that is easy to park.

We’re talking about the closest thing to a real-life Hot Wheels car here. See, while Ferraris look elegant to me like expensive jewellery, Lambourghinis like cheese graters and McLaren’s look like slippery alien spacecraft, the Corvette Z06 looks exactly like an American supercar should - an unapologetic, ludicrous beast. And I love that. 

Dialing up the wild is that enormous carbon wing and front splitter with dive planes thanks to the Z07 package. Just a word of warning, though, the front splitter and dive planes stick out not just visually, but in the sense that I walked into them often and my ankles still have the scars.

I can’t recall the last time I drove a car with carbon-fibre wheels either - these are the biggest rims fitted to a Corvette and they’re wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R ultra performance tyres (275/30ZR20 front and 345/25ZR21 rear) that they look like oil drums on their sides.

The best angle? The rear - straight on. Those headlights. 

Wait, no, it’s from above - so you can see the V8 through the glass hatch.

Or it could be front-on looking like a giant shovel.. 

OK, there are no bad angles.. 

The Corvette Z06 is long at 4734mm end-to-end, broad at 2024mm wide and its height is a both a sitting-on-the-road-low and numerically pleasing 1234mm.

The plainness of the cabin might be a let down to some people after all the exterior wildness. Ferraris and Lambourghis offer extravagant and exotic interiors, but the Corvette’s innards are almost completely void of flare. 

The media screen is small (8.0 inches), switches and controls for windows and air vents are basic, and the huge dividing ‘wall’ between the pilot and passenger might be a bit much for some.

That ‘wall’ is dotted with buttons and while it may look very 'fighter jet cockpit', they’re just climate control switches. Sitting in the passenger seat is a lonely place with no screen visibility nor easy access to controls - I'd actually call this out as a bit of a fail compared to the interiors from Porsche, Audi and Lamborghini with their screen-filled cabins offering co-pilots something to do.

Yes, it feels a bit premium with the Nappa leather and the sports seats, but it could feel more special.

All of this plainness, however, is saved from boredom by the glass window behind the seats allowing you to peer into the engine bay at the V8 like at a reptile enclosure at the zoo.

The interior is spacious for a medium SUV but the back seat knocks off some points for family practicality. So, let’s start in the back.

Despite there being plenty of headspace for my 168cm (5’6’’) height, the legroom is cosy behind my driving position.

Meaning a 0-4 rearward facing child seat will encroach on front passenger space. It’s probably best suited to a family which is out of the baby stages but it was cumbersome fitting my big harnessed-booster seat in there, too.

It has ISOFIX child seat mounts on the outboard rear seats and three top tethers but two seats will fit best. The floor is flat, which offers far more comfort for a middle seat passenger and I love how the seats can be individually shifted.

The amenities and storage in this row are sparse. You get directional air vents, reading lights, netted map pockets and shallow storage bins in the doors.

Siblings may squabble over the single USB-A port on a long road trip but more than that, there are no cupholders or drink bottle holders back there or even a centre armrest.

That said, the 182mm ground clearance made it an easy car for my six-year-old to get in and out of; plus, the stadium-like seating and wide windows meant he had an awesome view this week.

Now for the front. It has ample amenities, storage and tech. You get plenty of head- and legroom, plus with the panoramic sunroof the cabin manages to feel airy, too.

Individual storage is great with an extra deep middle console, glove box, two cupholders, bins in each door and two very handy utility trays situated near the toggle-type shifter.

Charging options are much better up front, too, and you can choose between a wireless charging pad, two USB-A ports and a 12-volt socket to charge your device.

It's super easy to connect to the wired Apple CarPlay and there’s wired Android Auto for those users.

The built-in satellite navigation is straightforward but that’s where the simplicity ends. I did not find the multimedia system or the digital instrument panel to be terribly intuitive to use and the touchscreen controls can be laggy.

I’m sure you could get used to it over time but I felt flustered.

For this size SUV, the boot space is great at 580L with all seats in use but you can bump it up to 1630L if you fold the back row.

The floor can be adjusted to make a level load space or dropped to give you greater depth for bulkier items and there is a temporary spare tyre underneath the floor.

There are luggage tie-down anchors, a cargo blind and I always like having a powered tailgate. 

Supercars don’t tend to be built with practicality as a priority but this two-door, two-seat beastie is spacious enough even for me at 185cm tall with plenty of room in the footwell and loads of elbow-, knee-, and headroom. 

Cabin storage is limited to a glove box, door pockets, two cupholders, and a wireless phone charger on the bulkhead behind the seats.

As you can see from the images there’s a boot at the rear which will fit smaller bags and a small boot in the front.

I did the school run in the Corvette a few times (I know, lucky kid) and I can tell you a bass guitar in its case and a school bag, plus my own large handbag make for a cramped cabin. A Kia Carnival the Corvette ain’t, but it’s not trying to be one and compared to its rivals it does well for practicality.

Almost never does a car with a list price of almost $400K get full marks, but here we are and I’ll tell you why. The Corvette Z06 in its standard form lists for $336,000 and this is outstanding value compared to its supercar rivals such as the Ferrari F8 Tributo for $484,888, or a McLaren 750S for $585,800 or even an entry-grade Lamborghini Huracan, the EVO, for $383,187. 

Australia gets the top 3LZ trim, with the local standard features list for the Corvette Z06 including Nappa leather upholstery, GT2 bucket seats, a 12-inch digital instrument display, a 14-speaker Bose sound system, red seat belts, wireless phone charging, carbon-fibre and suede microfibre trimmed steering wheel, a media system with sat-nav plus wireless Apple CarsPlay and Android Auto, power seats, heated steering wheel, dual-zone climate control,  heated and ventilated seats and a head-up display.

Our test car was fitted with plenty of options including the Z07 Performance Package that brings carbon-fibre everything. We’re talking the enormous carbon-fibre rear wing and aero kit with side skirts and a front splitter with dive planes –and there are the carbon-fibre wheels (20-inch at the front and 21-inch at the rear). 

The Z07 package also brings a more hardcore suspension tune and carbon ceramic brakes for ridiculously good stopping power.

The Z06 has the most powerful V8 engine in the Corvette range, too, and we'll get to that soon.

The C5 Aircross Sport has a 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine with a maximum power output of 133kW and 250Nm of torque. It’s not super grunty but there’s plenty here to keep you up to speed on the open road.

It is a front-wheel drive and has an eight-speed auto transmission but the gear changes can feel a bit jerky at lower speeds.

The 5.5-litre naturally aspirated V8 in the Z06 makes 475kW and 595Nm. That’s a lot more power than the Corvette Stingray’s V8, which produces 369kW. The GT3 racecar version of the Z06 uses a derived version of the 5.5-litre V8, and actually it shares 70 per cent of the engineering components. 

Revving to a high 8600rpm the Z06’s V8 lets out a high-pitched scream when pushed hard, much like a Ferrari because like many Ferraris the Z06 has a flatplane crank V8 - actually it’s one of the largest flatplane V8s to go into a production car.  

Corvettes are now mid-engined cars and the Z06 has an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission that changes gears quicker than I can blink, sending all that mumbo straight to the rear wheels.

Acceleration comes hard, fast and loud with the Z06 able to boot itself from 0-100km/h in 2.9 seconds. That beautifully linear acceleration with no turbos will pull you all the way towards its top speed of 313km/h.

Ah, this is where it earns back some points!

I was very impressed by the efficiency of this because the official combined cycle fuel figure is 5.7L/100km and my real-world usage came to 6.2L! That’s fantastic for this sized SUV and for a turbo.

With a fuel tank of 53L and based on the combined fuel figure, you should be able to get a driving range of around 930km, which is good for those families who like to do road trips.

As with practicality, fuel efficiency isn’t the Corvette’s priority and after driving it daily for a week in the suburbs, city and a few dashes out to more open country roads the Z06 was using an average of 23.8L/100km, according to the trip computer.

Luckily the fuel tank is pretty big at 70 litres and with an official combined fuel consumption of just under 16L/100km you have a range of 438km… in theory.

Despite its city-friendly size, the C5 Aircross Sport is just as happy cruising on the open-road as it is in an urban environment.

The ride is smooth enough once you get up to a steady speed but the suspension can feel harsh on a bumpy road.

Also, the auto stop-start function can make it feel sluggish to respond, so I disabled this on most trips.

There is plenty of power so you'll feel confident overtaking or getting up to speed on the open road. However, you have to be a little more aggressive with the accelerator when you’re hitting hills.

The steering can, at times, feel vague when you’re at lower speeds but is otherwise responsive.

The cabin space is quiet and nice to be in on the highway and you’ll be able to chat with your passengers with ease.

What I like most about this though is the visibility – the windows are large and I feel like I have a clear view most of the time, which isn’t always the case in an SUV.

Parking this is a cinch with entry to tight car parks helped by a 10.7m turning circle!

However, the 180-degree view camera isn’t great and near hopeless at night time. A clearer image would be welcome but front and rear parking sensors ease the annoyance.

What the Corvette Z06 is like to drive really depends where you drive it. Our suburb has a ridiculous number of speed humps, which are like the Corvette Z06’s Kryptonite thanks to its very limited ground clearance and a carbon front splitter that almost skims the road at the best of times.

This made the Z06 one of the slowest fast cars I’ve ever piloted. My son would beg me to drive him to school in it, but the journey would take twice as long as we slowly eased over each hump while holding our breath. A lift system does raise the front of the vehicle but even then, don't breathe out.

The width and poor visibility made inching down narrow streets of parked cars a stressful exercise, too.

The Corvette Z06 is almost too much of a racecar to live with and then you let it free on an open country road and its purpose is clear - it runs like you wouldn’t believe and screams in delight all the way, while clamping itself to the road with sticky tyres, perfectly set up suspension and proper downforce.

Steering feels mainlined though to your nervous system, the pedals under your feel like your actual feet, and it all feels like a dream until you wake up again when you reach the city limits and round abouts, and traffic and yes, speed humps.

The Corvette Z06 clearly is a car that needs to be joined by other cars in your driveway, ones that don’t even notice speed humps.

Along with four airbags, the Corvette Z06 has AEB, forward collision alert, lane-keeping assistance, rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot monitoring, auto high beam headlights and adaptive cruise control.

An ANCAP safety rating doesn't exist for any member of the Corvette and will likely never due to low volume.

The on-going costs are super-reasonable on the C5 Aircross Sport, with a five-year/unlimited km warranty included.

You can also choose to pre-purchase a three- or five-year capped-priced servicing plan, both significantly cheaper than the pay-as-you-go option. 

On the three-year plan, services are $1100 or an annual average of $366.

It’s a flat $2000 for the five-year plan, (averaging just $400 per service), which is very competitive for the class.

Servicing intervals are every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

The Aircross also comes with a five-year roadside assistance plan that is offered through Digicall Assist, for added peace-of-mind.

GMSV covers the Corvette with a three-year/100,000km warranty which is short by current standards where carmakers typically offer a duration of five years/unlimited kilometres.

One of the appealing sides to the Corvette is that it’s made by a down-to-Earth American car company and a longer warranty offering peace of mind would seem more appropriate.

Service intervals are every 12 months or 12,000km, with capped-price servicing sadly unavailable.