There’s always a conundrum when it comes to an automotive icon that’s been in existence for a long time. No matter what we’re talking about, whether it’s toasters, cars or Rolex watches, there will be one school of thought that says the latest iteration is vastly better than its predecessors, while another camp will state the older versions were awesome and the newbie is utter shite. Where you come down on this evaluation is obviously dependent on many things, not least is just personal taste. And while there are certainly objective and empirical criteria you can use, especially in the case of sports cars where performance can be carefully measured, there is still the whole personal taste thing. When it comes to an icon like the Chevy Corvette, what you have is a very polarizing beast as the following for the older editions is a passionate one and with each new version you typically get a substantial amount of bitching. It’s good sport to point out that new model is a shadow of its former self, or at least it seems that way for a lot of enthusiasts.

This time around, though, things seem a little different. Not that I’ve been conducting any research whatsoever into the opinions of others about the 2014 Corvette Stingray, you understand. I have just been absorbing some of the odd comments in car circles, and when you drive a flaming red example around for a week you get more unsolicited opinions than you can imagine. Nothing I’ve reviewed in recent memory has received more attention than this new version of America’s most famous sports coupe. The reaction seemed quite positive, which like I said is not always the case when a new version of the Vette surfaces. It has done a splendid job of blending some of the older styling elements (and even some traditional chassis touches like the use of composite transverse leaf springs) with some serious state-of-the-art materials to blend the traditional and the exotic in a very compelling way. It the kind of chassis where it appears the engineers and designers had much more of a budget to work with, so they could use the kind of trick solutions they really wanted to. In addition to the hard parts, the car is chock full of the latest in electronics including a slew of drive modes (Eco, Weather, Touring, Sport, Track and HoochRunner. OK, I made that last one up) that control a dozen different parameters of the car’s performance. Like putting sneakers on a dragon, there’s not much difference in overall performance with the various settings that I observed, anyway.

But this is fine, because unlike the stealth fighter which would be quite unstable without the computer systems it depended on to constantly tweak things so it would stay in the air, the Stingray is a really solid sporting platform that doesn’t need all the computer aides to rock and roll (although they can certainly help especially if you get a bit overzealous). The near-perfect balance of the car, along with that massive engine combine to make this stylish eye-magnet such a blast to drive. The sport seats cradle you comfortably, and the adaptable flat-screen instruments make the world that’s flying by in a blur make at least a bit of sense. It’s a surprisingly forgiving car in many ways, allowing you to safely enjoy it’s absurdly deep performance envelope. We were saddled with the 6-Speed Paddle-Shift Automatic gearbox, and it was still great fun (although you still should go with the manual). The Z51 Performance Package which is loaded with good things like upgraded suspension rates, heavy-duty cooling, an electronic limited-slip rear end and other tricks takes the standard version a step further. Like all Corvettes of the recent past there’s a lot of exotica in the car’s construction yet it is surprisingly subtle in how it goes about its business.

Or at least, it is from low-key the operator’s point of view. As for the outside world, people are drawn to this car like a cat to a cricket. This is a testament to the styling and execution of the form, but what’s even more laudable is the hard parts live up to the ultra-light bodywork’s promise of high performance. The new Stingray really does seem to be one of the best Corvettes to come down the road in a long while, and that’s welcome news indeed.