Cleetus McFarland Hops in New C8 and Takes Fans Along for a Thrill Ride
An ample helping of American freedom and bald eagles helps YouTuber give the C8 his seal of approval.
If there’s anyone who has stamped their name as a certified Corvette enthusiast, it is Cleetus McFarland. With all of the builds, modifying and records he has set with Corvettes, it is only natural that GM invited the YouTube personality to test the new C8 Corvette in person. But as someone who works with front-engined Corvettes, McFarland might be a tough one to impress.
McFarland actually has already purchased a C8 in a lovely blue-on-blue color combo. Chevrolet assigned him to drive a Long Beach red on tan C8 though. No worry, all of the hardware was equal to the one he’d ordered.
Initial impressions are good. “It sounds good! It definitely sounds better than the old LT1,” McFarland notes. Sound is of critical importance to McFarland but theres a lot of V8 rumble to enjoy. The drive is excellent, too. Although it only comes in automatic, McFarland is impressed with the transmission. Of the dual-clutch, he says, “if anyone has driven a Porsche with a PDK, it’s that level for sure. I didn’t know what to think with Chevy coming out with their own dual clutch and how it was going to turn out, but it’s good.”
During their drive, they came across one stumbling block. They couldn’t get it to do a burnout! But they do say that GM says it is totally possible. Apparently there is a sequence to follow with the paddle shifters in order to get some rear tire smoke. So if you were hoping for one of McFarland’s usual smoke shows in the C8, it won’t be in this video.
You can’t just leave a Corvette stock, so during the time with this Corvette, McFarland takes a look at the engine bay. “This trunk, taken out, would give you plenty of room for a turbo kit.” At first, a supercharger was considered because there’s a lot of room above the engine, but the pulley would have to be on the front of the engine. There’s not enough clearance between the engine and the bulkhead to pull that off. So a turbo it is! After all, “twin-turbskis” are one of McFarland’s hallmarks.
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